Losing Weight and Getting into Shape

[FARMER]

I did some googling to see any research or training advice on adding them, and found mainly advice against it (stress on joints, tendons)-- but I have to say, a three pound dumbell in each hand isn't very difficult to manage, increases cardio output, and encourages good posture.

Keep up the good work, everyone!

I regularly run long distances with 1 or 2 22oz hand held water bottles and have never had any issues to speak of. Although when nearing the end of a 50 is sure feels good to dump any remaining water out for the final push.

 

[una_dogger]

I regularly run long distances with 1 or 2 22oz hand held water bottles and have never had any issues to speak of. Although when nearing the end of a 50 is sure feels good to dump any remaining water out for the final push.

As I suspected, you can't believe everything you read on the internet...wait, then maybe I can't believe you..

 

[max]

Mexico has, sadly, surpassed us in obesity.

The strangest on the list though is Iceland, followed by Luxembourg. I have a hard time believing that there is an over-abundance of Burger King franchises in those countries.

 

[coldfeet]

Summer of 09 when my knees really let me go on short hikes for exercise I began to lose weight, then I started to add weights to my backpack and tricked my body into thinking I was still 20lbs heavier. Seemed to work and I was losing weight very quickly and watched my calorie intake. Unfortunatly my knees decided that the weight was to much and they don't want to go hiking with me anymore.

Since then I regained 15lbs but kept off the 20-25 that I lost. All I can do now is to watch my calorie intake and try to stay in the new size 36, because I threw out all my size 38 pants. Planning for a tkr next Feb. I should probably get into swimming for exercise but it's a little boring for me, of course when I flip over in my kayak, then it's not so boring to go for a swim.

 

[Craig]

USDA Dietary Guidelines 2010

Just release new guidelines 1/31/11

With the new guidelines on sodium intake I wonder if there will be a push to regulate the amount in processed foods.

Reduce daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) and further reduce intake to 1,500 mg among persons who are 51 and older and those of any age who are African American or have hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease. The 1,500 mg recommendation applies to about half of the U.S. population, including children, and the majority of adults..

Try limiting your intake to 1500mg.
I’m usually in the 3000mg per day and I’m trying.

 

[una_dogger]

well, i took up the challenge this january 1.

i have been following the "nutritarian" lifestyle outlined at
www.eatrightamerica.com
and supported by Whole Foods Market.

i am happy to report that in the first 28 days I lost 7 pounds and my BMI is now in the "healthy weight" range for my size.



only major changes are lots of veggies, decreasing animal products, increasing beans, nuts and tofu and fruits, and omitting snacks and processed foods to a once weekly treat.

 

[Becca M]

well, i took up the challenge this january 1.

i have been following the "nutritarian" lifestyle outlined at
www.eatrightamerica.com
and supported by Whole Foods Market.

i am happy to report that in the first 28 days I lost 7 pounds and my BMI is now in the "healthy weight" range for my size.



only major changes are lots of veggies, decreasing animal products, increasing beans, nuts and tofu and fruits, and omitting snacks and processed foods to a once weekly treat.

Great job!!!! It is definitely *not easy* to refocus what you eat on a daily basis!!!!

 

[Tobit]

bump.

How is everyone doing?

I kind of fell off almost as soon as I started. 2010 wasn't good to me and I started off 2011 rough as well. However, things are now back on track and I'm finally losing weight.

On May 28th, I stopped drinking beer cold turkey. On June 11th, I started taking my diet seriously and I cut out most carbs and almost all sugars. Since June 11th, I've gone from 292 lbs. to 277 lbs. this morning and clothes are definitely fitting better. I've also started walking 2.5 to 3.5 miles a day, non-stop, on a woods trail near my house. Hopefully I will return to hiking soon.

I'm probably going to have to shift my diet soon as I start to exercise more. Essentially, I've been eating a mostly ketogenic diet (one of the reasons the weight has been melting off). Unfortunately, as my walks become longer, I find energy lacking and I'm unable to push myself to do more than I have been. I'm looking into other food choices now and probably going to switch to low-glycemic foods.

Kicking beer and soda was a major hurdle for me and I haven't really craved either. These two alone have probably contributed to more than half of my success so far. I probably haven't been below 280 lbs. in 10 years.

I hope everyone else is doing well.

