In Shape, Out of Shape....

I have been meaning to come back to this thread for months and finally got around to it...

Here is my own personal update having met, exceeded, and then held my weight loss goals for 3 months. Hope this helps some of you who - like me - will probably struggle to maintain a good weight for their lives...

Rewind to end of July 08. After my 40th my wife through me a surprise birthday party. I saw the pictures and I was upset I had let me self go so far.

Two days later met with my doc and he confirmed my worst fears. I was officially fat along with some other big time concerns.

Not wanting to be fat or die young I made some immediate changes.

First thing I decided to do was track everything I eat, all my exercise, and my goals in my Windows Mobile device running Pocket Diet Tracker. It has a db of thousands of popular dishes, you can chart everything, put in your goals, etc. It calculates and does the rest. Very slick! This was the single most important thing I did. I had to unlearn what was healthy and what wasn't.

Second - I decided to work from home. I have a treadmill and a recumbent stationary bike. I fabricated a desktop out of Aluminum that transfers between the 2 and allows me to workout all day while I work out slowly. I also have a bowflex that I used for my breaks to do a quick set of whatever.

Once the pounds started dropping I began training for the first of 2 marathons, 2 1/2 marathons, and countless 16-20 mile training runs. Nothing shreds pounds more then running IMO. If you are like me and work 16 hours / day it is awesome to completely disconnect from the "grid" and go AWOL and be with nature.

Other changes. Stopped the 3-6 pack / night and the forth meal that came along with it. Replaced beer/wine with green tea.

Many of these changes were very hard for an Italian guy that lives for wine, pasta, cannolis, and pretty much everything that is bad for me. Hard - but I feel so much better and have found that I can eat whatever I want but not whenever I want. I go off the wagon and then back on for 3-4 days to catch up.

I have gone from 5' 10" 198 w/ 38" waist to a 166 w/33" waist. I went from 25% body fat to 11% body fat.

I religiously weigh myself each and every day at the same time but I have stopped logging everything I eat.

I am still running and started training for a spring marathon.

Basically the shortcut was there are no shortcuts. I sit down and eat as normally as the next guy at dinner but load up on veggies without the salt and butter I used to cover everything with.

In the end it is like mods to an NSX. I did every trick in the book (cut sweets, cut carbs, weigh every day, heavy exercise, cut booze, log everything). I just didn't do them all at once. Every time I hit a plateau I would take it to the next level and break past that barrier with the next thing I knew.

Things I learned?

- man up and step on the scale every day even if you ate a XL pie with a 12 pack. Accountability and measurement are key.

- for at least a month log everything you put in your mouth. Tracking calories and other things you eat will help you learn how little 2000 calories a day are and what makes you feel full without busting the calorie budget.

- most of the diet tricks and games are complete BS. Weight loss/gain is is a simple equation. If you consume 1 more calorie then you expend you will gain weight. It doesn't matter if you eat all your calories at midnight or not.

- You never burn exactly the same number of calories as you burn. So - you either gained weight or lost weight today (and every day).

- I am actually happier when I am slightly hungry then when I am full and studies have proven others are the same way.

- I eat a lot when I am nervous and not when I am really hungry. Stop and ask yourself "am I really hungry?" before you dust off that plate of cookies after you lost a big deal.

- Fruit and veggies have way less calories then anyone realizes. I load up on them almost every single meal. It is God's gift to us that an apple tastes like is has 4x the calories it actually does.

- Olive Oil, butter, fats have way more calories then anyone realizes and don't really add that much to the food. Try a salad with just balsamic and a packet of equal + mrs. dash. Almost no calories and surprisingly good!

- Bread is a killer in large doses. I cut my pita's up into tiny pieces and include a little piece in each bite instead of plowing through a loaf with every meal.

- Maintenance is harder then the loss part. It is SO easy to get back in your bad habits.

- Weight loss moves like the stock market. I was shocked when for no apparent reason my weight would move up and not come down as it should in a straight line. Stay with your plan and over time it will come down.

- Find exercise you like. I really do love to run.

