I had 2 minor setbacks, that probably don't even count. Started week 2 yesterday. Setback 1 - Mid-last week the wife was having a bad day and wanted pizza for dinner. We got Little Caesars. I had a Diet Dr Pepper with it. Felt bad after so went to the gym that night. I'm allowing myself roughly 1900 calories per day. I was over by like 150, so I did 45 minutes of elliptical/treadmill to compensate for the extra calories eaten. I still felt bad though because I was giving up pop and going low carb. Oh well, bounced back strong the rest of the week.. Worked out 5 days in week 1, which was the upper end of my 4-5 times a week goal. Setback 2 - My off days working out last week were Wednesday and Sunday. No problem there. I ended up taking yesterday off to play some video games with friends last night. Not a big deal as long as I still get my 4-5 times a week in, so wouldn't really call this one much of an issue yet either. Results: My high point ever was 180 pounds (5'8" smaller frame guy). Had maintained my weight around 170-175 for about 9 months and decided I'm not happy so started again last week. I started out last Monday at 171.8lbs. Weighed in yesterday at 169.3. Down 2.5lbs. Good for the easing back in and trying to make it more of a lifestyle change, instead of a quick loss. My goal weight currently is only 160, so it's not like I'm in a hurry to lose it. What's more important to me is how I feel and how I look, so the number on the scale is kind of irrelevant to me. What I wasn't happy with in Week 1 is I feel like my workout routine is pretty garbage in terms of trying to build muscle. To be fair though, I told myself I would be focusing on getting "in shape" first to make working out easier. I probably need to find some sort of workout plan that's focused on losing belly fat, while bulking up (arms/back/abs/legs/etc). Probably better to focus on both simultaneously instead of focusing on 1, then focusing on the next making it take twice as long.
Week 2 results: Stayed under my calorie limit every day Lost 1.5 pounds (bringing total loss to 4lbs exactly). Strength exercises were easier/added a little more weight Cardio exercises stayed about the same, though I've never really had trouble doing the 30-40 minutes on the elliptical that I do. Started at 171.8lbs, current weight = 167.8lbs. Still very early, but have not noticed any change in my appearance.
I was working out again, but got sick as hell with the flu. Still fighting it and weak. Might try to get back into it later this week.
We're about the same then. 5'8 as well. My weight varies with the seasons ( 180 - 170 ) and how much beer I drink...lol.
HA! Understandable, that's why I'm cutting down on beer intake right now to see what kind of results I can get. Haven't had any beer since 3/7.
Week 3 results: Stayed under my calorie limit every day, except for Easter, where I blew it out of the park! (Over by 1300ish calories ) Lost 2.5 pounds (bringing total loss to 6.5bs) - Weighed myself on Sunday morning for this instead of Monday since I knew it wouldn't be as pretty Monday morning. Strength exercises were easier/added a little more weight Cardio exercises stayed about the same, though I've never really had trouble doing the 30-40 minutes on the elliptical that I do. Worked out 5 days last week Started at 171.8lbs, current weight = 165.3lbs. Still haven't noticed much change in appearance, but I wasn't expecting to notice any sort of results until after month 1 was completed. I believe my belly might be SLIGHTLY smaller. I gotta kinda lazy on the diet, but still stay under my calories every day the last 3 weeks EXCEPT Easter. I should probably tighten the diet back up a bit as I think that's impeding the changing of my body, even if I'm still losing weight. Less pizza/pasta (carbs). To be fair though, if I know dinner will be pizza for example, I'll usually have a lunch that is pretty healthy. I got sick and tired of the same breakfast EVERY day so I've been skipping out on breakfast like I used to do. I probably need to get back to it, but I have never been a breakfast eater. Was loving the eggs/peppers/diced ham or bacon all scrambled up every morning, but couldn't do it EVERY day anymore.
