The INGO Hardcore Weight Loss/Fitness Thread

[gregkl]

I don't try to be perfect (I know I will fail). I try to be good. The long run (lifestyle change) is how I approach it, not dieting.

This is so overlooked by most people! Good on you for realizing this. People should never "go on a diet". "Diet" is a definition for what a person consumes to sustain life, not a temporary thing to counteract poor habits.

If you eat crappy across the board, start making small course changes: cut back on soda consumption if you drink a lot, then cut it out completely. Cut back on desserts. A Dove chocolate can be a perfectly adequate "dessert". Reduce portion size. Think servings the size of a deck of cards for meat and maybe your fist for vegetables.

It is very hard, if not impossible, to go through life denying things that make you happy but if you make the small corrections over time you will discover that you enjoy eating healthy better than you do eating poorly. Then it won't take any discipline to not eat those things. You won't want to.

 

[tmcindy]

This is so overlooked by most people! Good on you for realizing this. People should never "go on a diet". "Diet" is a definition for what a person consumes to sustain life, not a temporary thing to counteract poor habits.

If you eat crappy across the board, start making small course changes: cut back on soda consumption if you drink a lot, then cut it out completely. Cut back on desserts. A Dove chocolate can be a perfectly adequate "dessert". Reduce portion size. Think servings the size of a deck of cards for meat and maybe your fist for vegetables.

It is very hard, if not impossible, to go through life denying things that make you happy but if you make the small corrections over time you will discover that you enjoy eating healthy better than you do eating poorly. Then it won't take any discipline to not eat those things. You won't want to.

Probably the most important thing I've learned to do is "throw it away". You do NOT have to finish ANYTHING. If I crave something and after a couple bites I'm satisfied, I toss it. Yes, it's wasteful, but, a necessary evil. No, I do NOT save it for later. I toss it. Very important. If I'm satisfied halfway through a meal, I toss it. I learned this from skinny people. If they are half way through a sandwich, but done, they toss it. I used to NEVER do that. I do now.

 

[gregkl]

Probably the most important thing I've learned to do is "throw it away". You do NOT have to finish ANYTHING. If I crave something and after a couple bites I'm satisfied, I toss it. Yes, it's wasteful, but, a necessary evil. No, I do NOT save it for later. I toss it. Very important. If I'm satisfied halfway through a meal, I toss it. I learned this from skinny people. If they are half way through a sandwich, but done, they toss it. I used to NEVER do that. I do now.

Yup. Having people teach us to always "clean our plate" has made us a fat country! I say I'll clean my plate when you put reasonable portions on it!

My wife will literally have 1-2 bites of cake and leave the rest.

Oh, and another tip; when you are at a restaurant, ask for your to go box when they bring the meal. Then before you start eating, take half of it and put it in the box. This way you won't tend to overeat while sitting there.

 

[ditcherman]

For anyone who needs this...

View attachment 216493

Thank you for helping me to do the sit ups and push ups i know i needed to do, trying to get back on the wagon.

 

[tmcindy]

Oh, and another tip; when you are at a restaurant, ask for your to go box when they bring the meal. Then before you start eating, take half of it and put it in the box. This way you won't tend to overeat while sitting there.

I just leave it. They ask quite often, "You sure you don't want a doggie bag?" No thanks. I don't eat out very often anymore. And, I haven't been to an evil buffet in a very long time.

 

[Snapdragon]

Thank you for helping me to do the sit ups and push ups i know i needed to do, trying to get back on the wagon.

Sometimes something will hit just right. This hit me too. I need to start on my elliptical again. Just reducing food is not doing it. I'm in so much pain in the morning, but I'm just going to have to push through it.

 

[ditcherman]

Sometimes something will hit just right. This hit me too. I need to start on my elliptical again. Just reducing food is not doing it. I'm in so much pain in the morning, but I'm just going to have to push through it.

Hopefully it will feel better afterwards and not worse, but that's a risk you can take! (trying to think optimistically)
Best of luck to you sister.

 

[Frosty]

the small corrections over time you will discover that you enjoy eating healthy better than you do eating poorly. Then it won't take any discipline to not eat those things. You won't want to.

I’ve been at this exercise and healthy habits thing for probably 3 years, one thing I have noticed is how bad I feel if I have a meal that’s highly processed or what I would consider junk food my energy levels are usually shot for several hours after. A simple apple is a great energy booster!

 

[gregkl]

I’ve been at this exercise and healthy habits thing for probably 3 years, one thing I have noticed is how bad I feel if I have a meal that’s highly processed or what I would consider junk food my energy levels are usually shot for several hours after. A simple apple is a great energy booster!

After 30+ years of fine tuning our eating, we are still not like some. But I suspect I never will be a super "clean" eater. I am okay with moderation.

Probably the last thing we eliminated from our diet was HFCS. We read the labels and if it has corn syrup in it, we look for something else.

And we virtually eat no processed foods.

 

[melensdad]

I'm 61, 205#, 6' tall

I was 185#, not slim, but toss on 20# and I have a 'dad bod' now.

