It's Wednesday weigh ins! 2007-2022

[Alan]

6' 1" Target range 170 - 175

7/31 - 174.5
8/6 - 177
8/13 - 176.5
8/20 - 177
8/27 - out of town
9/3 - 176
9/10 - 179

out of town for a week and obviously did a poor job on eating and exercise

 

[DangerMouse]

22 July: 67.4 kg
27 Aug: 67.0 kg
3 Sept: 66.8kg
10 Sept: 66.1 kg

Target 1: 64.0 kg by 30 September 2008
Target 2: 61.0 kg by 31 December 2008

.7kg or roughly 1 lb lost this week. Seems to be really slow going and I expect I will not reach that first target, however I am going to continue plugging away.

Diet was reasonable, I did treadmill 4 times the past week. However, I know I need to vary my cardio and add in some weights. My biggest challenge is DH is away which is normally when I revert to eating pure tasty junk with no nutrition and not finding the time to exercise. Last night was the first night I was in the situation and pleased that I did not find an excuse to be bad. Must go and get on the treadmill now before I come up with some lame reason why I can't.

 

[harley]

All time high - 262 (2005)
Recent high - 242 (last April)
07/08/08 - 238.4
07/15/08 - 237.2
07/22/08 - 237.4
07/29/08 - 234.4
08/06/08 - 234.4
08/13/08 - 233.0
08/20/08 - skipped
08/27/08 - 234.4
09/03/08 - 232.2
09/10/08 - 231.0

First goal - 220
Ultimate goal - 200

Still moving forward, slow but steady. I'm thrilled! My blood pressure is down, my blood sugar is down significantly. In a month or so I should be ready to face the doctor.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Harley, you are doing great! Your doctor will be thrilled!

 

[Alan]

Harley, you are doing great! Your doctor will be thrilled!

Ditto - It is really good news when you can see weight loss measured not just in inches but in medical measurements like these. Keep up with the good progress.

 

[harley]

Harley, you are doing great! Your doctor will be thrilled!

No, I can pretty much guarantee he'll say something like "you've made some progress, but you need to lose more weight, get your cholesterol down below 50, and take a bunch of these pills." Plus, for some reason my BP jumps 20+ points just going in to see him. I'm not a fan of docs (sorry RIT).

 

[haha]

I haven't been on this thread but about 10 years ago I was diagnosed with celiac, which is intolerance to gluten (wheat, etc.) At the time I weighed about 168 and was OK but not particularly lean. When I knocked out wheat I decided to go whole hog low carb, so I eat no starches or grains to speak of. I have pretty much been in mild ketosis for all the 10 years. I wiped off a quick 15 or so pounds, and they have never come come back, in spite of some aging in the interim. I loved beer, and had something of a sweet tooth too. But now it's zero sweets and beer, but booze and dry wine is fine.

I doubt I could have deliberately gone on this regime, but having it pretty much forced on me I can see that is a pain free way to lose and keep off weight. Pain free literally, I never have to be hungry at all. Meal times are fun.

I have never seen anyone that I told about this approach do it themselves- we really like our beer, bread and sweets. If a pill were developed that would allow me to eat wheat I would maybe be down at a pizza parlor the next day. But this approach will work.

Ha

 

[harley]

I doubt I could have deliberately gone on this regime, but having it pretty much forced on me I can see that is a pain free way to lose and keep off weight. Pain free literally, I never have to be hungry at all. Meal times are fun.

I sort of know what you've been through. My SIL has celiac, and my DW was pretty sure she had it too (same syptoms). We went wheat free at home, although I was eating and drinking wheat when away from the house. But there are so many good wheat free products now, you can have an excellent quality of life without it. Although I do not include wheat-free beers in that category.

I actually had a lot of problems with the wheat free diet, due to my diabetes. Namaste makes some incredibly good products, cakes, pizza dough, etc. While they may be wheat free, they definitely aren't sugar free, so having them around the house was hard.

Turns out my wife either isn't gluten intolerant, or only partially. She lost a bunch of weight on Nutrasystem, and since then has been able to tolerate wheat as long as she doesn't go overboard. I'm not sure about the science, but she seems to have an obesity trigger on it because she showed many symptoms when she was severely overweight, and going off wheat helped the symptoms. But for the years she was following the wheat free lifestyle, she didn't lose any significant weight. Those chocolate cake and carrot cake mixes are actually better tasting than the regular wheaty ones.

 

[Kronk]

1/23: 196.8 17.1% body fat.
(snip ...)
6/25: 193.0 16.0%
7/02: 191.4 15.8%
7/09: 196.0 16.5%
7/16: 193.2 15.9%
7/23: 194.8 16.0%
7/30: 191.8 16.0%
8/06: 190.0 16.0%
8/13: 192.0 15.8%
8/20: 192.6 16.4%
8/27: 194.6 16.2%
9/03: 195.4 17.1%
9/10: 195.6 16.2%
9/17: 195.2 16.7%

Goal: 190.0 15.3%

O! the shame. Another week goes by without a substantive change. After doing pretty well for quite a while, I'm going week after week without having the will to go for a temporary diet change to lose a couple pounds.

