The exercise/weight loss thread

[wopphil]

Through two full weeks now. This week was surprisingly easy. In fact I am actually quite surprised how much easier the diet has gotten. I averaged about 1,500 calories this week, with very little carb intake. I am in a zone at this point. I am not nearly as hungry as I was in week one. 

The scale is going down. The very first time I weighed in on day one, it registered at 215.0 (but that was midday). I went to the gym and had a good workout, and it went down to 212.0. The next morning it was 209.8. Today it was 205.2. So I have probably lost somewhere around 5 pounds.

There have been some interesting effects of the diet. First, I have cut my coffee intake way down. This was completely unintended. I previously drank 3 to 4 cups a day, with a little bit of half and half. But I have cut out the half and half, and now the coffee isn't as good, and so I only drink 2 cups. This is probably a good thing. And second, my resting heart rate, according to my Fitbit, has dropped about 6 to 7 beats per minute. That is pretty substantial. 

Long way to go still, but I am on track to hit my goal of being sub 200 in three weeks.

[wopphil]

Just completed week 3. This last week was pretty easy. Kept my calories between 1,400 and 1,600 a day and got a ton of exercise in. Although I cheated a bit last weekend, it wasn't too terrible.

I weighed in at 204.4 today, so I have lost somewhere between 5.5 and 7 pounds in total. I honestly thought the weight loss would be more rapid. When I went on a diet that was far less restrictive last year, I lost at about the same rate. I guess this process is going to take longer than I had expected.

[wopphil]

Also, my resting heart rate keeps getting lower (according to my Fitbit). Was at 57 BPM yesterday, and 55 today. Both are the lowest it has registered since I got the Fitbit a year ago.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

Wife had a beriatric surgery back in May and began a 2 week liquid diet right after.  She began drinking protein shakes, and I thought I'd try one.  I've been in pretty good shape all of my life but was probably carrying 10-15 lbs more than I'd like recently.  For the past 2 months, I've just replaced my typical breakfast with a protein shake and didn't change much else.  I've lost around 13-15 lbs in that time.  I also have access to a small gym that is a 2 minute walk from where I work some of the time.  Been hitting it up on my lunch breaks and before work, just knocking out 10-12 minutes of weights each time.  For cardio, I play basketball once every 7-10 days for 90 minutes and I began doing sprints a few days a week (10 50-yard sprints, sprint out-walk back).  Cardio has really improved and I've begun regaining strength I'd lost bit by bit over the past decade.  I feel like my stomach has gotten smaller.  Now, when I eat lunch I feel full sooner.

*My 10 year old son and 8 year old daughter often do the sprints with me.  It has turned into a bonding moment and teaching moment all-in-one.

*Weights-just focusing on doing short sessions of 10-12 minutes has kept me focused on being productive and not wasting time.  Doing activities that are convenient (doing sprints in my neighborhood, weights while at work) seems to have me in a rhythm that I'm really enjoying.  Stoked that I'm not reliant on getting to LA Fitness/24 Hour and doing something time consuming.  I'm sure I wouldn't be as committed if that were the case.

[Stradling]

This past Monday I started on a diet.  I have had no bread, no dairy, no corn or corn tortillas, and no sugar.  I have been drinking exclusively water and my morning cup of coffee and I am drinking that black.  This weekend I am in Havasu, so I will probably have a couple of drinks, but other than that I am keeping up with the diet.  I haven’t had any time to hit the gym or do cardio because of ramping up at work to be able to take four days off and not be slammed when I get back.  One of the worst parts about being away from home is not having my scale.  I am someone that when I start something like this I need the constant motivation.  I started on Monday at 248 lbs and yesterday before I left I was at 243 lbs.  My goal initially is to get in the 220’s and eventually get down to about 200-210lbs.  So far the diet is fine, I just struggle finding things to eat on the go, which is what most of my job is.   I have some beef jerky in the car along with some mixed nuts (no peanuts).  Yesterday I ate a Protein Burger with 4 meat and knew it wasn’t going to hold me over so I got two more meat patties on the side.  When you are used to eating bread and or fries, it just takes much more protein I guess to feel full.  Most of my meals have been meat and veggies, basically all of them.  Black coffee sucks.  Ice tea that isn’t sweetened sucks.  But I am getting used to water, lots and lots of water.   I am also doing IF, where I try to eat my first meal about 16 hours after my last meal of the previous days.  Sometimes that is tough when you wake up at 5:15 one morning and don’t eat until noon because the day before you worked so late that dinner wan’t until 7:30.  