 

[Little Rickie]

Funny this should come up. I started bike commuting (18 miles round trip) to work two days a week last summer and stopped when the weather turned. I started up again last month and it feels easier than last summer which makes it more fun but my 40 year old bike is hurting my junk and is nickel and dimming me with small repairs.

This past Thursday I stopped at the bike shop to get the cost of some additional repairs and when it approached $100. I asked him to show me a new bike which I will pick up today.

The new bike is a luxury compaired to the old bike. Shock absorbers, upright position, 21 gears, easy shifters, nice seat and rides real smooth. I'm hoping the more comfortable ride will allow me to commute more than two days a week and longer into the fall weather.

As a desk jockie I'm counting on the increased activity to help me lose weight.

I also started sandbag training a few months ago as my primary strength exercise.

 

[Craig]

...I started up again last month and it feels easier than last summer which makes it more fun but my 40 year old bike is hurting my junk and is nickel and dimming me with small repairs.

Surely you've read the article “Cutting off the nose to save the penis”?

Lots of quotable material there.

 

[Little Rickie]

Surely you've read the article “Cutting off the nose to save the penis”?

Lots of quotable material there.

I'm tempted....but some subjects are even too..."sensitive" for me.

Interesting study of an obvious conclusion.

 

[billski]

Saw this thread looking for strategies and inspiration and that got me reading.. 8 pages worth! Regardless, I was very disappointed in my skiing performance this year. I love to ski woods. I took a tree well (in the east it's not such a big deal). But you know, I felt like a turtle on it's back. It was a struggle to get back up! Most of it is in my gut, which makes it particularly hard to bend forward.

I decided to take advantage of the fall and spring yard cleanup. I lose five pounds each cleanup, no joke. My neighbor says I have a "tree problem." But hey, depending on the year, it's between 200 to 350 bags. Well, I see this as an opportunity. Now that school is out and I'm not driving my kids around, I figured it was time to move forward. Or lower.
I started the winter at 200 lbs, 5'7". Well, I'm down to 176 today and it keeps rolling. I was addicted to junk. Once my body got over that addition and started eating better, the body and the palate got used to it and looks forward to it.

My goal is to get down to that dubious BMI number, which would be about 150 lbs. I'm taking it 10 lbs and a time and celebrate each 10lbs.

Each week I allow myself a single decadence, but not a whole day's worth. Outdoors activities are my regimin, I'd rather be doing it in the soil rather than pavement or a gym.

I went for a 1000 vertical climb and it was the slowest I've ever gone. Only three years ago I was doing 3000 vertical with not big effort. Granted, I'm 55, but no need to get geriatric about it.

My wife tells me the last few pounds goes slowest. I don't know. I'm delusional at best. If it gets me there, hey...

Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[Tobit]

Thanks for checking in Rickie and Bill. Sounds like you two are doing well.

Today I weighed in at 276 lbs. which is a 16 lb. loss from June 11th when I started keeping track and began my mostly ketogenic diet. A strictly ketogenic diet is pretty hardcore, and cholesterol increase is typical, so I had my blood levels checked this past Friday. I received the results back today and, although cholesterol levels are borderline high and low, it's no different than how I've tested in the past when I was consuming junk food and copious amounts of beer.

Total Cholesterol: 200 mg/dL (borderline high)
HDL Cholesterol: 39 mg/dL (low)
LDL Cholesterol: 145 mg/dL (borderline high)
Non-HDL Cholesterol: 161 mg/dL (normal)
Triglyceride: 80 mg/dL (normal)

Vitamin D is super low at only 20 ng/mL * Going to get a script for this tomorrow.

Overall, not too bad. I've already started weening myself off of a strict ketogenic diet and started to introduce more vegetables into my diet with less animal protein. It will be interesting to look back at these numbers in a month or two.

I am still bitter at my feet and podiatrist. Custom orthotics make no difference to the stiffness I experience in my arches and top of my foot after walking 3 to 4 miles no matter what kind of shoe I wear. I don't really experience pain when this happens, just stiffness and discomfort more than anything. It's definitely nerve or muscular, not joint. However, I have discovered that walking around barefoot after such a walk alleviates the stiffness and discomfort much quicker than anything else I have tried. I've been reading a fair amount about how walking barefoot can be beneficial so I am going to try walking barefoot as much as possible and even thinking of trying some Vibram FiveFingers. I know many disagree with this but I am running out of options to try. *shrug*

That's all for now, thanks, as always, for reading.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

When I moved to Maine in 2000 I weighed 165 lbs which had been my longtime steady weight. Then somewhere around 2004-2005 my weight for the first time in my life just started slowly going up. This winter I reached 195.

