IAmGoingToTri's Diary

IAmGoingToTri

IAmGoingToTri

New member
Introduction
Welcome to my weight loss diary! Here I will regularly write updates. I hope that writing helps me stay motivated and, if you are on the same journey, that it is of value to you. I will start with some initial questions to myself to describe my starting point, define my goals and choose my methods. After that I will ask myself some questions that are helpful to ask regularly, so I will do this every entry. Feel free to comment if you like.

Starting questions
When did you start?
I started around the beginning of this month, let's say June 1.

How much do you want to lose?
My starting weight is 98 kg.

What is your target weight?
Around 75-80 kg. Light enough to greatly increase my speed and endurance, but not so light that my health would suffer.

Why do you do want this?
Primary motivators: look better to be more successful at dating, improve endurance and speed for triathlons
Secondary motivators: long-term health, energy, confidence, rewards

How do you want to achieve this?
I want to do it by improving my habits, so that I not only lose weight, but I also practice living a healthy lifestyle for the long term. I don't see this as a diet, but as a new lifestyle. I will not only focus on my behavior, but also on the deeper layers of my being: I will listen to my feelings, learn to motivate myself effectively and work on my willpower.

Do you have other stats to share?
I am 186 centimeters, male, 29 years old and healthy.

Entry #1
Which day of your journey is this?
This is day 13.

What is your current weight?
96.5 kg.

Are you making progress?
Yes, I have lost 1.5 kg since I have started.

Are your habits also improving?
Yes, a lot. I have started cooking again, so that I can eat healthier meals. I buy less unhealthy foods, and this helps to eat better. I drink more water. Finally, I exercise more (running) and I am gradually building my routine.

How do you feel?
Positive, optimistic, a bit tired (I will sleep early tonight) and I feel a strong need to exercise (almost done with work , will do that straight away).

Do you have anything else to share?
I am quite busy with work, but it is going well. Nearly all areas of my life are improving quickly, and I expect to be succesful at my goals and become happier. The last years were much less good, so I am happy that I am able to rise above that now.
 
Hey Tri and welcome to the forum! Have you run triathlons before or is it a new goal? Either way: pretty cool. Did you put on the weight during your "less good" years or have you always been a bit on the heavy side?
Good luck on your journey, LaMa.
 
Hi Tri & welcome to the forum. I like your intro. It gives us a good idea of who you are & where you're planning on going. Everyone needs a plan if they wish to succeed & you sound determined & focused. All the best, cheers, Cate.
 
Hi LaMaria and cate! Thanks for your warm welcome & nice to meet you!

I have done triathlons before, 4 in total: 2 1/8 distance and 2 Olympic Distance triathlons. I will do another 1/8 in August and an Olympic Distance in September. Next year I hope to do my first half Ironman, and eventually I hope to do an Ironman, depending on how well I like the half Ironman and whether I manage to remain injury-free. I do this sport for fulfillment and health, so I will allow myself to go too far (but, taking this into account, I will push my boundaries as far as I can).
Yeah, I have gained weight during the "less good" years. When I was 18-20, I was very lean and muscular, weighing between 75-80 kg. This is how I determine my target weight. I may have also gained some muscle mass, so that's why I don't set my target weight in stone. However, I am sure that most of what I gained is fat. This happened gradually, through a period of 10 years, with some fluctuations every now and then. Other areas of my life needed a lot of attention, preventing me from putting in the effort that is necessary to develop and maintain a good eating/exercise routine. Now that everything is going well, and I am able to set aside some time and energy to devote to this goal.

Yes, I am extremely determined, and prepared to do whatever it takes to succeed. There may be difficulties along the way, but I have no doubt that I will attain my goals. Because I have already beaten many other challenges, I am very confident that I can tackle this one as well!
 
Sounds like you have a great mindset for this challenge, glad to hear it! I'm very curious how you'll like the iron man prep, I've always thought of such"extreme" events as (often) ruining bodies for adrenaline's sake, or for pride, so I'm glad you're into it with your health in mind.
 
