November Weight Loss Challenge

[Lynn]

Anybody remeber the monthly weight loss challenge we started almost a year ago?

Wanna try again?

I go laid off about a month ago, so have more time to exercise and participate in a thread.

And, I got a head start. My wife and I started doing low-carb, high-protein dieting, and making trips to the gym. In the last two months I've gone down from 228 to 213.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. Don't wait for the New Years Resolution. Who's with me? Copy/Paste the below:

Starting weight:

Goal for the Month:

Overall goal:

Weight loss to date:

Biggest Challenge, Fitness:

Biggest Challenge, Diet:

Plan of Attack:

Day of Weigh In:

 

[Lynn]

Starting weight: 213

Goal for the Month: 199

Overall goal: 180?

Weight loss to date: 15#

Biggest Challenge, Fitness: Getting motivated to do something daily

Biggest Challenge, Diet: All that leftover Halloween candy

Plan of Attack: Gym on the days my wife can go (she works a strange schedule, and is picking up extra shifts since I'm now a deadbeat) and the mini stair stepper on gym-less days.

Day of Weigh In: Sunday seems good.

 

[stevenmd]

Starting weight: 225

Goal for the Month: 215

Overall goal: 205 (I am 6'-1")

Weight loss to date: Just dropped from 240

Biggest Challenge, Fitness: I *********g hate squats

Biggest Challenge, Diet: Doritos, Ranch Dressing, Pizza, Bacon, Beer... geez, I could go on forever.

Plan of Attack: Eat correctly, supplement correctly, work out correctly for my goals.

Day of Weigh In: Yesterday, November 1, 2009

My biggest problem is muscle memory. I used to be bulky. I say "bulky" now b/c I had quite a bit of fat on my body also. Now, as I am losing weight, my muscles are returning to their "pre-lazy" state. As I lose fat, I am gaining muscle. It might be best for me to measure body fat % and LBM % (lean body mass).:chef:

 

[biglos454]

Starting weight: 342

Goal for the Month: 320

Overall goal: 255 (im 6'6"

Weight loss to date: 8lbs. i was 350 2wks ago

Biggest Challenge, Fitness: small town with 1 crowded gym makes it hard to get motivated to go.

Biggest Challenge, Diet: keeping a healthy steady diet while working shift work. working alternating 12 hour days and 12 hour nights makes it hard to eat right.

Plan of Attack: revamp my diet as best i can to deal with work. hit the gym on days off. go walking/jogging/running after work either in the morning or the afternoon depending or night or day shift.

Day of Weigh In: november 3, 2009

 

[Stan the Man]

Mine is a little different; I'm not trying to lose weight, rather gain some. I need to gain muscle mass and get in better shape through the holiday season. Good luck everybody!

Starting weight: 210

Goal for the Month: 218

Overall goal: 235

Weight loss to date: N/A

Biggest Challenge, Fitness: Hitting the gym hard consistently.

Biggest Challenge, Diet: Candy. I always find a way to eat chocolate throughout the week, and thats not the weight gain I want.

Plan of Attack: Hit the gym hard 4 days a week, working on shoulders, arms, chest/back, and lower body. Getting in cardio and abs on my non-lifting days.

Day of Weigh In: Nov. 3, 2009. I'll check my progress on the 30th.

 

[stevenmd]

Mine is a little different; I'm not trying to lose weight, rather gain some. I need to gain muscle mass and get in better shape through the holiday season.

Try adding Ultimate Nutrition's Iso Mass Extreme Gainer to your program. It has several different types of protein and creatine. I hear it can be kind of nasty tasting sometimes and you have to drink plenty of fluids. Then eat really clean - chicken breasts or fish, brown rice or sweet potatoes, and veggies. Eat 6 meals a day, 3 hours apart, supplement meal #1 and #5 (right after you workout) with the Iso Mass.

Adjust your starchy carb intake (brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc.) if you are putting on too much body fat or losing it as well. If your goal is to gain weight, you will not do so if you are losing too much body fat.

Creatine is a must.

 

[stevenmd]

Biggest Challenge, Diet: keeping a healthy steady diet while working shift work. working alternating 12 hour days and 12 hour nights makes it hard to eat right.

Get a small cooler you can take to work or pack protein powder & a shaker. Plan & prep everything out ahead of time. Stay away from protein bars, they are just candy bars with a little bit of protein added.

If needed, spend 1 day per week cooking your chicken, starchy carb, and fibrous carb. Put it all together in meal size packages - tupperware or even plastic freezer baggies. Prepare your meals for the week so you don't even have to think about it.

People make the biggest mistakes in their proper eating when they fail to plan ahead. I don't want to say "diet" b/c they never last. It is really all about changing your lifestyle.

