[BibBob]

Hey Random,

That top post is very impressive and an inspiration. I might just go with a similar approach. Anyway, great job here! I haven't had time to read the thread but had to check it out. I am feeling those motivational juices start to flow.

[randomcards]

Originally Posted by JayEll

Congratulations on the shoes!!! They make a tremendous difference, as you have found! Many years ago in my 20s I tried jogging with crappy tennis shoes, and my knees got so bad I thought I had some weird arthritis. It was just the bad shoes.

Jay

Agreed! I'm a huge convert now...

[randomcards]

Originally Posted by BibBob

Hey Random,

That top post is very impressive and an inspiration. I might just go with a similar approach. Anyway, great job here! I haven't had time to read the thread but had to check it out. I am feeling those motivational juices start to flow.

Thanks Bob, I've learned a lot of this the hard way. I think reading things like my thread, along with dozens and dozens of others can help you pull little tidbits here and there that will work/help you! Good luck

[randomcards]

Thursday April 22 - Getting Crushed

Ugg, I was worried about this. I'm doing so well up until dinner with the new kiddo. I'm still making it to the gym, and eating well.

Then it's all going to crap at dinner time... We've had people bringing us dinner every single night. Always like lasagna, cresent rolls, and unbelievable desserts. It's killing me. I've eaten more dessert in the last week than I have in the last 2-3 months

I've got to figure out a solution. My wife wouldn't be on board with me just chucking fantastic food in the garbage, if I don't eat it it just sits around forever while my wife nibbles here and there. But I'm really having a hard time displaying self control.

Right now, we have in the house...
-Homemade chocolate chip cookies
-Homemade peach cobbler
-2 half gallons of ice cream
-Homemade chocolate cake
-Homemade pinapple upside down cake

Plus the fact that the kiddo is on a late schedule (is up/fussy till midnight or so) is making it even worse...

I've got to figure this out!

[tuckr]

Good luck with the desserts!!!!!!!! I have been in a slump lately, just kinda don;t care. Only worked out twice this week, ate terrible, pizza last night, Mcdonalds and Hardees in the past 3 days. My motivation is terrible and I just can;t get back into the swing of things???? Maybe next week will be better???? Good luck on the food issue and keep up the good work

Tucker

[randomcards]

Originally Posted by tuckr

Good luck with the desserts!!!!!!!! I have been in a slump lately, just kinda don;t care. Only worked out twice this week, ate terrible, pizza last night, Mcdonalds and Hardees in the past 3 days. My motivation is terrible and I just can;t get back into the swing of things???? Maybe next week will be better???? Good luck on the food issue and keep up the good work

Tucker

You know Tucker, I grow more and more convinced each day that the key to this whole thing is how we respond to failure. In the past I've been so guilty of allowing myself to turn one bad meal or day or decision into several days of crap. It's like going into the store with a credit card and impulse buying something you don't really need. They you say to yourself "well I already spent $100 on this card, might as well spend $1,500 on a new TV".

I don't know how we actually convince ourselves of things like that but it obviously happens. This is the biggest psychological thing I'm working on right now, reminding myself that just like weight loss is a cumulation of lots of little decisions and I just need to work on keeping my negative decisions as one step back instead of a march backwards.

Today's a better day. I was really tempted to give up yesterday. Up till dinner I basically ate a protein shake and half a cake lol. The little devil on my should was trying to tell me that the day was already lost so screw it, but I was able to kick him off. Ended up just having Ahi Tuna Salad for dinner and not having any bad late night desserts even though I was up till 1 am.

Today I'm feeling back on track, back to the grindstone. You do to the same thing!

[tuckr]

Thanks for the encouraging words, and u are write, it is mostly mental, and sometimes gets tiresome, but I am back today, and back on track. Thanks again and keep up the good work.

