Fit by 60! - TomO's Pledge

Morning Tom! I was was reading your diary and trying to think what it kept reminding me of ..... "The Good Earth" by Pearl Buck! I don't know if you every read it but basically you remind me of this Chinese farmer and his wife - when things were going bad (your plateaus) they were quite stoic and accepting it as "fate of the gods" but when things were going good (your weight loss) they were afraid to be too happy about it and were always semi-afraid the gods might think they were being smug and take the good fortune away:)

I watched the PBS show too...I guess I was in a grumpy mood (maybe I should go on vacation...San Fran?:D ) because I has such a totally different reaction to it.

Keep kickin butt.
 
Hi Tom! Great news!

Steve said it...the breaks are good...mentally too...makes us ready to get back in there strong and ready to go another round! :)
 
Good news about the pound Tom. Regardless of where or why it has to be better than not losing it. :)

I was interested in your thoughts on the TV program. I haven't seen it, but it is certainly easy to see weight loss in both ways. I expect we all go through times when it seems simple, and other times when we're hunting for a way to make it work better, or make ourselves work better and it takes a lot of thought. :)
 
TomO said:
Started watching "Fat, What They Aren't Telling You" on PBS. The one thing they seem to be emphasizing is how complex this all is. At first, I was saying to myself, "no, it isn't all that complex; it's energy balance." Then I realized how many decades it took me to get to the point I'm at now, where I'm approaching my weight loss and fitness program in a very scientific way. The average person just isn't there. Hell, the average person doesn't have time to learn how to do a squat in the correct form, much less learn about caloric intake, management of fatigue, etc.

Consequently, the average person embarks on weight loss programs that are virtually guaranteed to fail. And that's why it's a very complicated and difficult struggle for the vast majority of people.
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That is soo true though aint it, and its sad.
I now walk down the road and i cringe when i see overweight people. I want to just go up and shake some sense into them!
Im guessing they would probably call the cops if i did that though :D
 
Steve said:
I see the break is treating you well. Don't be fooled Tom. Taking a break from a diet, especially when you are as strict and prudent as you are, does wonders for jump-starting things.
Regarding squat form, I am the ONLY one in my gym that goes below parallel. Imagine that. I have been training there for almost a decade. In that time, I have transformed myself from a scrawny teen to what you see today. Yet, nobody follows me. And I refuse to help people who don't take the time to learn for themselves.
I know what I know today, mainly from asking questions of those who have walked this path with success already.
Every now and again, if I see someone totally screwing up form to the point where injury will certainly happen over time, I will chime in. But more often than not, the person usually listens, but you can tell they are thinking, "What the hell do you know?"
Keep up the good work man!
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Thanks Steve. You know, when I was watching the program on PBS last night, I was thinking, "If these people only had a coach like Steve, they would have a MUCH better chance of succeeding." OTOH, I suspect that you have to be in the right frame of mind to listen to good advice in the first place. I'll be the first to admit that I probably wouldn't have listened to you either. Sometimes you have to fail a lot of times before you're willing to change your methods.
On squats -- this is now my benchmark for measuring people in the gym. If a PT shows clients how to do a good squat (which I've never seen one do), then that would be a PT I might work with one day. If they're doing squats in good form, then I'd look to see if they did deads, too.
It's hard for me to understand why taking a break does what it does, scientifically speaking. I'm the sort that has a hard time taking things on faith, and this seems to be one of those things. But in another 10 weeks, I'll take another break, and we'll see what happens. Actually, I may have to take a short break before that. On Tuesday, I'm seeing my doctor about the umbilical hernia I have, and I may have to get that fixed sooner rather than later.
Happychubette said:
Beating obesity in our culture deserves reward but as that woman said, its not everything.
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Yes, It does deserve a reward, or at least recognition. It's a very tough battle, even though the basic precepts like energy balance seem quite simple.

cym said:
Morning Tom! I was was reading your diary and trying to think what it kept reminding me of ..... "The Good Earth" by Pearl Buck! I don't know if you every read it but basically you remind me of this Chinese farmer and his wife - when things were going bad (your plateaus) they were quite stoic and accepting it as "fate of the gods" but when things were going good (your weight loss) they were afraid to be too happy about it and were always semi-afraid the gods might think they were being smug and take the good fortune away ) because I has such a totally different reaction to it.
Keep kickin butt.
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Thanks, Cym. Part of what I write about this is in humor. But the joke may conceal a grain of truth. One of these days, I'll post a picture of my prayer routine before I weigh myself. I have to be careful not to drip too much candle wax on the scale so that I don't get a false reading. And it is kind of difficult kneeling down before the scale on the hard bathroom floor.
bethann1156 said:
Steve said it...the breaks are good...mentally too...makes us ready to get back in there strong and ready to go another round!
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Hi, Beth. Yes, I'm ready for the next round. It's a lot easier when I get a few punches in within the first few minutes!