Sorry for the long convoluted post, just kind of a stream of conscience type of post as I drink my morning coffee.  

Hey @Brandon thanks for your contributions to this thread.  @wopphil keep it up, the older you get the harder it will be to take off those few pounds, don’t lose your motivation.  Great news about your resting heart rate.  I have been fortunate that even though I have gotten much heavier it hasn’t had a bad affect on my recent blood work and I have a good resting heart rate, not quite as low as yours, but certainly not problematic.  

Keep it up everyone.  

[Brandon]

When starting, I’m a big fan of over eating of healthy stuff as your body acclimates to no carbs and changing insulin levels. So definitely eat those extra patties and also uptake a bit more salt so that your electrolyte levels stay high and help with cravings, fatigue, irritability, etc. One thing I remember is when I got into Keto and being healthier I was chatting with Adam a lot as he had been doing the same. He mentioned something that stuck....it’s way better to eat 20oz of prime rib than the same amount of calories in a small bowl of pasta. It changed my mindset and almost made me not feel guilty about counting calories or worrying about shit like that. Eat however much you want of the good shit and you’ll be fine.

Once you hit your stride it almost becomes weird or something you don’t feel like doing with eating after 8pm or grabbing breakfast.

Good luck.

[wopphil]

Good luck Strad. It will get a lot easier for you in the next week or two. Just don't let anything derail you. 

[Tank]

13 hours ago, HaloJustinBieber said:

Wife had a beriatric surgery back in May and began a 2 week liquid diet right after. 

how's she doing so far?

[HaloMilliVanilli]

She's doing very well.  She went through the 2 week liquid deal, 2 weeks of puree/mashed, and has been on solids for the better part of a month.  All the healing is done and she is getting her exercise.  Probably down 35ish lbs so far and feeling much better.  It's a trip to see the amount of food that satisfies her now.  Thanks for asking, Tank!

Her father had a more aggressive surgery 8 years ago and he ended up losing probably 120+ lbs and looked like a completely different guy.  The primary goal is to get my wife off all the meds that were beginning to stack up (cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.) and get her healthier so she can be more active with our kids.  I think it's definitely working.

[arch stanton]

My daughter has a summer vacation goal of getting visible ab muscles. My wife is trying to drop 15 pounds. They're really cramping my cooking style right now

[Blarg]

Well that just sucks since it is Jack Fruit month.

[GrittyVeterans]

Time for me to get started on this again. I’m now 7 months post-open heart surgery and about ready to start lifting weights again. Been a crazy last 3 years for my body. I started pretty skinny, like probably 7% body fat, then I bulked up to the point where I was buff through intense weight lifting for a couple years. Then I got sick and lost 30 pounds from that and a lot of my muscle. Now I’ve put on some fat from my recovery process as I wasn’t able to exercise as much as normal. Going to be weird to have to take things slow but I’m excited

[GrittyVeterans]

Just got my first workout since the surgery. Crazy how much you sweat after that long of not working out. Didn’t even do anything too strenuous and I still sweat through my entire shirt, top to bottom. And I’ll definitely feel sore

[wopphil]

Yesterday was the end of week 4. I weighed in this morning at 202.0. I never got a precise starting weight, but it was somewhere between 210.0 and 212.0, which means I am down 8 to 10 pounds in the 4 weeks of the diet. My goal was to get to 199.8 by this coming up Friday, so I have a fighting chance of getting there.

My heart rate is way down. Resting heart rate one of the weeks before the diet was mid to upper 60s (hitting 71 one day). Now it is mid 50s, and was all the way down to 54 BPM last night. It is amazing how quickly the heart responds to diet and exercise. 

My only concern at this point is that I am losing too much muscle. I am sure that comes with any highly restrictive diet. My Renpho scale tells me I have only lost about 2.5 percent body fat, which would mean the other 2.5 percent lost is muscle. I know those scales aren't the most accurate, but I still question how much of my weight loss is muscle as opposed to fat..

