The Again Return of Little John

Little John

Little John

New member
Hi All,

Been a while, with a few regrets, mostly related to intake. Plenty of output, but I've been backfilling it with too much junk. Currently at 327.4, with a BFP of 30.3 (I hit a nice-ish low of 299 on Thanksgiving). Going to attempt to get serious about monitoring my intake again, and I'll be browsing through the various diaries in the next couple days for inspiration and ideas.

Some significant life changes: I've got a son now, Henry was born a couple weeks ago. My wife is taking a year off from working to be a stay-at-home Mom. That means less takeout since we have a tighter budget and she'll have more time to cook. I'm hoping to convince her that light cooking is a good approach. Shouldn't be too hard, she wants to lose a few, as well.

Anyway, the plan is keep on rowing and lifting. I've added to one of my rowing days with some hillclimbing (have a steep hill in the backyard, just walking/jogging up and down). What I need to do is dedicate myself to lower my caloric intake.

Here's my old diary if you're interested:
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/54086-Little-John-s-Penultimate-Goal

And here I am yesterday, at a BBQ joint, pointing at what needs to go.
snerr-8-24-13-6.jpg
 
1. What is your current height and weight?

6'2", 327.4 lbs


2. If you were at an ideal weight now, what would that weight be?
200 lbs


3. At what weight would you like to be at four months from now?
275 lbs


4. Why do you want to lose weight?
Feel better, not have to look for clothes in my size, get a better weight-to-HP ratio on my motorcycle, be able to play with my kids without getting winded, stop tugging out the front of my shirt in an effort to hide my moobs!

5. Do you want to lose weight for a specific life event such as wedding or reunion? If so, when is that event?
I did well in 2013's CRASH-B (indoor rowing competition), I'd like to do better in 2014. Nothing really other than that and to feel better.

6. What obstacles could get between you and your weight loss goals?
Motivation has always been an issue with me, I've always been internalized in my motivation, so I need to remember that I hate being fat more than I like watching TV or getting a DQ Blizzard.

7. Why do you think that you now have a weight problem?
I've seen my reflection, I've seen my scale reading, my doctor has told me, my mother has told me, I buy my own clothes. Trust me, it's no secret.

8. What lifestyle changes do you think would help you lose weight?
Lay off the binging, avoid fast food (or make better choices when that's the only option), keep on exercising.

9. Have you lost weight in the past? If so, what has worked in the past to help you lose weight?
Yes, eating better (South Beach) and exercise

10. Why do you believe that you did not lose weight or you gained the weight back?
Old habits, change in other aspects of my life made it hard to stay in the "healthy rut".

11. What, if anything, has not worked for you in the past in helping you to lose weight? Why do you think it did not work?
Maintaining. Short attention span. "Novelty" diets.

12. Would you try writing down all food and drink consumed for a given period of time?
I have been using LoseIt to track my diet and exercise. I've used it in the past with success, but it's not always easy to keep track of some foods (home cooking, some restaurants, etc).

13. Do you cook at home often? If so, what do you cook?
I do. Easy stuff, like pasta, stir fry or Mexican. Use a lot of chicken breast in the recipes.

14. How often do you go out to eat? Where do you go?
Too often lately. A lot of good restaurants in the area.

15. What are your three favorite foods?
Pizza, grinders, ice cream

16. What are your three favorite restaurants?
A few local pizza joints, a local burger joint.

17. What are three things you can do differently when it comes to food?
Smaller amounts; get a salad instead of fries; distract myself, eat fruit and/or drink water when the compulsion to binge rears its ugly head, find an activity to do in the afternoon.

18. If you woke up tomorrow and your body was exactly the way you want it, what would be different?
"Average"

19. Do you eat when you are not hungry?
More than I should.

20. Do you binge eat (large amounts at a time)?
Yes, not as much as I used to, though.

21. Do you hide your food or eat in secret?
Yep

22. Do you eat when you are sad, nervous, or depressed?
Yep

23. Do you eat as a reward?
Yep

24. Do you eat while watching TV or using the computer?
Yep. I eat at my desk during lunch, and dinner in front of the TV couple times a week.

25. What do you normally eat for a meal?
Work Week:
Breakfast is toast and some cream cheese (need to change)
Lunch is a homemade microwave meal, granola bar, fruit and some crackers
Dinner is varied, now dependent on what my wife cooks.

Weekend:
Breakfast is either cereal and toast, or eggs, sausage and toast
Lunch is unpredictable based on what I'm doing
Dinner is varied, either same as the week or take-out.

26. What type of snacks do you eat?
Veggies, yogurt, crackers.

27. In terms of exercise, what, if anything, are you currently doing?
Lately using an indoor rower for 40-80 minutes a day, 4 days a week. Lift with a Total Gym twice a week. And I rest on Mondays.

