The INGO Hardcore Weight Loss/Fitness Thread

[melensdad]

And I’m down below 183# this morning, even if just barely. First time I’ve at this weight in 20+ years!?!

FWIW I have a small glass of bourbon nearly every night. I’ve eaten White Castle 3 times in the past week. But I do count calories and try to balance my diet, roughly 50% carbs, 25% Protein and 25% healthy fat.

So not much beef. Much more fish than I used to eat. I substitute out pasta and substitute in cauliflower and/or Konjac and/or heart of palm. Drive around with a Tupperware bowl that has cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, celery, grapes and pea pods to keep me from going to the drive thru window for a Starbucks or an Arby’s.

I am enjoying what I’m eating. So I believe this is sustainable as long as I continue to work out. When I hit my 177# goal I’ll probably take my diet up to about 2000/2100 calories and see how things work. Maybe reduce my exercise & move goals down 10%. Monitor things.

I plan for my White Castle treats by loading up on low calorie options earlier in the day, I only get 2 and, because I’m eating less food, 2 White Castle actually fill me up. The bourbon is also counted in my calories so I know before I pour it if I can drink 1, 2 or 3 fingers or NONE.

 

[grayishman]

And I’m down below 183# this morning, even if just barely. First time I’ve at this weight in 20+ years!?!

FWIW I have a small glass of bourbon nearly every night. I’ve eaten White Castle 3 times in the past week. But I do count calories and try to balance my diet, roughly 50% carbs, 25% Protein and 25% healthy fat.

So not much beef. Much more fish than I used to eat. I substitute out pasta and substitute in cauliflower and/or Konjac and/or heart of palm. Drive around with a Tupperware bowl that has cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, celery, grapes and pea pods to keep me from going to the drive thru window for a Starbucks or an Arby’s.

I am enjoying what I’m eating. So I believe this is sustainable as long as I continue to work out. When I hit my 177# goal I’ll probably take my diet up to about 2000/2100 calories and see how things work. Maybe reduce my exercise & move goals down 10%. Monitor things.

I plan for my White Castle treats by loading up on low calorie options earlier in the day, I only get 2 and, because I’m eating less food, 2 White Castle actually fill me up. The bourbon is also counted in my calories so I know before I pour it if I can drink 1, 2 or 3 fingers or NONE.

Congrats! It sounds like a lot of hard work has really paid off for you. You're giving me motivation to keep going myself.

Out of curiosity, what's your go-to bourbon? For me, it's Evan Williams' Bottled-in-Bond or sometimes Buffalo Trace.

 

[melensdad]

Out of curiosity, what's your go-to bourbon? For me, it's Evan Williams' Bottled-in-Bond or sometimes Buffalo Trace.

I have no 'go to' bourbon. I do generally keep some variety of Maker's Mark handy, but I have 4 cabinets full of rare and allocated bourbons from Pappy & George T Stagg, to Parker's annual releases to some lesser brands including Blanton's, Beam Platinum and various Weller offerings. I've got 10+ years worth of annual O.F. Birthday Editions, every year of Yellowston's limited annual. All are opened. I'm not a bottle collector, but I enjoy the good stuff and have the ability to buy it, without paying inflated prices.

I don't think I've had more than 1800 calories/day since this health journey started (with the possible exception of 1 day) based on my calorie counter app. Most days in the 1600 calorie range.

October 18 is my 62nd Birthday. I share that birthday with my adopted daughter, she is 41 years younger. Our tradition it to have a family meal together. My goal was to hit 185# by my birthday so we could have our meal again this year. Figured if I could get to that weight then I'd be on a good path toward getting healthy. The goal was set in early August and I didn't know if I could do it. We now have plans to have that dinner (but it will occur later in the month because she will be traveling on fall break with her college friends).

And all this started because I fell off a ladder and a doctor noticed calcium in an artery in my leg, which led to a heart scan, which found a partial blockage . . .

 

[Frosty]

I have no 'go to' bourbon. I do generally keep some variety of Maker's Mark handy, but I have 4 cabinets full of rare and allocated bourbons from Pappy & George T Stagg, to Parker's annual releases to some lesser brands including Blanton's, Beam Platinum and various Weller offerings. I've got 10+ years worth of annual O.F. Birthday Editions, every year of Yellowston's limited annual. All are opened. I'm not a bottle collector, but I enjoy the good stuff and have the ability to buy it, without paying inflated prices.

