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Old 03-01-2008, 04:40 PM   #1
FMCoug
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Default FM's weight loss adventure

Quote:
Originally Posted by Runner Coug View Post
You know, to help keep you committed, you should start a blog of your weight loss adventures. It would be cool to follow your progress.
This thread was inspired by RunnerCoug's suggestion that I start a blog to keep track of things. I'm too lazy to do that so if nobody objects, I'll just use this thread. Hopefully I can get a bit more feedback here than I would on a blog as well. If you feel like it doesn't belong here ... say so and I'll stop.

Background
Some background for those who don't know. I'm 5'9" and was 310 lbs when I started this on 2/19. I'm down to 302 at this point. My initial goal is to get inside 200. I'm 37 years old and getting to the age where I HAVE to get this weight off or I'm going to see real health issues. At my last physical I had high blood pressure (not dangerously high but higer than it should be), high tryglycerides, and borderline high cholesterol. Doc says I'm a great candidate for diabetes as well.

Also, I have not always been fat. In high school I was on the swim team and played water polo ... weight at graduation was about 165. So I wasn't a fat kid by any means. Just started gaining on my mission (cars the whole time), college, etc. I have talked to a fair amount of HS swimmers who have gone through the same thing. My theory is that you combine the metabolism of a HS aged male with swimming / polo workouts and you end up with some REALLY bad eating habits. Anyway, that's just a little history.

The plan
I'm using http://www.fitday.com to tracky my food intake, calories burned, weight loss, etc. According to the site, at my height/weight/age, I burn about 3000 calories a day between my BMR and lifestyle.


Food plan:
- 2000-2500 calories a day, spread out over 5-6 meals
- Daily breakdown of approx. 40% carb, 40% protein, 20% (or less) fat. I know the fat should be lower but I also know how I eat. And when I don't get that much fat I'm a lot hungrier on the reduced calorie diet.
- At least a gallon of water a day. They say half your body weight but 155 oz is a LOT of water.
- Also taking multivitamins to make sure I get the nutrients I need. FitDay has charts for that too.

Exercise Plan:
- resistance training on my home gym 2-3 times a week. Not going very heavy in weight ... just trying to build a little muscle to burn calories and tone up.
- Daily cardio that burns at least 500 calories. Hopefully can get this to 1000.

Between the diet and exercise, I should create a daily caloric deficit of 1500-2000 calories, allowing me to take the weight off at 2-3 lbs a week.
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Old 03-01-2008, 04:45 PM   #2
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Default Progress the first week

So I started this plan on 2/19. My exercise at that point was the lifting (I'll post more details on that another time) and walking 5 miles / day on my treadmill. I did the 5 miles two days in a row and then my tendonitis I had in my left foot about a year ago flared up. Took a day off and then I was alright for the rest of the week.

One thing I know I do need to do is get some new shoes. At the podiatrists recommendation, I went to a running store here in Dallas at the time and had them fit me for some good shoes based on how I walk, etc. But that was a year ago and I'm sure they need replacing.

In any case, I did great that first week and lost 7.5 lbs. Of course a lot of that was likely water weight.
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Old 03-01-2008, 04:50 PM   #3
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Default Week2 (2/24 - 3/1)

After the great first week, I went and got the flu which seriously hurt my progress. Didn't exercise at all the first half of the week. The flu was so bad that it made all my muscles hurt, including the tendonitis in my foot. I've been limping ever since.

Based on that and the need for a low impact exercise to mix things up, I bought a bike. Other threads here have all the details on that so I won't post it here. But one thing I noticed is that with only being able to walk 3mph on the treadmill, I clearly wasn't getting much cardio benefit. The first bike ride was just 2 miles last night when I brought the bike home and I though I was going to die (mostly lungs / breathing). One thing I should probably invest in is a heart rate monitor. I have a chest strap for the treadmill but need to get the wrist unit for the bike.

I did manage to lift once this week and will again today so I'll at least get 2 of those in. And will try to ride the bike and/or walk on the treadmill today and tomorrow.

Weigh-in is on Monday nights (FHE) but given the flu, injuries, etc. I'm hoping just not to gain anything back this week. Hopefully I can stay healthy. One thing I'm noticing is that as fat and out of shape I am, the exercising is a double-edged sword as I'm injuring myself. Guess we'll see how it goes.
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Old 03-01-2008, 05:25 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FMCoug View Post
This thread was inspired by RunnerCoug's suggestion that I start a blog to keep track of things. I'm too lazy to do that so if nobody objects, I'll just use this thread. Hopefully I can get a bit more feedback here than I would on a blog as well. If you feel like it doesn't belong here ... say so and I'll stop.

Background
Some background for those who don't know. I'm 5'9" and was 310 lbs when I started this on 2/19. I'm down to 302 at this point. My initial goal is to get inside 200. I'm 37 years old and getting to the age where I HAVE to get this weight off or I'm going to see real health issues. At my last physical I had high blood pressure (not dangerously high but higer than it should be), high tryglycerides, and borderline high cholesterol. Doc says I'm a great candidate for diabetes as well.

Also, I have not always been fat. In high school I was on the swim team and played water polo ... weight at graduation was about 165. So I wasn't a fat kid by any means. Just started gaining on my mission (cars the whole time), college, etc. I have talked to a fair amount of HS swimmers who have gone through the same thing. My theory is that you combine the metabolism of a HS aged male with swimming / polo workouts and you end up with some REALLY bad eating habits. Anyway, that's just a little history.