- Find ways to burn calories when you are working! This is a big one for me. I burn an extra 4-500 calories a day on the days I have no calls/meetings.

- Last, allow yourself to cheat. I am on the Ratatouille diet. In that movie the chef asks the food credit "why are you so skinny as a food critic?". He replies "because if I don't like it - I don't swallow". I still have great meals. I still eat incredible helpings of my absolute favorite food and wash them down with glasses of red wine. I just only do it if I love it and special occasions. I don't blow through a bad of chips or bad bar food. I save it for the occasions and the food I love.

Hope this encourages, inspires, and helps some of you out there during this difficult time of the year to be watching your weight!

Plus think of all the money you can save on food and the HP you will gain driving around in your NSX! I just removed over 30 pounds from the car and the car feels by my seat dino to be faster!

:smile:
 
I have been meaning to come back to this thread for months and finally got around to it...

Here is my own personal update having met, exceeded, and then held my weight loss goals for 3 months. Hope this helps some of you who - like me - will probably struggle to maintain a good weight for their lives...

Rewind to end of July 08. After my 40th my wife through me a surprise birthday party. I saw the pictures and I was upset I had let me self go so far.

Two days later met with my doc and he confirmed my worst fears. I was officially fat along with some other big time concerns.

Not wanting to be fat or die young I made some immediate changes.

First thing I decided to do was track everything I eat, all my exercise, and my goals in my Windows Mobile device running Pocket Diet Tracker. It has a db of thousands of popular dishes, you can chart everything, put in your goals, etc. It calculates and does the rest. Very slick! This was the single most important thing I did. I had to unlearn what was healthy and what wasn't.

Second - I decided to work from home. I have a treadmill and a recumbent stationary bike. I fabricated a desktop out of Aluminum that transfers between the 2 and allows me to workout all day while I work out slowly. I also have a bowflex that I used for my breaks to do a quick set of whatever.

Once the pounds started dropping I began training for the first of 2 marathons, 2 1/2 marathons, and countless 16-20 mile training runs. Nothing shreds pounds more then running IMO. If you are like me and work 16 hours / day it is awesome to completely disconnect from the "grid" and go AWOL and be with nature.

Other changes. Stopped the 3-6 pack / night and the forth meal that came along with it. Replaced beer/wine with green tea.

Many of these changes were very hard for an Italian guy that lives for wine, pasta, cannolis, and pretty much everything that is bad for me. Hard - but I feel so much better and have found that I can eat whatever I want but not whenever I want. I go off the wagon and then back on for 3-4 days to catch up.

I have gone from 5' 10" 198 w/ 38" waist to a 166 w/33" waist. I went from 25% body fat to 11% body fat.

I religiously weigh myself each and every day at the same time but I have stopped logging everything I eat.

I am still running and started training for a spring marathon.

Basically the shortcut was there are no shortcuts. I sit down and eat as normally as the next guy at dinner but load up on veggies without the salt and butter I used to cover everything with.

In the end it is like mods to an NSX. I did every trick in the book (cut sweets, cut carbs, weigh every day, heavy exercise, cut booze, log everything). I just didn't do them all at once. Every time I hit a plateau I would take it to the next level and break past that barrier with the next thing I knew.

Things I learned?

- man up and step on the scale every day even if you ate a XL pie with a 12 pack. Accountability and measurement are key.

- for at least a month log everything you put in your mouth. Tracking calories and other things you eat will help you learn how little 2000 calories a day are and what makes you feel full without busting the calorie budget.

- most of the diet tricks and games are complete BS. Weight loss/gain is is a simple equation. If you consume 1 more calorie then you expend you will gain weight. It doesn't matter if you eat all your calories at midnight or not.

- You never burn exactly the same number of calories as you burn. So - you either gained weight or lost weight today (and every day).

- I am actually happier when I am slightly hungry then when I am full and studies have proven others are the same way.

- I eat a lot when I am nervous and not when I am really hungry. Stop and ask yourself "am I really hungry?" before you dust off that plate of cookies after you lost a big deal.

