DWWISE83's Final Stretch : The Last 20 Pounds

Well, my official weigh-in isn't until tomorrow but I just had to get on the scale today. I'm still in shock.....

175.8!!!!!!!!!!

I am SOOO happy :)

Oh... and I ran 4 miles today, with hills, no walking :)

What a good weekend!!
 
Good job with the running and reading your posts is inspiring. My shins hurt running on pavement but these trails I discovered today would be great on my shins, that's another adventure I can add to my exercise.
 
GreyGhostHunter said:
Outstanding DW.

Doesn't it feel great
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Thanks GGH, it does feel really good :)

WrongTurn said:
Good job with the running and reading your posts is inspiring. My shins hurt running on pavement but these trails I discovered today would be great on my shins, that's another adventure I can add to my exercise.
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Thank you! I had the same problem when I first started running. My shins would get really tight and it would hurt to the point that I could not run. If you have the same thing as me, then I have good news - it will go away as you run more and more. My shins never hurt and I am very grateful.

Running on pavement can be hard on the body. I try to run on different types of surfaces so that I won't be thrown for a loop during races. Before my first 5K I only ran on dirt, then the 5K was on the road. It affected the way I ran, for sure!
 
The week is starting off in a positive direction. I had a rest day yesterday, but did very well diet-wise. I am trying to gradually replace some of my regular foods for more 'clean' or natural foods. It's hard! I'm taking baby steps... I know I need more veggies and protein in my life and a lot less starches/carbs. I'm going to the grocery store today and will definitely focus on this goal :)

As I expected my weight immediately jumped back up after my four mile run - basically as soon as I put the water glass to my mouth. This morning I was 177ish - so I am still really happy! I drank water like it was going out of style yesterday, so I'm not surprised to see large fluctuations.

I got up this morning and went for a short run. Did 2.5 miles. Since I knew it was going to be a shorter run I tried to push myself in the speed department. I was going slow at times, but really tried to make a conscience effort to keep my pace on the fast side. I felt good after the run and I'm really glad it's done for the day!!

Tomorrow I will probably do around 3 miles, another 3 on Thursday, take Friday off (usually my cheat day). For the weekend I plan to do weights and/or yoga on Saturday and my long run on Sunday.

Haven't decided if I'm going to stay with 4 miles for another week or move up to 4.5...
 
Wow - I can't believe it is already July... where did the year go! Where the freak did June go!

Yesterday was a hard day for me. The baby didn't sleep good the night before so I didn't make it to my morning run. I was hungry all day and ate lots of food. Calories probably stayed within my normal range, but just barely :) I did really good until dinner, and then kinda indulged in my wife's good cooking... had about 2x more than I should have

BUT after dinner I went for a 30 minute run around my new neighborhood. It was hard (lots of hills) but I felt MUCH better afterwards.

I've decided to not get on the scale again until Sunday, after my long run. I think that is going to be my official weigh-in day / time. When I got on the scale yesterday for the July Postcard Challenge it said 178.0. That's 2.2 pounds up from my Sunday weigh-in, but I'm sure it's just water weight so I'm not stressing. If I'm back at 175.8 for this Sunday I will be happy - 7 pounds in two weeks is still great!

Don't get me wrong, I would still love to see another pound or two GONE! :blush5:
 
Hey that's awesome! I think you may have been dehydrated when you weighed 175.8 but no big deal. The important thing is you are 178 a couple days later so that is great.

Keep up the great work. One thing I am personally going to do different is record only my lowest weight each week and simply keep track of that on my calendar. As long as I am losing 5 lbs every 10 weeks, I will be happy at this stage. That will get me to 188 by the end of August. I can live with that.
 
I came to a crossroads last weekend.

I've been 'back on' my eating/exercise plan for the last 2 weeks and things are going well. Weight is down. Energy is up. Life is good.

But, am I happy with the way my body looks? No. Not so much. I'm getting smaller, for sure, and look okay in my clothes - BUT I am not happy with the way I look sans clothes. I still have fat around my lower stomach and chest. Also, I have no definition anywhere except my calves (thank you running!)

So, what to do?

Revamp! Re-energize! Re-assess!

I took the long weekend to research and improve my eating and exercise plans. I don't want things to be 'okay'... I want things to be GREAT - PERFECT. If I want to see major improvements in my body, I need to be strict, eat clean, and work hard. I cut all of the crap-o-la out of my diet, increased protein, and completely changed my exercise plan.

I feel so great about my new plan, and I know that it will lead me to the body I desire/deserve.

Stay tuned for specifics about my diet/exercise plan :)

The sweetest treat does not taste as good as a fit body.
EVERYTHING you consume affects the way your body looks.
 
Hmm, I'm assuming more weight lifting is going to be involved? Personal trainer maybe? I'm curious to hear about your plan.
 