At some point after I dip under 200, I think I may change my exercise routine from cardio focused to weight lifting. Now, I do between 45 and 60 minutes on the treadmill, with minimal weight lifting. I think I may start lifting 45 to 60 minutes and then doing just 15 to 20 minutes of cardio. Anyone have any opinion on that?

[Brandon]

You burn more lifting, especially legs...like squats, lunges, etc.

Again, I have a scale and step on it every now and then, but it's worthless. You can dehydrate yourself and hit your "goal" weight of two pounds the same way someone cuts for fighting.

I don't want to say cardio is worthless, but it pretty much is for the every day person. Unless you need the endurance for athletics, incorporate weights into your routine. Grab some light dumbbells and do Spartacus. Your metabolism and fat burning will go through the rough and you'll lean up super quick. Heck, even some no weight/ body weight repetitions can be done with Spartacus.

There used to be a bunch of free apps I used to have so that I had a ton more exercises and would just rotate them into a 10 workout rotation with 2-3 sets. Start slow and work up to 45 seconds on, 15 seconds rest with a 2 minute rest in between sets. I got up to burning 1,000 calories on some days....probably the ones with burpees:

https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a19547311/spartacus/

 

[Stradling]

So I am 15 days into eating strictly meat and vegetables.  It hasn’t been that hard.  I now drink my coffee black, I don’t enjoy it, but it is simply filling a need.  I have been waking up and I am much less groggy and much less foggy.  I am mentally awake right away, which I will assume has something to do without having any sugar or gluten in a couple of weeks.  I don’t really have any cravings the last couple of days.  Things like tacos, nachos and pizza all sound good, but I’m not craving them.  I am eating less per meal.  I am eating lots and lots of salads with a little bit of italian dressing.  

I am down a total of 10 lbs in 15 days.  On Friday I was at 239 lbs, and I didn’t change my eating habits and the next three days I was at 240 lbs, despite continuing eating well.  I also check my weight at the same time each morning after using the rest room in the morning.  I have struggled to take a dump the last couple of days, which could have contributed to the lack of weight loss those days.  Today I was down to 238 lbs.  Let’s hope I am done with that little plateau and we can see some gradual improvement in the next couple of weeks.  I would love to see me an even 230 lbs at the end of the fourth week.  

@wopphil thanks for bringing this thread back up.  

[wopphil]

Awesome Strad, good stuff. Keep it up. You might soon find you can be more liberal with your diet without fear of being totally derailed. 

I cheated a little this weekend. Lots of vodka and pizza saturday night (though I had very little to eat leading up to that). A little more pizza Sunday. But I got back on track yesterday and am fully back in diet mode. 

I also hit my first phase 300,000 step goal a day early (gave myself 33 days to get there, but did it in 32 days).

One thing I have noticed is that the last two times I have had alcohol, it has done a real number on me. It has just really dragged me down and made me feel like shit. Makes you realize how powerful alcohol is. 

I was hoping to hit 199.8 by this Thursday. I dont think I'll quite get there, but it should be close. In any event, I'll be sub 200 and within 8 pounds of my goal weight within the next couple of weeks.

[Stradling]

So awesome Phil.   I am doing this diet with my boss who is much lighter than I am.   A little frustrating that he’s lost the same amount of weight.  We are staying strict for 28 days and then checking our results.   It’s cool to go through it together.   Once the28 days are up, I’ll decide how much longer I’ll be this strict, which will really be determined not only on weight but am I still seeing results.  

[wopphil]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

So awesome Phil.   I am doing this diet with my boss who is much lighter than I am.   A little frustrating that he’s lost the same amount of weight.  We are staying strict for 28 days and then checking our results.   It’s cool to go through it together.   Once the28 days are up, I’ll decide how much longer I’ll be this strict, which will really be determined not only on weight but am I still seeing results.  

I think that is a good plan. I am a big proponent of doing it in phases. Go for 4 weeks, so how things are going, then mix it up if need be.  Keep on mind that 2 pounds of weight loss per week is a great result. Dont get discouraged if you only drop 3 or 4 pounds over a 2 week period.