I finally said enough is enough. My wife also wanted to lose weight. So we went on the diet together. I'm back down now to about 170 lbs.

The difference in the mountains is phenomenal especially going up. The endurance is also back. It's like having a new life. The biggest problem is that none of my pants will stay up without a belt now.

 

[pedxing]

Tobit - glad you're ketogenic diet is off to a good start with no big impact on your labs.

I also find walking barefoot much of the time to be really helpful to my feet. I also like using the small knobby foot massage balls that they sell at running stores, EMS and elsewhere.

I've looked in on this thread a bit without posting with some sense of solidarity. I've been substantially overweight off and on through my adult life, illness and injury led to some set backs. I peaked at close to 240 pounds, made a concerted effort to lose weight last year, joining a gym and ramping up the proportion of minimally processed foods in my diet. After hiking the Long Trail I was down to about 195. I peaked again at 206 and have been close to 200 recently. My hiking is really benefiting from the lose of weight and increased exercise. I did my first one day Presi traverse in June and hiked the I-93 to Rt. 302 section of the AT (29 mile, 8800 ft gain) last Saturday and looking to try the Pemi loop this summer. Still, I'm about 15 pounds above my healthy weight range and my blood pressure has been way too high - so I'm looking to step up my efforts on the unprocessed food (and low sodium) as well as working harder to drop another 15-20 pounds. Hiking and backpacking are really helpful in this effort - as a means to get fit, as an end (a reason/motivator to get fit), and as a way of monitoring my fitness.

 

[DougPaul]

However, I have discovered that walking around barefoot after such a walk alleviates the stiffness and discomfort much quicker than anything else I have tried. I've been reading a fair amount about how walking barefoot can be beneficial so I am going to try walking barefoot as much as possible and even thinking of trying some Vibram FiveFingers. I know many disagree with this but I am running out of options to try. *shrug*

I'd just like to note that while walking around barefoot may be helpful for some conditions, there are some (eg plantar fasciitis) for which it is contraindicated.

Doug

 

[Tobit]

I'd just like to note that while walking around barefoot may be helpful for some conditions, there are some (eg plantar fasciitis) for which it is contraindicated.

Yeah, I've been fully checked out by a podiatrist and I definitely do not have plantar fasciitis. I do have arthritis in my ankles but my ankles never bother me. *shrug* My feet are always the most comfortable bare, in Crocs, or anything else with more minimal support so I am going to try extending my walks in minimal support coverage. I may also find a new podiatrist though.

 

[freighttrain48]

Tobit glad to see that things are going well for you and your dieting. It's definitely a day to day struggle. January 2008 I stepped on a scale and weighed 365 lbs I had been morbidly obese since high school. I had reached a point were enough is enough. I went to the gym 5 days a week and lost 65 lbs by that April. By June I had hit a plateau of about 280. I have lost and gained the same 25 lbs for the last two years. I have found that hiking has changed my body and even though I carry a lot of weight I feel so much healthier from exercising outdoors. When I started hiking last year it took all I had to climb 2 miles up monadnock. Now I put in ten mile days weekly and have climbed 27 of the 48 4k's, hope to get into the longer hikes like pedxing soon. I wish you well out on the trail and hope you find the right footwear that let's you take your journeys as far as your soul wishes to travel!

 

[rup]

At cardio rehab, they prescribed 1- mmin threadmill walks at 4 mph, and 4 degrees. We did 6 of those with a 2-3 minute break between. Mixed that with bike and stair climber. I ususally do 4 degrees and move to 6, 7, 8 degrees now adays. Also the bike - a good way to warm the hip. Then onto the weights.

 

[Neil]

lots of veggies, decreasing animal products, increasing beans, nuts and tofu and fruits, and omitting snacks and processed foods to a once weekly treat.

How about if I only eat rib-eye steaks from tofu, legume and nut-fed beef who are potato chip deprived?