I don't think I've had more than 1800 calories/day since this health journey started (with the possible exception of 1 day) based on my calorie counter app. Most days in the 1600 calorie range.

October 18 is my 62nd Birthday. I share that birthday with my adopted daughter, she is 41 years younger. Our tradition it to have a family meal together. My goal was to hit 185# by my birthday so we could have our meal again this year. Figured if I could get to that weight then I'd be on a good path toward getting healthy. The goal was set in early August and I didn't know if I could do it. We now have plans to have that dinner (but it will occur later in the month because she will be traveling on fall break with her college friends).

And all this started because I fell off a ladder and a doctor noticed calcium in an artery in my leg, which led to a heart scan, which found a partial blockage . . .

Happy birthday a couple days early! Congrats on hitting your goal!

 

[Frosty]

Got in two consecutive days of hiking, just about 16 miles and almost 2,000 feet of elevation gain. My hamstrings were talking to me the last couple hills I hoofed up, they weren’t real happy Felt like somebody was poking me with hot needles, so I decided I’d call it so I wasn’t hobbling around all weekend.

Still holding in the low 230’s, but I got my belt one notch tighter. Seems like eating a little more has actually helped some.

 

[Dr.Midnight]

Got in two consecutive days of hiking, just about 16 miles and almost 2,000 feet of elevation gain. My hamstrings were talking to me the last couple hills I hoofed up, they weren’t real happy Felt like somebody was poking me with hot needles, so I decided I’d call it so I wasn’t hobbling around all weekend.

Still holding in the low 230’s, but I got my belt one notch tighter. Seems like eating a little more has actually helped some.

Sixteen miles in two days. . .

 

[Dr.Midnight]

I managed to drop another 1.6 pounds this past week. I got all my cardio in but it was mostly treadmill versus my usual half road and half treadmill. Maybe that's why I missed the two pound mark. These hills around my house are killer.

I'll also go ahead and preconfess right now. It's not going to be pretty tonight. I have a friend coming over this afternoon, and she insisted on making us chili. I didn't even try to argue with her. I stopped and bought a six pack of beer last night (which I haven't done forever), so I'm going to enjoy myself this evening.

 

[melensdad]

Morning weigh in is 180.9#

Goal is 185# by October 18

Ultimate goal is 177# by Christmas

So I am ahead.

This morning I made the decision to REDUCE my 'Exercise' goal from 60 min per day down to 50 minutes per day. I actually average about 72 minutes. Also reducing my 'Move' goal from 700 extra calories down to 650. I have been averaging closer to 800.

Diet restrictions of 1700 calories per day will remain in place until I get down to my goal weight. Target is roughly 50% carbs, 25% protein & 25% healthy fats.

I am looking for SUSTAINABILITY and honestly with my coaching schedule kicking into competition season it will be difficult to continue with the pace I am at. I figure if I reduce the goals slightly then my averages will come down slightly. But I was at these lower levels a month ago and was losing weight at that time. Seems reasonable to back down a little bit at a time, see if the weight continues to come down.

But today is an early birthday dinner in Chicago, so probably not going to be happy when I step on the scale tomorrow for my weigh in. Figure I'm ahead of schedule so I've earned a good dinner.

 

[melensdad]

I calculate that dinner was somewhere in the range of 1500 calories.

Spanish Tapas meal. So lots of small plates.

Octopus, Squid, Shrimp, Lamp Chops, grilled Flank Steak, Duck breast on Duck Confit, various Spanish sausages, stuffed mushrooms and several things I can't remember but I know I ate.

Plus a Spanish Manhattan cocktail (Sherry instead of Whiskey).

I'm not a birthday cake lover so my daughter got me a Mango-Peach pie with a candle on top.

Figure I am going to pay for that meal with several days worth of exercise. One of my birthday gifts included three news pairs of dumbbells, so I guess I better start on the workouts.

 

[melensdad]

Pretty sure there is about 3# of of food clogging my colon

 

[Frosty]

Got 6-7 miles of hiking in this morning, did the 6 ravine challenge at shades. Nice hike, missed a turn that cut about a mile off of it, so I back tracked and finished it properly. Some of the climbs out of the ravines, oh man

 

[Ark]

I dug a size smaller pair of jeans out of the closet today and they fit comfortably. Pretty surprised at that accomplishment in six weeks, although granted my current size was pretty baggy.