 

[DarinM]

I've been completely rebuffed in all discussions with my HMO regarding bariatric surgery, which I honestly feel is the most likely to work option for me at this point in my life.

So I'm looking at options for self-pay. It's going to be a pretty significant expense - probably $15,000 or so. That's going to be a major hit to my discretionary spending and mean no cool guitars or Jeep mods for awhile. But, you gotta do what you gotta do, and I have to do this.

I have a consult with a bariatric surgeon on 17 November. If it goes well and I can get the financing lined out, maybe I'll get cut on before the end of the year. It will be laproscopic, so the recovery time should be minimal (barring any complications of course).

Lynn, you've met me. You know I'm a big old boy (understatement).
I'm probably north of 450 pounds and I'm about 5'10". I've been very healthy for all of this - cholesterol is fine, BP is high side of normal, no diabetes, etc., but I'm sure that is bound to end soon. My knees are shot and my back is starting to hurt. I turn 40 in a few months so it's not like I'm a kid anymore.

My goal? I must lose a couple hundred pounds and then just see where I plateau. I want to go kayaking, I want to be able to fit in an airplane bathroom, I want to be able to go out and hike a few days out to the middle of nowhere and be able to make it back.

It's good to see this thread come back just at a time when this issue has been seriously on my thoughts. Great minds must think alike... or something.

Y'all have a good one.

 

[Lynn]

Biggest Challenge, Diet: keeping a healthy steady diet while working shift work. working alternating 12 hour days and 12 hour nights makes it hard to eat right.

Plan of Attack: revamp my diet as best i can to deal with work. hit the gym on days off. go walking/jogging/running after work either in the morning or the afternoon depending or night or day shift.

Day of Weigh In: november 3, 2009

Biglos454, I can sympathize. My wife and I are working on this together. She’s a nurse that works 4-12s, Sun., Thurs., and Fri. nights. She’s utilizing some online tracking tools, and it seems that most days she actually doesn’t get enough calories, and her body hoards ‘em in ‘starvation mode.’

At least she has a regular schedule. Bouncing back and forth between days and nights must really screw with your metabolism.

What kind of work do you do, and what town do you live in?

 

[Lynn]

Darin! How's it going?

I'm sorry to hear about your problems with the HMO.

I can kind of vicariously sympathize. My wife tried to get a weight-related surgery, and was turned down by her insurance because she hadn't 'tried hard enough' to loose weight. Very frustrating, because exercise would be much easier after the surgery...

Anyway, she found out that the insurance would pay for a medically directed weight-loss program. Have you checked into that? My wife has met with a doctor several times, and is on some meds that help. Now we're hoping that she can qualify for the surgery after she does the medically directed program for a while.

We are also members of the local YMCA, and she has met with a personal trainer a few times. I think it was $99 for four sessions. The trainer gave her a long list of personalized exercises to do.

Your knee problems certainly put a damper on exercise. Could you do water aerobics or swimming?

Keep us posted with your progress.

What part of town do you live in?

 

[TJDIV]

I'll try to fill this out, although I started this spring, haven't done one (form) in years.
Volleyball and Basketball leagues just started, I just turned 30 and last year I was 20 pounds heavier than I should've been for the impact sports: So all summer long I slowly built up fast twitch training and actually cut some weight. (So I added a "current weight" number )

Starting weight: 226
Current weight: 203

Goal for the Month: 195

Overall goal: 195

Weight loss to date: 23lbs

Biggest Challenge, Fitness: 22 years of sports = bad joints / ankles / knees /back

Biggest Challenge, Diet: Sailor Jerry and his Rum

Plan of Attack: Basketball ended in March 08 (6 month season, 2x / wk + Volleyball 2x / wk), I kept training with strength shoes, pushups (and all other cals), sprints / intervals. (you do NOT need to pay a gym)

Day of Weigh In: this a.m. 202lbs. If I get to 195 this 30yr old will be dunking again

 

[DarinM]

Darin! How's it going?

Anyway, she found out that the insurance would pay for a medically directed weight-loss program. Have you checked into that?

Your knee problems certainly put a damper on exercise. Could you do water aerobics or swimming?

Keep us posted with your progress.

What part of town do you live in?

My carrier (Humana) will pay for alot of things. My employer did not purchase those options for our coverage. What I was told during multiple discussions with Humana is that I do not have coverage for ANY sort of obesity-related treatment. Diets, exercise programs, dietician, ANYTHING. Also, now that I am on their records as being obese, I will also be denied coverage for any treatment I need that could be related to obesity. They didn't actually say it quite that way, but did point out in the statement of coverage that obesity related illnesses weren't covered. I can not say more and keep this family friendly. We need a "burning house" smiley...