Got some bad news from a cardiologist (fixable) so I need to eat healthy, lose weight, and lower my blood pressure, lower my blood sugar, and increase my cardio-health. It could be a lot worse, I'm not so far out of shape or so heavy that this will be nearly insurmountable.

Looking to get back to 185# and also looking tone up some old age flab and weakened muscles. Not motivated by going to a gym.

I've got a treadmill and exercise bike. The exercise bike is currently stuffed into a storage closet. But I've started back on the treadmill. My goal is 2 sessions of 20 minutes a day.

I'm using small dumbbells while I use the treadmill and keeping my arms in motion, not the usual swinging motion while walking/jogging but stretching them out to the side, overhead, etc, while pumping my arms.

So far I am very motivated and so far I'm managing to find time for 2 short 20 minute workouts on the treadmill each day.

Prior to the poor diagnosis (again, I can fix this) I had just purchased an Apple Watch, it arrived about 10 days ago. I have to admit that it helps keep me motivated and moving. I'm sure the FitBit and other brand fitness watches probably help too. I used to have a Withings fitness watch and it did not motivate me to move, so I can NOT recommend that watch. But if you need motivation you may want to look into some of the various fitness watches. So far I'm really happy with the AppleWatch and its ability to get me moving.

I'm down a couple pounds, and my journey to better health is just beginning. Hoping to keep it up and remain motivated.

 

[Frosty]

I'm 61, 205#, 6' tall

I was 185#, not slim, but toss on 20# and I have a 'dad bod' now.

Got some bad news from a cardiologist (fixable) so I need to eat healthy, lose weight, and lower my blood pressure, lower my blood sugar, and increase my cardio-health. It could be a lot worse, I'm not so far out of shape or so heavy that this will be nearly insurmountable.

Looking to get back to 185# and also looking tone up some old age flab and weakened muscles. Not motivated by going to a gym.

I've got a treadmill and exercise bike. The exercise bike is currently stuffed into a storage closet. But I've started back on the treadmill. My goal is 2 sessions of 20 minutes a day.

I'm using small dumbbells while I use the treadmill and keeping my arms in motion, not the usual swinging motion while walking/jogging but stretching them out to the side, overhead, etc, while pumping my arms.

So far I am very motivated and so far I'm managing to find time for 2 short 20 minute workouts on the treadmill each day.

Prior to the poor diagnosis (again, I can fix this) I had just purchased an Apple Watch, it arrived about 10 days ago. I have to admit that it helps keep me motivated and moving. I'm sure the FitBit and other brand fitness watches probably help too. I used to have a Withings fitness watch and it did not motivate me to move, so I can NOT recommend that watch. But if you need motivation you may want to look into some of the various fitness watches. So far I'm really happy with the AppleWatch and its ability to get me moving.

I'm down a couple pounds, and my journey to better health is just beginning. Hoping to keep it up and remain motivated.

I use the Apple Watch too, gotta close those rings it does give you a lot of insight, there’s a lot of information in the health app that I find interesting.

 

[ws6guy]

I'm not really doing the diet thing, just cutting back on portion sizes and not doing the late night snack thing. Still eat the same not so great food. The late night snacks are the hardest for me, I love to stay up late and graze on anything I can find.
Then for the past year I've been trying to exercise at least 5 days a week with at least 30 minute sessions. Started off with cardio on the elliptical for about 4 months then I started to do full body strength training with dumbbells. Then in February I hurt my shoulder and couldn't do the dumbbells anymore so I switched back to elliptical. Just in the past few weeks I've started to strength train again but it's like starting all over again. Any strength gains I made are long gone.

I'm definitely in the slow but steady category at taking a year to get 40lbs off but I'm trying to make a lifestyle change instead of a fad diet. Next up I'm going to try and drop some carbs and cut back on red meat. If I do that the last 20-30lbs will likely drop off much faster.

 

[melensdad]

I use the Apple Watch too, gotta close those rings it does give you a lot of insight, there’s a lot of information in the health app that I find interesting.

YUP between the Apps you get a lot of info.

I also have had a Withings Blood Pressure Cuff and a Withings Scale for a few years. Withings (Nokia) has an App called Health Mate. It works with the Apple Apps. So the info I get from the Scale & the Blood Pressure Cuff get uploaded to my Apple Health App

The Withings scale gives me Body Mass Index, Bone Weight, O2 Saturation, Heart Rate, ECG, Body Fat, etc. It even gives me a weather forecast!

It also gives you a "Fitness Level" which is a score based on your O2 level, exercise, etc. That is a great motivator because it tells me, bluntly, that I'm fat and lazy!

On the bright side, I'm more fit than 5% of the people my age?

There is a bit of a disclaimer and it does say that you need a few MONTHS of data to get trends, and an accurate score. So hopefully I'll still be motivated and getting better scores as I progress. Only been doing this for a short time so I can't expect good scores yet

 

[melensdad]

The late night snacks are the hardest for me, I love to stay up late and graze on anything I can find.

