My Recovery from Obesity

IFTTT sounds awesome ;)

And seriously, I disappear for a few weeks and you make it over the 100lb threshold. Please let some of your motivation rub off on me, please!
 
Don Keykong said:
No, you're right. I am still losing, but the trend is not good. It'll stabilize some day, then I can look at changing up my system if needed. I still have a few cards I haven't played yet, as I haven't needed them. I have some leeway in the areas of exercise (doubling up or adding more cardio) or eating (cutting fat or doing a juice meal-replacement). I just haven't tried them to date because what I was using was working.

Dude, the rower rocks. After talking to someone else on this forum (Steve, i think) I decided I wanted one, so I started scouring craigslist. But as fast as they were listed, they'd sell. I found a website called IFTTT.com that will search a site like craigslist for you (every hour) and send you an update via facebook or text when it finds something. It took 3 months, but I finally was first to call a guy (actually 2nd, but I got lucky) and picked it up.
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That's great you are taking an easier week eating wise. In regards to the bolded part, just remember that you want to make this sustainable for life and you don't want to burn out before making it to your goal! Try not to do things that you can't/ don't want to do for the rest of your life. Dropping cals too low and meal replacements are not always the best options. I'm still eating 1800 cals a day, losing weight at 137 pounds. I only do about 30 mins exercise a day (though I have a standing job and ride horses, so burn a bit more calories than a person with a desk job).
Not sure if I remember if you are doing weights or not but strength training would be the first thing I would add if you're not doing it. You may see a slight up on the scales at first due to fluid retention in the muscles, but it's not only great for helping you burn cals and such but it really helps reshape the body!
 
Wow Mr Don wow. 100 lbs gone already! Huge congrats for that!

Took me over 1.5 years to work out what worked and get to that stage :D

Glad to hear you're enjoying your Rower, Did you go for Concept2 in the end?

Steve
 
Well, I'm back after taking a week off. I took time away from here, from the high level of focus I had been placing on diet and exercise, and away from thinking about it day in and day out. I didn't go apeshit and eat everything in sight, but I also didn't worry about NOT eating everything in sight either. Instead, I finished building my new shed, brewed a bunch of beer, built a few doors for my new kitchen cabinets, had lunch (with 2 beers!) with an old friend, and went to a social function where I ate a piece of cake and some nachos. I did exercise a few times and drank water right about 50% of the time. But I also had a Taco Bell taco supreme and a small Slurpee one day. Ahhh, the luxury.

It was a much needed and much deserved break.

During the week, my weight fluctuated by about five pounds. I was "up" to around 359 at one point, but am currently 354.8 pounds, which is my low water mark since starting. That's a loss of about half pound since this time last week. I do need to get my ass in gear and start losing though, as I just finished a dietbet (barely won that one) and am waaay behind the curve on the next one. I think I need to lose about 8 pounds in 11 days. Not looking good at this point.

During my break, I had a couple of epiphanies. After brewing beer one day, I was struggling to pick up and carry a 6-gallon glass carboy (bottle) full of freshly made beer into the house. I did the calculations and found that it weighed right around 54 pounds. Well, I've lost 102+ pounds, so that means I have nearly lost the equivalent of TWO glass carboys full of 5+ gallons of beer!
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I would have hard time picking them up together, let alone carry them around with me all day long like I was doing in January.

The second epiphany came after I finished building my new shed. I had just built a 12' by 12' shed, complete with an asphalt shingle roof, in only a week. It took me 3 hours to shingle it all by myself. Up and down the ladder, hauling 50-60 pound packs of shingles on my back, in the 80 degree heat, hunched over and hammering in nails. I finished a sweaty mess. I have a picture my wife took that I may post one day when I'm less self conscious. I climbed down off the 10' roof (using a ladder was NOT something I was doing last January) and my son asked if I would play catch with him before his baseball game that night. I put my tools down, wiped my face with a rag, and spent 30 minutes helping him field ground balls, pitch and hit. All this after killing myself on the roof.

Even after the weight loss slowdown I've been enduring these last few weeks, I am so thankful I have lost what i have. Without it, none of what I've been doing would be possible. 300 pounds, here I come.
 
It's sort of great thinking about what you're capable of when you make this kind of progress. On Sunday I was busy navigating airports lugging a week's worth of clothes and a laptop around, and it struck me how little exertion it was for me. It damned near would have killed me a year ago, and now I really didn't break a sweat. It wasn't fun by any stretch, but wasn't even enough to count as a workout either. Progress.

Anyhow, going to try and get the audio set up today and tomorrow when I have a little time I'll try and record your song. Good to see you back.
 
Great post, Don. You truly are such an inspiration. Wish I could get my ass into gear as well. Glad you had a good week and didn't do any damage on the scales! A well deserved break. 300lbs will come around in no time xx
 
MrVee said:
It's sort of great thinking about what you're capable of when you make this kind of progress. On Sunday I was busy navigating airports lugging a week's worth of clothes and a laptop around, and it struck me how little exertion it was for me. It damned near would have killed me a year ago, and now I really didn't break a sweat. It wasn't fun by any stretch, but wasn't even enough to count as a workout either. Progress.
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That's an example of what I'm seeing, too, MrVee. It's in the details. Hauling luggage. building a shed, playing basketball or baseball... all things we might have struggled with (more) just a short while ago are now more doable. Regardless of the number of pounds lost (or not lost) we are winning this war.

Thank you Hana! Hang in there. You may struggle and lose some of the battles from day to day or even over weeks, but id you keep fighting back you will win.

Thanks Guideon!

Down about 0.8 lbs today, so that's a great follow up to the loss yesterday. I'm trying to keep the big ball moving forward this week. That's a total of 103 lbs and 22.5% of my starting weight. Last night I did 8 miles on my bike and some light weights (dumbbell curls). Today, I want to do rowing and the bike so we'll see how that goes.
 
Thank you Benny!

Weighed in today @ 352.0, down 2.0 lbs. The ball is rolling.
Loss to date is 105 lbs.

Have a great day all.
 
Don
You and Vee are my current role models.
Sooo cool what you guys have done and the thousand and one ways it has made your lives better!
 
Thanks Brawny! I take the weight loss seriously, but I also try to remember that the real test is to stay with it. All of this is for nothing unless I keep going and finish the process.
 
Thank you, Mystic! :D

OK, today's weigh in was good, down 0.6 pounds to 351.4. I'm hoping this next couple of pounds comes easily... the 350 barrier has a significant meaning to me, so I look forward to crushing it.

I did my rowing machine last night and got hammered! Damn, I told myself heading in I was going to do 5000 meters for the first time (about 25 minutes, I figured) and had to stop at 17 minutes and 3500 meters. That machine is a good workout. I may need to switch it to morning workouts, as I don't have the stamina to go more late in the day.
 
Well, the weekend was busy, but not necessarily focused on maximizing weight loss. No harm, no foul.
I weighed in at 350.8, down a hair from Friday. I didn't eat much, but we did go to see "Man of Steel" (the new Superman movie) where I ate M&Ms and some popcorn. Then yesterday, my friend invited us over for the annual Goose Cookoff where all the goose hunters get together and cook goose according to a preselected theme (This year it was German cooking) and we all eat and vote on their results. My big problem this weekend was not drinking enough water and not enough fruits/veg.

I also brewed another 10 gallons of beer for later this year. I made a Chocolate Coffee Oatmeal Stout and a Saison. I love brewing more than drinking beer.

Summer is here. Kids are out of school. It's heating up. My day's scheduling just got shifted around. We'll see if I can find my balance and keep losing weight.
 
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