- Fruit and veggies have way less calories then anyone realizes. I load up on them almost every single meal. It is God's gift to us that an apple tastes like is has 4x the calories it actually does.

- Olive Oil, butter, fats have way more calories then anyone realizes and don't really add that much to the food. Try a salad with just balsamic and a packet of equal + mrs. dash. Almost no calories and surprisingly good!

- Bread is a killer in large doses. I cut my pita's up into tiny pieces and include a little piece in each bite instead of plowing through a loaf with every meal.

- Maintenance is harder then the loss part. It is SO easy to get back in your bad habits.

- Weight loss moves like the stock market. I was shocked when for no apparent reason my weight would move up and not come down as it should in a straight line. Stay with your plan and over time it will come down.

- Find exercise you like. I really do love to run.

- Find ways to burn calories when you are working! This is a big one for me. I burn an extra 4-500 calories a day on the days I have no calls/meetings.

- Last, allow yourself to cheat. I am on the Ratatouille diet. In that movie the chef asks the food credit "why are you so skinny as a food critic?". He replies "because if I don't like it - I don't swallow". I still have great meals. I still eat incredible helpings of my absolute favorite food and wash them down with glasses of red wine. I just only do it if I love it and special occasions. I don't blow through a bad of chips or bad bar food. I save it for the occasions and the food I love.

Hope this encourages, inspires, and helps some of you out there during this difficult time of the year to be watching your weight!

Plus think of all the money you can save on food and the HP you will gain driving around in your NSX! I just removed over 30 pounds from the car and the car feels by my seat dino to be faster!

:smile:


Thank you for the update! And a HUGE congrats to you!
 
Holy old posts! ;)

Still love running (which means my poor NSX sits and is lucky to get 800 miles a year).

I have competed 6 marathons (countless 1/2 marathons) since I had my running bug hit. Running beats road racing in some ways (I can run as fast as I want with no worries of tickets or insurance!).

After 4 failed Boston Marathon qualifying attempts - last year in Chicago I had the great satisfaction of qualifying and am packing for the Boston Marathon (leave 10 days from today). I am flying my entire family (my extended family lives there) and it is going to be a huge reunion.

For me - running 40-55 miles/week was the only way to keep the weight off and get my blood pressure under control. I still watch what I eat and am not as slim as my all time low of 5'10" 165 but I have found my "happy weight" of 173 and feel actually stronger/better than when I was too thin for my build.

It is funny now - just got my haircut yesterday and the girl cutting my hair was talking about weight and said "you have never nor will you ever have to worry about your weight". Funny - how everyone assumes at mid 40's if you are trim that you have been automatically gifted with good genes and don't kill yourself to get/stay there.

Hope all my NSX peeps are well - peace.
 
congrats on doing what you're doing!

I'm in the process of building my obscenely thin frame. I've been taking protein supplements along with a bunch of various vitamins and mineral supplements, along with 5 days a week at the gym.

It's so hard to put any mass on skinny self =[

haha. best of luck with the marathon!
 
after experiencing two serious surgeries and complications over the past 3.5 years, on jan 31 of this year i began a aerobic zone workout of 1 1/2 hrs - 2 1/4 hrs on our elliptical, monday - friday.

on the console, my typical workout indicates ~1,200 burned and has been as high as 1,746. during this same period of time i've modified my eating slightly - i eat more veggies and fruit - but not a great deal ... and my appetite seems to have dropped in the process. i have a mochi or two a couple of nights a week, maybe a bit of cake / other goodies occasionally as desired.

so far i've lost some weight and i am beginning to feel as though i'm on the road to getting in shape again.

if i have an activity-related goal in my efforts, at this point it's to have a day where my elliptical session burn = 1 lb of calories; my 58th b'day is in early summer and that's my goal-date.

we'll see how it goes.

(btw, once i achieve my weight / conditioning goals, i expect to transition to a maintenance schedule of 2-3x weekly sessions of 30-45 mins + whatever other recreational exercise - cycling / blading - i can work in. again, we'll see how it goes.)
 
