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The Official Health and Fitness Thread

Simply put, I have a new F/T job. It's one I'm taking very, very seriously.  I have hired MYSELF to lose 150 lbs through a weight loss and fitness journey.  Due to my ongoing depression and anxiety, the doctors won't let me work.  So I'm spending alot of time doing nothing.  Well not anymore

I need to control diabetes, thyroidism, blood pressure, sleep apnea, mood...  Losing weight and finding fitness will help beat almost all of those things.  They're all obesity related to a large part.

So over the next 18 mths to 2 years, I WILL lose 150 lbs through lean, clean eating and daily fitness.  Cardio is the main start and I'l add weight training in a month or so.

This 350 lb fatass will complete this journey.  If I don't my doctor has hinted that my time is running out.
 
My mom was over-weight.  She became diabetic.  Then her blood pressure spiked so high it damaged her kidneys and eyes.  She finally tried to do something about it, spend every second day on a dialysis-machine, started exercising and it gave her a few years.  But in the end, the damage was done.  She passed away as her kidneys failed completely.  She missed getting to know any of her four grandkids.  However, in that time she tried to get healthy and look after herself, she lived more, was less depressed, and happier then she ever was.  I don't like remembering her before she got sick.
Rick, I really hope you can find that flicker of spirit like my mom did.  Only find it before something seriously happens.
 
Rick said:
Simply put, I have a new F/T job. It's one I'm taking very, very seriously.  I have hired MYSELF to lose 150 lbs through a weight loss and fitness journey.  Due to my ongoing depression and anxiety, the doctors won't let me work.  So I'm spending alot of time doing nothing.  Well not anymore

I need to control diabetes, thyroidism, blood pressure, sleep apnea, mood...  Losing weight and finding fitness will help beat almost all of those things.  They're all obesity related to a large part.

So over the next 18 mths to 2 years, I WILL lose 150 lbs through lean, clean eating and daily fitness.  Cardio is the main start and I'l add weight training in a month or so.

This 350 lb fatass will complete this journey.  If I don't my doctor has hinted that my time is running out.
Click to expand...

I dropped from 230 to around 170.  Since then I have been fluctuating from 160-180.

My best advice the following:

1) Take Small Steps - Your going to want to see weight disappear quick. I am guessing you will see it disappear quick. You will clean up your diet and in the first weeks lose 10 + pounds. After that initial slide, you will be brought back to the reality of losing 1 to 2 pounds a week. This is where I've failed many times, giving up on my diet. The reality is if you're losing 1 to 2 pounds a week....that is normal. You can't let small gains discourage you.

If you can average 7 pounds a month, you can lose 72 pounds in a year. I recommend each week you live your life a bit healthier. You won't be able to jog tomorrow or not eat junk from the get go. Get your diet better slowly. If you eat two bags of chips a week and drink 10 cokes, cut down to one bag and  8 cokes one week, half a bag and 4 cokes the next. Just each week make small improvements.

2) Write down and record everything - Take a photo today of your body and put it on your fridge. Write down every meal. This helps you make your life style a habit and properly measure your improvements. Same goes for exercises.

3) Dedicate 3 Days to Fitness - You may increase it when you're in better shape. But your body needs to rest. If you become too tired from working out too much, you're more likely to fail on your goal. Again, start small and build up what you do slowly. Take four days a week to rest your body.

4) Your Going to Fail - It is going to happen. You're going to have days you regress by eating that big mac combo. Failure is not the end of your diet...it is just a speed bump. If you fail, just get back to where you  were . So many times I ended my diets when I failed. A perfect game is great... but so is a complete game. You don't need a perfect game, there will be mistakes...the key is to keep your composure and get back into the game.

Best of luck, feel free to contact me if you need someone to chat too.
 
Trolloc said:
I dropped from 230 to around 170.  Since then I have been fluctuating from 160-180.