Very nicely done @T0rm3nted! Thanks for this weekly update. Really enjoy reading your progress in here. It's highly inspiring if I may say so! Keep up the awesome work! Figured I might as well post a quick update in here as well. Unfortunately for me I've gone back to some old habits again. It's been a bit of a struggle for me getting going right now. I really hate making excuses for myself, but admittedly it's been a rough couple of weeks for me and dealing with family issues atm. Trying really hard to not let that get in the way of my health and fitness but sometimes it can a bit overwhelming on me. Unlike some of you guys in here, I have a much larger hill to climb if you will. Being a heavy set at 225lbs. (my heaviest recorded weight ever in history btw! ) I'd like to get back into the 1-handle again at some point this year. With the finally weather turning nice out, I plan to hit the bike trails near my home every weekday if possible. I did finally get out on the bike on Monday morning for the first time this year and it was amazing! I really missed that a ton and hoping to continue it. As for my diet, wow has it been all over the map in the past few weeks! But, this week thus far I finally did clean it up a bit. My big issue right now is simply portion sizes. If I can get a handle on that then I'm in business. I need not to eat more when I'm very stressed out. Very easy to give in to that. I think once I can get a good week or two under my belt then I'll have a little bit of momentum riding on that and it will get a little easier for me. So anyway, yeah there's my update. Not very inspiring at all I know. But, I will hope to be sharing some motivating results in here soon enough. Thanks again for sharing your weekly updates in here @T0rm3nted and keep up the great work!
@bigbear0083 Speaking of riding.... Ive rekindled an old pass time (or more like passion) myself In my younger years freestyle BMX was my life!... I always assumed when i got too old for skate parks, id take up mountain biking..... And just last month, that prophecy came true My kid reached an age where he finds fishing to somehow be "boring" (i know, i don't get it either) so this was an attempt to find something we both enjoy doing together, and happy to say a complete success We've been having a blast!... Were lucky enough to have several superbly managed trails around the DFW by "DORBA" (Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association) and we've been out on the dirt every week last month I havnt lost any weight yet... Kinda hard to counter act 6 days behind a steering wheel with 1 day on the trails... But my strength and stamina has increased ten fold!.... When i first got the bike, i couldn't even make it up the hill in front of our house... Now, just last week, we clocked 8 n a half miles out on the trails! Here's us doin our father/son thing
Week 4 results: Stayed under my calorie limit every day but one where I went just a little over No weight change (total loss still 6.5lbs) - Hadn't weight myself since Easter morning, so the cheat day on Easter, and going over on another day by a little probably hurt that. Strength exercises were easier/added a little more weight Cardio exercises stayed about the same, though I've never really had trouble doing the 30-40 minutes on the elliptical that I do. Worked out 5 days last week Started at 171.8lbs, current weight = 165.4lbs. They say it takes about 4 weeks to notice a change in appearance. I still have not noticed one, though I'm VERY bad at noticing gradual changes in anything. Will probably take "1 month pictures" to compare on Thursday the 12th since that will mark one month. Still being pretty lazy on the diet, though staying under calories. Gotten lazier with grocery shopping and cooking nightly and allowing excessive carbs back in to the diet. Need to go back to eating healthier foods, but more of it. Lots of articles say it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you stay under your calorie limit, and I'm finding less results doing it that way, so I'm probably going to have to find a happy medium.
Alright! Finally some enouraging news to report to y'alls in here. So I got one full week under my belt w/o blowing the diet last week and so far I am off to a good start to start off this week as well. With the weather finally turning nice out around here I've taken full advantage that and have been hitting up the bike trails around my home pretty much everyday (except for yesterday as it was a bit on the chilly side). That's okay, I was kind of due for a rest day actually. No biggie. I have not weighed myself since about two weeks ago when I came in at a whopping 225 (highest recorded in my history). I've decided to not weigh myself that frequently. I was originally thinking of doing it once per week, but instead I will be doing it either once every other week, or just once a month. Honestly the # on the scale is not that important for me, but rather how I am feeling and looking. My sleeping issues has also improved the past few nights already. I think this might be related to my overall situation with family issues and what not the past couple of months having also improved. The one-day protein shake was such a great detox for my body on Sunday. Really needed that to get me jump started here. So far so good. I just gotta take this one day and one week at a time and not look ahead too much. I didn't put on all of this weight overnight and it won't come off overnight either lol. As I once said, this is not a sprint but rather a marathon. That's how I need to treat it. I figured once I get a week or two w/o screwing shit up then I'll start getting some momentum behind this and it will start becoming a little easier. That's how it worked for me the last time. My diet isn't too difficult to stick to. My issue has been portion sizes. If I can just get a handle on that! Anyway, I just wanted to quickly post this update in here as I've been meaning to share this "good news" for a change. I know it's only been 1 week since I started but I'm definitely feeling a bit more energized. Will try to post regular updates in here either once a week or every other week.