I admit that pride and adrenaline for me are factors, however they play only a minor role in my overall motivation. The main reason for me is to set a high goal and to work towards that for a long time. It's how I want to live. It's an excellent practice for perseverance and discipline, what I learn from my previous triathlons has already made me a stronger person. And my second biggest reason is to learn what my body can do. I have wondered this since I was a teenager, and now it's time to push myself to the max. Third reason is that exercise is good for my mental health; it helps me get rid of stress and frustration after work and it boosts my energy and concentration. Other areas of my life benefit a lot from this effect as well.

But I am not willing to destroy my body for this. I don't think it is necessary though, I think if you patiently build your training regime, step-by-step, and if you listen to your body and take action if you feel something is off, so that you catch problems while they are still managable, it very doable to get fit enough for an Ironman. This, of course, is still an hypothesis. One that I will test thoroughly! ;)
 
Entry #1
Which day of your journey is this?
This is day 16.

What is your current weight?
97.9.

Are you making progress?
Well, I think I have burned some fat, but it's not visible in my weight, probably due to high salt consumption (water retention).

Are your habits also improving?
Well, they have not improved much in the last days. I did do a lot of running earlier this week, but in the second part of this week I didn't. I was working in another region for two days, so it was more challenging to eat healthy/exercise. However, every now and then it is good to take a break from dieting/exercising to prevent injuries and frustration. I will go running after writing this post, I'm planning to do around 8-9 kilometers. Tomorrow I plan to do my first bit of cycling in a long time. So, in short, I am content with how it is going. There is room for improvement, but I am sure that will happen, no need to rush it.

How do you feel?
Neutral, content, but a bit bored, a bit tired (will sleep early tonight), I feel the need to exercise, a bit hungry.

Do you have anything else to share?
I had a fine workweek. Still working hard to improve my life. There are big challenges ahead, but I feel fairly confident that I can deal with them. No matter how I feel, and no matter if I fail every now and then, I will continue fighting to improve my life.
 
Supplement (some extra questions that I will from now on include in my entries) to my entry above (which should be entry #2, not #1):

Which habits have you built from the beginning of this journey?
  • Updating this diary at least once per week
  • Running 3-5 times per week
  • Drinking more water
Which habits are you in the process of building?
  • Cooking healthy meals at least once per week
Which habits will you start forming from now on?
  • Strength training for at least 15 minutes, twice per week.
Some habits will be updated later. I like to start with a lower goal (so that I can complete it), and over time I will raise the standard. For example, I would eventually like to cook 3-5 times per week, but I have not done a lot of cooking for a long time, so I want to give myself a bit of time to get comfortable with it. Also, I have many other goals in my life (most importantly in my career) and I don't want to overfocus on this and see those areas of my life suffer.
 
IAmGoingToTri said:
Some habits will be updated later. I like to start with a lower goal (so that I can complete it), and over time I will raise the standard. For example, I would eventually like to cook 3-5 times per week, but I have not done a lot of cooking for a long time, so I want to give myself a bit of time to get comfortable with it. Also, I have many other goals in my life (most importantly in my career) and I don't want to overfocus on this and see those areas of my life suffer.
Click to expand...

Sounds like sensible planning. Building habits slowly instead of burning yourself out. By the way: I was in Hamburg this weekend and half the city was blocked off for the triathlon. Great atmosphere though! That´s actually something I might be inclined to do some day if I could ever get into running.
 
Hi, you replied to my tread and I saw you are on similar goal as me :) so I checked your diary and wow I can see myself here. When you got from 96.5kg to 97.9 I might know why, when I started with training and diet, after 50days I gained 4 kilos. And it wasn't fat. My thoughts are that you gained muscle mass. And that happens, I suggest you going same way as you do now and than you will see change fast enough for you to realise you have good pattern.you will gradually lose weight after you gained some muscle mass because you will start to build muscle more slowly and slowly but lose more and more fat :). Hope I helped. Stay motivated.
 
Sorry to be a spoil-sport here but nobody gains 4 kg of muscle mass in 50 days. Most of that (when it isn´t fat) is water/increased blood volume in the muscles which is definitely normal when someone starts to work out more.
 
LaMaria said:
Sorry to be a spoil-sport here but nobody gains 4 kg of muscle mass in 50 days. Most of that (when it isn´t fat) is water/increased blood volume in the muscles which is definitely normal when someone starts to work out more.
Click to expand...
I didnt say it was pure mass. I gained water mass(most of it)
 
@LaMaria: I am glad that you like my plan, and I like that you are also interested in doing a triathlon. It's a very thrilling experience, and I can say that it's definitely achievable for most people, but of course it takes some training. If you do an 1/8 triathlon, you only need to run 5k (which takes about 1-2 months of training if you follow a couch to 5k schedule).

