2018 Fitness Challenge

[KG]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

Oh yeah I been IF for about a month now. Now I only eat once a day and fast for 23-24 hours. I started off 16/8 but then when it was about time to eat I wasn’t really hungry, so I just let it ride. Not feeling hungry or starving actually which is surprising. I do eat a big meal like eating two steaks or pound and a half of pork belly.

So I weighed in at 230 lbs. Goal is to get under 200 in three months. Hopefully that’s enough to win but I’m gonna try my hardest. Definitely doable if I’m super strict which I have been the last month and I haven’t really worked out while transitioning.


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2 steaks....be careful with that Mike. Even though you might only be eating one large meal you could still be taking in an excess of calories. The first couple of days of IF I was overeating like crazy but after a few days it felt like my stomach shrunk and while my eyes were huge, I just couldn't eat that much.

I usually eat some kind of a salad for lunch (my favorite is tuna, avocado, tomatoes, spinach, and maybe some onions with a little cilantro) and maybe a protein shake. If not, I'm drinking a smoothie and maybe some naan bread. Some kind of snack around 3ish before some cardio and some creatine/BCAA's (just started this) afterwards. Then a reasonable dinner and maybe some greek yogurt before 8 and I'm surprisingly good until the next day at noon.

It's nice to know you're not in the fight alone. I have a way of isolating myself when things aren't going how I want them to go, but it's comforting to hear you guys struggle with similar issues. I've been wanting to post my thoughts for a couple weeks and I'm glad I finally did.

Body image is never something I've been comfortable with. I was heavy all through school and never felt comfortable showing my torso. Once I lost all the weight the confidence came flooding in, but as I get use to my body and start thinking (and knowing) I can do better then I start to put myself through the ringer again.

It's just so frustrating knowing there's toned muscle under that stomach flab and even seeing it on occasion, but then the snack monster makes you forget all about that.

I was in the same boat as your FT. I was a habitual snacker, to the point, where I wouldn't even be hungry, I'd just snack out of habit while watching TV/playing video games at night. I'd kill myself in the gym and I wasn't getting any leaner/adding muscle. I cut out the snacking and within a month or so my abs started popping. You mentioned keeping a diary. I think that's a great idea. I use MyFitnessPal, more so to see where my bad calories/macros are coming from and to almost shame myself into stopping the bad food intake. You'd be surprised at how fast your body will adjust and respond positively which will help build your confidence back up. The second I starting seeing results it just encouraged the hell out of me.

Hang in there FT. I'm 38 so my metabolism isn't super crazy like it was when I was 18 but it's still possible to get where you want to go. Drink that water too! It will help curb your appetite and flush the toxins from your body.

[pietasterp]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

As the old saying goes, abs are built in the kitchen not in the gym. Which is a pretty trite statement, but it's also kind of true. As the other (trite) saying goes, you can't out-train bad nutrition.

The diet is the hardest part. If it were just a matter of working out, I think most people would be in way better shape. The problem is that getting slim is like 80% nutrition and 20% exercise, so the former is much more important than the latter (made-up numbers of course but based roughly on available wisdom, whatever that's worth). It's crazy to think that if you jog like a mile, that's only like ~100 calories of burn, but then you eat 1 burger and that's like 500+ calories. It's pretty easy to see why weight loss is so hard.

Everyone pretty much wants the same thing, which is to have lean muscle. But the sh*t that you have to do to obtain that is pretty brutal; read what the Hollywood guys do when they're in training for parts. They work out like 2-3 times per day with a personal trainer, and eat 4-5 times/day with just ultra-lean protein (basically bland chicken breast, bland salmon, steamed veggies, protein shakes...I mean, what a miserable way to live). It's not really do-able for average working people that have other life responsibilities and no personal trainer and no personal chef. And even then, they only get in that good shape temporarily, other than a very few exceptions (maybe the Rock and 1-2 other guys).