28. Where do you go for exercise? A local public gym? School/work gym? Home?
Home

29. What, if anything, are your three favorite types of exercise?
Lifting, hiking, indoor rower

30. What is your daily/weekly/monthly/yearly motivation to move towards your goals?
Daily - Meet caloric goals, varying based on weight.
Weekly - lose 2-3 lbs per week.
Yearly - lose 100 lbs.
I think I need to look into adding weekly and monthly challenges to mix it up - not weight-based but something like "go vegetarian for a week" or "skip dessert".



31. Do you have rewards for certain goals?

Just the ability to watch the scale give me smaller numbers and feel better about myself.
 
Welcome back. I recently returned as well.
Congratulations on your baby!

Sounds like maybe you put on the pregnancy pounds along with your wife? I dunno, couples tend to gain together. It's great she's interested in dropping a few as well. There is strength in numbers.
You work out pretty hard, 40-80 min cardio a day is impressive, plus strength training. Hope this forum helps you stay mindful of your calorie intake. I use LoseIt as well. Just started. It's helpful for a reality check. As long as I'm in a deficit each week, I'm feeling pretty good. Doesn't hurt I have to make very "clean" eating choices... lots of fruits/veg/lean protein to end up in a calorie deficit.

Good luck getting back on track!
 
Hey welcome back Little John! Great to see a familiar face come back around.

The good news is whatever weight you put back on should be the easiest to take back off. On the rowing, when I first joined here someone often mentioned to me what a good full body workout rowing was. I wonder who that was?
 
Yesterday: Day 1. Breakfast was more than it should have been, I impulse-bought a Naked smoothie. Lunch was decent (homemade frozen meal and some reasonable side snacks). Dinner was decent (2 leftover pizza slices and a big salad). Buuuuuttttt.... I got a little too trigger-happy for dessert. Ice cream with hot fudge. Not gonna beat myself up, just gonna learn. I was behaved for snacks, and that's a major victory, since I'm more prone to devouring all I can the second I get home. Today I skipped the smoothie, and will continue to do so. Tonight I'll have a smaller serving of ice cream and a lot of water.

Hey Bellyoff, thanks for the firsties, and the support. I can't blame the preggers thing. My wife actually only gained a pound or two over the course of her pregnancy, though her cravings this time around were a lot less healthy (boy vs girl?).

Vee, that was truly a wise man (or woman? I'm not sure who you mean). It's true, rowing is a thorough and good full-body workout. Hoping you're right about that first 30 lbs. Can't tell from my picture, but those pants were mighty tight at the waist. And at $250+ a pair, I'm not about to run out and upsize!
 
I wish my current gym had a rowing machine. That's an awesome workout. But, the closest one is a half hour away, rather than the 5 minutes I currently commute.

Good on you for not blaming the little lady. ;) Skipping the smoothies will likely save you a lot of sugar and calories. Every bit helps. You have more self control than I do. Ice cream is one of my binge-foods. If I have a carton (what's that, a quart or half gallon?) in the house, I finish it in 1-2 days No Matter What. It's pathetic. So, if you can just have a serving of dessert and call it a day, that's sensible to me.
 
Ha - yeah, that's me, Mr. Self-Control! :rofl:

So starting next Sunday, the wife and I are going to try "Vegetarian Week". All vegetarian, all week long. Lunch at work will be the hard part, but at least I have time to think about what to bring in. Suggestions welcome!
 
Veggie stir fry? Tacos with no meat? Umm...homemade veggie Pizza? Or just a good old fashioned salad.

(Love your signature by the way, need to keep telling myself that :))
 
Ha, self control is all relative I guess. I just know a woman my size should not be able to finish off a large pizza & still be looking for dessert & a snack. What kind of monster am I?? ;)

- Omelets/fritattas/keish/skillets ... any combo of egg, chopped veggies, cheese & red or sweet potatoes can be delicious and super filling. I like that sorta thing for breakfast lunch or dinner.
- Mexican night (veggie fajitas, bean or portabella mushroom burritos)
- Vegetarian lasagna, eggplant parmesan
- Corn, veggie kebabs, even pineapple on the outdoor grill. Grilled veggies taste the best!

Try not to let going vegetarian be a free pass to load up on pasta/bread/chips etc. Things that are technically not meat but the nutritional value is still nil.
 
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Found a couple potentially good recipes: Sweet potato burritos and Provencal bean stew. Granted the second one might be a little hearty for the summer, but if it's good, I'll eat it.

So over calories again yesterday. My wife made a lovely salad for dinner, but it included leftovers from date night a couple nights ago - steak and buttery finger potatoes. To quote a Bud Light commercial "is a 1,000-calorie salad really good for me? Of course it is, it's a salad, isn't it?"

On the up side, I lifted like a champ. 20 slow-motion pushups (when you intend to do them slowly, they're not easy). Tonight I row for 45 minutes. