My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

[RoyalBoyle78]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

Odogg, what have you done to lose the weight and keep it off?

[ODogg]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

Odogg, what have you done to lose the weight and keep it off?

I currently workout 6 times a week for about 40 minutes to an hour each day. I do weighlifting and cardio both but far more cardio than anything else per my doctor's recommendation. What I do for exercise changes but here's a good example of a typical week:

Mon-Elliptical, Stationary Bike
Tue-Weights, Stationary Bike
Wed-Elliptical, Rowing Machine
Thur-Weights, Elliptical, Stationary Bike
Fri-Elliptical, Bike
Sat-Elliptical
Sun-rest

As for my diet, I am on the lifestyle change, not a specific "fad" diet as those don't really work. In other words I'm trying to accomodate foods that I like that are healthy to permanently replace foods that I liked before that were not healthy. I stay below 1800 calories a day, eating a lot of fruit, a lot of vegetables and lean meats. I do not disallow any foods either as I feel that is a recipe for disaster (if you say "I can't eat X anymore, that is exactly what you crave it seems), however some foods I mostly avoid if I can. Also I try to minimize the snacking. If I do snack, it has to be some type of fruit or vegetable.

The bottom line is you have to stop mindless eating. Everything I eat is logged and I'm aware of, even the bad food. When you're forced to log in poor food and you see just what it does to your day you are much less apt to want to indulge again and/or indulge as badly anyways. It's really amazing to me now that i'm in this mindset to see how much bad stuff people just shovel into their faces and don't even think about. No wonder America is so overweight.

My motto is "eat better, eat less and workout more". Although now I eat the right amount and the right food and of course do my workouts so I guess it might be better if I changed it to "eat healthy, eat moderately and put in your gym time".

[RoyalBoyle78]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

I currently workout 6 times a week for about 40 minutes to an hour each day. I do weighlifting and cardio both but far more cardio than anything else per my doctor's recommendation. What I do for exercise changes but here's a good example of a typical week:

Mon-Elliptical, Stationary Bike
Tue-Weights, Stationary Bike
Wed-Elliptical, Rowing Machine
Thur-Weights, Elliptical, Stationary Bike
Fri-Elliptical, Bike
Sat-Elliptical
Sun-rest

As for my diet, I am on the lifestyle change, not a specific "fad" diet as those don't really work. In other words I'm trying to accomodate foods that I like that are healthy to permanently replace foods that I liked before that were not healthy. I stay below 1800 calories a day, eating a lot of fruit, a lot of vegetables and lean meats. I do not disallow any foods either as I feel that is a recipe for disaster (if you say "I can't eat X anymore, that is exactly what you crave it seems), however some foods I mostly avoid if I can. Also I try to minimize the snacking. If I do snack, it has to be some type of fruit or vegetable.

The bottom line is you have to stop mindless eating. Everything I eat is logged and I'm aware of, even the bad food. When you're forced to log in poor food and you see just what it does to your day you are much less apt to want to indulge again and/or indulge as badly anyways. It's really amazing to me now that i'm in this mindset to see how much bad stuff people just shovel into their faces and don't even think about. No wonder America is so overweight.

My motto is "eat better, eat less and workout more". Although now I eat the right amount and the right food and of course do my workouts so I guess it might be better if I changed it to "eat healthy, eat moderately and put in your gym time".

thanks man.

[ODogg]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

thanks man.

Are you going to embark on this as well or are you not pudgy like me?

[ODogg]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

I posted this on my fitness blog tonight and thought I'd share.

10 Things related to Fitness and Health that I learned in 2007

1. There are two types of motivation, there is the immediate motivation, which is what spurs a lot of people to make a resolution today to lose weight and then there is longterm motivation. Longterm motivation is not as urgent or powerful as immediate but much more desired in regards to ultimately getting in shape. Everyone has immediate motivation in regards to weight loss, the key is to develop the longterm motivation, which stays with you when that ultra-powerful and pressing immediate type goes away (as it does for most people by Valentine's Day).

2. I learned that losing weight and getting healthy is much more easy, more simple and overtly more obvious than the media or anyone ever makes it out to be. Losing weight and getting in shape is simple math. Eat less, eat better and workout and your body will change. Monitor calories in and out. That's it. It's no great mystery. There is no secret formula nor any secret diet or miracle drug. The most difficult part of it....eh..continue reading..

3. The most difficult part of it is not knowing but doing. I learned that losing weight is one of the most difficult things one can ever do and requires far more dedication, self discipline and diligence than most people who have not done it could ever imagine. Honestly it requires research, work and for most people a nearly borderline, nearly obsessive and almost unhealthy attention to detail. Why? Because most of us are fat for a reason, we lived our whole lives unaware and unknowing. Normal society, our society today, is heavily slanted toward making people obese. To go in the other direction you must be like a fish swimming against the tide. You must be the pesky one who demands to know what things are made of, demands alternatives and in general the fly in the ointment at times. It's easy to know what to do, it's difficult often to practice it, not only because of the energy it requires but also because you are often trying to maintain something that society in general discourages just by it's very nature.