Tucker

[randomcards]

Weekly Update - Week 20

Starting Weight - 260 lbs
Current Weight - 200 lbs (2 weeks)
Loss This Week -0 lbs
Total Loss - 60 lbs

Well 0 lbs loss in 2 weeks is slightly disappointing, but not surprising. These last 2 weeks have been brutal for the plan and I have not been eating great. I'm in real life mode, and am actually pretty pleased to have maintained over the last 2 weeks and have put in some good effort to make sure I have not gained.

My new son is doing great, he's sleeping well and life is pretty good at the moment, but still obviously getting used to the adjustment. This is the first week without help.


Diet
I've done pretty horrible in this area over the last 2 weeks. The negative is that's it's been my worst 2 weeks since starting this whole thing, the positive is that I have still been conscious of my decisions and have made a lot of good decisions too. I have certainely not fallen off the wagon, just succumbed to a lot more temptation than I am used to.

The major problem has been that we have had househelp (family) as well as friends bringing virtually every dinner for the last 2 weeks. So it's usually pretty unhealthy (casseroles, lasagnas, enchiladas, etc.) and somehow they always bring dessert. So I've been doing ok with meals up to dinner, but been getting destroyed at dinner and beyond.

The dessert thing is really really a problem at the moment. I barely ate any desserts for 4 months. I don't miss them when they are not around. But I have a really really hard time controlling myself and portions when there are 2 dozen freshly baked brownies on the counter.

I have been disappointed in my lack of self control with dinner/dessert a few days. I have no issues at the moment with eating at maintenance levels off plan, but think it's really negative when I eat double the amount of dinner I should.

On the positive side I am aware of it, and thinking about it. And it will get much much easier this week as we no longer have family staying with us and will be making our own food again.


Exercise
I'm much more pleased with this aspect of life and it has been a big help to counteract my diet excesses (although I know that will only go so far). I have been working out a tiny bit less than before but still getting to the gym 4ish days a week and doing some stuff at home.

I've been enjoying running a lot more with my new fitted shoes. Yesterday I ran a personal best 7:40 mile which I know isn't that fast, but it is to me! How do marathon runners do 26.2 miles at a 5 min/mile pace? Wow...

The best news on this front is that I'm starting to get to that point where I almost feel like I have to go to the gym to burn off energy. If I can get to the point where it is a true desire that would be awesome!

Looking to the future
My goal this week is to get back into a "weight loss" mode instead of a survival mode. I've had some poor behaviours recently that I want to get eliminated again. Gotta hit the one hundreds this week!

[tuckr]

You are doing Great!!!!!!!, New baby in the house, you still getting in 4 workouts a week, outstanding!!! and no gain with all the extra calories I think is a win!!!! things will get easier now, so think about it, you made it through the roughiest point with no weight gain. After my 3 day terribble eating and drinkikng beer, I gained nothing as well, I was very surprised!!!! I just can't get back motivated to workout, hopefully this comes back, worked out yesterday before work, but it is hard sometimes to make it to the gym before work, trying to help the wife get teh little one ready for sitters.

Keep up the good work, glad the kiddo is sleeping through the night, and the hardest part is over and u gained noweight!!!!

Good job

Tucker

[randomcards]

Thursday Apr 29th - Sprint Triathlon?

I'm seriously considering entering a sprint triathlon about a month away.

Anybody have any experiences or tips positive or negative?

This one is 300M swim, 20K bike, 5K run.

I think it will be tough and about at my limit, I don't expect to do it fast. I've swum a lot in the past, much greater distances, and am not worried about that piece although I'll only be able to train in the pool 3-4 times. I can do a 5k run without stopping now. I just borrowed a bike and will see how tough that piece is. I pretty regularly do 1-1.5 hours of cardio at the gym right now, although usually it's broken into 20-40 minute chunks

I don't really have any interest in doing it fast, but would like the challenge of completion. Ideally I'd do one later to give myself more formal training time, but this is the last on in my area for a long time before it gets way too hot. And I really think I would be able to complete it.

Any advice? I've never done anything like it before.