The plan
I'm using http://www.fitday.com to tracky my food intake, calories burned, weight loss, etc. According to the site, at my height/weight/age, I burn about 3000 calories a day between my BMR and lifestyle.


Food plan:
- 2000-2500 calories a day, spread out over 5-6 meals
- Daily breakdown of approx. 40% carb, 40% protein, 20% (or less) fat. I know the fat should be lower but I also know how I eat. And when I don't get that much fat I'm a lot hungrier on the reduced calorie diet.
- At least a gallon of water a day. They say half your body weight but 155 oz is a LOT of water.
- Also taking multivitamins to make sure I get the nutrients I need. FitDay has charts for that too.

Exercise Plan:
- resistance training on my home gym 2-3 times a week. Not going very heavy in weight ... just trying to build a little muscle to burn calories and tone up.
- Daily cardio that burns at least 500 calories. Hopefully can get this to 1000.

Between the diet and exercise, I should create a daily caloric deficit of 1500-2000 calories, allowing me to take the weight off at 2-3 lbs a week.
This is a great thing you have decided to do. My dad is your height and about your weight (probably a few pounds heavier, but not much), but is almost 56. At 46, he developed Type 2 Diabetes, he has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, and about 3 years ago he was diagnosed with Parkinsons. I have been doing all I can to try to convince him to lose weight, but it's certainly been a losing battle this far. For a little while there during the Atkin's fad, he did atkins and lost about 30 lbs, but wasn't doing any exercise and once the weight gain slowed down, he got discouraged and quit. His parkinsons really limits how much he can walk and he goes out to eat a lot now since my Mom died, so it's been a constant battle. Don't get discouraged or give up, I think it's a great idea for you to track your progress here where we can provide encouragement. I'll be looking forward to the updates.
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Old 03-01-2008, 05:31 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ewth8tr View Post
This is a great thing you have decided to do. My dad is your height and about your weight (probably a few pounds heavier, but not much), but is almost 56. At 46, he developed Type 2 Diabetes, he has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, and about 3 years ago he was diagnosed with Parkinsons. I have been doing all I can to try to convince him to lose weight, but it's certainly been a losing battle this far. For a little while there during the Atkin's fad, he did atkins and lost about 30 lbs, but wasn't doing any exercise and once the weight gain slowed down, he got discouraged and quit. His parkinsons really limits how much he can walk and he goes out to eat a lot now since my Mom died, so it's been a constant battle. Don't get discouraged or give up, I think it's a great idea for you to track your progress here where we can provide encouragement. I'll be looking forward to the updates.
Thanks. It may be morbid but I really thing that's the kind of encouragement I need. "Get off your lazy ass" doesn't seem to work. "<insert family member / acquaintaince / etc. here> died / is deathly ill because he was fat like you" does work.
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Old 03-01-2008, 05:48 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FMCoug View Post
Hopefully I can get a bit more feedback here than I would on a blog as well. If you feel like it doesn't belong here ... say so and I'll stop.
Seems to me like a perfect place for this type of thread. I look forward to reading the updates. Good for you for deciding to do all this.

I decided to lose weight four years ago when my dad was diagnosed with diabetes. I saw him measuring out his food and pricking his finger to check his blood, and decided I wanted no part of it. Food just isn't worth it. I've done 6 marathons and 4 half marathons since then, and I have average athletic ability, at best. I'm the epitome of "If I can do it, anyone can", so I have no doubt you're going to succeed. Good luck!
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Old 03-01-2008, 06:08 PM   #7
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Default Speaking of Dads and health

I think I've mentioned this before but my Dad died of Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) and we have nasty strain of the familial type in my family. Dad, two of his brothers, his Mom, a great aunt, and a first cousin have all had it. From my research on it I have a 50% chance that I won't get it (glass is half full right).

It's a terminal disease with no treatment ... but people live post-diagnosis anywhere from 6 months to several years. I'm guessing the 6 month ones are guys in the condition I am. It's a middle-age onset disease so if I get myself healthy and I do get it, that extra time could mean a LOT to my kids.
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Old 03-01-2008, 11:10 PM   #8
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Default Some humor

This is embarassing to post but this thread is about accountability. Plus maybe you can all get a good laugh from it.

Just got back from the fiirst "real" bike ride. Just rode to our neighborhood park and back. I'm realizing it's going to take a week or two before I can even ride long enough for it to do me much good.

Distance: 2.7 miles
Time: 17 minutes
Avg speed: 9.7

Man I suck.
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Old 03-01-2008, 11:47 PM   #9
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Good luck with this FM. I'm pulling for you.
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Old 03-02-2008, 02:07 PM   #10
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FM, that is awesome. My only suggestion is to take it rather easy with the workouts initially. The first inclination is to really bust it with long workouts on the treadmill or bike ride, etc. If you haven't worked out much in years, injuries will become a constant companion.

I would only do 2-3 miles on the treadmill even at 3.0mph. Do it for a few days, and then bump up the speed a bit. Ride a bike a couple of miles and do that for a few days and then bump that up. Your body needs to start building up before you do things too strenuous.

Great start FM, keep it up. It is pretty cool to see some of our 'huskier' Cougarguard friends knocking off some of that weight!
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