A somewhat slimmer Scott P

[Scott P]

During our annual neighborhood Beer, Bugs and BBQ party back in May, a friend came over who I hadn't seen in a few months. He said "You've put on a few pounds". I always considered myself an eater of healthy foods, but I was getting bigger, but I didn't really care. I started exercising and counting calories that Monday. After 14 weeks, I'm down 22 pounds and at an even 200. My starting weight of 222 was the heaviest I've ever been. I'm only 5'11", so those extra pounds were quite noticeable. Even my Wii Fit dude was fat and labeled "obese".

My goal is to lose 40 total pounds by the big 4-0 at the end of November. I'm halfway there. I've cut back my beer drinking by a lot. I get a six pack maybe every other weekend. That is killing me with the heat down here as is the elimination of the awesomeness known as Blue Bell ice cream. If I can hit 180, I will be happy. It's been a long time since I've seen that number. Then again, I may get greedy and want to lose a bit more. I don't think I'll ever get to my "ideal weight" of 157. That just ain't going to happen.

 

[mcate]

When I was in the Navy, they said my "ideal" weight was 201. The only way I'd ever attain that would be to amputate a leg, which I was not willing to do!

 

[GearHead_1]

My hat is off to you. :smt041 I too have been trying to drop a few pounds too. I've been working on it for 8 months now and have lost 39 lbs. I'm 6'3" and now at 217 lbs., This is as low as I've been in 25 years. I'm a bit challenged on the exercise end of things as I have artificial knee, shoulder and fused back. I'm convinced that the type of exercise one can do really determines how quickly they are able to drop the weight.

I'm fortunate in the sense that I can walk and walk a long way as long as it isn't down hill. I've been doing between 4 and 8 miles a day 6 days a week since I started trying to lose, no special diets, just less food portion wise. I really thought I would feel a bunch better having done this but I can't honestly say that I do. My blood pressure is better and that fact is probably worth it all by itself. My goal is to get down to 210 lbs. which would be a total of 46 lbs. lost. I wouldn't have believed myself capable of doing this when I started out but now there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[rabbi]

Congratulations on the weight loss guys! I wish I could do some sort of exercising but I was told I'm not to sweat due to my burns. I can tell my stamina and energy has and is diminishing.

 

[Beemerboy]

I've taken off 50 pounds in the last two years and want another 25 within the next year. I've returned to bicycle racing and feel better than I have in years. Scott keep up the good work!

 

[GearHead_1]

I'm happy for you too Beemerboy!

 

[rabbi]

I'm happy for you to Beemerboy!

Me too!

 

[Sal329]

Motivation I need, I have always been big but would eat a lot better then I have been. Working full time, trying to detail when I can for extra money and having 3 soon to be 4 kids I really need to start focusing on my health and losing weight. Congrats guys keep us posted on your loses

 

[ronkh]

congrats.

wish i could do it

 

[Scott P]

It has gotten worse. my car is filthy right now. But instead of going outside and washing it once the shade hits the driveway, I am inside doing a second workout of the day. This crap is getting out of control. I'm mixing two programs, P90X and TurboFire and letting my car get dirty in the process, just so I can lose weight. I may need professional counseling.

Update: I washed the poor thing and all is well. I even put some protectant on my rapidly graying trim. My stupid headlights are starting to haze, despite several coats of wax or sealant throughout the years. Not looking forward to that repair job.

 

[Poorboy]

During our annual neighborhood Beer, Bugs and BBQ party back in May, a friend came over who I hadn't seen in a few months. He said "You've put on a few pounds". I always considered myself an eater of healthy foods, but I was getting bigger, but I didn't really care. I started exercising and counting calories that Monday. After 14 weeks, I'm down 22 pounds and at an even 200. My starting weight of 222 was the heaviest I've ever been. I'm only 5'11", so those extra pounds were quite noticeable. Even my Wii Fit dude was fat and labeled "obese".

My goal is to lose 40 total pounds by the big 4-0 at the end of November. I'm halfway there. I've cut back my beer drinking by a lot. I get a six pack maybe every other weekend. That is killing me with the heat down here as is the elimination of the awesomeness known as Blue Bell ice cream. If I can hit 180, I will be happy. It's been a long time since I've seen that number. Then again, I may get greedy and want to lose a bit more. I don't think I'll ever get to my "ideal weight" of 157. That just ain't going to happen.

good for you Scott ... I've been losing a pound a week since last November ...

 

[Pockets]

I'm the same weight but my waist size has gone up like and inch or two idk why but I do need to loose some weight and I give you guys a lot of credit for doing it I know its hard as hell

 

[GearHead_1]

good for you Scott ... I've been losing a pound a week since last November ...