So what was my point? Oh yeah, be healthy, try your best to eat healthy, try to resist the snack urges to the best you can, and don't get down on yourself when you fall off the wagon. It's going to happen. Just get back on the next day. Set attainable goals; like if you resist a strong snack temptation just 1 time/week, you're on to something right there. It reminds me of the guy that set a goal of doing 1 push-up every day. It sounds stupid, but it actually did work out because 1) it was such an easily obtainable goal, he (almost) never failed, and 2) he ended up doing way more than 1 push-up a day because he figured "well, while I'm down here, I might as well do 5-10 (or whatever)". But the key was he never got down on himself because he almost never missed the goal. Baby steps.

[RockinDaMike]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

Finally started using my Rip 60 straps, (TRX clone). Wow what a workout. Lost my original workout disc but there's a ton of TRX workouts on youtube, highly recommended if you're looking for something different. You can safely do squats and go lower which is good for mobility for your hips and knees.

What's cool too is whenever i do a workout, my spine straitens out and pops, feels great.


We just got a trainer who uses our yoga floor here at the resort and I'll be training with him starting tomorrow. It's gonna be rough, i'm in pretty bad shape.

[NYJets]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

Really got back on track this summer.

First started lifting about 9 years ago, first few years I was super dedicated, made major gains. Next few up and down, for the most part I was going to the gym, staying in decent enough shape, not really making any progress though. This past school year starting a new job I slacked hard. Was going to the gym on average probably once a week. Diet wasn't great. I probably only put on a few pounds but my body composition definitely changed and really snuck up on me.

As soon as summer hit I got back to the gym. After a couple weeks then I made a big focus on diet. Been counting calories for almost 7 weeks now and been very dedicated. Only went over my daily calories maybe 5 days, and all were due to going to a wedding or some other special social situation. In those 7 weeks I'm down about 14 pounds. I don't have a real reliable way to check body fat, my scale says I'm at 12%. I'd say thats probably pretty close, maybe a little less. I'd guess I was approaching 20% at the beginning of the summer. Very noticeable difference in progress pics, and in my face. Gonna keep trying to get a little more lean before I bulk, I want to stay around my current leanness year round.

For workouts, been lifting 4-5 days a week, doing cardio 5-6 days a week, and do DDP yoga 2-3 days a week. For cardio I do the stairmaster and alternate between short high intensity workouts and longer moderate intensity. Also been going for long walks when I can to get a little more cardio in.

For diet, nothing crazy, just cut out all completely useless junk food, besides that planning ahead. If I know I'm going out to eat or am craving takeout, have a smaller lunch and make small sacrifices here and there. It's actually gotten fairly easy, the only days that have been challenging are when I know I'm going to have a few drinks socially.

Now with school starting up next week and I'm going to have an hour commute each day it's going to be a little more challenging to find and stick with a good routine, but im definitely really motivated to make it happen

[countryboy]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

My fit for 40 went out the window. Now it’s don’t get fatter for 40. That’s going only slightly better


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[DJ]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

My fit for 40 went out the window. Now it’s don’t get fatter for 40. That’s going only slightly better


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

One day at a time, CB. Small gains/successes will turn into larger ones if you stick with it.

[RockinDaMike]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

Weighed in at 205 and 2 months ago was 240 and i haven't been working out at all these past couple weeks since my plantar faciitis flared up. What a bitch PF is. Spent a good 10 days rolling around in my chair not being able to do anything.

Good thing i have experience with this injury and know how to rehab it myself but that's what i get for not stretching before working out.

[Blzer]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

4:59.464 mile time today!

30 years and 86 days old, I can once again feel young in just another way. Reached the milestone I've so hoped for!

Now it's a matter of seeing if I can break my personal best of 4:50. Might have to wait to be able to post that for the 2019 Fitness Challenge thread haha. Or maybe not, who knows!

[hvegasooner]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

4:59.464 mile time today!

30 years and 86 days old, I can once again feel young in just another way. Reached the milestone I've so hoped for!

Now it's a matter of seeing if I can break my personal best of 4:50. Might have to wait to be able to post that for the 2019 Fitness Challenge thread haha. Or maybe not, who knows!