Nice job, keep it up Cy! I agree with the # on the scale not being as important as how you're feeling and looking. On to my weekly update: Week 5 results: Stayed under my calorie limit every day but two. One day was over by <100, the other was <400. Not horrible days, but felt like I let myself down since we went and got ice cream one of those nights, and the other night I ate a real big dinner (2 pork teriyaki sanwiches) when I was not even hungry any more halfway through. Down 2.5lbs last week. Total loss of 9lbs. Added more weight to some exercises. Wondering if I should start transitioning to the "weight room" instead of the "machine side" to do most of my strength. I'm a total noob at the gym. Genuinely hate running with every ounce of my being, but I figure it's better to mix up the treadmill with the elliptical instead of just doing all elliptical. Pretty much did ALL elliptical or walking on rest days for the whole first month. Tried running for the first time in years this week and ran a continuous mile on my first try. Honestly could have kept going but hate running so much that I stopped. In other words, I didn't stop because I was super winded and absolutely had to. Ran again 2 nights ago 1.25 miles, but again could have gone further. I'll probably just keep increasing 0.25 miles every time until I reach that limit where I just have to stop. Might run outside some days if it ever gets nicer out there. Worked out 5 days last week, and worked out last night for a good start to this week as well. Started at 171.8lbs, current weight = 162.7lbs on Sunday morning. I weighed myself today and was up to 167 though somehow... Kind of has me worried even though it makes no sense. Probably just a lot of water weight and probably had something to do with increasing my weight and therefore tearing muscles and absorbing more water weight. I'll see next Monday I guess. I keep repeating myself, but I need to cut out some of the higher carb food and get back to more vegetables and fruits. I feel better when I'm on a lower carb diet and feel like I'm making more progress, even if I'm really not because a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Not this coming weekend, but the next will be pretty rough for the diet I'd imagine. Thursday the 26th is the NFL draft that I watch every year with a buddy at a bar. Saturday is my sister-in-law's wedding that I'm in so I'd imagine there will be a good amount of drinking that day/night as well. Just gotta go hard the other 5 days to make sure it doesn't hurt too much. I've gotten to the point where whenever I have a cheat meal, day, skip a workout, etc. I feel like shit because it makes it feel like everything I've done so far was pointless. Makes it easier to stay motivated though because avoiding that feeling of everything being for naught is important.
Week 6 results: Stayed under my calorie limit every day. Down 0.4lbs last week. Total loss of 9.5lbs. Added more weight to most exercises. Still wondering if I should start transitioning to the "weight room" instead of the "machine side" to do most of my strength. I'm a total noob at the gym. Rotated treadmill and elliptical for my cardio for the week Worked out 6 days last week. It was the daughters 1 year birthday party yesterday so I ate a healthy lunch, but dinner was lasagna, pizza, a beer, and a cupcake. Had to go to the gym to get further under my calories (went from 100 under, to 400 under-ish). Started at 171.8lbs, current weight = 162.3lbs on Sunday morning. This week I'll have 2-3 days that will make the dieting hard. NFL draft with a buddy on Thursday, and wedding on Saturday. Not sure about rehearsal dinner, or what kind of meals we'll eat Sunday after the wedding... hopefully don't lose any progress this week. Won't be able to work out Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.