Hello, I just found myself single, and in a new city, so I guess I am joining the fray. Once I finish reading the rest of the posts I will try to contribute something useful. Good luck fellas.

Philip

LoL- well now I find myself married with a child and in yet another city and making awesome progress.

I started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 3 times a week in February of 2010. That got me started. (I have trained with a fellow NSXPrime members cousin)

I then decided to pursue running the Tough Mudder endurance / obstacle race for this summer and got myself on a diet, and crossfit program.

I have dropped from 202lbs to 187lbs over 5 weeks just by monitoring my food intake. 1700 calories a day in, and burn 2700 calories a day.

My diet make up is 60% protein, 25% carbs and 15% fat. I am using www.myapex.com along with the bodybugg hardware to track.

Tomorrow I roll in my first BJJ tournament.

Hard to believe but at nearly 36 I'm close to the best shape of my life.

P
 
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I'm in the best shape of my life!! A very round shape, plus I gained 150 lbs so it makes the shape very organic. :biggrin:

Yea I work hard to be in such great shape. It ain't easy eating all them fries and drink all that beer every day! :tongue:

The recent cruise allowed me to eat like a glutton, 3 course breakfasts, 2 course lunches, 4 course dinners with 2 course desserts. Late night pizza. Early morning room service. Unlimited soda, cheap beer in Mexico. Oh yea baby!!! :D
 
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after experiencing two serious surgeries and complications over the past 3.5 years, on jan 31 of this year i began a aerobic zone workout of 1 1/2 hrs - 2 1/4 hrs on our elliptical, monday - friday.

on the console, my typical workout indicates ~1,200 burned and has been as high as 1,746. during this same period of time i've modified my eating slightly - i eat more veggies and fruit - but not a great deal ... and my appetite seems to have dropped in the process. i have a mochi or two a couple of nights a week, maybe a bit of cake / other goodies occasionally as desired.

so far i've lost some weight and i am beginning to feel as though i'm on the road to getting in shape again.

if i have an activity-related goal in my efforts, at this point it's to have a day where my elliptical session burn = 1 lb of calories; my 58th b'day is in early summer and that's my goal-date.

we'll see how it goes.

(btw, once i achieve my weight / conditioning goals, i expect to transition to a maintenance schedule of 2-3x weekly sessions of 30-45 mins + whatever other recreational exercise - cycling / blading - i can work in. again, we'll see how it goes.)
update:
last month (april) i pretty much stayed with 1.5+ hrs each session, modified my food quantity and type only slightly (gravitating more toward fruits, veggies for in-between meals / snacks). this month (may) i reduced my sessions to 1 hr and stayed the course.

last week i needed to see my hematologist for semi-annual checkup and was surprised to find that i weigh 21 lbs less than my last visit in december.

i'm feeling **significantly** better / more energized than i was before beginning my program. i intend to maintain the 1 hr session m-f through the end of the year and hope / anticipate that i'll continue to feel better while i'm shaping up. after i reach my ever-evolving goals, i imagine moving to the maintenance schedule mentioned above.
 
I just started weight training last month and have already noticed my waist dropping 1.5" and body fat down around 2%. My weight hasn't really changed too much, since whatever fat I lost was replaced with muscle. I noticed the key for me was keeping my meals in small Tupperware containers and preparing all of my food myself, rather than eating out. Ironically, I am actually spending less money on food, eating more frequently through out the day and still losing fat. Additionally, I noticed I can't even eat fast food anymore since the grease actually makes me sick.
 
I've always been up and down with my weight like many of you here. I tried all the crash diets, all of the 'do this for 30 days' exercise programs, the protein shakes, etc. I finally noticed that it wasn't what I was eating, it was my inability to alter my life in a way that wasn't sustainable. I hate working out. The thought of seeing fellow gym-goers flexing and lifting weights in a mirror gives me the heeby jeebies. Not my thing to say the least.

Then I met a client that was an NCAA swimming champ back in the late 70's. I followed his plan of swimming (1) mile, (3) days a week. I eat whatever I want (every day), have a beer or drink when I want, and after a brief hiatus from shoulder surgery, I am again swimming (1) mile at least (3) days a week.