My best advice the following:

1) Take Small Steps - Your going to want to see weight disappear quick. I am guessing you will see it disappear quick. You will clean up your diet and in the first weeks lose 10 + pounds. After that initial slide, you will be brought back to the reality of losing 1 to 2 pounds a week. This is where I've failed many times, giving up on my diet. The reality is if you're losing 1 to 2 pounds a week....that is normal. You can't let small gains discourage you.

If you can average 7 pounds a month, you can lose 72 pounds in a year. I recommend each week you live your life a bit healthier. You won't be able to jog tomorrow or not eat junk from the get go. Get your diet better slowly. If you eat two bags of chips a week and drink 10 cokes, cut down to one bag and  8 cokes one week, half a bag and 4 cokes the next. Just each week make small improvements.

2) Write down and record everything - Take a photo today of your body and put it on your fridge. Write down every meal. This helps you make your life style a habit and properly measure your improvements. Same goes for exercises.

3) Dedicate 3 Days to Fitness - You may increase it when you're in better shape. But your body needs to rest. If you become too tired from working out too much, you're more likely to fail on your goal. Again, start small and build up what you do slowly. Take four days a week to rest your body.

4) Your Going to Fail - It is going to happen. You're going to have days you regress by eating that big mac combo. Failure is not the end of your diet...it is just a speed bump. If you fail, just get back to where you  were . So many times I ended my diets when I failed. A perfect game is great... but so is a complete game. You don't need a perfect game, there will be mistakes...the key is to keep your composure and get back into the game.

Best of luck, feel free to contact me if you need someone to chat too.
Click to expand...

Great suggestions - and congrats on the loss!
 
Good for you, Rick!  The body/mind is one complete system. You can't expect to be completely healthy in one and not the other. So i'm glad you're starting this journey.
 
Please keep us posted, Rick... Best of luck... Put all than junk food $ away... You're gonna need that for new clothes!
 
Sending many supportive hugs to you Rick!

Trolloc's suggestions are awesome.

I started last January and by May had lost 12 lbs.  Throughout the summer, I didn't really try, kinda ate what I wanted with some exercise here and there.  I didn't gain anything but I didn't lose anything either. 

Oct. 1st hubby and I decided to get eating better again and he had hit the 280lb mark.  He's 6'1" but it was catching up to him and he freaked.  We pretty much cut out carbs for one thing.  If we have any, it's very very small portions.  We eat chicken and fish alot and more lean meats.  I bought the George Foreman grill and I love that thing.  Lots of salads, veggies and fruit.  Pop is a treat and lots of water.  I drink about 4 bottles a day and hubby does 6 or more.  Hubby runs, I can't run (planter facitis) but I do an exercise cardio video or ride my bike (at least 30 mins a day - 5 to 6 days a week).

Anyhow, hubby is down 42lbs total and I'm down another 13 lbs for a total of 25 lbs for me.  I'm finally able to get into most of my clothes before I got pregnant with #3.  I do find that men lose alot faster but hubby has also had those weeks where it fell off fast and then a few weeks where it slowed down but we've just kept pushing. 

I know for me, I feel much better, not bloated as much and more energy.  I want to lose at least another 20lbs and hubby another 30lbs.  Will it take longer than I'd like, maybe so but I'm doing it at my pace.  I'm nowhere near starving myself and if I feel like a treat once a week, then I do that for myself.

Were here for you Rick!  No matter what!
 
I've lost about 60lbs since getting married about 15 months ago and I still have a long way to go.  Sometimes I'll fall down, but always getting back up is the key.  I like what Trolloc said about not having to have a perfect game, just a complete one.

What has helped me a lot is having one cheat day a week, it's a day where you can basically indulge, eat what you want and as much as you want.

It helps psychologically knowing that you can skip that burger and have it on your cheat day.  It also supposedly helps your body burn fat.  I also found when I eat helps, not having a large meal after 3/4 pm if I can avoid it and doing something in the evening after that meal, even if it's just for a walk with the dog.

For me it's been a slow and steady process that I could speed up with a greater commitment to exercise, but I'll work it out eventually.

Best of luck to you Rick and to anyone else fighting the good fight, you have another supporter in me.
 
