Plenty to Lose

Nick,

That is an excellent set of parameters you posted. Why you gotta make it sound so easy though?! It's the discipline behind building those habits that comes hard for some of us wimps. :D

6. I stop eating when I'm not hungry, not when I'm full.

I read somewhere that in some culture (Japan, maybe?) children are taught to stop eating when they feel 2/3 full, similar to what you said above. That in itself would probably result in weight loss for many of us.

Margaret

Interesting approach.

I'm doing the lifestyle change thing rather than approach this as a diet or workout. I don't think I could maintain what you are doing.

What I'm doing is:

1. Keeping track of what I eat and when
2. Recognizing what a portion size is
3. I won't eat stupid food like McDonald's fries or KFC chicken skin
4. I drink 3-4 glasses of water every day
5. I don't do the Pavlovian thing of eating when the bell rings. For me the bells are when I'm tired, bored, or in a social setting. I just eat when I'm hungry.
6. I stop eating when I'm not hungry, not when I'm full.
7. I think when I want to eat about what I'm going to eat.
8. Incorporating activity into my everyday routine. Hence the biking. I suck at going to the gym.

That's it. I haven't dieted at all. I eat whatever I want, whenever I want. I realize there is a cost involved with eating cheesecake or tiramisu, but if I want it it's all mine.

Hey Nick, this is a lifestyle change as well. After I get down to where I want to be then I will increase my calories 500-600 a day, 20 min carido 3 days a week and mild weight training to maintain what I already have.

1. I weigh and measure every single calorie I put into my body now just as you do now.
2. See #1 :D
3. You mean Mickey D's and KFC have real food :D
4. 1- 1.5 gals of water a day
5. Your body after 3 hours has done run out of fuel. At this point it starts to use muscle as fuel. You have to eat smaller portions and more often to maintain a high metabolism.
6. I'm never full and yet never hungry either.
7. See #1 :D
8. Anything that gets your heartbeat up for 30 min at a time is a good thing.

As you, I get to have a couple of cheat meals a week while loosing, I'm just real careful about the calories and portion size. I say bravo to anyone taking it off without doing damage to themselves. So many of those fad diets are bad for the heart, or when your done you gain all the weight back plus some.

I hope I didn't come off as judging what you are doing. Whatever works is cool with me.

Congrats on your weight loss.

I hope I didn't come off as judging what you are doing. Whatever works is cool with me.

Congrats on your weight loss.

Not at all. Just doing a fun comparison.

It all boils down to proper diet/nutrition and exercise.

BTW 3 days off my meds and blood pressure was 117/74, still in the good range.

I went to the doctor last week for a checkup. She said I'd actually lost 40lbs of fat and gained 7 of muscle.

Let's get this thread rolling again. First timers and getting back on trackers is okay.

Sin City Sid wrote: BTW 3 days off my meds and blood pressure was 117/74, still in the good range.
That is wonderful! Hope that trend continues for you.

Nick wrote: I went to the doctor last week for a checkup. She said I'd actually lost 40lbs of fat and gained 7 of muscle.
WOW! If there was any prize to be had here, you're surely the frontrunner, Nick. But you're already enjoying the rewards of better health. Inspirational for the rest of us.

Let's get this thread rolling again. First timers and getting back on trackers is okay.
Nick has cracked his whip. Let's go, people! Let's hear some chatter out there. :lol:

Margaret

Well I slacked a week so no actual weight loss on the scale but down 3% body fat and blood pressure is now at 102/68 with no meds for 2 weeks. I need a belt to keep the pants up I couldn't fit into 1 1/2 months ago. Still only down 10-11 lbs after 5 weeks. That's ok, 2 lbs a week, is still great!

Instead of loosing the weight and then bulking the muscle, I seem to be doing both at the same time. I've been taking pics but not ready to post them yet, maybe the end of August. I'm up to 800 to 900 calories a day at the gym, 6 days a week.

