Getting healthier in 2020. Who's in?

Trying to get in better cardiovascular health.
I've been running 2-3 times a week for 1.5-3 miles the last few months.

Seems like I've gotten better endurance in races. Loosens me up running on Monday after a Saturday race so I'm sore a shorter length of time afterwards too.

Hopefully running will allow me to aclimitize to the heat of summer slowly so I don't suck at racing in the heat so much.

I load my 4yr old up on his electric motorbike and chase him around the park until he's bored and goes to play at the playground. Or my 9yr old saunters around in front of me on his bicycle and I weeze and puff to keep up.

Seems like my fitness motivation comes and goes in waves.

I started out this year at 208, got down to 183, then lost motivation and back up to ~198.

Currently feeling my motivation climbing back, but instead of just losing weight I’d like to actually gain useable strength and endurance rather than just feel slimmer.

Gotta find some real reason to actually stay on the motivation train. I have a sugar and soda addiction that I know I gotta cut out. But I don’t really have anyone pushing me so I gotta find the drive from within I guess.

I finally got serious about dropping some pounds a few months ago. I started at 210 and I weighed in at 193 today. I've cut down to between 1650-1750 calories a day. I started weighing my food out, and following the serving size suggestions(weird concept, I know) and it's made all the difference for me. The first two weeks sucked, but now it's pretty easy to pass up snacks and such. I'm hoping to be 185 at the end of the month, and down to 165 by the end of fall.

Forgot about this thread. A few months ago, I was around 285-290. I felt like crap, knees and feet hurt every single day. I guess that was my breaking point. Stopped drinking booze, and limit my sugar intake to only a few grams per day, except natural sugars in fruit and such. I started calorie counting with intermittent fasting. Doing 16-18 hour fasts. I’m 6’5” tall, per the calculators, I should be eating 2,300 calories per day. I try to stay at, or under 2,000.

Weighed in today at 270. Goal is to be back down to around 230.

I feel like the calorie deficit diet is the most productive diet I’ve tried. I bought a “food” scale on Amazon for $7. It’s made me start to plan my meals better, to eat healthier, since I can have more healthy food at lower calories than junk food.

Doing the carnivore diet. It’s awesome. Down 15 pounds, eating steak, bacon, cream, and diet soda. Started at 240, now at 225 but with muscle added from hitting the gym a few times a week as well. Bought some beef brisket to smoke for my Father’s Day present. Best. Diet. Ever.

I’m still maintaining 35-37 lbs down just doing intermittent fasting. I’m not starving myself and still eating the food I like and drinking Baja every day. I’ve also become way less strict with my 16/8 schedule and I’m not seeing any negative effects. It’s nice not having to turn down a cookie hot out of the oven at 8 PM or even having the occasional 11 PM bowl of cereal. I think I found my ideal weight and diet!

This is something I have been needing to do for a long time. For as long as I can remember I have been big and overweight. I feel like I have been fairly active in my life, but never healthy. My co worker started going to the gym and offered me to go with him. We started a couple weeks ago, and I bought the pass after the 7 day trial period ended. It feels good to be pumping some weight again, and next week we will add cardio into the rotation. I have always hated the gym mentality and being around the 'gym rats', but once you get past that and just focus on yourself, its been really nice to feel like you're doing something good for yourself.

I have been attempting to do keto again, but I still have a major weakness for the occasional bread. My dad has been doing carnivore for over a year now, and frankly I can't believe he is still on it. He's lost a bunch of weight, but I just feel like it can't be healthy or sustainable. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE meat, but I also love veggies and the occasional fruit and dairy too. I have debated the intermittent fasting, but haven't messed with it too much either. The hangry monster would probably want to kill people at some point, but I know its mind over matter. That way I can at least eat the foods I enjoy?

A couple years ago I was down 40 lbs just from keto, but have since gained that back. I am hoping with a strong focus on and sticking to a diet of some type, and working out that I can drop 80-100 lbs, but if I gain some back in muscle, keeping me from fully hitting those numbers, I am 100% ok with that. I'm 5'10" and 295. My heaviest was when I was working at LROR at the front desk at 310. Luckily I have been able to stay around 290-295 since being back in a more physical career. I haven't been below 200 for as long as I can remember, and would really like to see that happen. I have been really enjoying the trials bikes, and would like to be in better physical shape to improve there, but also, and more importantly is to be here long term for my family.

Coco said:

That way I can at least eat the foods I enjoy?

