Before/Inbetween/Almost After - Pooh Style

Fantastic job! Let me just say.... thumbs up to hot "nerds!" :D I love the tie/ calculator pic. That's my favorite one. hahaaa! Good luck with losing the remainding weight, doll.

-Sheryl
 
WOW you look great! You must feel so proud of yourself. I always wanted to be a teacher, but went the nursing route. I love math, that is what I would have done.
Keep up the new lifestyle!
Cathy
 
Although people have told me that I've lost enough weight and need to stop, I know what i look like under a shirt and know I need to continue to slim it down and tone it up.

Thanks for the encouragement guys... its really nice. My brother does the Atkin's diet and has been thinner than me for my entire life (he is also 5 years older). I just found out yesterday that he weights over 12 lbs more. It's not a competition to me but obviously to him it is because he seems a bit mad over it. Says he needs to lose it all again so he can catch up. I can tell it was more than a joke and really bothered him. Problem is...he has hypertension and does Atkin's. Yo-yo's all over the place with his weight... I really worry about what he does to himself.
 
MsGhettoBooty said:
Fantastic job! Let me just say.... thumbs up to hot "nerds!" :D I love the tie/ calculator pic. That's my favorite one. hahaaa! Good luck with losing the remainding weight, doll.

-Sheryl
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Again, I'll never quite get used to hearing anyone refer to me as hot. But, that's really cool of you to say. Recently, I had to buy a whole new wardrobe and so, as you can see, it's quite different from my previous school teaching attire. Co-workers at first, EVEN my principal, asked if I had a job interview and leaving her. Its hard to have to explain that I can now fit into the clothes and look decent. Before, I would have just looked silly and slobbish. Now, its just Silly :)

fat2fit said:
WOW you look great! You must feel so proud of yourself. I always wanted to be a teacher, but went the nursing route. I love math, that is what I would have done.
Keep up the new lifestyle!
Cathy
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I am proud of myself... but I sometimes beat up on myself a lot for how I still look. I mean, under the clothes (which make me look damn impressive ;)) I am still a mess. I am beginning to tone up and see my obliques but I don't like what I see still. My original goal was 215, I am now 10 lbs below that. With 15 more in mind... the question is... will I be happy with that?

Btw, nursing is a VERY noble job, my mom was a D.O.N. and RNAC before she passed away, I always admired her for what she did. One of my only real heroes in my life, besides Batman of course. :-D

Another note I wanted to add, I can pretty much eat out now (maintain myself and not go overboard on the food I used to eat) and still not gain weight. I feel like my metabolism is probably completely different. As long as I do my running for the week (about 15 miles, 3ish a day x 5 days a week) and my weight training, than I can bounce back from those meals (hell, I even lost since last week after a few bars and a wedding!). Difference is, I don't eat til I am sick anymore.

-Keith

P.S. Updated my ticker because I went to the doctor's this past week and in my chart, my heaviest was 283 lbs. not 280 as I had thought... my doctor hasn't seen me since my weight loss and was so excited to have me go do bloodwork and see what my levels went to. :)
 
I'm having a weird week. My weight went up but not because of eating (at least I don't think so). My weights went up this week (about every two-three weeks, I up the weight) and I think it's muscle mass or hope it is. Still, disappointing, hovering around 207, I am also upping my calories because of the extra weights and need the protein to help rebuild the muscle growth too. So I am at about 2000 calories a day now.
 
You look amazing Sir!!! :) Congrats!! U must feel awesome! Im proud of ya very inspring!!!

As for the Math teacher thats great.. I was and still am horrible at math!!!! I always hated those problems.. "if jenny is walking 10 kms and joey is walking 15 kms blah blah blah blah blah... what colour was jennys hat?"

take care

Miss ;)
 
Miss_Determined said:
You look amazing Sir!!! :) Congrats!! U must feel awesome! Im proud of ya very inspring!!!

As for the Math teacher thats great.. I was and still am horrible at math!!!! I always hated those problems.. "if jenny is walking 10 kms and joey is walking 15 kms blah blah blah blah blah... what colour was jennys hat?"

take care

Miss ;)
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Miss,

Thanks for the kind words... however, as of lately I am not very proud of myself. I am pretty set at 205-207 lbs, but I would like to get down to 190ish by July.

I think the issue was not enough calories. I was taking in about 1500-1700 calories a day, usually around 1500 (it's hard to eat a lot more now because of how my body is trained to eating less). I was also working out about 600-700 calories a day in the gym, which means if I am burning 3000 calories a day, and only taking in 1500, that is too great of a deficit occurring, and so my body won't lose that weight because its holding onto calories even though the numbers should technically be about 3.5 lbs a week.

I am now going to 2000 calories a day, so if my numbers are correct (and they are, remember, I'm a geek math teacher), I will lose under 2 lbs a week and that seems more sensible. However, what doesn't seem sensible is eat more to lose more, and I can't grasp it and this "scares" me to take more food in than usual and still lose (even though I wasn't losing before anyway).