felici said:
Good news about the pound Tom. Regardless of where or why it has to be better than not losing it.
I was interested in your thoughts on the TV program. I haven't seen it, but it is certainly easy to see weight loss in both ways. I expect we all go through times when it seems simple, and other times when we're hunting for a way to make it work better, or make ourselves work better and it takes a lot of thought.
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Thanks, Felici. The pound lost was from a pint of blood I gave this morning. I'll regain that within a week or so, no matter what I do!
I haven't watched the entire show yet. I'll post some comments after my wife and I watch the rest of it tonight.

wishes said:
That is soo true though aint it, and its sad.
I now walk down the road and i cringe when i see overweight people. I want to just go up and shake some sense into them!
Im guessing they would probably call the cops if i did that though
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I guess I have more compassion toward them than anything else. I know very well the very private hell a lot of fat people are going through. I wish I could talk some sense to them, too, but I also realize that this is really a tough battle, and you have to be ready psychologically in order to win it.


 
Happychubette said:
We are not supposed to be fat. It made me think of a few super committed fit people in my community and they are almost treated like royalty, with awe and respect, as if they're doing something impossible. Beating obesity in our culture deserves reward but as that woman said, its not everything.
I was taking a few notes during the show and the first thing I wrote down was "I'm 43 and cancer free, so far". That was worth a small celebration.
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Tom, I know this is your diary, I just liked what Kelly had to say here--also, it made me think. And I think that being fit and slim in this culture IS actually an accomplishment because we're all like, set up for failure and encouraged to over eat and over eat nasty junk food. At like, 2 am after drinking all night!!! That was the a major thing that probably made me gain weight was snacking (or having a whole second dinner) after drinking all night.:eek: Well, anyway, my point is, I'm glad we're all trying to beat the odds and stay fit for life. Well, I hope so anyway!
 
TomO said:
Thanks Steve. You know, when I was watching the program on PBS last night, I was thinking, "If these people only had a coach like Steve, they would have a MUCH better chance of succeeding." OTOH, I suspect that you have to be in the right frame of mind to listen to good advice in the first place. I'll be the first to admit that I probably wouldn't have listened to you either. Sometimes you have to fail a lot of times before you're willing to change your methods.
On squats -- this is now my benchmark for measuring people in the gym. If a PT shows clients how to do a good squat (which I've never seen one do), then that would be a PT I might work with one day. If they're doing squats in good form, then I'd look to see if they did deads, too.
It's hard for me to understand why taking a break does what it does, scientifically speaking. I'm the sort that has a hard time taking things on faith, and this seems to be one of those things. But in another 10 weeks, I'll take another break, and we'll see what happens. Actually, I may have to take a short break before that. On Tuesday, I'm seeing my doctor about the umbilical hernia I have, and I may have to get that fixed sooner rather than later.
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1. You can certainly tell a lot about someone's knowledge by their workout.... especially how deep they squat and if they do deads. So true. There are no trainers around here that squat full depth.

I love to go into gyms for week trials and go through my workout. I usually get some trainer telling my form is off on my squat. "Going below parallel is terrible for your knees," or "Letting your knees go in front of your toes is going to do more harm than good."

I simply ask "Why?"

They have no answer. All of their so-called knowledge is handed down from years of misinformation and myths. It is sad, b/c they run their clients through their programs that are based on this misinformation.

2. Good luck with the hernia. Keep me posted.

3. There is scientific reasons why breaks help you with your progress. It is not necessarily the starvation mode, but still, your body certainly adapts as you diet, no matter how much fat you hold or what your current size is. It happens slower, the bigger you are. But telling your body, "Hey, we are not starving in reality here" by over feeding it every now and again, or at the very least going to maintenance, is ALWAYS a good thing.

Psychologically, most people need them. Physiologically, everyone needs them.