Week 7 results: As expected, went over my calories Thursday-Saturday due to wedding stuff. Up 1.4lbs last week. Total loss of 8.1lbs. Worked out Monday-Wednesday and took Thurs-Sunday off. Got back to the gym this morning though. Started at 171.8lbs, current weight = 163.7lbs this morning. Hoping to see the 150's within the next 2 weeks. I don't foresee any hiccups in the near future, though I'm sure something will pop up at some point. A day here or a day there isn't the issue, it's when it becomes a stretch of days. I'm back on my swing shift at work, so the normal sleep schedule and routine is going to become more challenging beginning this week. We'll see how I transition and if I can keep working out 5+ days a week.
i haven't fallen off the wagon yet! will just be doing updates like every other week or once a month. haven't even weighed myself since the very first weigh in. will be getting a new weigh in on sunday. kinda eager to see what kind of progress i've made in the past 2 weeks. i'll try to post a more detailed update a little later on. keep up the great work @T0rm3nted!!
Week 8 results: Went over calories 2 days, but not horribly. Overall pretty good on the diet. Down 2.7lbs last week. Total loss of 10.8lbs. Worked out 5 days. Started at 171.8lbs, current weight = 161.0lbs this morning. Hoping to see the 150's by Saturday which will be 2 months since I started working out/eating healthy. 2 months on Saturday. I've gained confidence and am becoming more pleased with my appearance, though definitely not where I want to be. Have definitely increased strength and conditioning. I'm thinking about going heavier on the lifting and lower cardio as I've been hearing from more people and reading more places that strength training can see more results in terms of losing fat than cardio does. Still want to do more research on it. I'd like to be in shape though as well (able to run 3-5 miles, not out of breath if I visit Arizona and climb a mountain trail, etc.). Need to find a better balance I think. Currently I do 30-40 minutes of strength training, then 30 minutes of cardio (elliptical or treadmill depending on the day). Thinking about going to something more like 40-50 minutes of strength and 30 minutes of walking on the treadmill instead of walking/running. Then have like 1 of my 2 rest days replaced with just cardio. Somethign along those lines. Need to develop more of a plan I guess. Either way, I'm still making progress and staying active and that's the most important. Not drinking very often, rarely drinking pop, limiting carbs a bit more, and eating a "healthy" amount of food per day with a higher percentage of fruits/veggies. 3 months from tomorrow is my trip to Mexico which was the time I wanted to have the beach bod I wanted. I've made progress but I don't think I'll be there. Definitely will not be anything to be ashamed of, but also not somethign I'll be "proud" of by that point. We will see though, still awhile to go.
@T0rm3nted Try a heavy week, then a light week. One week lifting weights One week cardio By alternating, you give your slow & fast twitch muscles a week to recover.
2 months! sweet. happy 2 months, T! nice!! ^^ this 1,000%!! you totally got 'dis, T! 3 months is plenty of time! you can do this! but yeah, definitely nothing to be ashamed of for sure! you are a great inspiration @T0rm3nted i'm really enjoying reading your weekly progress in here every week. it really fuels the fire! keep up the awesome work!! ==================================================================================================== meanwhile, just a very quick update here on me... so, i chatted with the 'sis (fwiw, she is the big "health nut" in the family. ) over this past weekend and got convinced that i not do a weigh in just yet. i was really eager to see where i was at this week, but i was told to hold it off for another couple of weeks. so, no updates on my weight just yet! tomorrow will be my 2nd full weeks since i really got "serious" with my plan. recall that i had started a few weeks prior to that but unfortunately i wasn't really committed to it fully like i am right now. i'm a little disappointed that i couldn't get serious earlier and made excuses for myself (weather, family issues, etc...) since i kind of wanted to be at my first goal by independence day. but not going to let that derail my progress though. so far i've been able to workout 5 days for each of the past 3 weeks, and have been eating at or below my calorie limits each day. i've gone a little more extreme this go around than the usual though as i've completely eliminated bread, cereals, rice, stuff like that. but will start reintroducing that in a few weeks again. since i can't really get a gauge on my progress having not weighed myself since the very first weigh in 3 weeks ago, it's a little tough for me to get a read on just how much progress i have made since then. i'll just say this much -- i am starting to feel a little more "leg power" when climbing hills on the bike trails i ride on around my home which is something i couldn't really do much of about a month ago! i no longer need to walk my bike up hills which is pretty nice. i can't really "see" that much changes in my body quite yet, but maybe what i will do is post up before and after pics in here and perhaps have you guys tell me if you's see any changes. anyway, this is a process for sure. as i always say this ain't no sprint to the finish line, but rather a marathon. it's going to take some time. i didn't put on this spare tire overnight and i won't lose it overnight. one day at a time but i'm happy to say that i am feeling a bit more upbeat about things of late which is at least some change from where i was coming from a few months ago.