3. I learned that exercise gets easier. No wonder people hate exercise, when you haven't ever done it or do it rarely it's really terrible to begin with. And no wonder people don't stick with it. It goes against human nature to indulge in something actively which is uncomfortable, difficult and sometimes painful. But the good news is, what I wish I had known when I began and not enough people told me, it does get easier and at a certain point even becomes enjoyable. You know the old cliche about how you go to a gym and everyone there is in shape and you wonder why they are there? Well probably quite a few of those people were not in shape at some point. Sure it's easy for them now to run on that treadmill and they are enjoying it greatly, or at least appear to be. And I know you probably hate them and just want to walk over and punch them in their face, well I did anyways, LOL But here's the secret. if you continue then that will be YOU someday. It's very subtle and took me months to understand this but I can honestly say that most days I really look forward to and enjoy exercise. I just hope no one ever walks up and punches me in the face for doing so!

4. After countless hundreds of hours (I do not exaggerate here either) of research and thought about physical fitness in America I have come to the conclusion that we as a country are pretty much screwed. Not only does America continue to get fatter and more out of shape it seems attitudes are changing that promote acceptability of that fact. We are all often told that we should accept people for who they are. This is both true and false. Yes we should not judge people that are overweight but on the flip side people should not be given a pass that we as a society view gluttony and sloth as an acceptable trait desired in human beings. Without the ability for people to communicate that there is a different way, a healthier way, constructively then we are doomed to a society accepting of obesity, it's related health problems and in many cases an unneeded early death. We should not denigrate or insult anyone, don't get me wrong, but we should also never quit trying to help those who want to change, because it can be done. To pretend that nothing is wrong is going to kill our friends, family and loved ones and I for one will not stand by without trying. If it doesn't help then at least I can be satisfied that I did what I could and didn't stand by falsely pretending everything is great while someone I cared about died a slow, painful and agonizing death (or nearly just as bad, a fast unexpected one).

5. I learned that nearly everything Sparkpeople says in regards to articles is true. I say nearly because there are some articles I find fault with. For one I do find some of the articles about how you can eat this or that on occasion and some of the recipes they promote as being a bit too lenient for some of our own good. I know for myself I abused that entire aspect of SP for awhile, before I realized that it was holding me back. Perhaps it's progression, going from 100% bad to 80% bad to 60% bad, etc etc is something one must simply go through until they get to a really healthy lifestyle. But I think at some point you really have to realize that a lot of articles and advice on SP is geared toward newcomers. Once you have been on the SP program for a good while you need to learn to have more discipline than they seem to promote.

6. I learned that many fail but only a few recognize it and in that sense they are not true failures at all. Throughout my 10 months here at SP I have seen a lot of people come and go. Guess what? Most of them go and stay gone. Only some of them come back. The real losers aren't those who fail. The real losers are those who fail and then never re-commit. To admit you failed and to come back makes you a winner. This all goes back to longterm motivation. If you're still in the game and still trying, you're on the right track. If you've given up and are too ashamed to admit it then you are a failure. But you can change that, that failure is just a temporary one that is negated by the renewed attempts to re-dedicate yourself once again. Only you can make that choice.

7. One of the greatest lessons I learned from all of this is to be 100% aware of everything that I put into my body. The days of shoveling something in my mouth without thinking are over. That's not to say I don't sometimes eat bad, I do, but when I do I'm very, very aware of what I am doing. I don't try to downplay it, ignore it or beat myself up for it. I simply accomodate that and try to somehow make up for it, whether it's doing better the next day or in most cases, working out harder THAT day. Which leads to..

8. Guilt will destroy you and be the ultimate end of any hopes you have to get in shape. Guilt is for known criminals not dieters. Awareness is what dieters need. If you eat badly, if you don't do your exercises do NOT feel guilty, simply recognize your behavior and alter it. Compensate for it. Don't beat yourself up for it. Mentally losing weight's biggest challenge is guilt. If you can eliminate guilt from your fitness program you are halfway there. But only halfway because you cannot simply eat whatever you like and bypass your exercise. As I said, the other half is recognition and awareness of your behavior. One almost needs to learn to rethink your attitude and be less human about it. If you can be almost logical, Vulcan like for you Star Trek fans out there, then you will have a much greater success.

9. I learned that everyone has an excuse and until you man up and quit making excuses you are wasting your time. I associate with a lot of people who are trying to get in shape. I hear a lot of talk from all of them about how focused they want to be, how determined they are, how sick of being overweight they are, the works. Then I ask them what they just had for lunch, or if they have exercised that day and the excuses begin. Excuses pad your waist line just like Twinkies. The bottom line is no matter how busy you are, or what your situation is, if you can't find a way to eliminate the excuses and get to work then you should just welcome your new friends in: diabetes, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, etc etc. We all have issues in our lives, don't make an excuse, create a solution.

