My Recovery from Obesity

Wow! Great support folks! Thank you. OK I am definitely going to integrate more varied exercises as I am better able.

Justina and Mands, I am finding that the EARLIER I stop eating each day, the MORE I want a big Breakfast... and the more I eat a big breakfast, the MORE likely I am able to stop eating early in the evening! This week I stopped eating by 7pm FOUR times! That's more than I have done it in the last 3 years, probably.

OK, I ate well: Big omelet, no simple carbs, raw veggie & nuts for snacks/lunch, curried pork on broccoli for dinner at 7, then done. Did a Non-HIIT bike routine and a LITTLE walking and felt good. Drank water pretty well.

and today's weigh in was.....

...wait for it....

426.6!

I FINALLY officially broke the "30 pounds lost" barrier since starting on Jan 5th. I got close to it, hovered for a few days, then finally broke it today! I'm very pleased.

Have a great day, everyone.
 
Whoooooohoooooo:party: congrats on hitting 30lbs!! That's awesome and you should feel awesome!! Your hard work is paying off!! You will hit the next goal in no time!
 
Mands - Thanks! I love when you check in. I appreciate your encouragement. :)

DanielSwords - Fantastic! Thank you for checking in! I started this online dairy primarily to keep me focused, but also because I thought "If I can lose weight and get healthier, then that ought to tell another that they can too." I weighed 457 pounds on January 5th, Daniel. Today I'm down 31.5 pounds total. I truly believe that I will weigh less than 400 in another 5-6 weeks or so. In a year? Who knows, but it will be better. Stay motivated. If I can do this, so can you.

Today's weigh-in was good. Down 1.0 pounds to 425 and change. A total loss of 31.4 pounds since Jan 5th. That marks 5 straight days of loss (-0.4, -0.6, -1, -1, and -1). Previously, I have never gone more than 6 days of loss before a rebound (either a "no change" or "gain") day or days, so I am expecting a rebound soon... tomorrow or the next, I would guess.

Today's plan is to eat well (although I am on the road) drink LOADS of water and do a HIIT Bike training session later. I skipped yesterday, as I had exercised 4 days in a row prior.

Small steps.
 
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Good luck on the road food. I deal with that one a lot too. Congratulations on 31.5 pounds lost. Keep up the great work!
 
Congrats on breaking the 30 pound barrier.

I like large breakfasts myself, but mostly just because I like breakfast type foods.
 
Thanks, guys.

Late check-in today as I was on the road again this morning.
Yesterday went fine. high on salt, but food was pretty good and water was good all things considered.
Did NOT get HIIT time as I was lazy.

Weigh-in this morning was good again. Down another 0.9 pounds.

I was surprised, considering the salt. That makes six straight days with a loss after my Super Bowl Blowout meal. Total loss during that span is 4.9 pounds. I REALLY am expecting a bounce back day very soon, but I'll take the loss days while they're coming in. Total lost is now 32.3 pounds.

I am 9.7 pounds away from my next mini-goal 0f 415 pounds (42 lbs lost), and 17.7 lbs. and 23 days away from my crazy aspirational goal of losing 50 pounds in the first 2 months. I probably won't make that one, but I'm trying anyway. My attitude is OK either way.

Today? Repeat, Lather, Rinse. Oh, and I need some exercise today.
 
Lol! Let's hope your dropping pounds has less of an hallucinogenic effect than Leary's efforts.

Your opportunity to fly by me is approaching, I think. I'm due for a stall... but then I'm coming after ya.
 
OK, the losses stopped today after six straight days. I'm up 0.5 pounds. I'm not worried, because I ate well, drank H2O well, and did my best yet HIIT Exercise on the bike yesterday. I suspected a slowdown was imminent, and here it is. Now... how long does it last? Time will tell.

Today will be like yesterday. Be good. Keep moving, eat like a champ, and stay hydrated.

I think I'm starting to get used to this. :)
 
I'd gloat, but I'm up 1.4 pounds today. Like you I keep on keeping on. Taking into account my fluctuations, I'm averaging -.55 pounds a day. If I maintain that rate, I'll pass the 10% mark in 24 days.
 
Hey - you are doing awesome - wow losses six straight day - so awesome! You are doing really well. & closer to your (mini) goal as time passes.
You are such an inspiration!
 
You've been going strong, don't let that .5 pounds even worry you in the least. Little bump in the road. Hopefully its only 2 days and the loss starts again.

Pls tell me what is HIIT exercise??

Looks like you are changing your lifestyle - good job!
 
Thanks everyone! You are a great support group, and I appreciate it.

