Author Topic: Who Wants to Lose Weight?  (Read 10860 times)

Offline speedermike

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Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« on: November 25, 2010, 01:29 PM »
I was recently involved with shooting a reality TV show for a major network that will air in February.  I was on camera for about 12 hours. I saw some stills from the shoot, and I was horrified.  I knew that I had gained weight over the years, but jeez...I looked like Jabba.

I need to lose weight.  I'm going to start on Monday and wonder if anyone wants to join along.  I am not gong for stunt weight loss, but a healty 2 pounds a week.  I will be working out about 5 times a week and cutting out all crap from my diet.  Recently, I have gone a few weeks at at ime without sweets, but I need to give them up completely.  I've never done drugs, and I've only ever drank socially, but I am addicted to choclate and diet Pepsi.

I've always been big, and know that I look strong and healty around 200 lbs.  When I got married in 2003, I was 210. Between then and now I have completed my masters degree, worked four years as a full time highschool teacher in NYC, had two kids, bought and fixed up a house, written and illustrated nine children's books and ate terribly.

Right now I'm 242.  So, 40 lbs is my first goal.

I've seen weight loss threads out here in the past, and thought it might be a way to do this with a supportive group.  All I'm asking is that we check every day or so, and discuss what were trying to do.


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Offline Phrubruh

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2010, 01:35 PM »
I was up the high once. Now I'm down to 195. The trick is to give up fast food and soda completely. There is far to much fat and sugar in them. Also start walking for at least 1/2 hour to 1 hour a day during lunch at work. Bring lunch with you from home. Don't go out to eat. You will save money and you will lose weight. You will be amazed how fast it drops off.
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Offline I Am Sith

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2010, 11:32 AM »
I've been pretty disgusted with how I've let myself go over the last several years.  I've been hovering at the 220 mark for a while now and really need to get back to 185-190 (pre-marriage and kids weight).  Between the herniated disks in my back and the multiple knee surgeries, losing weight is really going to help me out long term.  I cut out the soda this year and it really has helped a lot, but I'm a sweet addict.  That's the part that's going to be hard for me.

I'm travelling for business next week but plan on starting everything fresh the first full week of December.  Because of the bad knee and back, I can't really run any more, so I'm going to hit the stationary bike and elliptical for cardio.  I also plan to starting lifting weights again, more for definition than bulk.  Lastly, once I start shedding some of the pounds, I'm going to try to start back up with my Tae Kwon Do work outs.  I was in the best shape of my life when I was taking classes and I think it would really help me out again.  Long term I'd like to get to the point where I can start instructing my kids.  It would be a fun thing that we can do as a family, and it would give me a really good reason to maintain my weight so I can continue to teach them.

Count me in Mike!  What were your thoughts?  Weekly weigh-ins, before and after pictures, train for a 5k/half-marathon/iron man?  Hopefully we'll get a few more to join us.
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Offline Matt_Fury

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2010, 04:33 PM »
My advice is not to cut anything out completely.  Just moderate your intake.  Then step up your exercise.  I lost 15 lbs in 6 weeks by cutting the amount of coke I drink, eating granola bars instead of peanut butter m&m's and doing 50 push ups before bed every night.  I hit a bit of a wall in regards to weight after that because I gained muscle in addition to losing fat but it didn't really bother me.
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Offline JediJman

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #4 on: November 27, 2010, 12:02 AM »
Soda is a surrisingly large part of it.  I had my wisdom teeth removed this Summer and couldn't eat a lot of solid food for a couple of weeks.  I abandoned soda and had a loft of "soft meals" like Soup, Yogurt, Jello, Ice Cream just because it hurt to bite down hard on more solid foods.  Anyway, as a side benefit I lost 6 pounds the first week with just the change in diet  (I worked out regularly before the surgery, but did not work out for a couple of months afterwards).  I proceeded to lose another 4 pounds over the course of the next two weeks as I increased my solid food intake, but still avoided any soda. 
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Offline Chris M

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2010, 02:56 PM »
I'm not really worried about losing weight.  I've been between 205-215 for about 8 years and I'm pretty happy with it.  I wouldn't mind getting my weight down to 195 or so though.  However, I'm a lifter and have been going on 14 years now, so for the most part the weight is fine with me provided it's good weight.  I got up to a very chunky 220 or so when I was in college and got tired of feeling lazy and not feeling good about myself.  So I had a change in my eating habits.

I'll be happy to offer advice to people who might want it.  I'll offer words of wisdom I've gained over the years in the gym and watching others struggle with weight if anyone wants it.  I would never, ever suggest any kind of fad diet at all.  Once you are "off" of it, people usually go back to the way they used to be.  Think of weight loss as a change in lifestyle.  My biggest suggestion is to eat in moderation.  Don't go overboard and from time to time enjoy the "good stuff."  It won't kill you.  However, be mindful of what you are putting in.  If you are person who eats fast food and that's just the way it is, let me help you with some common sense stuff.  Have your meal dry or with mustard.  Cut the mayo, cut the cheese, and any other dressings that are offered.   Get grilled food whenever possible, especially chicken.  If you have to have fries, go small, or try to substitute fruit or something else.  Or just go with the entree and skip the sides completely.  Drink water when possible.  If you don't like the non-taste of water, then get some kind of powder you can pour into your water and flavor it.