 

[harley]

All time high - 262 (2005)
Recent high - 242 (last April)
07/08/08 - 238.4
07/15/08 - 237.2
07/22/08 - 237.4
07/29/08 - 234.4
08/06/08 - 234.4
08/13/08 - 233.0
08/20/08 - skipped
08/27/08 - 234.4
09/03/08 - 232.2
09/10/08 - 231.0
09/17/08 - 229.2

First goal - 220
Ultimate goal - 200

A huge milestone for me. I haven't been in the 220s in since before my daughter started school, and I'm a grandfather now. Although a young and increasingly healthy one.

Next milestone - 227. At which point I'll cease to be obese, and reach my ultimate goal of overweight. Once I get to 220 maybe I'll start measuring my body fat level.

By the way, how do y'all do it? Just the general height/weight calculation? Or do you have a fat meter of some sort? Just curious.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Harley, you can scroll endlessly back through this thread for our discussions on measuring body fat, or I can give you cliff notes: I use a digital caliper called FatTrack II that I bought from Amazon, but I also got a BodPod measurement done at the Citadel some time ago, just to see how accurate the calipers were. They were fairly accurate on my body fat percentage but not as much on DH.

If there is a BodPod near you, like at a university, then I highly recommend it--it is said to be as accurate as the so-called gold standard, hydrostatic weighing (where you are strapped into a lawn chair and immersed in a pool, testing how much water you displace). As you might imagine, the precision minded folks (like me) on this forum can take things to ridiculous levels to ensure accuracy.

The BodPod is fascinating, it is an egg you get into wearing a swim cap and a compression bathing suit. They create negative pressure in the egg (think Mork from Ork) and then measure the air you displace.

As I am 10 lbs heavier than my lowest weight, no one is getting near me with those calipers right now.

I think some of the other folks use biometric impedance devices, like scales and the handle-thingies. Those are accurate in the sense of measuring the difference in BF over time, but can be affected by hydration and other factors. My boss has a really nice scale one, and was surprised at how far off it could be from day-to-day, and compared to the calipers (note to self, do not measure boss' body fat ever again).

 

[simple girl]

124# today. Ate horribly over the weekend!

124#. Started weight training (in addition to my cardio) and boy am I sore! I was motivated to do so after accidently taking a "Supertone" class at the YMCA last week. They moved my normal step class to 5 p.m. so I decided to stay for the Supertone class.

Well, it about killed me! The instructor had us doing lunge walking around the track. I could barely walk down the stairs afterwards...legs were shaking! It really showed me how weak I really am

I know I need to do weight training, but I don't really like it Oh well, at least I have a tape I sorta like (the FIRM "Maximum Body Sculpting"). It's brutal, but it hits all areas, and the instructor uses very good technique.

 

[Alan]

6' 1" Target range 170 - 175

7/31 - 174.5
8/6 - 177
8/13 - 176.5
8/20 - 177
8/27 - out of town
9/3 - 176
9/10 - 179
9/17 - 175.5

SG, keep up with that weight training, it really is worth it, believe me. I know it's tough but you can do it if you want to.

Harley, you are so close now to that next milestone, I'm sure you'll do it. I remember my sister passing the point of going from obese to overweight and she is determined never to go north of it again. That was several months and she has shed another few pounds since then.

Kronk, Don't give up, you are still very close and you are maintaining.

 

[harley]

Sarah, thanks for the reply. I didn't even think about looking back through the thread. I suspect nearly everything to do with weight loss has been covered somewhere in the 1100 or so posts. I think instead of worrying about the market I'll go back and read through the thread.

The various fancy ways to measure sound totally cool, much better than pinching my fat with a pair of tongs. LOL. And I was wondering if those scale things were worth it. I'll try to do more research.

By the way, there's a Fiddler's Convention here in Berlin MD this weekend. I'll be there (listening, not playing ). I don't know if you're into that sort of thing, but I'll bet it's going to be a blast. Last year's winners were a group of teenage girls called Gold Heart. They'll be back this year. Have you been to any good shows recently?

 

[Sarah in SC]

Oh, c'mon, the tongs are fun! And reviewing our fat discussions is way better than looking at the market. Tanita makes good scales.

We've not been anywhere since Floydfest in July. Talking about the Albino Skunk festival in Greenville, SC next weekend, but not sure if we can buy that much fuel.

I do enjoy the fiddling at Floyd, so I bet the MD convention is awesome. I love to see young people learning Appalachian instruments and traditional songs. You've gotta come to Floyd next year--it is a blast!