I'm very, very sensitive to chlorine so most public pools are poison for me. Bad things, man. Nose bleeds, gums start to bleed, eyes try to leap out of my head. I have found that it doesn't take a whole lot of weight loss to make a world of difference to my knees though, and I can be out walking with really no problems. So once I get started I should be good to go. I just need help with that first big step, and that's why I'm looking at surgery - hopefully the band will be all I need for the least-invasive approach.

I live by Seton Northwest - Balcones Woods (Braker/183 area). I know you're familiar with that area.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Not sure if I should join this thread because I guess my goals are meagre. But, what the hell.

Starting weight: 178

Goal for the Month: 173

Overall goal: 170

Weight loss to date: -5

Biggest Challenge, Fitness: I have ADD, and have real hard time doing anything as boring as running or biking for any length of time. The only thing I've ever been able to do with any dedication is something exciting like hiking, kayaking, climbing, etc. Hard to do now with a young family.

Biggest Challenge, Diet: Diet is actually not too bad, which is why I am not much over my target weight. I don't really plan on changing it much. Actually, I'd like to be able to feel I can eat more safely.

I also have a lot of trouble with high intensity workouts. Not sure if I have mild asthma or what. I have done multiple 6000 calorie days of long duration lower impact activity like paddling, but I've never been able to run around the block.

Plan of Attack: Will be joining the local YMCA. Will also be encouraging my wife to join as she's always had low cardiovascular fitness which holds me back when we do things outside together. Probably something like 30 minutes of cardio per day, and then weight training. I don't really have a plan yet. My leg muscles are always in good shape, and will get toned up with the cardio stuff. I'm mainly interested in gaining upper body strength, but I guess I can't hit it hard every day so...?

A lot of this for me comes out of family history I guess. My dad is 60, and in reasonable health. He's always been strong, but packed on 10-20 lbs of extra fat on an a frame my size. Despite not being in bad shape, he had a heart attack last month. Up to 90% blockage in 3 arteries. Last year my older brother suffered from high blood pressure despite being in decent shape. He joined a gym and has that under control now and is in great shape. My sister is a fitness superstar and her boyfriend is in incredible shape and pretty inspiring.

Basically I think we have a family history of heart health issues, and I want to be able to prevent a heart attack, instead of having to respond to it later.

My story is that I usually gain a few pounds over the winter, and lose it in the summer. I didn't lose it this summer because the weather was so bad I didn't get out much, and my wife was pregnant so we didn't do much. So I'm heading into the winter already being 5 lbs over my normal weight. Furthermore, I'm 33 now and feeling my body slowing down. I used to have great blood pressure, but it's starting to get a little high. My resting heart rate used to be in the 50's, but now it's in the 70's. I'm not fat, but I feel in horrible shape. I'm feeling the effects in having difficulty sleeping, and stress.

I'm not even sure if my goals mean I'll lose weight, or if I'll just be trading fat for muscle which is fine. I'm more interested in being in fit, than a weight target. I want to be able to start next year's enduro season in good shape, instead of working up to it through the year. I'll also need to be able to go hiking again with a 30lb child on my back.

Day of Weigh In: Today I guess.

 

[Nadir_E]

...Biggest Challenge, Fitness: I have ADD, and have real hard time doing anything as boring as running or biking for any length of time...

Does the weather allow you to work-out outside? Even if just a run, it's FAR easier to wile away the miles if they're changing in appearance as you go by, rather than seeing the same wall/mirror/whatever in front of your treadmill at the gym.

If you're interested in doing more than just running, incorporate body-weight exercises into the run - e.g. 1/2 mile, 50 push-up's, 1/2 mile, 50 sit-up's, 1/2 mile, 50 bench dips, 1/2 mile, 50 squats, etc. Tie the exercises to convenient places to do them along your route, rather than the specific distance.

'Course if you live in a place that gets a real winter, you might need a mega dose of motivation to head out the door when it's time to run.:ylsmoke:

signing off from sunny Southern California...:victory:

-N

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Yeah, not so much. We get real winter here. Actually, it's kinda worse than more northern areas. At least up north you get decent snow, throw on the skiis or snowshoes and get out. Here... too much snow to bike, not enough snow to ski. The young family really hampers that too. I have a newborn and an almost-4 year old. Tried going skiing once towing the young'un in a sled and that lasted about 5 minutes...

I'll get out, but it won't be enough to get me in shape so I'll have to rely on the gym. I'm counting on being able to watch TV while I'm doing cardio so... that's the only way I can do something repetitive like running or biking in an urban area. I've tried to get into running or biking a number of times, and I just can't keep it up. At the YMCA the cardio machines all have TV's on them.

I've got motivation after what happened to my dad. Just this summer, the old man can still kick my butt arm wrestling. I'm not in as good of shape as he was my age, and he had a heart attack at 60.