I went to the doctor last week for a checkup. She said I'd actually lost 40lbs of fat and gained 7 of muscle.

Let's get this thread rolling again. First timers and getting back on trackers is okay.

Way ta go Nick, rock on :!:

I went to the doctor last week for a checkup. She said I'd actually lost 40lbs of fat and gained 7 of muscle.

Let's get this thread rolling again. First timers and getting back on trackers is okay.

That's impressive Nick. 40lbs is alot, 7 lbs of muscle is quite good too. Are you nearing an ultimate goal or anything?

15 lbs to go.

I'd like to be 185.

Geez Nick, we're going to have to take a new Mr UIF pic for your avitar! How are we going to recognize you??

My hats off to all of you.

Update all:

Well, I've been working on getting ready for varsity football season, as football camps are right around the corner, and I'm going to 2 this year. The first will be special camp for line (I'm going to play both sides of the ball), and a team camp for our entire school. But first, I'm going to let you all know about our football team.

My school, Tamarac, has struggled to obtain victory. Last year we won 2 games in a row. The first one was our first victory in over 3 years. The second one was a 27-0 stomping of a team we matched up well against. We had givin a few other teams some problems durring the year two. We almost won our opener but ended up loosing 20-10. We came out to score 2 quick touchdowns in our homecomming game, but then gave up 4 to loose. So all in all, it was a good year for progress, and showed some hope.

Last year I was on most of the special teams, but never saw much playing time. I went in for noseguard for about 12 plays during the year, but when I was their I made the best of things. I had 3 tackles out of those 12 plays, and the ball was only ever run up the middle 4 times. I played a bit of guard and tackle, and did a good job in that 27-0 blowout, which I played the last quarter. I had a tough time though in one game, which it had poured all night for. The ball was floating away from the spot the ref had put it down. That game was against the state champs this year, and we lost, but it was a good game none the less.

So now, to the present. I'm currently lifting for football. I have done no weight training what so ever since the end of football last year. I have wrestled since novemer though, which means a lot of calisthenics and lifting throwing dumbies and bodies. Also, we had a new septic put in, so I have been shoveling a lot of top soil and stone while trying to repair our battle torn yard. All in all, I dead lifted, 295 pounds, Squat 230, and benched a low 195. I weight 225, ten more pounds from prom, yet my pants still fit the same, so I'm thinking I must have gotten taller, or bulked up, who knows. Anyways, my Power Rating goal for the start of football practices is a 4.0. To get your power rating, you add your three lifts together and then divide by your body weight. So my power rating is currently a 3.2. I lifted 720 pounds, and in order to get a 4.0 i need to get lift 900. I've got a lot of room for improvement on my bench and squat, so hopefully I can get there. I'm lifting 3 days a week now till football. We will see.

Okay, peoples! We need to keep our motivation high here for better health and a better life.

Here's the assignment for the weekend:

Think about the food choices you make and focus on improving one. Then come back and tell us all about the best food choice you made over the weekend.

It might be a particularly nutritious food you ate, or it might be that you made a decision to replace a less-healthy choice with a better alternative, for example, choosing water instead of soda to drink during your workout.

For extra points, eat something healthy that you've never tried before.

Now get out there and choose wisely!

Margaret

I'm still stuck at 215#, same as always for the past 10 years. I spent last week doing hard labor in New Orleans, and despite sweating like a pig, they kept us well hydrated, so I only lost one pound.

Congrats to all of you who have been sticking with it.

Laz

Laz wrote: I'm still stuck at 215#, same as always for the past 10 years. I spent last week doing hard labor in New Orleans, and despite sweating like a pig, they kept us well hydrated, so I only lost one pound.

Laz,

Maybe that's a healthy weight for you. Sounds like you are getting your share of exercise. Of course, it's still important to eat healthily. And I believe staying well-hydrated is one of the best things we can do for our bodies and health.

Margaret