 

[Dawg52]

Forgot to weigh this week. Too much beer this week anyway.

 

[newlife06]

168 today. Forgot about Wednesday weigh in. Monday will be official measurements and weight. Hoping for a loss! Guess you dont hear THAT very often. Traveling across the midwest next week, will report the week after.

If anyone is following the Leonardo di Caprio documentary of rebuilding Greensburg, KS, we added that stop to our itinerary. Amazing transformation!

 

[newlife06]

By the way, there's a Fiddler's Convention here in Berlin MD this weekend. I'll be there (listening, not playing ). I don't know if you're into that sort of thing, but I'll bet it's going to be a blast. Last year's winners were a group of teenage girls called Gold Heart. They'll be back this year.

Wow, I love horns and strings. A fiddler's convention would be so fun. Wonder if they have anything like that here in So California?

 

[Helen]

I hope this is not too much information, but I need to join this thread.

I have rarely had a weight problem in my life. In high school I was a bit on the plump side. Then after college, when I first quit smoking, I packed on some weight.

Now, I've hit menopause (TMI?) at age 51. In two years, without changing my diet, I put on 20 - 25 pounds. Yikes!!!

I'm now down to 129 pounds (I'm 5'3" and small boned). I am working toward 120 pounds. I think that will be a good weight for me.

My partner and I moved into the city and gave up an hour commute each way. Now we ride bikes to work or walk to the bus stop. We are also closer to great hiking trails and have been either biking or hiking on weekends.

This winter we are going to sign up for pilates. We can retire in hopfully five years and want to be able to backpack our way through the PNW. It would really suck to finally have the weekdays to hit the deserted trails but not be fit enough to do it.

 

[Khan]

stress & food

I was very stressed over the last week (no electricity for 6 days) and I had great difficulty resisting the old patterns of stress eating.

 

[harley]

I hope this is not too much information, but I need to join this thread.

I have rarely had a weight problem in my life. In high school I was a bit on the plump side. Then after college, when I first quit smoking, I packed on some weight.

Now, I've hit menopause (TMI?) at age 51. In two years, without changing my diet, I put on 20 - 25 pounds. Yikes!!!

I'm now down to 129 pounds (I'm 5'3" and small boned). I am working toward 120 pounds. I think that will be a good weight for me.

My partner and I moved into the city and gave up an hour commute each way. Now we ride bikes to work or walk to the bus stop. We are also closer to great hiking trails and have been either biking or hiking on weekends.

This winter we are going to sign up for pilates. We can retire in hopfully five years and want to be able to backpack our way through the PNW. It would really suck to finally have the weekdays to hit the deserted trails but not be fit enough to do it.

Sounds good. It wasn't TMI. I think it's great to recognize the problem so soon. Many people delude [-]myself [/-] themselves for a long time, thinking they can change things anytime they want to, and not realizing that it takes patience, work, and time. Make sure you can do the things you want in retirement, that's what it's there for.

I was very stressed over the last week (no electricity for 6 days) and I had great difficulty resisting the old patterns of stress eating.

As I've come to realize, it isn't what you do when you screw up that matters, it's whether you can get back on track afterwards. Just don't give up and in a few weeks the backslide won't matter at all. Good luck, and keep coming back.

 

[newlife06]

Helen, menopause tends to slow down our metabolism, hence the weight gain. Staying active and eating right helps to kick up the metabolism. DH & I have booked a bike tour in Holland for next April. So, we just bought a couple of bikes, getting them geared to our liking, and this morning we had our first day of actual training (12 miles) after a couple of days of biking around our neighborhood. I also have an aquatics fitness class three times a week, and some core exercises during the week. Hopefully, by Christmas, I will be in much better shape...I am 50.

Sounds like you have a good activity schedule going. Good luck!

 

[DangerMouse]

Helen, I ran into the same problem. When I became peri-menopausal in my late 30s I gained the spare tyre around my waist and it has been a major struggle to move it. Now that I am semi-retired I am working on getting rid of it.

BTW in Younger Next Year they state that gaining weight due to menopause is a myth. I am not sure that I agree with this statement as mine was definitely linked.

 

[haha]

BTW in Younger Next Year they state that gaining weight due to menopause is a myth. I am not sure that I agree with this statement as mine was definitely linked.

The most casual look around would support that women do for the most part tend to gain weight around the middle after menopause. And why not? Isn't estrogen the main reason for the femal body fat distribution pattern?

Ha

 

[HFWR]

My partner and I moved into the city and gave up an hour commute each way. Now we ride bikes to work or walk to the bus stop. We are also closer to great hiking trails and have been either biking or hiking on weekends.

TMI? Why are Merkins so afraid of their body functons?

Helen, have any luck finding better hiking socks/boots?