Science of it. I would have to dig around a bit, but I am sure I could get you more specifics. I mean, I know more specifics about the hormonal adaptations brought on from dieting, but I am sure there are even better things out there in some of my "baskets of info" that I could draw upon.
 
Steve said:
3. There is scientific reasons why breaks help you with your progress. It is not necessarily the starvation mode, but still, your body certainly adapts as you diet, no matter how much fat you hold or what your current size is. It happens slower, the bigger you are. But telling your body, "Hey, we are not starving in reality here" by over feeding it every now and again, or at the very least going to maintenance, is ALWAYS a good thing.

Psychologically, most people need them. Physiologically, everyone needs them.

Science of it. I would have to dig around a bit, but I am sure I could get you more specifics. I mean, I know more specifics about the hormonal adaptations brought on from dieting, but I am sure there are even better things out there in some of my "baskets of info" that I could draw upon.
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I didn't know this, but it seemed to work for me! Granted, my age, activity, and muscle mass have a lot to do with the way I lose weight. But I have had 3000 calories days, on many occasions, and STILL continued to lose 5 lbs a month for 3 consecutive months. I've never done that before because I've never stuck to a diet and exercise regime like this. When I was 19, and got down to 135 lbs, it took a year and a half to lose 17 lbs! But I wasn't really trying very hard--until the last 5 lbs, then I was! Anyway, yeah, there is a science for cheat days. We need to figure it out!
 
TomO said:
Consequently, the average person embarks on weight loss programs that are virtually guaranteed to fail. And that's why it's a very complicated and difficult struggle for the vast majority of people.
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There is a whole industry built on mis-information and on keeping people on these struggles. If you take control of your diet and exercise and eat natural foods, who is going to make money from that? The show made some great points. I think when overweight people feel that there is something missing from their lives and go into a diet believing losing weight will make them full and happy they are doomed to failure. I believe the best frame of mind in for losing weight is to love yourself despite being overweight and then drop the weight because you want to. Its a journey not a destination.
 
Steve said:
They have no answer. All of their so-called knowledge is handed down from years of misinformation and myths. It is sad, b/c they run their clients through their programs that are based on this misinformation.

Science of it. I would have to dig around a bit, but I am sure I could get you more specifics. I mean, I know more specifics about the hormonal adaptations brought on from dieting, but I am sure there are even better things out there in some of my "baskets of info" that I could draw upon.
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LOL, I would hate to be one of those ignorant PT's trying to answer your piercing questions!

If you do find anything, I'd be really interested in reading it. I understand the whole concept of energy balance now, but the vagaries of metabolism still confuse me tremendously. I gathered from the PBS program that we still have very much to learn about this as well.

Curvie Girlie said:
I didn't know this, but it seemed to work for me! Granted, my age, activity, and muscle mass have a lot to do with the way I lose weight. But I have had 3000 calories days, on many occasions, and STILL continued to lose 5 lbs a month for 3 consecutive months. I've never done that before because I've never stuck to a diet and exercise regime like this. When I was 19, and got down to 135 lbs, it took a year and a half to lose 17 lbs! But I wasn't really trying very hard--until the last 5 lbs, then I was! Anyway, yeah, there is a science for cheat days. We need to figure it out!
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One thing I've realized over the past 40 years is that weight loss is a much harder proposition the older you get. In 1988, I dropped from 250 lbs. to 185 lbs. in six months. Now I have to allow 2 years to do it. Of course, this time I'm intentionally doing it more slowly, so that's a big factor.

Cannon 2006 said:
There is a whole industry built on mis-information and on keeping people on these struggles. If you take control of your diet and exercise and eat natural foods, who is going to make money from that?
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This is an aspect kind of hinted at in the show, but never really explored in depth. I think it's a HUGE factor. Food is the new nicotine. At first, it seems counter intuitive that restaurants serve bigger and bigger portions at the same price. The reality is that it costs them very little to do this. Every McMeal has a sunken cost, no matter what its size. The marginal cost of adding to that volume is negligible. By doing that, you solve a big marketing problem. A customer who weighs 120 lbs. and eats at your restaurant even every day will only consume so many calories. But if you can get that customer to weigh 250 lbs., the same person will eat double the number of calories. It's ALWAYS more profitable to expand sales to existing customers than it is to find brand new ones. Portion expansion is a profitable way to do that.
 