Sorry for the additional rant, it helps me look back and reflect on my own words. Does anyone have anything to add or had the same problem as before?

-Keith
 
Wow, you look absolutely amazing! It is SUCH a difference!!!

Man, people like you are my inspiration.

Did you ever knooooooooooow that you're my heeeeeeeeeeeroooooo!? :biggrinjester:

(Seriously though, no joke. It's pictures of people like you who have actually accomplished such a profound amount of improvement on themselves that make me work my butt off in hopes of similar results!!)
 
Hey Keith!!! Dont worry you are soo close to your goal!! you have time and you are going to do it!!! and by July I will be shhhhhmooookin hot with ya! lol .. well at least smaller YAY! lol
 
Hey everyone,

Quick update, just wanted to say thanks for everyones comments, kinda weird being inspiration to lose weight. I've started working (really training) out with a guy who weighs less than me (he is shorter but kinda out of shape, so he has a nice beer gut) but wants to look like I do, flattering and weird at the same time.

Good news, I had tipped the scales last week at 209, but today, I am 204. I will chalk some of that up to water weight, but man I busted my hump in the gym and really took notice to calories this week. Overall, in a very good mood.
 
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maverick said:
Man, I don't even recognize you from one picture to the next! That's amazing!!
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TYVM Mav, you my own little cheering section.

However, I am very disappointed lately. I finally got down to 203, and now, for the past two days I am back at 205. I know, I shouldn't weigh in everyday because of this exact type of thing, but I am a slave to the scale.

GRRR! I've been doing really good with my plan and exercise, maybe I am not eating clean enough foods? I don't even know where to start with those. Here are my meals for the average day:

Breakfast:
Weight Smart Oatmeal and a banana (roughly 250 calories)
or I make a breakfast sandwich consisting of: two slice of weighwatchers bread, 2% slice of cheese, egg beaters and turkey sausage (about 300 cals)

2-3 hours later:
little serving of apple sauce and a fiber one bar (200 calories)

Lunch:
weight watchers meal and a yogurt (300 - 360 calories)

Dinner:
8 oz of Chicken or 6 oz of beef (sometimes ground beef all I cook is VERY lean stuff)
a starch, maybe sweet potato or frozen perogies (bout 3 of them), instant rice packages (like cheddar and broc, 1 serving size)
veggies (usually fresh steamed broc, caulif, carrots)

All said, the calories are usually around 650-700 for dinner.

Snack -
could be anything, like almonds (1 serving 160 calories) and a sugar free pudding (60 cals)
weight watchers ice cream (160 per bar)
sometimes if I have enough cals left over I eat a bowl of kashi go lean cereal with 1% milk (not a serving of milk, just splash it on, about 300 calories).

All said and told, I eat anywhere from 1950 to 2050 calories a day.

my RMR is 2400 with sedentary lifestyle and I get about 600 -700 calories in at the gym from monday - friday, taking the weekends off (but keep calories around the same).

I don't know if I am writing this because I think what I am doing is wrong or if I just need to see it written out to affirm that I am doing what I should be doing. Also, I drink about 2 Liters of water a day plus a ton of green tea (with two splenda). I do use a scale to measure food out all the time.

My goal of under 200 by Jan 30th is nowhere in sight especially when the damn thing keeps moving UP. I know stress doesn't help weightloss at all either.
 
Just wanted to say, you're lookin' really great!! There is an enormous diff in your face & shape of your body. You're looking strong & healthy...don't think you look too thin though, sometimes people use that as a tactic to through people off track.
Sounds like you caught on to that for what it was, Good job!
 
Man, your dedication to the exercise and food log is inspiring. Don't worry about the weight rut - I've been stuck at 183 for about two weeks. It'll all come off soon enough, though. For both of us. :D

Stay the course! You're doing great!
 
Well, I really appreciate everyone's comments, you guys are really great.

Today was 1 week weigh-in, so in other words, if I weigh myself a million times inbetween official weigh-ins they don't count. Last week: 203, this week: 206.

UP 3 frigging lbs... so, the only thing I can really attribute this to, because it wasn't my diet (I count like an OCD patient, even OCD patient's think I am nuts), is muscle... I recently upped my weights in the gym due to helping a buddy train, so I think with the competition he is making me step up my game.

Steve, if you're reading this, is it possible to add 3lbs of muscle in a week?! I also recently upped my calories from 1700 to 2000 but that was about two weeks ago, is this the added weight as well? I mainly added protein as the additional calories (for instance, I have my protein shake after workout almost 4 days a week now). I don't see the extra weight if that makes sense (like my clothes aren't tighter or anything) but I am not sure if 3 lbs is so detramental to visually see that gain. Like I said, mathematically, my RMR (I'm 5'11", 206, 28 year old male) is about 2400, then I do about 600-800 calories in the gym/cardio vascular rooms 5 days a week. So I think my intake is responsible enough for my output, which does equal a weightloss not a gain of 3. I have also started doing incline on the treadmill (2.5%) which I can definitely feel in my legs, could that be helping with this extra weight?