Thanks Cy, your encouragement is awesome to hear! Glad to hear you’re feeling some progress, keep up the grind! We got this!
dang it, i was meaning to come on here today to post a quick before/current pics, but my "current" pic came out a bit blurry...i'll have to reshoot. meanwhile, just a very quick update on me here if i may- so, i still have not done a weigh-in since i got "serious" with my plan. i'm now 3 full weeks in as of today, but still haven't really noticed that much changes in my body (yet), however i have begun to get a few "you're looking fit" type compliments from friends and family just this past weekend so that was different. that said, i guess i can just slightly feel it in my clothes a bit, but it's very minuscule if you will. not very meaningful just yet. i'll just very briefly go over my diet/exercise from this past week: exercise-wise i pushed myself a bit more than i was planning ... had worked out 6 days (monday thru saturday) biking all 6 of those days for about roughly 90 minutes each morning. that's about my longest string of days working out in a row w/o resting since 2015. i was even thinking of pushing it to sunday as well because the weather was just so nice out, but i actually needed to take the day off yesterday, i was feeling a little fatigued, and the last thing i want to do here is to burn myself out!! i'm a few years older, and a couple of lbs heavier now than i was then, 6 days is probably my maximum # of days working out for a week until i need to rest. ideally 5 days is fine. back in 2015 i had gone on a string of like 20 days in a row working out w/o resting. that was a little insane to put it mildly. it's okay to want to push myself a little, but i definitely need to listen to my body when it's time for a break! don't overdo shit. this is not a sprint! so anyway, yeah, my workout for last week went pretty well and i was pretty satisfied with that. as for my diet, surprisingly that was almost equally as good as well. i stayed @ or below my daily calorie limits each day (even on the weekends), albeit it wasn't easy! i had gone out with friends on saturday where i certainly could have overate and screwed things up, but i actually had some willpower (for a change) and did not to touch any junk. in addition - i still have not consumed any breads, cereals, rice, etc. for the past 2 weeks in a row. i'm actually kind of impressed that i've been able to hold off for this long. initially when i cut those out of my daily diet i was getting really bad headaches (the first week was terrible!) but that has pretty much subsided since. thankful for that. so anyway, yeah i guess i'll just leave it at that for now. overall was very pleased with how last week went, that was about as good as i've been since i started. that being said, i know not every week will go as flawless as this past week went for me. there will be weeks where i overeat a little and/or don't workout nearly as much as i plan to. but, i just need not to let those weeks derail me. just taking this one day at a time... not thinking ahead too much. again, this is not a sprint. anyway, i've decided that i will wait until close to the end of this month to do my weigh in. right around memorial day weekend sounds like a good time. and i guess i can break my no-bread streak then as well haha. i'll see if i can get those pics posted up in here soon! wow, this post got a bit more lengthy than i was hoping lol.
Well done Cy, glad to hear you're starting to get results and feeling good. Keep it up man! I'll keep my update short and sweet this weak as I'm catching up on a lot from the last 4 days where I've been out of commission. Worked out last week Monday-Wednesday. Thursday I had LASIK during the morning so I didn't work out the rest of the week, though I probably should have at least 1 or 2 of those days. Oh well, not really a big deal. Stuck to my calorie limits every day except 1 which I took the night Thursday to get ice cream after having LASIK that day. Started strong this week, under my calories today and worked out for the first time since last Wednesday. Felt good to get active again. Had a lot of energy afterwards and just feel "better" in general after working out now. I used to hate it. Saturday was my 2 months "anniversary" for my healthier lifestyle. Weighed in at 160.7 lbs. Down 11.1 lbs since starting, and closer to 18 since my heaviest ever. Shooting for around 155 maybe and then just gonna try to bulk up. My next cheat day that I see coming isn't until June 6th when I go to a Cubs game with a buddy for his birthday. Hopefully can stay "clean" until then, but you never know what will pop up.
