Fit by 60! - TomO's Pledge

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Weight: 241.2 - Same as yesterday.
TAKE THAT, Plateau #2!

I ate very well yesterday, and got LOTS of exercise. First, I had a good weight session at the gym, mainly improving on my squat, but holding my own on everything else. Then, since it was such a nice day, I did about 3 hourse of fairly strenuous gardening -- clearing out weeds and undergrowth on the hill in back, and planting a couple of shrubs. With the weights and the gardening, I burned around 1,360 calories, but I only ate 2,823 calories, for a deficit of 875 calories.

I do my measurements every Sunday, and here they are:

Waist (belly button): 41.8", down about 1/4" since last week.
Neck: 17.1", down about 0.2" since last week
Biceps: 15.8", up 0.3" since last week -- go figure! I'm not doing ANY curls!
Chest: 46", down 1" -- Wow! that's great, because I have too much fat there.
Thigh: 26", no change
Calves: 16.5", down 0.3" -- That concerns me, because my calves are all muscle.

Now here are some interesting numbers. Since March 1, I have dropped exactly 3 pounds, or the equivalent of 10,500 calories. And since March 1, I have an accumulated energy deficit of 11,123 calories. That is only a difference of 623 calories. That tells me that even though I have to go through these miserable plateaus, over time my measurements are pretty damned close.

I'm wondering if for some of us, especially those of us in our 50's, this is the way we lose weight. Maybe our metabolism just gets "stuck" at a certain level, even in the face of deficits, and even though we're not at all in starvation mode. I am pretty certain my plateaus are NOT due to measurement errors. If anything, I'm fairly conservative on my RMR at 2,338 calories/day. I'm totally precise in recording the food, and I'm conservative on the exercise calories.

So yes, if you're young, you should be concerned about plateaus. If you're my age, perhaps you shouldn't. As long as you keep doing everything right, the weight WILL come down. It might take 30 or 40 days, though. You just have to be patient.
 
Hey there - I see you everywhere i go so I thought I would drop in and say hi...it sounds liek youve really got it together adn are makin progress and that is great - plus it is nice to have another man thrown into the mix:):):)
 
Congrats on maintaining the weight loss! That's interesting about plateaus...I'm AM slightly worried about them. I think I ran into one at the beginning of month 2, after I lost the first 5.5 lbs. You really smart for figuring out what it is may be going on. And you're right--patience is key. Sigh! *impatiently*
 
Thanks, CG. Of course, patience is a lot easier when you're older. When I was your age, I had ZERO patience.
 
Yeah nice to get another rooste in the hen house. I don't think I ever formally welcomed you, but thanks for the posts in my journal. I do hope I learn patience some day :)
 
Hey Tom :) Sounds like you are doing well. Good job on the measurements!! You are very diciplined to do that once a week :) Sounds like you have things together, and have a great attitude too!!! Hope you had a fun weekend.
 
In response to your post about your plateau, starvation mode has nothing to do with age and has everything to do with fatty mass on the body. The more fat you have on your body, the less likely it is that you will invoke the starvation response. Your body knows not to since you have adequate energy in storage, so to speak.

And if you are looking for an answer as to WHY you don't lose weight on a consistent basis, good luck! Haha, let me know when you find a decent answer.

It seems to be, and I have said it numerous times before, you need some metabolic momentum for some reason. There are underlying scientific factors for this, I am sure, but not that I have seen discovered yet.
 
Patience is a vertue they say - it is one i dont posses - LOL - having is so damn hard especially when waiting on somethign you want so badly you can taste ... I have very little patience - LOL - well the patience I have get all used up on the children and then there is none left for anyhting else...

 
I have no patience at all and it's something I need to work on. I have to tell myself to give my body a chance to change, but then I go off and start eating like I used to. The good thing about your weight now is that you mentioned that it's the lowest you've ever been and that is a HUGE achievement!
 
Monday, March 26, 2007

Weight: 242.0. Hello, Plateau #3. This time, instead of dreading you, I embrace you. Sure, by the end of your stay, at day 35 or so, you're going to be a real pest. Dark murderous thoughts will cross my mind. I'll wish I had been visited by your cousin, Daily Weight Loss, instead. Yes, I know DWL doesn't care for us older people, and even finds some people in their 40's utterly boring, but it would be nice to see him once in a while.

Eight times before, you've defeated me. When I was younger, I didn't even know you existed. DWL was my constant companion. Well, OK, you would pop out of the closet now and then, but I considered you pretty much a stranger. DWL made things so easy, I didn't think much about keeping the weight off. Each decade your presence was less and less an accident, and now it appears to be the rule. Eight years ago, you defeated me. I got down to 234 lbs., stayed there for a month, and you cleaned my clock.