Steve, may I ask how much you have lost and what you are down to weight wise?

I'm the same weight but my waist size has gone up like and inch or two idk why but I do need to loose some weight and I give you guys a lot of credit for doing it I know its hard as hell

For me it wasn't any program it was simply about eating less and getting out a bit. If it doesn't go in your mouth you don't have to take it off. A little activity goes a long way.

 

[Poorboy]

Steve, may I ask how much you have lost and what you are down to weight wise?



For me it wasn't any program it was simply about eating less and getting out a bit. If it doesn't go in your mouth you don't have to take it off. A little activity goes a long way.

I was about 289 ... now about 230 ...

A complete change in my eating habits and a bit more exercise

Doctors are happy and amazed and even with a high red meat diet, my cholesterol is only 104

 

[Scott P]

That's pretty impressive Steve, I've cut my red meat down quite a bit.

Diet is 80% of weight loss. You need a 500 calorie per day deficit to lose 1 lb per week, and 1,000 calories per day deficit to lose 2 lbs per week. Based on my normal activity level, I need 2,400 calories to maintain weight. My target calories for weight loss is around 1,500 calories. When I do exercises, I add those calories to my total. So if I burned 700 calories doing a TurboFire or P90X workout, I need to eat 700 additional calories. 1,500 calories really isn't a lot of food. One dozen chicken wings that are baked come in at 1,200 calories.

I use an app for my iPhone called myfitnesspal. It also has a website. You add the foods you eat, how much of the food you ate and it tracks calories, fat, carb, protein, etc. It even has a scanner function to scan the barcode of the food you are eating. I measure out everything I eat on a digital food scale to determine serving size. I try to target ratios of 40% Calories from carbs, 40% from protein and 20% from fat. I don't always hit it, but I do try to come close. I also try to get a gram of protein per pound of lean body weight. There is a huge database of foods available including the majority of restaurants. If you really want to get depressed, you can look up foods that you have grabbed form your favorite sub shop, fast food joint, Applebees, etc. One meal is a day's worth of calories. It's very depressing and sobering when you start to see those numbers.

It's a good amount of work losing the weight, but it is worth it in the long run. We have all gotten lazy fat and there is no reason to be that way. Sure, there are plenty of people with medical reasons or excuses why that can't exercise, but everyone can eat right.

 

[Poorboy]

Scott that's way too complicated for me ... i talked to a few of my doctors , cardiologist, endocrinolgist, and my regular doctor ..
I took some info from them all and just changed my view of food ... I thought I had it all figured out previous to this by eating all the stuff "they" say is healthy. Well with type 2 diabetes those "healthy" foods were killing me. (I get complete blood work done 4 times or more per year) ... out went all food made with sugar and fructose, fruit and most vegetables ..cut down on all dairy & carbs (the more i read about carbs the more the commercials for "healthy" breads and pasta piss me off ... carbs are carbs unless you are stopped up and spend hours in the bathroom ... not my case at all! The most surprising thing was tomato sauces ... many have 10-15 grams of sugar per portion. I found a decent one I can doctor up and it only has 1 gram.
The biggest change is the way I eat ...
Steak in the morning ... heavy lean protein that makes my body work all morning and i'm not hungry at all until late lunch.
Usually a small hamburger or chicken sandwich to take the edge of hunger off by 2pm
Small dinner eaten by 7-8 could be chicken, shell fish or small meat dish and a small salad ...
rarely a few pretzels later in the evening ...

it works for me .. I also have a basketball hoop in the middle of my warehouse for a little exercise during the day ..

eat less, different order of the day as for heaviness of the meals and a little more movement

 

[Scott P]

That's a very different plan than mine and it seems to work for you. I don't have diabetes, so I don't have to worry about that. I'm just happy to be losing weight and getting stronger and healthier. Your comment on pasta sauce is a good one. Even innocent condiments like ketchup can have high fructose corn syrup in it. Barbecue sauces are another thing where it pays to read the label.

 

[Poorboy]

yes, the sugars are the killers in some interesting forms ... I had to give up bbq sauce and teriaki too ... I use ketchup in much less volume as i would rather die than not have my ketchup labels are a big part of my life now and my chinese menu has been significantly reduced ...

 

[ronkh]

yes, the sugars are the killers in some interesting forms ... I had to give up bbq sauce and teriaki too ... I use ketchup in much less volume as i would rather die than not have my ketchup

Use mustard

Mustard RULES on hot dogs

 

[BJohnson]

Hot mustard rules on french fries