Derrick said:
Hmm, I'm assuming more weight lifting is going to be involved? Personal trainer maybe? I'm curious to hear about your plan.
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I will try to post everything tonight - I am absolutely swamped at work right now... but I did want to drop in because today was my weigh-in day. Down to 176.2! WHOOHOOO. And I drank SOOOOOOOOOO freaking much water yesterday that there is no way I was dehydrated!
 
On this forum I stopped doing the whole journal thing. I simply don't have the time and typically don't like doing random driveby postings... they seem so empty.

Not trying to be self-important or anything... I don't expect anyone to stop by mine either, lol. Not like anyone does at this point.

I'm primarily here to offer help for those who privately message me and clean up spam. :)
 
The FOOD Plan

When I came up with my meal plan for the week I really wanted to focus on healthy clean foods and increasing my protein intake. I am a picky eater, so this was hard for me - but after some research I found a days worth of food that seems pretty nutritious. I chose to have 5 'meals' per day as I tend to overeat if I wait to long between meals.

Meal 1
-Smoothie (1 banana -or- pineapple; 1.5-2 scoops of protein powder; 1/2C. FF Plain yogurt; 1 TBL all natural peanut butter)

Meal 2
-1 serving chicken salad (made with grapes, almonds, veggies, etc...)
-1 serving cherries

Meal 3
-4oz white fish with extra virgin olive oil
-1C brown rice

Meal 4
-3oz turkey (made into turkey balls from ground turkey)
-1 apple

Meal 5 (varies day-to-day)
-1 serving lean protein
-1 serving veggies
-1 serving carbs
=============================================
Approx: 1800 Cals, 130 g. protein

I took some tips from the new book by Tom Venuto. He recommends a 90/10 compliance with the above diet. I eat 35 meals per week, giving me 3.5 free meals which I will break down to: 1 free lunch, 1 free breakfast, 1 free dinner, and 1 free snack. (one could use all of these meals at once and have a free day)

I made a little chart where I can track which meals are healthy and which meals are free/cheat (just so I don't lose track...)

So far, so good. Things got a little hard for me yesterday (day 3) - everything just tasted bland and I didn't want it... at all. I ate healthy all day (meals 1-4) and then had a free meal for dinner. It was perfect(ly good) :) Now that my cravings are satisfied I feel ready for another few days of healthy/clean eating!

I am really focusing on water intake as well. Trying to get as much as possible.

My new weigh-in day is every Wednesday to coincide with the July Challenge and I am happy to see my weight going down at a very lovely pace (around 1%/week)

I hope this meal plan will help me obtain my goal body when I get to my goal weight!

7/1/09 - 178.0
7/8/09 - 176.2 :hurray:
 
Great stuff!

In really, a meal off plan isn't at all bad assuming you don't go overboard. I don't plan out my nutrition near how I used to back in the day. But when I did, I might have chicken, brown rice, olive oil, veggies on the menu for dinner.

But when I come home I find my wife made pork tenderloin with a marinade with some rice pilaf and veggies.

Well food is food. I'm still getting in protein, carbs and fats and in fact... the absolute amounts probably aren't much different. I wouldn't even consider this example a "cheat."

Perception is a powerful thing though and I know for a lot of people, when the deviate from a plan, they tend to *really* deviate. It's this damn all-or-nothing mentality that really trips them up.

So be aware.

Looks great though.
 
Steve said:
Great stuff!

In really, a meal off plan isn't at all bad assuming you don't go overboard. I don't plan out my nutrition near how I used to back in the day. But when I did, I might have chicken, brown rice, olive oil, veggies on the menu for dinner.

But when I come home I find my wife made pork tenderloin with a marinade with some rice pilaf and veggies.

Well food is food. I'm still getting in protein, carbs and fats and in fact... the absolute amounts probably aren't much different. I wouldn't even consider this example a "cheat."

Perception is a powerful thing though and I know for a lot of people, when the deviate from a plan, they tend to *really* deviate. It's this damn all-or-nothing mentality that really trips them up.

So be aware.

Looks great though.
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I agree. For me, the free meals are completely a mental comfort. If I new that I could never (guiltlessly) eat another hamburger and french fries I would feel trapped / boxed in by my diet. I need to know that, if I really wanted to, I could have those foods (in moderation, infrequently) without ruining my body / program. Also, the longer I am on a plan the less I tend to crave unhealthy foods and the cheat meals turn into small treats...

In past attempts to lose weight I ABSOLUTELY had the all-or-nothing mentality. If I 'cheated' then I was a failure and there was no point in continuing the diet. It's silly looking back, but that is exactly how I thought!

I had a pretty high calorie dinner last night, but I got up this morning feeling really great and actually look forward to my healthy foods today.

My free dinner is really the only time I plan to go all-out. For my other 'free' meals I will look forward to small treats like a PB&J sandwich for lunch, or a cookie for a snack, or maybe some toast with jelly and milk for breakfast (just a break from the norm, really. Not a deviation from my regular daily calories).

I'm glad my diet makes sense to others... sometimes things sound better in my head :leaving:
 
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