My first 3 months I didn't lose any weight. Not 1 pound. Soon after the weight started dropping off. Simple case of muscle replacing fat.

I give up 45 minutes of my day, 3 days a week, and am getting toned once again. No shakes, diets, steroids, or anything unsustainable. I have no desire to get 'ripped'. I just want to be fit. This is a sustainable way for me to do just that. For those who need the tunes while working out, I use the 'SwimP3'. Waterproof USB connection. All the jammin you want, under the water. . . . .priceless!!!
 
LoL- well now I find myself married with a child and in yet another city and making awesome progress.

I started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 3 times a week in February of 2010. That got me started. (I have trained with a fellow NSXPrime members cousin)

I then decided to pursue running the Tough Mudder endurance / obstacle race for this summer and got myself on a diet, and crossfit program.

I have dropped from 202lbs to 187lbs over 5 weeks just by monitoring my food intake. 1700 calories a day in, and burn 2700 calories a day.

My diet make up is 60% protein, 25% carbs and 15% fat. I am using www.myapex.com along with the bodybugg hardware to track.

Tomorrow I roll in my first BJJ tournament.

Hard to believe but at nearly 36 I'm close to the best shape of my life.

P

I'm at 180 lbs now which was my goal weight when I began training, i fluxuate down to 178 form time to time, but have been holding steady at a "walking around weight" of 180.

Saturday I ran an event that I consider to be a tune up run called Beach Palooza at the Boulder reservoir. It was a 5k mudrun, and I finished 10th in my age bracket. I am pretty sure there were more than 10 competitorsin the bracket 35-40yrs old. I held a comfortable pace of 8.5 min miles over the entirety of the course including obstacles, and I really felt like I could have kept going at that pace long beyond the actual finish.

The Tough Mudder will be much harder- and 3x the length, but I think I'm going to survive.

I race at Beaver Creek CO. June 26th @ 10:20 am.

BTW- I finished the BJJ tournament 1-2. It was double elimination and I lost my first match by choke, won my second match by triangle, then lost my third match by choke. I learned a lot from it, and continue to train 3-4 times per week.

Philip
 
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after experiencing two serious surgeries and complications over the past 3.5 years, on jan 31 of this year i began a aerobic zone workout of 1 1/2 hrs - 2 1/4 hrs on our elliptical, monday - friday.

on the console, my typical workout indicates ~1,200 burned and has been as high as 1,746. during this same period of time i've modified my eating slightly - i eat more veggies and fruit - but not a great deal ... and my appetite seems to have dropped in the process. i have a mochi or two a couple of nights a week, maybe a bit of cake / other goodies occasionally as desired.

so far i've lost some weight and i am beginning to feel as though i'm on the road to getting in shape again.

if i have an activity-related goal in my efforts, at this point it's to have a day where my elliptical session burn = 1 lb of calories; my 58th b'day is in early summer and that's my goal-date.

we'll see how it goes.

(btw, once i achieve my weight / conditioning goals, i expect to transition to a maintenance schedule of 2-3x weekly sessions of 30-45 mins + whatever other recreational exercise - cycling / blading - i can work in. again, we'll see how it goes.)
update:

i have continued to use the elliptical m-f, though in mid-april laddered my workout time down from 2 1/4 hrs to 1.5-2hrs, then 1-1.5 hrs-1 hr to my current 1 hr each morning, m-f.

i've dropped 35-40 lbs and am satisfied with the results of my efforts, so will continue with the 1 hr approach through 1/31 of '12 and see what an entire year has done for me. (i'm betting i'll be down another 15-20 lbs by then.) all of "the usual" conditioning benefits have kicked in nicely and i'm feeling as though - after years of recovering - i'm **almost** back to being me.

my hematologist has cleared me to return to snowboarding (woo hoo!) and distance speed skating, so i'm rebuilding my 5 wheels to begin doing some laps and will check out the latest in board bindings / boots for my old skool burton air sym 6 board for tahoe.

oh, and, yesterday i pulled my boston whaler out of storage and we're taking it waterskiing on wed for the first time in 4 years.
 
update:

oh, and, yesterday i pulled my boston whaler out of storage and we're taking it waterskiing on wed for the first time in 4 years.

