The INGO Hardcore Weight Loss/Fitness Thread

[melensdad]

I'm slowly gaining weight.

Still not exercising due to my injury but happy to report that it is SLOWLY healing and the surgeon told me (Wednesday) that I don't need surgery. The bad news is it might be another 6 months before my bicep and shoulder are healed.

I have some bit of advice to anyone who wants to lose weight. Throw away the food your kids don't finish, I have the OLD SCHOOL mentality of finishing it. And put the leftovers in the freezer so you don't snack on them later. Keep a supply of carrots, celery, etc available for snacking. HYDRATE.

All that said, I'm gaining weight again because I stopped exercising and got lazy with my own advice. Getting back on it. The exercise is the hard part because even using my left arm hurts my right shoulder. Riding the bike hurts my right shoulder. Rowing machine is not possible. Jogging hurts. I can walk. I can lift light dumb bells with my left arm. I'm down to a couple opioids a week, but popping 6-9 advil every day.

Pain derailed my diet and lifestyle.

 

[bluemist]

Question for all of you: do you keep track of your sodium for the entire day? Do you go even further and track your sodium around the time you go to bed (let's say three hours prior)?

Last week I dropped about three pounds down to 245 and now I'm back up to 248.7 this morning. Only difference is that yesterday despite being in a deficit I had a carb heavy meal about 4 hours before bed. Would it be mostly water weight?

It's been a while, but I am happy to report that I'm down to 206 lbs....alllll the way down from 278# at the beginning of March. Final goal is 170 lbs (Happy Scale projects I'll make it by 12/15/2023).

It's kinda funny looking back at my last comment since I've learned quite a bit since then and I no longer give a damn about my sodium intake (maybe I should...i don't know)

 

[bwframe]

 

[Snapdragon]

It's been a while, but I'm back. In the past year I've gone from 223 to 249 and back to 220. Hope I can hang in there to see 199 (or less). It's been 20 years since I've seen a weight with a 1 or a size with a 1 (1X). My goal is 200 by Christmas.

I've been getting on the elliptical a little every day. I will build up gradually to 20-30 minutes a day. Now if I get out of my own way, I might actually do it this time.

 

[Snapdragon]

This came up in my Facebook memories today. I probably should print it and put it on the wall (or the fridge?).

 

[melensdad]

Started some new pain meds. Not opioids, but stronger than Advil. Hoping that helps. I'm working on cutting back on the food intake. Weight is stabilized. Back to the veggies and lower calorie foods, but not always. Hovering between 183-185#. That is pretty close to my historic normal. But I'd love to get back to 173-175#. I felt better about my body 10# lower.

This week will be tough, family from out of town is flying in, staying with us until mid-next week. Very likely lots of cookouts, other family coming in, etc. So probably lots of food.

 

[jamil]

I've found that motivation doesn't really work. At least for me. And that goes for just about any kind of goal I'm trying to accomplish. Motivation is transient. It's just unsustainable. That's why there's a sort of boom/bust cycle trying to reach long term goals. I've decided that it's more effective for me to make deals with myself, to make improvements incrementally. Meet smaller goals and then build on them. For example, a simple goal in dieting: don't eat anything after 7PM. It's not that hard to meet. Another one to drink more water. Keep water with me pretty much throughout the day. However much I drink, I'm bound to drink more if I have it with me. .

 

[jaymark6655]

I haven't checked in for a while now. Watching Fat: A Documentary right now. If you haven't seen it, watch it on RedBox streaming for free with ads. After I finish it, I am going to watch Fat: A Documentary 2, it can be watch for free too. A lot of interesting info.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Trying to build endurance and boost VO2 max with longer runs nose breathing entirely. I did a trail run at Eagle Creek today, trying to keep my heart rate at 150-160 and nose breathing the entire time. I made it to 6.3 miles before fatigue and a big hill combined to spike me into the upper 170s. I did some walk up/slow jog down intervals and drank my tiny water bottles until my HR got back down into the 150s, taking about 1/3 of a mile. Then I ran a bit harder to finish out 7.3 miles to make up the time a bit, but went to mouth breathing for that. Overall average HR of 159, so in the upper range of what I was shooting for.