Congrats bro! Keep at it buddy

[DJ]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

4:59.464 mile time today!

30 years and 86 days old, I can once again feel young in just another way. Reached the milestone I've so hoped for!

Now it's a matter of seeing if I can break my personal best of 4:50. Might have to wait to be able to post that for the 2019 Fitness Challenge thread haha. Or maybe not, who knows!

Looks like you've healed up. But, do me a favor and keep your age to yourself, youngster. LOL

Nice work!

[Blzer]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

Looks like you've healed up. But, do me a favor and keep your age to yourself, youngster. LOL

Nice work!

I've just had enough recovery days, and by complete accident really. The last three days I missed my bike-run-bike routine because of tutoring and covering classes during my prep periods (I run on the track during my prep period, because really it's the only time that I can). Maybe the two days off before Monday, then the three days off before this really helped.

I think my knee has been causing problems because of the hill runs I was doing on Fridays before the school year started. I'll give it a while before I do those again I guess.

And no yeah I'm just glad that at this age I can still get to "high school self" kinds of speed, but not totally exactly though. I also used to be able to run an 11-minute two-mile, and I don't think I'm nearly close to that at all. I also used to be much faster, like in terms of sprinting. Now I just seem to have no control of where I go; I stumble a lot when running bases in slowpitch softball and I can't seem to round 70 foot bags with rubber spikes (as opposed to 90 feet with metal).

As far as the distance running, I guess I'll just keep pushing and, see what I can get to over the long haul. The important thing is to not give up though.

[Bard]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

Little Bard update.

Down 15lbs since my last time in here. Stretch marks are healing and going away again...man I hate those things and they come at the weirdest times of my weight. Feeling good for the first time in awhile.

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[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

A little update on me:

I have not yet started to keep a diary. I bought a book. Even diagrammed a cover page to track different things and challenges. I have a post-it with a couple different writing topics (the most of important of which is My Why), but I simply have not sat down and actually wrote anything down. So that's a little disappointing so far.

The good news is I'm over four weeks into my "No Chips Challenge" which means I'm past my 30 Days. What's funny is I had to start over two days into my first attempt. The family was eating out for a birthday and the table ordered chips and dip. Without a thought I automatically reached across the table, grabbed a chip, sunk it in the dip bowl, and ate it. I didn't even realize what I had done until I got home and was thinking about dinner. The kill-shot, though? At that moment I realized I ate a bag of chips at lunch, too.

Since then I haven't each a single chip. It was hard last Thursday at the local Mexican place to just sit there and let the chips and salsa sit still on the table. I checked my calendar and I was past my mark, but I told myself it wasn't worth breaking my streak.

Outside of the chips I've done much better in either limiting poor snacks (popcorn & cereal are still vices, but thankfully they are only about once a week) or substituting chips for other dippers (ie: carrots, celery, etc). So now I'm eating more veggies at home in the evening which is nice. I'm not "hungry" and I don't feel guilty for it - mostly anyway.

To coincide with my change in diet I've been doing a 30 Day Ab Challenge App which features 3 different 30 day challenges. I'm finishing up the first "round" (get rid of belly fat). I'm still a little flabby, but my obliques are tightening up very well and I can see some toning/definition regularly now.

I've also started "running" more regularly. Basically I run for 15 minutes alternating between jogging and sprinting splitting time evenly. It's a great start to my workouts, but I try not to do them more than 2-3 times a week depending on how much other cardio/leg workouts the routine is calling for.

[RockinDaMike]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

Keep it up Fresh you're doing good.

Reached a milestone, weighed in at 198 so I'm officially out of the 200 lbs club.

I think I'm about halfway there, I'm 5'8 so would ideally like to be 175 to 165 range. Haven't been that weight since Elementary school. Crazy.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: 2018 Fitness Challenge

Ah. I forgot the part. Weighed myself sometime last week just to update the abs app. Down to 180 from 185. Not in the "good green" range for BMI, but close.

Thanks for the encouragement.