10. And finally I learned that if you do the work then you will reap the rewards. The rewards often do not come as fast as you wold like but you will see them. With patience I can do it. Be patient. Be unflappable when the scales hate you. Be accomodating and realize life is going to be unpredictable I've accomodated gym time at midnight when I had to. I owe it to myself to put in a half hour even when I'm tired, I don't feel like it and I think "well I can skip just this once". I've had a lifetime of bad just this once's and I'm done with them. Maybe it's time for a good one..like for just this once I'm going to succeed.

Goodbye 2007, my last year of being overweight, pre-diabetic, unhappy and unaware. Hello 2008, my first year of being in shape, healthy, happy and knoweldgeable! Although I've come a long ways, i still have a long journey to go. Like Lazarus, rising up out of the tomb, I also was reborn in 2007. And like a phoenix, flying up out of the dark ashes, still I rise..

[Kramer5150]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

Dude.....congratulations
GREAT job on the weight loss. Just one more thing though.....cut back on the uh umm....beverages,you "drunk biotch" .

[ODogg]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

Dude.....congratulations
GREAT job on the weight loss. Just one more thing though.....cut back on the uh umm....beverages,you "drunk biotch" .

LOL, I actually haven't drunk anything since November. I've lost 12 pounds since I eliminated beer.

[Kramer5150]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

LOL, I actually haven't drunk anything since November. I've lost 12 pounds since I eliminated beer.

WOW! Really? damn....congrats ARE really in order then. I figured the "beverage" would be a "main-stay" lol.

[ODogg]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

WOW! Really? damn....congrats ARE really in order then. I figured the "beverage" would be a "main-stay" lol.

Actually I always did too but the last few times I drank I just didn't feel it, I got a slight headache, couldn't really play any games and couldn't find anyone online to chat with so it was just flat out depressing instead of fun. That coupled with the fact I had plateaued made me take that drastic measure. I'm not saying I'll never drink beer again but maybe when I go back to it I won't have such a darned high tolerance like I did before.

[rudyjuly2]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

Definately see the resemblance to Steve Zahn in the second pick. The first pick reminded me of Newman!

Congrats ODogg and keep it up! You definately want to head in the direction of Zahn and avoid sliding back into Newman.

2. I learned that losing weight and getting healthy is much more easy, more simple and overtly more obvious than the media or anyone ever makes it out to be. Losing weight and getting in shape is simple math. Eat less, eat better and workout and your body will change. Monitor calories in and out. That's it. It's no great mystery. There is no secret formula nor any secret diet or miracle drug. The most difficult part of it....eh..continue reading..

Its so true. People are always searching for the next goofy diet plan but this has always been a simple, honest solution to losing weight. It just takes work and commitment. My wife is doing it herself right now (I've always been on the thin side and don't have the same problems) and seeing the weight come off is always a good motivating factor.

[bh446066]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

I'll vouch for the cutting of the alcohol. A couple of years ago I cut out the nightly toddies and dropped from 212 to 185 over the course of a few months, b/c I was always a steady exerciser...I was just "puffy". Congrats and keep it up.

[Candyman5]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

Actually I always did too but the last few times I drank I just didn't feel it, I got a slight headache, couldn't really play any games and couldn't find anyone online to chat with so it was just flat out depressing instead of fun. That coupled with the fact I had plateaued made me take that drastic measure. I'm not saying I'll never drink beer again but maybe when I go back to it I won't have such a darned high tolerance like I did before.

You wont be able to keep the ladies off of you.

[ODogg]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

You wont be able to keep the ladies off of you.

haha, yeah just lose a few more pounds and i can start telling the ladies i'm steve zahn and be one of his celebrity stalkers and whatnot.

too funny : the comment about how when i weighed 300 pounds I was newman, i had people say that to me before too!!

also - i visited the doctor yesterday and he said i could move my blood pressure medicine down from 20mg to 10mg and in april he thinks if i continue i can ditch it altogether, at one point i was on 40mg a day (of lisinopril). he said i was doing great, my blood sugar was normal and not pre-diabetic anymore.

i'd like to avoid diabetes, the whole cutting limbs off or going blind isn't my cup of tea..

[Aggies7]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

not pre-diabetic anymore.

i'd like to avoid diabetes, the whole cutting limbs off or going blind isn't my cup of tea..

Man congrats on not being pre-diabetic anymore. I bet that is a relief.

[stewaat]

Re: My end of the year weight loss pictures (before/after!)

Actually in that first pic you look like you just took a seat and Chris Hanson just started talking to you about why you drove 18 hours to "teach" a 13-year old girl about the birds and bees.

Seriously though. I LOVE THIS THREAD

GREAT JOB, CAPS ARE NEEDED TO EXPRESS MY ENTHUSIASM FOR YOU TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE AND IMPROVING THE QUALITY

To anyone out there who needs to get in shape. Look at this guy!

These stories are great, I love them, I can't imagine how much better he feels in every single aspect of life.

EVERYBODY NEEDS TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES

THIS COUNTRY IS GETTING SO FAT IT'S OUT OF HAND!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHH

GO ODOGG

[/most enthusiastic post I'll ever have]