[tuckr]

Been a while just checking in to see how things are going

[randomcards]

Originally Posted by tuckr

Been a while just checking in to see how things are going

Phew... been too busy to write a real update. I'm about to though!

[randomcards]

Weekly Update - Week 23

Starting Weight - 260 lbs
Current Weight - 198 lbs (3weeks)
Loss This Week -2 lbs
Total Loss - 62 lbs

Forgive me, I have been too pre-occupied to write up a decent update so it has been 3 weeks.

On the positive side in the last 3 weeks I have dropped another 2 lbs and am now officially below 200! Pretty exciting.

Other exciting news is that I am now also officially wearing size 34 pants (which I have almost none of, it's been at least 7-8 years since I was size 34). And I've gone from from XL shirts to M shirts, although in some cases the M's are too tight around my upper body which is now more pronounced.

I'm still planning on slowly working my way down to 190, but am really happy with my size/body composition right now so am not in a hurry. My goal is to learn about maintenance during these last 8 lbs and get there slowly.

Diet
As anticipated since the birth of my son I have been in maintenance mode from a calorie perspective. It has been a challenge, the big issue has been desserts that everybody's bringing when they bring us meals. If not for that I'd probably be at goal by now But I'm glad to still be slightly losing even though I'm eating more calories overall than I was when I was losing a lot.

What I have been really working on is keeping my cheats (which are now more frequent due to all the delivered food) isolated. So basically I'm having one meal or dessert a day that is wiping out much of my calorie defecit, but I'm doing well for the rest of the day so I am not going over calories.

When the food deliveries stop I'll be able to reestablish a bit more control and increase my defecit some again.

I have been pleased that I have seen many lifestyle changes even now when I am less hardcore focused on diet. I'm still making all the little changes, going with healthy salad dressings, skipping breads, focusing on protein over carbs, snacking healthy, etc... It has become more natural.

On the converse side, I still find it easy to binge. It takes a lot less food before I'm sick-stuffed now, but it's still easy for me to overeat. This is something I'll have to always be mindful of.



Exercise
I'm still working out well, getting in 4-5 good workouts a week. Still mixing things up. I am not seeing fitness increase as quickly as I used to, which I assume is because A)I've already gotten rid of the "low hanging fruit" and B) I have not increased my intensity quite at the rate my fitness has increased.

I have now several times done a 10K bike ride followed by a 5K run (with a little walking) for my workout. That is a fun different experience.

I have experienced one setback. One random day a week and a half ago while I was on the road I was in the gym and hear a funny sound in my knee when I was doing a squat. Now whenever I do a full squat (even without weight) my right knee sounds like somebody is stepping on cereal. It sounds really bad. But it doesn't hurt at all or feel weak. It was weird mostly because the sound wasn't there one day and was really pronounced the next and hasn't changed since.

I'm not quite sure what to do about it, I'm hoping to get to the doctor soon, but for now I'm only eliminating weighted squats, and keeping most of the rest of my workout the same. If I start to feel any pain or weakness I'll adjust further...

Looking to the future
Only 8 lbs away from goal, but I'm honestly not in a rush to get there. 190 is a pretty arbitrary number. I'm very happy where I am at now, but could definately lose 10 more. I have pretty much acheived all the goals I set out for in terms of my energy, physical appearance, and overall health, so I have less urgency to lose more. But I do want to get to 190 and reevaluate. If nothing else I want that 10 lb cushion so I never get to 200 again!

[susieyarb]

Great news to hear you're under 200! Congrats on that. I agree with your desire to have at least a 10 pound cushion so you don't get up to 200 again. For some reason that 200 mark is a steel enforced door that is easy to walk into, but hard to get out of!

Hope your baby boy and wife are doing well and big sister too.

[tuckr]

Great job on getting under 200 lbs!!!! I am still plugging along, no real weight loss but still exercising, biked 9 miles longest yet so far so good

keep it up

Tucker