Interested to see what happens by Christmas.

 

[Dr.Midnight]

I don't know how I managed this, but I actually dropped about a pound this weekend. I ate like crap and did half of my normal workout routine, and was still able to shed some weight. The only thing I can figure out is maybe I was holding some water on my Saturday weigh in, and managed to lose that over a two day period.

This is going to sound super vain, but I'll share it anyway. I had company this weeend from a lday friend that lives a couple hours away. The last time I saw her was right at the beginning of my workout program, and I purposely haven't told her what I was doing. She said I looked amazing, and as she hugged me, I heard her say, "Wow". I guess I wasn't as mushy as the last time we were together. That was certainly nice to hear, and really reingnites the drive to push even more.

 

[Snapdragon]

Celebrate the victories when you can. You've worked for it.

 

[melensdad]

181.3# on the scale today. Happy with that weight after my obscene meal on Saturday.

I'm sore today. I think it is a combination of rheumatoid arthritis and muscle soreness. Temp dropped last night, might get some light snow. So that is a pretty big change in weather. My fingers and hands hurt, that is a strong indicator that it is R.A. but I also have muscle pain from exercise too. Tramadol pain killers as soon as I got up today. It's after 7am and I've not started working out yet.

New rowing machine is kicking my butt. Would have never thought that changing from one type of machine to another would have such a big effect. But I could easily do 30 minutes on the old machine. Easily. Very easily. And have done longer. New rower, because it changes the resistance with its programs, kicks my butt in 15 minutes and I struggle to finish a 20 minute session. I did 2 20 minute rowing sessions yesterday. I also coached for 3 hours at Purdue yesterday for the fencing club and gave some private lessons, so I got in a lot of movement.

 

[Dr.Midnight]

181.3# on the scale today. Happy with that weight after my obscene meal on Saturday.

I'm sore today. I think it is a combination of rheumatoid arthritis and muscle soreness. Temp dropped last night, might get some light snow. So that is a pretty big change in weather. My fingers and hands hurt, that is a strong indicator that it is R.A. but I also have muscle pain from exercise too. Tramadol pain killers as soon as I got up today. It's after 7am and I've not started working out yet.

New rowing machine is kicking my butt. Would have never thought that changing from one type of machine to another would have such a big effect. But I could easily do 30 minutes on the old machine. Easily. Very easily. And have done longer. New rower, because it changes the resistance with its programs, kicks my butt in 15 minutes and I struggle to finish a 20 minute session. I did 2 20 minute rowing sessions yesterday. I also coached for 3 hours at Purdue yesterday for the fencing club and gave some private lessons, so I got in a lot of movement.

I'm finding out what a slight alteration in exercises can do to your body. I did lat pull downs with a wide grip for weeks, but about ten days ago, I incorporated a narrow grip pull down into the routine. That absolutely lit my shoulders up, and I've doing the pull downs, shrugs, and upright rows all along.

 

[Frosty]

On @grayishman advice I switched it up tonight, did only body weight. Which you wouldn’t think would be tough at all considering it’s the same basic movements as weight lifting but holy cow! I can definitely feel it in every muscle group I hit, especially the abs, haven’t done any dedicated at work for awhile, I thought the sit ups were going to make me hurl

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

 

[Frosty]

That unfortunately doesn’t tell the whole story, I’m considered obese at 6’ tall and 230 pounds, but last December when I got down to 196 pounds my wife told me I looked sickly, and to be honest I feel much better in the low 200’s, but it’s still considered obese. The whole bmi idea is flawed. I can stand in a 30” doorway and my shoulders touch both sides. I get that for 90% of the population that doesn’t exercise it’s a decent baseline.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

That unfortunately doesn’t tell the whole story, I’m considered obese at 6’ tall and 230 pounds, but last December when I got down to 196 pounds my wife told me I looked sickly, and to be honest I feel much better in the low 200’s, but it’s still considered obese. The whole bmi idea is flawed. I can stand in a 30” doorway and my shoulders touch both sides. I get that for 90% of the population that doesn’t exercise it’s a decent baseline.

We still can’t deny more people are much fatter than they used to be.