I try to stick with this kind of common sense plan.  I do fall of the wagon from time to time though.  However, I make up for some of it because I run anywhere from 10-20 miles a week and lift moderate to heavy weights 3-5 times a week.

Common sense, moderation, motivation, and will power are your best friends in the weight loss battle.
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Offline Darth Kenobi

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #6 on: November 27, 2010, 07:05 PM »
This past April I ended up joining weight watchers since I wasn't happy with my weight.  So far I have lost 19.6 lbs on their point plans.  I still have a long way to go and need to start walking so that I can keep on losing.  Good luck with reaching your goal. 

Offline darth broem 2

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #7 on: November 29, 2010, 09:24 PM »
I was doing P90X for about 5 weeks 2 months ago.  Then I got sick for a few weeks and just got done moving to a new house this week.  Anyway, that program was definately helping me.  I am about to start up again on 12/1.  The routines are hard if you are not in some sort of physical shape though.

Offline speedermike

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #8 on: November 30, 2010, 12:19 PM »
Hey guys, thanks for all of the support...

I am Sith...I was just thinking of checking in every few days...talk about what you are doing, or not doing...you can share your weight, but you don't have to.

I imagine it like a weight-watchers meeting, without all of the skinny 60 year old women who are upset because they can't lose 2 pounds and that had a piece of cake (!) at a party!

---I got out for an hours walk yesterday, no sweets, no soda, good dinner.
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Offline EdSolo

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #9 on: November 30, 2010, 01:11 PM »
Another thing to look at is your carb intake.  Cutting back on the carbs helps a lot.  It also helps if you have high triglycerides (20% of your triglycerides is part of your total cholesterol count).  I have had high cholesterol in the past and using a diet to cut out fat lowered my bad cholesterol, but my triglycerides stayed pretty much the same.  Once I cut back the carbs, they went down drastically.  I'm 5'-9" and am now pushing 185-190 lbs again since I've fallen off the wagon.  Last time, I started at 198 lbs. and got down to about 165 lbs. over a year with diet and walking 40-50 minutes five or six times a week.  For the carbs, my dietitian said I should have 12 carb choices a day.  Each carb choice is 15 g of carbs.  Another useful item she taught was about food labels.  Besides the portion part (where even small items might actually contain one and a half to two servings per container) is how you can look at the total calories, carbs, fat etc.  Her advice was to avoid anything that had more than 5 g of fat per serving.  However, if you have a TV dinner that contains say chicken and pasta and has a total fat balance of 7 g, you are still ok since you have two different items, therefore, you can divide the total by two.

Offline I Am Sith

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #10 on: January 3, 2011, 11:11 PM »
I'm travelling for business next week but plan on starting everything fresh the first full week of December.

So I wan't able to start working out when I planned to due to work commitments and the holidays.  Just started up about a week ago.  Weighed in at 220.2 when I started and am at 217.7 as of today.  Goal #1 is to be down to 200 or less by my birthday in March.  Goal #2 is to be down to 185 by Memorial Day.  While that's a lot of weight to lose (IMO), I think they are realistic goals.

I recently ran into a high school friend and found out he joined a local 'Biggest Loser' competition over the summer and fall.  He ended up winning by losing 75lbs (about 22% of his original weigh in).  It was really motivating to listen to his story and hear how happy he was to get back in shape after all these years.

Did you start working out Mike?
« Last Edit: January 3, 2011, 11:11 PM by I Am Sith »
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Offline JediJman

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #11 on: January 4, 2011, 01:15 PM »
I wish you luck Sith.  Losing 35lbs in 4-5 months is going to be tough IMO.  If you completely change your diet and exercise, it's doable, but I'd give yourself more time than that.  I lost about 10lbs over the course of 2 months last Fall when I had my wisdom teeth removed.  My diet was mostly liquid and I worked out cardio & weights 1-2 times per week.  Just 2 months later through the holidays, I managed to put the 10 lbs right back on.   :P
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Offline Rob

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #12 on: January 4, 2011, 01:56 PM »
I wish you luck Sith.  Losing 35lbs in 4-5 months is going to be tough IMO. 

That's not even 2 pounds a week.  Totally doable with some focus and discipline. 

Offline JediJman

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #13 on: January 4, 2011, 03:21 PM »
I wish you luck Sith.  Losing 35lbs in 4-5 months is going to be tough IMO. 

That's not even 2 pounds a week.  Totally doable with some focus and discipline. 

You get all A's for Math Rob, but a sustained 2lbs per week is tougher than it sounds.  If you ever watch Biggest Loser, there are always weeks where someone doesn't lose weight or even regains a few pounds.  And that's with constant dieting and exercise, with a personal trainer, away from the demands of "real life."  I hope you can do it - I just don't think you should feel bad if you can't reach your 185 goal that quickly because I do think it's aggressive.
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Offline I Am Sith

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Re: Who Wants to Lose Weight?
« Reply #14 on: January 4, 2011, 04:42 PM »
I hope you can do it - I just don't think you should feel bad if you can't reach your 185 goal that quickly because I do think it's aggressive.

I appreciate the well wishes.  I realize it's an aggressive goal, and I'm confident that I can get there with a little discipline but I won't be disappointed if I don't hit the second goal.  I'll update my progress periodically (probably every other week or longer so I don't bore people to death).
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