Thanks.
 
First man, you've got to ditch the scale mentality. This process and lifestyle doesn't have to be frustrating. It can actually a fun ride! But again, you've got to let go of that mentality where 2 lbs up = catastrophe.

Become more physique-minded opposed to scale-minded. You aren't doing this to look like a scale, are you?

No.

You're doing this to look good naked.... and the scale.... EVEN THE NUMBER ON THAT SCALE.... has nothing to do with what you look like naked.

Of course you're doing this to be healthy and fit too.... but that also has nothing to do with the scale.

There's a hierarchy of importance when it comes to metrics used to measure success.

1. I'd say is the reflection in the mirror. If you're happy with what you see there, who gives a flying f- about anything else?

2. Is measurements. Get yourself a soft tape measure and start tracking. Again, you should be worried about your physique, not some arbitrary number on the scale. Measure your neck, arms, chest, navel, waist, butt/hips, and thighs every 2 weeks or so.

3. Start taking monthly pictures for comparison purposes, realizing you aren't always going to see a change.

4. Use a scale to weigh yourself just as a general gauge.... It's incredibly defeating and frustrating if you put this metric high on the list though b/c it's not measuring what you're looking for. It doesn't measure improvements in physique and it sure as hell doesn't measure fat loss. You're interested in a good physique and losing fat, right? So wouldn't you agree it's INSANE to put so much faith in a metric that doesn't even measure progress in what you desire?

I know there are good number of people who weigh daily around here. They say it keeps them focused. With the above in mind.... I don't quite get it. And even those who say it doesn't affect them mentally or negatively, they're still part of that group that make a big deal when the scale upticks a few pounds.

Logically it's not something to worry about. But the scale seems to make people think illogically.

If you blew it way up in proportion, it'd be like someone saying, "Even though I am studying physics, I'm not going to do any work outside of class related to physics. Instead, I'm going to spend all my time learning economics. I've even going to take tests regarding economics to test my proficiency."

Then, when they take their final exam in physics and fail, they scream and clammer about being a failure. What sense does that make?

Message: Pay attention to the right things.

A scale-focus also tends to establish an all-or-nothing mentality. What do I mean by that? This focus establishes the tendency in people to evaluate personal qualities and success in extreme black-or-white categories. An example would be a straight A student getting one B and saying, “I’m a failure.” People step on the scale. Even if their measurements and pictures are all looking fantastic, an uptick in the scale sends their heart and hopes to the deep, dark shallows of that pit known as a stomach. All-or-nothing thinking forms the basis for perfectionism. It causes you to fear any mistake or imperfection no matter how illogical and it sends your world into a spiral.

A scale-focus also tends to establish a mental-filter. I just spoke of this in someone else's journal. Mental-filtering is when you pick out a negative detail in any situation and dwell on it exclusively, thus perceiving that the whole situation is negative. You step on the scale, see a number that's higher than you expected, and your mental filter only focuses on this aspect, thus leading to the conclusion that your fat loss is a failure b/c your weight up-ticked. No logic there. When you get in this mode, you wear a pear of eyeglasses that filter out anything positive. All that you allow to enter your conscious mind is negative. Because you are not aware of this filtering process, you conclude that everything is negative.

I could go on and on about more mental-distortions this scale-focus establishes and none of them work to your advantage.

I know you directed a statement or question to me. Truth be told, I have no clue why you gain a few lbs. Nobody is going to be able to answer that. But if I were your trainer and you asked me, I'd completely ignore you and have you focus on the stuff that translates to fat loss; ya know, exercise and healthy/controlled eating. That's what matters to me, not an uptick on the scale of 3 lbs that could simply be bowel matter.

If you are 100% certain that you're calories are correct (hint: nobody is), then the weight will come off. Instead of looking at the acute fluctuations though, focus in on the chronic, longer-term trends. Month-to-month preferably. This tends to paint a much brighter, truer picture of what's REALLY happening.

If the trend is heading in the wrong direction, that's the clue for a problem. Not the acute fluctuations.
 
Steve said:
SNIP (and a great one at that)
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Steve,

Thanks so much man. I knew you would have something to say that would make me realize that I wasn't focusing on the real goal. I hate that I've become a slave to that stupid thing.

I need to regroup and realize that it's a actually a negative and not a positive. I am going to have my girlfriend hide it on me so I can't find it and bring it out once a month just like I will start measurements again.

I just want to thank you for the good slap in the face, much needed and deserved. Cheers to you mate.

-Keith
 
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