7.35 mi
Distance
1:41:49
Time
13:51 /mi
Avg Pace
318 ft
Total Ascent
1,551 cal
Calories

Once HR bounced back to 178 I called it and walked the last 1.2 miles out.

Need to drop tonnage again, it's been fun not losing weight but I really want to increase my distances to 1/2 marathon trail events and fat-assery isn't going to help that goal become reality.

Today:

8.50 mi
Distance
1:45:28
Time
12:24 /mi
Avg Pace
318 ft
Total Ascent
1,614 cal
Calories

161 bpm
Avg HR

I don't think I made that massive a gain in a week, I think it was just less hot as balls. Same hill, at 6.5 this time because I slightly altered my course to make one loop a little bigger, got me again. I got about half way up and had to resort to mouth breathing. I was able to recover on the down hill and resume nose breathing until about mile 8. Heart rate was edging near 180 and my pace was dropping off, though still jogging, so I called it at that point. I expect my calves are going to be angry tomorrow. Probably should have called it at 7.5 for recovery purposes but I felt pretty good.

That's just shy of 2/3 of a half marathon by distance. I've been told 2/3 distance equates to 1/2 the total effort, since you're so much more fatigued for the back 1/3 but I don't know how true that is. I'm pretty confident if I can keep a 12:30/mi pace for 10 miles in training I can finish the event in January at a reasonable pace. Assuming no injuries, etc. of course.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I've found that motivation doesn't really work. At least for me. And that goes for just about any kind of goal I'm trying to accomplish. Motivation is transient. It's just unsustainable. That's why there's a sort of boom/bust cycle trying to reach long term goals. I've decided that it's more effective for me to make deals with myself, to make improvements incrementally. Meet smaller goals and then build on them. For example, a simple goal in dieting: don't eat anything after 7PM. It's not that hard to meet. Another one to drink more water. Keep water with me pretty much throughout the day. However much I drink, I'm bound to drink more if I have it with me. .

That's one of the biggest reasons I like to sign up for events. It always gives me the next thing to be motivated for. I don't want to show up looking like a fat sack of ass and finish in the back of the pack. I want to show up looking like a medium sack of ass and finish above average in the pack. Or something.

 

[bwframe]

I'm motivated by my age.

While "refusing to age," every time I slack or even back down from pushing myself on steps, workouts, etc, let alone diet, I feel it. "Feeling it" lasts longer and hurts worst all the time.

If I back off on my daily dead bugs and push ups or miss my step count for more than a day, I'm pulling or twisting or tweeking something that makes me think of whether I can come back from it or not?

I got a big reminder in February this year. Got lazy, with a lot of sit down work and gained more than normal winter fat. The spring shovel work was rough. It's amazing how much easier it is on all of your parts, when you trim 20# off. All the joints and muscles and connective tissues has to (or doesn't have to) carry that around.

 

[ancjr]

I'm down 36lb this year. 29 more would be ideal.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I went ahead and signed up for my first half marathon trail event, a night run this coming January.

This nose breathing running has really upped the fun level by reducing recovery times dramatically. Even my calves weren't as sore as I expected last time. I've done 5k a day since after one rest day. Friday is my next long run, weather permitting, and I'm going to try for 9 miles.

 

[Twangbanger]

I went ahead and signed up for my first half marathon trail event, a night run this coming January.

This nose breathing running has really upped the fun level by reducing recovery times dramatically. Even my calves weren't as sore as I expected last time. I've done 5k a day since after one rest day. Friday is my next long run, weather permitting, and I'm going to try for 9 miles.