In the last 8 months or so, I've lost about 15 pounds.  I was just over 200 at the time and have now dipped just below 190.  When I stepped on the scale I was concerned that something may be wrong because I didn't plan on losing weight, let alone a drop like that.  However, looking back, I do attribute a portion of it to the stress I have documented before on this site.  Having a kid certainly plays a role, as I sometimes skip meals running around after her.  Beyond that though, I play ball hockey once or twice a week; don't go out as much thus meaning less alcohol/beer; cut out my daily bagel/tea biscuit/muffin here at work and instead bring my own yogurt and granola parfait; and I rarely eat out.

Good luck Rick!  Keep us updated on your progress.  I have a buddy I play hockey with who went from about your size to around 200 lbs. over the same time frame you project.  I didn't know him when he was bigger, and when I saw a picture I was shocked.  He keeps that picture with him in his car as a reminder to never allow himself to get back to that phase in his life -- similar to what Trolloc suggested.

Advice from him to other "bigger" guys on our team was that you don't necessarily have to cut out everything; it's all portion control.  Don't disallow cravings.  But it's small stuff that adds up.  If you go to a restaurant, instead of having three pieces of bread, have one.  If you take two sugars with your coffee/tea, cut it down to one.  He suggested that if you look at it on an annualized basis, it means, for instance, you'd be consuming 365 less packs of sugar. 

There will be bumps, but it certainly can be done.
 
I've realized Rick that everything works as long as you keep doing it. One fitness program maybe more intense and give you faster results then another but your journey is a marathon not a race.

Even if you only lost 1-2 pounds per week they will add up. It just takes commitment and consistency.
 
Keep fighting the good fight Rick. And there is some great advice there from Trolloc.

Similar to him, I started this January at 216 lbs and unhappy, I dropped 51 pounds and was at 165 by the end of May and have been on maintenance since then. I put on a few pounds over the last 7 months, but I'm still well within my target range at 168 as of today - and I still weigh myself (and track it) every day. I find it keeps me focused.

You can do it - you just need to keep at it and don't get too discouraged by random weight gains. I've had weeks where I've worked my butt off and counted calories and somehow still gained. Those were the days when I felt like giving up, "Why am I killing myself?", I would think - but that's where you gotta hang tough and know that the weight loss WILL come - you just have to keep to your schedule.

For me now, it's all about keeping the "new" me. That is kind of daunting as well - I certainly hope I can. I've got a beauty "before and after" picture I'm keeping for motivation in case I start to fall off the wagon!

Good luck to all on here that are working away at getting healthy!  :)
 
My uncle finally, finally, finally lost weight, 40 lbs., to be exact. After nearly a decade of being overweight, most recently obese (275 lbs., & counting), and, after much pleading from his family and a stern warning from his family physician of potential adult on-set diabetes, he decided to follow a specialized diet set forth by a dietician, portioning every dish of food.

The doctor (and dietician) took him off sugar, carbohydrates per se, heavy animal fats, no fried foods nor processed foods, and told him to substitute brown rice instead of the traditional white pasta, leafy green vegetables (all green vegetables), no beets or corn or any other vegetables containing their own natural sugars, lean animal proteins at every meal, no fruit or juice except water, etc.

Exercising on the treadmill for a full half-hour every day, climbing up and down the stairs of his home slowly, (since he suffers from neuropathic foot pain due to the chemo he had received a year prior, on account of having had tumours in his lungs and shoulder (lymph nodes).  The price he paid with this chemo treatment has been terrible.  At least he survived everything.

To make a long story extremely short, in one month of having followed the proper diet and exercises in moderation, he has shed 40 lbs., down to a more modest weight of 235 lbs.  Still a ways to go, but if he keeps on following the required regimen, more pounds will continue to be shed.

This scenario which I've described about my uncle proves that you can and will lose the weight if you just place yourself in the right frame of mind and plow through with a goal at hand.  Some scary health news can also motivate a person to not want to get any worse than the way they already are.

Rick, you can do it.  Remember the old adage, "have willpower, will do".  Or, rather, "where there's a will, there will always be a way".