I think the hard part is going to be what to do once the "diet" is over. I cant go back to eating like i was before, but I also dont need to be this strict. Finding balance is going to be a challenge. I need to maintain this healthy lifestyle, and perhaps that means being on a structured plan that is more akin to a diet. No matter what I do, I think limited carb and beer intake will have to stay part of the plan.

[Stradling]

So I finished the 28 day challenge where I ate just meat and veggies.  I cut out sugar, gluten, grains, and dairy for the entire month.  The only times I cheated where the first weekend I had 2 beers, some whiskey (not sure if that is cheating, but probably), half of a crab cake and I had a few handfuls of popcorn at the movies.  I know that isn’t being 100% strict, but it got me through the month.  Drinking nothing but water, unsweetened ice tea and black coffee was not great.  One other thing is I didn’t make it to the gym until this past week, and usually when I go to the gym it is for cardio and later this week I will be getting back to weight training.  

So after 28 days, my weight went from 248.8 lbs to 231.7 lbs, so a loss of 17.1 lbs.  My guess is when I weigh myself tomorrow I will be right around 232-233 lbs again, since I usually have a low day, followed by a couple of days where I am half a pound or a pound higher or so, then that low day becomes my normal.  

Without sounding all stupid, I am proud of myself.  This is the most dedicated I have ever been with my eating.  It is difficult to eat this way or I guess inconvenient to eat this way with my life style of being on the go at work 8-10 hours a day.  Tonight I will have one cheat meal, then back at it tomorrow.  

Thanks for this thread, it helped.  

Scott

[Adam]

So you gained what? half an inch of cock?

[Stradling]

47 minutes ago, Adam said:

So you gained what? half an inch of cock?

Almost

[Brandon]

Booze is tricky. I'm no scientist or nutritionist and this is purely my experience while knowing everyone is different.

Obviously it's not good for you and if one can eliminate it their progress will skyrocket, that's a given. But I was able to drink and continually lose weight by drinking the right drinks and it slowed my progress, but didn't shut it down. Beer and anything sugar based (margaritas, Jack & Coke, etc.) will be the death of you. However, vodka/soda, tequila neat, and whiskey neat have no sugar or carbs so they are essentially just empty calories....I think a jigger of whiskey or vodka equates to 48 calories per serving.

Another good thing I heard and focus on is while listening to Joe Rogan's podcast, he had a nutritionist (he may have just been a MMA coach) on that worked with MMA fighters and his thought process was that whatever you consume or do (exercise wise), know you are doing that for two weeks down the road. And from my experience that seems to be right. If I am super healthy or super on point with the diet component, around two weeks is when I feel and notice the changes. Conversely, if I go on some bender and eat pizza or some other bullshit like Mac and cheese (I really miss this stuff), I will tend to see those results two weeks later in my progress. Maybe I can find it as I found it pretty enlightening and helped change my perspective a bit as I know there are no short cuts or immediate changes, but also helped keep me on track focusing on the big picture and not get discouraged if I wasn't seeing immediate results.

[GrittyVeterans]

I’ve been on a diet the last 2 weeks where I am basically only eating tuna fish, chicken, and vegetables. Results have been amazing already. My body fat percentage was 14.5% when I started and I’m already down to 12.7%. I feel it’s a great diet to have when lifting weights too because the tuna is so packed with protein obviously.

next step will be to up my cardiovascular activity with more HIIT workouts. My cardiologist said I no longer have any restrictions from my heart surgery so I think I will start that next week. 

Does anyone know any good HIIT interval stuff I can start with? 

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, GrittyVeterans said:

I’ve been on a diet the last 2 weeks where I am basically only eating tuna fish, chicken, and vegetables. Results have been amazing already. My body fat percentage was 14.5% when I started and I’m already down to 12.7%. I feel it’s a great diet to have when lifting weights too because the tuna is so packed with protein obviously.

next step will be to up my cardiovascular activity with more HIIT workouts. My cardiologist said I no longer have any restrictions from my heart surgery so I think I will start that next week. 

Does anyone know any good HIIT interval stuff I can start with? 

Look on one of the previous pages, I posted a link to Spartacus workouts.