So what is the reasoning on the nose-breathing stuff? I remember watching some "nose running breathing" videos a few years back, where they were encouraging you to run a "nose breathing mile" somewhere in your run, to reinforce proper diaphragmatic breathing. Is how I think the reasoning went. But I'd not heard that intentional O2 deprivation helps recovery times. I just remember the person doing the video was obviously from CA (Marin Co. landmarks in the background), and I was like, "Yeah, come to Indiana with corn pollen, allergies, and 0.75 of a functioning nostril and see how that works!"

 

[BehindBlueI's]

So what is the reasoning on the nose-breathing stuff? I remember watching some "nose running breathing" videos a few years back, where they were encouraging you to run a "nose breathing mile" somewhere in your run, to reinforce proper diaphragmatic breathing. Is how I think the reasoning went. But I'd not heard that intentional O2 deprivation helps recovery times.

With the understanding I'm just parroting what I've read and have no claim of expertise or independent knowledge on the topic, it supposedly makes your body use oxygen more efficiently, keeps CO2 and O2 levels in the blood better balanced, reduces your sensitivity to CO2 in the blood and the feeling of 'air starvation' that accompanies it even if your O2 levels are fine, and reduces lactic acid in the muscles.

Blood flow isn't diverted to your torso/breathing muscles and away from your legs as much. You can, therefore, run for longer sessions more frequently, which keeps your muscles under load longer, which increases endurance and VO2 max. The idea is that speed will come from efficiency and just that if you can run 10 miles, 5k goes by so fast you don't have time to get mentally tired and mentally quit before you are physically done.

The down side is you aren't running as fast, so you're not training leg muscles as much. I compensate for this somewhat by doing mostly trail running so I get hill work in. My goal right now is more on endurance than speed.

 

[Twangbanger]

With the understanding I'm just parroting what I've read and have no claim of expertise or independent knowledge on the topic, it supposedly makes your body use oxygen more efficiently, keeps CO2 and O2 levels in the blood better balanced, reduces your sensitivity to CO2 in the blood and the feeling of 'air starvation' that accompanies it even if your O2 levels are fine, and reduces lactic acid in the muscles.

Blood flow isn't diverted to your torso/breathing muscles and away from your legs as much. You can, therefore, run for longer sessions more frequently, which keeps your muscles under load longer, which increases endurance and VO2 max. The idea is that speed will come from efficiency and just that if you can run 10 miles, 5k goes by so fast you don't have time to get mentally tired and mentally quit before you are physically done.

The down side is you aren't running as fast, so you're not training leg muscles as much. I compensate for this somewhat by doing mostly trail running so I get hill work in. My goal right now is more on endurance than speed.

That's interesting. So I wonder if this is just another way of saying "restrain yourself to Zone 2," or it's more specific than that. Are they saying do this all of the time, or just some of the time?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

That's interesting. So I wonder if this is just another way of saying "restrain yourself to Zone 2," or it's more specific than that. Are they saying do this all of the time, or just some of the time?

I think Zone 2 only is more restrictive but nose breathing advocates do generally tie it pretty closely to zone training.

I can pretty easily push into Zone 3 and even 4 while nose breathing and still be comfortable at this point. I think I mentioned it, but I eased into this by doing a few miles of only nose, then a few miles of in the nose out the mouth, then a few miles of mouth breathing. At first you absolutely will trigger a runny nose and that inherent challenge. You may even get some swelling in the nose. I noted I had to learn to relax my tongue, as I was forcing it against the roof of my mouth subconciously to not mouth breath.

As far as how much to do, it depends on which "they" you listen to and what your goals are. Someone looking for bursts of speed needs to do more mouth breathing than someone wanting to be an endurance athlete. I've read to do 3 months of only mouth breathing to acclimate to it and get a base, then start a mix like this:

The Polarized training method is a training method that performs 70–80% of the total amount of exercise at low intensity (HRmax 65–80%), 5–10% at middle intensity (HRmax 80~88%), and the remaining 15–20% at high intensity (HRmax 88~100%). It is the training method that achieves possibly the greatest improvement in the key variables related to the endurance performance of athletes

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8305392/

This study was of people who were already cross country skiiing athletes and had low body fat percentages compared to the genpop to begin with. Changing to POL training for 12 weeks caused more fat loss and more signs of cardiac health than their previous training methods. Now, there was no control group that stayed on whatever they were doing before, and I don't understand the underlying science behind it to say how difinitive this is.