Good luck to you, Rick.  Never lose hope.  :)
 
It's that time of year friends - anyone else climbing on the bandwagon as a resolution?

2011 was a pretty good year for me - here's how I started (Yes, I kept a copy of my original post from the old site):

"Re: The official Health & Fitness thread
? Reply #327 on: January 11, 2011, 09:41:41 PM ?

I've had fits and starts for the last couple of years - my New Year's resolution this year was to finally just do it! (Lose some weight). First week is done and I lost 5 pounds - my goal is to lose 40 pounds. As for how long to do it? - I first thought 2 lbs a week was reasonable, but I'm leaning towards 3 lbs a week now. I'm mixing fast walks (6km in an hour each day) for cardio (I have back issues which prevent me from running) and extra aerobics with a bit of weight work for strength.

About 5 or 6 years ago I lost almost 50 lbs by crash dieting and walking long distances, but I think I ended up doing more harm than good and then ended up putting all the weight back on. This time I'm on a much less restricted diet and added the strength training to make sure I don't lose muscle mass. I think I have a much better chance of success this time to take it off and keep it off. We shall see.....maybe if I make myself post updates here I can stay motivated.

Anybody else working on a resolution in here?"
Click to expand...

So you can see my original goal was to lose 40 pounds. Here was my list of milestones for 2011:

Jan 3rd: The start of the "new" me - Weight 216 lbs
Feb 3rd: One month in - 12 lbs lost
Mar 3rd: Two months in - 24 lbs lost (12 for the month)
Apr 3rd: Three months in - 36 lbs lost (12 for the month)
Apr 6th: I ran my first full 5 km (Time: About 30 mins)
Apr 14th: 40 lb target met (I set a new target weight of 170 lbs - 46 lbs lost)
Apr 28th: 46 lb target met (I set a new final target weight of 165 lbs - 51 lbs lost)
May 3rd: Four months in 48 lbs lost (12 lbs for the month)
May 30th: 51 lb target met (165 lbs) - I start Maintenance mode on weight. The dieting is over! (Looking for a new goal - I set running a 5 km race in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October as the target)
Jun 3rd: Five months - Weight 167 lbs
Jul 3rd: Six months - Weight 165 lbs
Jul 9th: I ran my first official 5K race - Free to Run Toronto (Time: 26:21)
Aug 3rd: Seven months - Weight 165 lbs
Sep 3rd: Eight months - Weight 168 lbs (I had an injury and couldn't run)
Oct 3rd: Nine months - Weight 171 lbs (Still hurt)
Oct 16th: My target race - Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon 5K (Despite being injured and unable to train - I run a respectable 24:55. Good enough for 299th out of 5,037 runners)
Nov 3rd: Ten months - Weight 168 lbs
Dec 3rd: Eleven months - Weight 170 lbs
Dec 31st: End of the year - Weight 171 lbs (45 lbs less than I started the year at)

My official mileage for the year (walking/running) - 1,880 kms. That's an average of over 5 km a day - something I would have never imagined myself capable of when I started.

For 2012 I want keep myself in the 170 range for my weight. I also am going to run in at least 2 5K races this year: The GoodLife Toronto Marathon and the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon one again.
 
Good for you, that's not easy to do.

My birthday was yesterday, every year I resolve to quit quitting but it's soooo hard.... ;)

I could use a fat shave and a health boost, turned 41 this year, time to start really thinking about it... oh ok, doing it.
 
I have to start making changes now, but it has nothing to do with resolutions. I just found out I have high cholesterol. I'm 33 and eat a fairly good diet. I'm going to have to take a very close look at my diet to figure out what I can improve.
 
4th Liner said:
It's that time of year friends - anyone else climbing on the bandwagon as a resolution?

2011 was a pretty good year for me - here's how I started (Yes, I kept a copy of my original post from the old site):

"Re: The official Health & Fitness thread
? Reply #327 on: January 11, 2011, 09:41:41 PM ?