@Andrej: Thanks for posting! About that weight gain: that happens before, if I eat a lot of salt I can suddenly weigh 2-3 kg more then the day before. I am like a sponge! ;) Also, when I increase my training schedule intensity, I tend to retain water, also like 1-2 liters, which is released after 2 weeks or so.

Entry #3

Which day of your journey is this?
This is day 19.

What is your current weight?
95.8 kg.

Are you making progress?
Yep. Lost 2.2 kg since day 1.

Which habits have you built from the beginning of this journey?
  • Updating this diary at least once per week
  • Running 3-5 times per week
  • Drinking more water
Which habits are you in the process of building?
  • Cooking healthy meals at least once per week
Which habits will you start forming from now on?
  • Strength training for at least 15 minutes, twice per week
How do you feel?
A bit tired from work and exercise, neutral.

Do you have anything else to share?
I am working hard on my discipline and willpower. I have decided that I will work on sticking to my plans. So, I will try to make less plans, but I will push myself to do them, and then slowly increase my workload. I prefer to have slow and consistent improvement. So far, I have been doing that for this journey, and I think this is one of the keys that will make me successful.
 
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I did my first 5k mud obstacle thingie last week and it was so much fun. I´m definitely not a runner and never will be but... we´ll see what happens :p
Sticking to your plans is MUCH more important than setting high goals.
 
LaMaria said:
Sticking to your plans is MUCH more important than setting high goals.
Click to expand...
:iagree: Achievable goals are the way to go. Setting the bar too high can lead to a feeling of disappointment & failure & that is to be avoided if possible. Slow and consistent improvement sounds good to me. Cheers, Cate.
 
Any updates?
I started running today and it will be on my everyday list :).
usually I did strenght training now I will do cardio more.
 
@Andrej - good to hear that you started running! Do you enjoy it?

@cate - thanks! :)

Entry #4

Which day of your journey is this?
This is day 19.

What is your current weight?
97.0 kg.

Are you making progress?
I lost 1 kg since day 1, but I gained some since last time. Quite sure that most of it is not fat gain though. I notice that my clothes are getting looser already, to the point tha tI need to start using a belt! :)

Which habits have you built from the beginning of this journey?
  • Updating this diary at least once per week
  • Running 3-5 times per week
  • Drinking more water
Which habits are you in the process of building?
  • Cooking healthy meals at least once per week
  • Eating no fries (started since last entry, forgot to add it)
Which habits will you start forming from now on?
  • Strength training for at least 15 minutes, twice per week
  • Drinking no alcohol for at least 30 days
  • Eating no chips
How do you feel?
I feel ok.

Do you have anything else to share?
The last days I ate and drank more than I should have. However, today I will get on track again, the "damage" that those days have done will be repaired in half a week, so it's not really that bad. It would be bad if I would let myself get demotivated and give up because of it. On the contrary, I can use these events to my benefit, I can learn from them. I relearned that alcohol lowers my willpower, and makes me prone to overeat. Thinking about this, I remembered that I have given up alcohol several times and this was not as hard as I expected and it helped me lose weight. So, I have decided that I will not drink alcohol for some time, possibly a year, but I have first set a goal of 30 days to make it seem less daunting.

Another thing: I notice that weight loss goes very slow. I think I can lose about 0.5 kg per week if I do it with my gradual approach. This seems very slow, especially when I realize that I want to lose up to 20 kg. This means that it will take about 40 weeks. However, I am sure that I will get a lot of benefits on the way; as time passes, I will look better, become healthier, moving will be easier and my performance in my sports will steadily increase. And this long process will build discipline, courage and willpower, which are character traits that are very important to me that I want to keep developing.

So, I will be patient and I will trust the process to bring me where I want to go!
 
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Needing a belt is always good news ;) Slow and steady is definitely the way to go if you want to keep improving your training load along the way.
 
Slow and steady is def. the way to go if you want to be able to sustain your weight-loss. Yay for needing a belt! :D
 
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