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Life is too short for me to not be able to enjoy my homemade bread and freakin’ BAJA. That’s all I’m saying. I think intermittent fasting is way easier to KEEP DOING than any of the other “fad” diets.

N-Smooth said:

Life is too short for me to not be able to enjoy my homemade bread and freakin’ BAJA. That’s all I’m saying. I think intermittent fasting is way easier to KEEP DOING than any of the other “fad” diets.

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Intermittent fasting is awesome. On carnivore, I naturally only eat two meals a day, so 8/16 just works. I’m not as strict as some, I’ll throw in some berries or a bit of watermelon, still trying to keep carbs low.

I was listening to a podcast, and the nutritionist was saying you have to tailor your program to yourself, and don’t get tied down to any external rules people try and tell you. As far as carbs go, she said to view it like alcohol. Some people are alcoholics, and need to quit alcohol, rather than try moderation. I would call myself a borderline carboholic; many people in my family struggle to manage their intake and are overweight their whole life. For me, quitting carbs works better than trying to manage them with willpower alone. Others who can manage a balanced diet easier don’t need to be extreme.

Today I hit a mile stone for myself personally. I am officially under 205 pounds which I haven’t been since 2002. At 5 foot 11 I’m still definitely overweight and my current goal is 190 pounds.

I went through a break up over Christmas of 2022 and when January 2023 rolled around, I jumped on the scale and realized I was at 255 pounds. I had gotten up to as high as 285 pounds as an adult but at one point got down to about 230 and promised myself I would never cross that 250 mark again only to find that without even realizing I had gained 25 pounds back.

I haven’t made any drastic changes in life. I do belong to a boxing gym where I go 2 to 3 days a week as my traveling schedule allows and I try to walk 30 minutes a day. Past that just an effort to be more active including things like playing pickle ball. As far as diet goes, I haven’t given up any foods. I still eat candy. I still eat pizza. I still eat hot wings and drink beer. I just shifted my mindset on moderation. Really the only major thing that I’ve changed is that when I travel which is often I limit myself to not eating anything but dinner or lunch. I’m typically taking customers out for dinner or lunch and drinks and those are always high calorie meals.

Even though it’s taking me a year and seven months to lose that 50 pounds life feels incredibly sustainable at this point. Skiing this last winter has felt better than ever with some weight loss and I’ve never been the person to be afraid to take my shirt off or embarrassed of my body, but I do find myself feeling more confident.

Seeing the scale this morning was really motivating and I’ve set a new goal to hit my 190 pounds by October.

J-mobzz said:

Today I hit a mile stone for myself personally. I am officially under 205 pounds which I haven’t been since 2002. At 5 foot 11 I’m still definitely overweight and my current goal is 190 pounds.

I went through a break up over Christmas of 2022 and when January 2023 rolled around, I jumped on the scale and realized I was at 255 pounds. I had gotten up to as high as 285 pounds as an adult but at one point got down to about 230 and promised myself I would never cross that 250 mark again only to find that without even realizing I had gained 25 pounds back.

I haven’t made any drastic changes in life. I do belong to a boxing gym where I go 2 to 3 days a week as my traveling schedule allows and I try to walk 30 minutes a day. Past that just an effort to be more active including things like playing pickle ball. As far as diet goes, I haven’t given up any foods. I still eat candy. I still eat pizza. I still eat hot wings and drink beer. I just shifted my mindset on moderation. Really the only major thing that I’ve changed is that when I travel which is often I limit myself to not eating anything but dinner or lunch. I’m typically taking customers out for dinner or lunch and drinks and those are always high calorie meals.

Even though it’s taking me a year and seven months to lose that 50 pounds life feels incredibly sustainable at this point. Skiing this last winter has felt better than ever with some weight loss and I’ve never been the person to be afraid to take my shirt off or embarrassed of my body, but I do find myself feeling more confident.

Seeing the scale this morning was really motivating and I’ve set a new goal to hit my 190 pounds by October.

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Hell yeah, good for you!

Glad to see other people with good progress!

I’ve slowly plateaued myself, after getting back to mid 250’s. Although I want to be closer to 225-230, I’ve eased up on my dieting a lot bit.

Few things I’ve learned, if anybody cares

1. I’m pretty sure by definition, I (used to?) fit the description of an alcoholic. I was putting down at least a 750ml bottle every 7-10 days, not counting beers either. Maybe not a raging alcoholic, but I felt like I couldn’t function without it.
I completely went cold turkey, and am at 64 days sober right now, however, I keep getting random urges to drink excessive amounts of alcohol, and I’ve almost caved a few times.
My goal is to see if I can at least do a full year of sobriety.