Mands, HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval (or Intermittent) Training. I don't want to profess to know a lot about this, because I don't but to my understanding, it is an exercise method in which you alternate HIGH and LOW Intensity effort in cardio-type exercises (in my case, the stationary bike). For instance, a non-HIIT bike routine for me might be 30 minutes at a steady 14 miles per hour. A HIIT regimen might be 20 minutes long, but I pedal for 2 minutes at 12-13 mph, followed by 1 minute at 24 mph, then back to 2 minutes at 12 mph, then repeat. According to the stuff I've read, you get a better result with a 20 minute HIIT regimen than a 25-30 minute standard workout... increased cardio, increased metabolic boost. here's some info at Wikipedia... Link

All I can say is that it definitely is harder and definitely boosts my heart rate for the duration of the exercise. I really enjoy the break from the monotony of the regular 30 minute ride.

OK, today is a good day. My stall was one day this time. I'm down 1.2 pounds, for a total of 33 pounds in the last 38 days. Current weight is 424, whereas I started at 457 on Jan 5th, 2013.

I ate well yesterday... heavier meals early, tapering off to a yogurt at dinnertime and some radishes a bit later for a snack. Calories for the day were probably around 1400. Did a standard (non HIIT) ride for longer and at a faster rate than any day since I started! Yea. Today? Second Verse, Same as the First.
 
Basically my basketball drills work the same way. Run about shooting as quickly as possible until my heart rate gets above 160, and then shoot free throws until it drops below 130 and repeat until I decide I'm done.

Great work on the continued losses, you're losing so much I'm going to start calling you "the Cubs."
 
Basically my basketball drills work the same way. Run about shooting as quickly as possible until my heart rate gets above 160, and then shoot free throws until it drops below 130 and repeat until I decide I'm done.

Great work on the continued losses, you're losing so much I'm going to start calling you "the Cubs."

LOL! Ouch. The Cubs. I just WISH I could play basketball, because even in my healthier days it was hard work. I sweat like a mother playing basketball. Give me another few months and then I'll give it a go.
 
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Great day yesterday.

Before I started this process in early January, I was doing many things wrong. Too much food, wrong kinds of food, no exercise, poor water consumption, etc. I've addressed every one of those items since day 1, which I believe is the reason I am having early success in losing weight and regaining my health.

One of the biggest problems I had is that I was consuming too many of my calories AFTER 6pm every day. I was likely consuming between 3000 and 4000 calories everyday... and probably half of those were taken in from dinner to bedtime. I'm a night time snacker. This caused me to not be hungry in the morning because my stomach was still full, so I wouldn't start eating until 11am or later, then keep eating right up until bed again. It was a vicious cycle.

Well, looking back at my spreadsheet tracking my eating/exercise habits, I can honestly say that I appear to have finally righted that ship. It took almost a month, but in the last 10 days, I have eaten my first meal by 10am 8 times, and have eaten NO LATER than 7.45pm EVERY day.... most days I have stopped eating by 6.30pm. This may not seem like much to many people, but to me this is a HUGE step in learning to eat healthy.

Since January 5th, I am:

1. Eating less -- between 1200 and 2000 calories each day.
2. Eating better. NO Fast Food, Simple Carbs or Simple Sugars, or significant Wheat Products since beginning.
3. Eating a mix of about 50-60% vegetable, 30-40% proteins (chicken/fish/beef/pork/egg), then finishing with fruit and Greek style yogurt.
4. Eating 50-60% of my calories BEFORE noon and the rest before 8pm each day.
5. Drinking between 4 and 8 liters of water per day.
6. Exercising 4-6 days a week.


This is a manageable lifestyle. I am not starving, craving or sacrificing most of the time. It's just different than it used to be.

Today's weigh-in was good. Down 1.2 pounds for a total of 34.2 pounds since January 5th. Wow, I weighed 457 pounds 5 weeks ago, and now weigh 423... I am very happy and fortunate, I know, I get it.

Today, is just another day... eat/drink right, be good to myself. Hope for the best. :)
 
Excellent job Don.

Sometimes the mere keeping track of what we're eating allows us to better understand how much we should eat. A lot of folks have problems with emotional eating, but mine seemed to be habitual eating. I ate because I could and it was there (either in the fridge or a nearby drive thru) to be eaten. Habits being what they are, it's a great way to get yourself in big trouble, so it's a habit that needed to be broken.
 
Thanks very much MrVee. I think you and I think similarly in many ways.

What you said hits home with me: I am also a habitual eater. I used to call myself an emotional eater, and to a lesser degree I am, but I was never really one to surround myself with ice cream and Doritos every time I felt badly. I just ate because a little voice inside me kept telling me to do it.

"Just had dinner 15 minutes ago? No worries, go ahead and have a few handfuls of chips, anyway."

"Not really hungry? You might as well eat, everyone else is."

"Going to bed in 15 minutes? Great! Just enough time, to have a bowl of cereal."


This month has been ALL about silencing that voice and replacing it with a new one that tells me the truth.

Also, the good news is that even though I miss some of those things, the positive feelings I'm getting by eating/living better "outweigh" the feelings of loss.
 
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