Friday, April 13, 2007

Weight: 237.0, down 0.4 lbs. from yesterday, and down FIVE POUNDS since March 26th. But the scale gods don't get credit for this 4/10 ths loss. No, that is from my miracle lose-one-pound-in-30-minutes-diet that I undertook yesterday. Yes, the pint of blood I gave will return, but it's interesting how low my BP was this morning - 116/74. I wonder if giving blood improves your blood pressure. . .

Yesterday I had to drive to be on-site again, an hour each way. On the return trip, the Starbuck sirens of Scylla (black tea lemonade) and Charybdis (lemon loaf cake) called out my name. First they made me sleepy, a very effective tactic while you're driving 80 mph on the freeway. Then they magically guided my hand to steer my car down the offramp and into their lair. Imagine my despair when I did my entries ino FitDay, and had to put down 600 calories for my misadventure! Ouch!

Not only that, but yesterday was day 4 in my 18 day regimen, which is an off day. Calories from food & drink = 2,786 - 33% fat (6% saturated), 47% carbs (346 grams! 34 gm fiber, but here's where the cake comes in), and 15% protein. Food quality for the day was 2 out of 5. Oh well, we need to have a "cheat" occasionally. I ended up with a 479 calorie surplus.

And yet, and yet . . . I still lost 0.4 lbs. -- take that scale gods!

[Uh oh, now they're going to punish me tomorrow for my hubris. . . pretend I didn't say that line above]
 
mindovermatter said:
I looked up carpentry work under activity on fitday, you were burning up the calories at your boys place.
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Hi Jerry, I looked that up too, but found it hard to believe. An hour of carpentry is like a hard interval session in cardio? Sorry, I don't buy it. I mean, I guess it could be true if you spent a solid 60 minutes hammering 16d nails into solid wood without stopping for even a sip of water.
 
TomO said:
Hi Jerry, I looked that up too, but found it hard to believe. An hour of carpentry is like a hard interval session in cardio? Sorry, I don't buy it. I mean, I guess it could be true if you spent a solid 60 minutes hammering 16d nails into solid wood without stopping for even a sip of water.
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or maybe sawing with a hand saw... :) That is a workout!
 
I had a nice problem this morning.

I've noticed the fat is starting to come off my middle now. As a result, my pants are getting looser and looser. All my belts are on the last hole. I'm starting to wear my shirt tucked in now, and when I do that, my belt looks really weird. If I position the buckle in the middle, I've got all the left over belt hanging down. If I move it so that doesn't happen, the buckle is way off to one side.

What a nice problem to have!

I guess it's time to buy a new belt! I'm going to hang my old one on the wall as a reminder.
 
First off, no big deal about Starbucks.
Second, thanks for wishing me a great weekend--I expect to be in Napa tomorrow and Sac Sat night and Sunday, so I shall!
Third, I'm glad your weight went down, I ate a lot yesterday and still weighed in a lb less than the day before, too.
Fourth, glad you middle is shrinking. Bellyfat is dangerous! Congrats!!!
 
Thanks Valerie & Cannon.

Today's workout - Day 5 in my 18 day regimen.
Today was Weight B: 55 minutes, 638 calories.

BB Squat
1 x 5 - bar
1 x 4 - 95 lb
1 x 3 - 145 lb
5 x 5 - 165 lb
Difficulty = 2-

Incline DB Bench Press
5 x 5 - 120 lb
Diff = 2+

Deadlift
1 x 5 - bar
1 x 4 - 95 lb
1 x 3 - 145 lb
4 x 5 - 165 lb
Diff = 2-

BB Row
5 x 5 - 75 lb
Diff = 2

Chinup
5 x 5 - Level 16
Diff = 2+

Reverse Crunch
2 x 10
Diff = 3

Notes
a) Form felt very good on squats and deads - comfortable, weight was just fine, everything was clicking. Will increase by 5 lbs. next time.
b) Straining with those 60 lb. dumbbells on the incline press. Will need a couple more sessions at that weight.
c) Just gave out on the reverse crunches. I was supposed to do 3 sets of 10, but couldn't muster more than 2.

Overall, a great workout, though. I was a bit worried going into it, because my legs were still a bit tired, but now everything feels AOK.
 
For sure the blood donation would have brought your actual blood pressure down temporarily. (Just as in extreme cases of blood loss, blood pressure also becomes dangerously low.)

I love your Greek fantasy. :D

Most of your 5 pound loss does count and it's GREAT!!

:D It's very cool that you need a new belt! Congratulations! :D
 
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