2. Just because it’s a “salad”, doesn’t mean it’s healthier than the fried chicken sandwich on the menu.
This has been huge for me. Realizing my diet can be so much more than grilled chicken, rice, and broccoli, has opened my eyes to new recipes and ways to cook that don’t make my life bland.

3. Buy a better food scale than the $7 one. It works, but is hard to read when you have a plate or bowl on it, and can’t see the screen.

The_Lobbster said:

Glad to see other people with good progress!

I’ve slowly plateaued myself, after getting back to mid 250’s. Although I want to be closer to 225-230, I’ve eased up on my dieting a lot bit.

Few things I’ve learned, if anybody cares

1. I’m pretty sure by definition, I (used to?) fit the description of an alcoholic. I was putting down at least a 750ml bottle every 7-10 days, not counting beers either. Maybe not a raging alcoholic, but I felt like I couldn’t function without it.
I completely went cold turkey, and am at 64 days sober right now, however, I keep getting random urges to drink excessive amounts of alcohol, and I’ve almost caved a few times.
My goal is to see if I can at least do a full year of sobriety.

2. Just because it’s a “salad”, doesn’t mean it’s healthier than the fried chicken sandwich on the menu.
This has been huge for me. Realizing my diet can be so much more than grilled chicken, rice, and broccoli, has opened my eyes to new recipes and ways to cook that don’t make my life bland.

3. Buy a better food scale than the $7 one. It works, but is hard to read when you have a plate or bowl on it, and can’t see the screen.

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That is a huge accomplishment. I have never had very serious struggles with addiction but I've seen it very up close and personal. Alcohol addiction is the worst thing I have witnessed. Nice work stopping cold turkey.

Swear warning.
🤣

J-mobzz said:

Today I hit a mile stone for myself personally. I am officially under 205 pounds which I haven’t been since 2002. At 5 foot 11 I’m still definitely overweight and my current goal is 190 pounds.

I went through a break up over Christmas of 2022 and when January 2023 rolled around, I jumped on the scale and realized I was at 255 pounds. I had gotten up to as high as 285 pounds as an adult but at one point got down to about 230 and promised myself I would never cross that 250 mark again only to find that without even realizing I had gained 25 pounds back.

I haven’t made any drastic changes in life. I do belong to a boxing gym where I go 2 to 3 days a week as my traveling schedule allows and I try to walk 30 minutes a day. Past that just an effort to be more active including things like playing pickle ball. As far as diet goes, I haven’t given up any foods. I still eat candy. I still eat pizza. I still eat hot wings and drink beer. I just shifted my mindset on moderation. Really the only major thing that I’ve changed is that when I travel which is often I limit myself to not eating anything but dinner or lunch. I’m typically taking customers out for dinner or lunch and drinks and those are always high calorie meals.

Even though it’s taking me a year and seven months to lose that 50 pounds life feels incredibly sustainable at this point. Skiing this last winter has felt better than ever with some weight loss and I’ve never been the person to be afraid to take my shirt off or embarrassed of my body, but I do find myself feeling more confident.

Seeing the scale this morning was really motivating and I’ve set a new goal to hit my 190 pounds by October.

Click to expand...

I hit my goal of 190lbs by October. I went and did a dexa scan earlier this week. I have officially lost 23% body fat. I’ve been collecting equipment for a garage gym and after I heal up from a surgery I have coming up here in a few weeks I’m excited to up my calories and start focusing on putting some muscle on. I feel so good I wish I didn’t wait until my mid 40’s to find the motivation to take care of myself.

Nice work Jake!
I stepped on the scale when I got back from the WABDR and I have hit my low for the year, 210. I would like to break the 200lb mark before the winter. I've been eating boiled eggs and protein shakes for breakfast and an apple and peanut butter for lunch. New MTB has also got me pedaling more.

glockman said:

Nice work Jake!
I stepped on the scale when I got back from the WABDR and I have hit my low for the year, 210. I would like to break the 200lb mark before the winter. I've been eating boiled eggs and protein shakes for breakfast and an apple and peanut butter for lunch. New MTB has also got me pedaling more.

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I love it! Hockey season just started back up and it’s absolutely amazing how much faster and better I feel on the ice than I have in years. I really need to dial my nutrition in and be better with protein. I have lost about 12 pounds of muscle but that’s also to be expected with the amount of weight I’ve dropped. My goal now is by this time next year to have that 12 pounds of muscle back while managing to stay under 200 pounds.