I believe I've lost belly fat faster with this method than my previous harder runs. I'm still not back down to my best adult weight, but my shirt fit was looser pretty quickly. My resting heart rate has bounced between 44 and 60, with an average of 53. Note my true resting hr is probably slightly lower as I don't wear my watch while I sleep. I could be wrong, feels are not facts, but I do know I'm having more fun this way.

 

[Twangbanger]

I think Zone 2 only is more restrictive but nose breathing advocates do generally tie it pretty closely to zone training.

I can pretty easily push into Zone 3 and even 4 while nose breathing and still be comfortable at this point. I think I mentioned it, but I eased into this by doing a few miles of only nose, then a few miles of in the nose out the mouth, then a few miles of mouth breathing. At first you absolutely will trigger a runny nose and that inherent challenge. You may even get some swelling in the nose. I noted I had to learn to relax my tongue, as I was forcing it against the roof of my mouth subconciously to not mouth breath.

As far as how much to do, it depends on which "they" you listen to and what your goals are. Someone looking for bursts of speed needs to do more mouth breathing than someone wanting to be an endurance athlete. I've read to do 3 months of only mouth breathing to acclimate to it and get a base, then start a mix like this:



-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8305392/

This study was of people who were already cross country skiiing athletes and had low body fat percentages compared to the genpop to begin with. Changing to POL training for 12 weeks caused more fat loss and more signs of cardiac health than their previous training methods. Now, there was no control group that stayed on whatever they were doing before, and I don't understand the underlying science behind it to say how difinitive this is.

I believe I've lost belly fat faster with this method than my previous harder runs. I'm still not back down to my best adult weight, but my shirt fit was looser pretty quickly. My resting heart rate has bounced between 44 and 60, with an average of 53. Note my true resting hr is probably slightly lower as I don't wear my watch while I sleep. I could be wrong, feels are not facts, but I do know I'm having more fun this way.

The "window portion" looks pretty close to the breakdown of what has been recommended by endurance coaches in one form or another for a long time. Mostly aerobic base, with some speed and tempo work so you don't get resistant.

So are the nose breathing advocates saying do 2-3 months "nose only/aerobic only" to get a base, then move to the standard zone % breakdown and just let the chips fall how they do? Or are you supposed to try to maintain the nose breathing for as much of everything as possible?

 

[foszoe]

That's just shy of 2/3 of a half marathon by distance. I've been told 2/3 distance equates to 1/2 the total effort, since you're so much more fatigued for the back 1/3 but I don't know how true that is. I'm pretty confident if I can keep a 12:30/mi pace for 10 miles in training I can finish the event in January at a reasonable pace. Assuming no injuries, etc. of course.

I come here for encouraging stories, but for some reason I got lost trying to figure out recipe ratios here or something

Glad to see you are keeping at it!

I was doing pretty well with my plan up until covid, then they pretty much sequestered us at work and brought in pallets, literally pallets of candy bars, pop tarts, sodas etc. We had so much stuff, the soda's went out of date. Even just trying to eat the mixed nuts and jerky I still managed to gain most back. Found out later, that they had a long term contract to buy all that stuff so they just kept delivering it to us.

Starting in March, I got back on the wagon and have lost over half of what I gained. Getting a dog again has helped with general moving around. Discipline of hitting the exercise machines has also returned.

Then I got a promotion at work so I can move around a lot more for 12 hours instead of being tied to a desk for 12 hours.

See where it goes.

 

[breakingcontact]

Started (restarted?) getting up early and lifting weights 3 days ago!