DITTO, grazing on the leftovers!!!

... Then in February I hurt my ...

That is something that I ran into too. But it was from a fall and it was my butt. As I recovered, I fell off a ladder and hurt my other butt cheek, thought I broke a hip, CT scans proved I did not but found a partial blockage in an artery. Had to recover from that 2nd injury (3 weeks!!!) before I could do anything else. Between the 2 it was 2 months of mandatory slow down.

So now I need to start over

 

[gregkl]

DITTO, grazing on the leftovers!!!

Bad bout of acid reflux fixed late night eating for me. I'm not into taking medications to treat symptoms as I generally look to fix the underlying issue which in this case was not enough stomach acid to effectively digest the food in a timely manner.

So I started chewing my food more thoroughly, stopped eating chocolate (a trigger), and no more food after dinner. I make sure I don't eat 3 hours before I go to bed. I also make sure I don't lay down after eating.

Initially I gave up some other foods (coffee, alcohol) for a couple weeks and then I reintroduced them back into my diet. Though with coffee, I drink less and consume it more quickly which is better for my system.

I'm fine now. No acid reflux and no meds, knock on wood.

 

[Frosty]

YUP between the Apps you get a lot of info.

I also have had a Withings Blood Pressure Cuff and a Withings Scale for a few years. Withings (Nokia) has an App called Health Mate. It works with the Apple Apps. So the info I get from the Scale & the Blood Pressure Cuff get uploaded to my Apple Health App

The Withings scale gives me Body Mass Index, Bone Weight, O2 Saturation, Heart Rate, ECG, Body Fat, etc. It even gives me a weather forecast!

It also gives you a "Fitness Level" which is a score based on your O2 level, exercise, etc. That is a great motivator because it tells me, bluntly, that I'm fat and lazy!

On the bright side, I'm more fit than 5% of the people my age?

There is a bit of a disclaimer and it does say that you need a few MONTHS of data to get trends, and an accurate score. So hopefully I'll still be motivated and getting better scores as I progress. Only been doing this for a short time so I can't expect good scores yet

Yes, but the funny thing is at 6’ tall and 235 pounds, I’m obese on the bmi scales, even in December when I was down to 196 I was still in the overweight category, when in all reality I was at a healthy weight for my build. I am really watching the VO2 max measurement in the health app, finally got it above average, next is above average for the age group below me

 

[melensdad]

Yes, but the funny thing is at 6’ tall and 235 pounds, I’m obese on the bmi scales, even in December when I was down to 196 I was still in the overweight category, when in all reality I was at a healthy weight for my build. I am really watching the VO2 max measurement in the health app, finally got it above average, next is above average for the age group below me

I think the ideal weight for 6' tall is pretty close to 170#

I'm hoping to get down from 203 to 185. Anything below 185 would be a bonus. I'm just tired of being 200 pounds!

 

[dlandersson]

I have struggled with my weight for the past twenty years or so and have lost the same fifty pounds four or five times. Now that I have type 2 diabetes, it's even more important to get the weight off and keep it off. My weakness is sweets. I really need to lose at least a hundred pounds, but fifty would be a start.

The battle begins today. I'm weighing in at 254 lbs. My goal is to lose 30 lbs by Christmas.

Hi Chez

"and have lost the same fifty pounds four or five times. " - for me it's 20 lbs, but I certainly know the feeling. When my kids are with their mom, I'm fine. When they are with me I find myself :finishing up" their plates.
I do find that $1 Michellina's and Personal Trainer Food work well.

 

[tmcindy]

I'm not really doing the diet thing, just cutting back on portion sizes and not doing the late night snack thing. Still eat the same not so great food. The late night snacks are the hardest for me, I love to stay up late and graze on anything I can find.
Then for the past year I've been trying to exercise at least 5 days a week with at least 30 minute sessions. Started off with cardio on the elliptical for about 4 months then I started to do full body strength training with dumbbells. Then in February I hurt my shoulder and couldn't do the dumbbells anymore so I switched back to elliptical. Just in the past few weeks I've started to strength train again but it's like starting all over again. Any strength gains I made are long gone.

I'm definitely in the slow but steady category at taking a year to get 40lbs off but I'm trying to make a lifestyle change instead of a fad diet. Next up I'm going to try and drop some carbs and cut back on red meat. If I do that the last 20-30lbs will likely drop off much faster.

I'd say you're doing great. Good job. I need to lose another 50 lbs. (lost 40 lbs. so far). I started the same way (Dr. would only let me do cardio for first 2 months after my open heart surgery). I lift now (3 times a week). I do my cardio everyday.

 

[J Galt]

I stumbled across this guy a while back. Mark Lewis is a Brit. He was also well above 300 lbs (23 stone ).

He talks about how he went from a sedentary desk job, and morbidly obese, to being a fitness youtube'er, as well as his donut addiction. He goes into some detail about his challenges and what worked for him.

Hope it helps someone out there.