I've had fits and starts for the last couple of years - my New Year's resolution this year was to finally just do it! (Lose some weight). First week is done and I lost 5 pounds - my goal is to lose 40 pounds. As for how long to do it? - I first thought 2 lbs a week was reasonable, but I'm leaning towards 3 lbs a week now. I'm mixing fast walks (6km in an hour each day) for cardio (I have back issues which prevent me from running) and extra aerobics with a bit of weight work for strength.

About 5 or 6 years ago I lost almost 50 lbs by crash dieting and walking long distances, but I think I ended up doing more harm than good and then ended up putting all the weight back on. This time I'm on a much less restricted diet and added the strength training to make sure I don't lose muscle mass. I think I have a much better chance of success this time to take it off and keep it off. We shall see.....maybe if I make myself post updates here I can stay motivated.

Anybody else working on a resolution in here?"
Click to expand...

So you can see my original goal was to lose 40 pounds. Here was my list of milestones for 2011:

Jan 3rd: The start of the "new" me - Weight 216 lbs
Feb 3rd: One month in - 12 lbs lost
Mar 3rd: Two months in - 24 lbs lost (12 for the month)
Apr 3rd: Three months in - 36 lbs lost (12 for the month)
Apr 6th: I ran my first full 5 km (Time: About 30 mins)
Apr 14th: 40 lb target met (I set a new target weight of 170 lbs - 46 lbs lost)
Apr 28th: 46 lb target met (I set a new final target weight of 165 lbs - 51 lbs lost)
May 3rd: Four months in 48 lbs lost (12 lbs for the month)
May 30th: 51 lb target met (165 lbs) - I start Maintenance mode on weight. The dieting is over! (Looking for a new goal - I set running a 5 km race in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October as the target)
Jun 3rd: Five months - Weight 167 lbs
Jul 3rd: Six months - Weight 165 lbs
Jul 9th: I ran my first official 5K race - Free to Run Toronto (Time: 26:21)
Aug 3rd: Seven months - Weight 165 lbs
Sep 3rd: Eight months - Weight 168 lbs (I had an injury and couldn't run)
Oct 3rd: Nine months - Weight 171 lbs (Still hurt)
Oct 16th: My target race - Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon 5K (Despite being injured and unable to train - I run a respectable 24:55. Good enough for 299th out of 5,037 runners)
Nov 3rd: Ten months - Weight 168 lbs
Dec 3rd: Eleven months - Weight 170 lbs
Dec 31st: End of the year - Weight 171 lbs (45 lbs less than I started the year at)

My official mileage for the year (walking/running) - 1,880 kms. That's an average of over 5 km a day - something I would have never imagined myself capable of when I started.

For 2012 I want keep myself in the 170 range for my weight. I also am going to run in at least 2 5K races this year: The GoodLife Toronto Marathon and the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon one again.
Click to expand...

That is remarkable, congratulations.  Some serious dedication there, great job.
 
Good for you 4th Liner... that's pretty much the same kind of commitment I made 2 years ago. I started at a lesser weight (~190 lbs) and have kept about 15/20 lbs off since and FWIW, your 5K time is better than my last 5K time just a couple of months ago so that's terrific. I did however, stop training seriously about a year ago and to be honest, haven't run at all since that last race. In fact, I haven't taken very good care of myself lately and I feel like crap for it... I have one more seasonal party to attend on the 7th and after that, it's diet time. Weather permitting, I'll take up the running again too. Anyway, you should be very proud... Do keep it up. Trust me, it's harder to get going again once you've stopped. 
 
Bullfrog said:
I have to start making changes now, but it has nothing to do with resolutions. I just found out I have high cholesterol. I'm 33 and eat a fairly good diet. I'm going to have to take a very close look at my diet to figure out what I can improve.
Click to expand...

I had to start really watching my salt intake last year, blood pressure was high consistently for too long, one of the first things that floored me was that a can of tuna had pretty much my daily intake.
 
Im in. I am embarrassed to list my height and weight but as I lose I may divulge the horrendous stats.  Went to gym today, first time, walked on treadmill for 35 min then biked for 15. Lifted some weights but was jumping around to much so hit the sauna.  This has to keep going. I am determined to change my life.
 
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