Way to go, queenlives! :smile:

If I could find a good match/sweetheart for me, maybe I could take my dual-sport motorcycle, a Kawasaki KLX 300R, out for the first time in 4 years. :smile:
 
Way to go, queenlives! :smile:

If I could find a good match/sweetheart for me, maybe I could take my dual-sport motorcycle, a Kawasaki KLX 300R, out for the first time in 4 years. :smile:
Thx!

Maybe if you took that bike out for a ride you'd attract a match ... Kinda like a moth to that flame you've got burning inside you ;)
 
I'm at 177lbs, still training Jiu Jitsu 3x a week, and now running 5k every week day, soon adding P90X to the regiment as I need to build upper body endurance.

I ran my second Tough Mudder in Edna TX on Jan 28 2012. I trained pretty hard for this one accumulating mileage in excess of 20 miles per week. I finished in the top 5% of the field in TX and received my invitation to run in the Worlds Toughest Mudder (World Championship) for 2012

Location is yet to be determined.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xzfRgz-q3KY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here is a vid of me traversing the inverted cargo net during the TX Race



and the guys I ran with

100_0107.jpg
 
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I'm at 177lbs, still training Jiu Jitsu 3x a week, and now running 5k every week day, soon adding P90X to the regiment as I need to build upper body endurance.

I ran my second Tough Mudder in Edna TX on Jan 28 2012. I trained pretty hard for this one accumulating mileage in excess of 20 miles per week. I finished in the top 5% of the field in TX and received my invitation to run in the Worlds Toughest Mudder (World Championship) for 2012

Wow looks like fun. You're already doing tons of cardio, I'd skip the Plyo, Kempo, and maybe the YogaX (if you want to focus on upper body endurance) if you're going to be doing P90X.
 
I'm at 177lbs, still training Jiu Jitsu 3x a week, and now running 5k every week day, soon adding P90X to the regiment as I need to build upper body endurance.

I ran my second Tough Mudder in Edna TX on Jan 28 2012. I trained pretty hard for this one accumulating mileage in excess of 20 miles per week. I finished in the top 5% of the field in TX and received my invitation to run in the Worlds Toughest Mudder (World Championship) for 2012

I started training 2 weeks ago for the Tough Mudder PA (Poconos) at the end of April. Running it with my best friend (who has more work to do fitness wise, but we both agreed that we would get into the best shape of our lives, and both at 26/27 years of age, it's a good time to start) and a few other friends.

I'm not in bad shape, but not in good shape. Started at 195 and my goal is to be down around the 175 range when all is said and done. I used to always be thin, topping out at 165 in college being able to bench several sets of 225, always being active, but transitioning to the work life has left me heavy, less active, and hungry. I bet that sounds all too familiar to many.

I joined a gym close by work and a friend and I go 4 days a week after work for 1-1.5 hours. Start cardio, then weights, alternating upper body, lower body, core, then all cardio on the last day, then finish with cardio. Found I can actually run! I am averaging 2 miles per day at 7mph (9ish minute mile) and gradually increasing my pace and distance. My weight hasn't changed, but I feel much stronger than when I started, and can run significantly more without being winded.

More to come!
 
Start cardio, then weights,

I would switch these if you want to see better strength gains, weights first, then cardio...guess it depends on your priority. I completely notice the difference in strength when I have done cardio first...feel a lot weaker.

Yes, becoming a working class stiff has taken it's toll on me...oh yeah and aging.
 
I would switch these if you want to see better strength gains, weights first, then cardio...guess it depends on your priority. I completely notice the difference in strength when I have done cardio first...feel a lot weaker.

Yes, becoming a working class stiff has taken it's toll on me...oh yeah and aging.

This is totally right. If you want to concentrate on building muscle hit the weights first. If you do moderate/hard cardio first, you're pre fatiguing your muscles and won't get the most out of your weight training.
 
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