Things are going to be different this time. For one thing, cousin DWL left the scene about September of last year, and ever since, I've been dealing with your presence. At first, I panicked, as usual. I almost resorted to another fad diet. But in February, I found an internet site that contained the knowledge within it to push you out the door, just for a few days a month, but long enough for me to shed the pounds I would have, even if DWL were my companion. See, this time I know if I keep smothering you with good nutrition, lots of exercise, and a steady calorie deficit, eventually you'll have to leave for a day or so -- just enough to get away from the constant battering I'm giving you, but long enough for me to lose two or three pounds while you're gone.

So let battle number three begin!
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Yesterday, I was just too tired to work out. The 3 hours of gardening on Saturday -- with lots of digging, cutting, and hauling around sacks of mulch and soil, did me in.

We went to visit my 96 year old mom yesterday, and they always put out these delicious chocolate chip cookies. So I ate one -- too hard to resist. Then I got home and plugged it into FitDay. 192 calories! Yikes! That takes away a lot of their tastiness, that's for sure.
 
oh my goodness tom, you are hilarious!

i'm not laughing at your struggle with plateaus, though! i'm just laughing at your excellent comical writing!

i hope i can one day have the outlook you have! :D

plateau #3 may be a battle, but you WILL win this war!!!!
 
Oh my gosh, Tom....I SOOOO relate. I am so tired of this plateau crap...and yes, it is so much worse the older I get...sometimes I swear that my metabolism is on strike or maybe passed on.

I'm focused to stay upbeat and patient....(reepeating a lot of positive affirmations to myself this morning)...attacking this week head-on and going to push ahead despite not really "feeling" so inspired.

Hope you have a great week! Here's to jumping off plateaus! :)

beth
 
daiseeangel said:
i hope i can one day have the outlook you have!

plateau #3 may be a battle, but you WILL win this war!!!!
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Thanks, Daise! LOL, you will have that outlook, don't worry. But enjoy NOT having it while you can!

bethann1156 said:
Oh my gosh, Tom....I SOOOO relate. I am so tired of this plateau crap...and yes, it is so much worse the older I get...sometimes I swear that my metabolism is on strike or maybe passed on.
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Thanks, Beth. Yeah, I figure you just gotta get used to it. That's why there aren't a lot of 50+ people trying to change their lives anymore; they've given up. But we're stronger than that, aren't we?

mindovermatter said:
Tom as a savvy pro don't let this plateau #3 give you the rope a dope treatment. Bob and weave , throw a few jabs, mix in a few uppercuts and then when you wear him down, POW , give him the haymaker. As you stand over him, look over to his corner and tell his handlers to bring on the next plateau.
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Thanks, Jerry. You got it! Round 3 begins today!
 
Tom, I'm not sure if I missed something - but are you saying you're at a plateau again?
 
Lol at post 294.

I love reading your posts!

Even though you are getting so good at coping with them, I hope this isn't another plateau. Looking at your charts it seems normal enough for your weight to zig zag up and down a bit even if it's heading down on the trend.

Well I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you anyway. It's nice to know that you will get there in the end regardless. :)
 
M2M said:
Tom, I'm not sure if I missed something - but are you saying you're at a plateau again?
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Well, it may be too early to tell -- since I just defeated #2 three days ago. But yes, I fully expect to be on this new plateau for another 30 or 35 days.

felici said:
Well I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you anyway. It's nice to know that you will get there in the end regardless. :)
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Thanks, Felici. If this new plateau is any shorter than 30 days, I will have considered it a personal victory!
 
TomO said:
Thanks, Beth. Yeah, I figure you just gotta get used to it. That's why there aren't a lot of 50+ people trying to change their lives anymore; they've given up. But we're stronger than that, aren't we?
For me turning 50 was hard. My 50th was in November and I hated it...never felt that way about any other birthday. I breezed through 30, embraced 40, but 50 hit me like a block wall. I felt OLD. I knew it was mental and it's taken me seriously almost 6 months to shake that idiotic mindset. sheesh! I just want to be a better version of me...stronger, leaner in body and more compassionate in spirit.

I was feeling old partly because of the number and partly because of the terrible shape I was in...no doubt...60 pounds overweight, out of shape, and grouchy because of it! Not pretty.

This process was a lot easier when I was younger...but no use crying over spilled milk...it ain't gonna get any easier later, either!

I'm looking at my next 50 now...(my grandmother lived to 99...so its definitely a possibility) and I have so many things I want to do and my dreams are probably even bigger and more real to me. I have to take it day by day. everyday.

beth
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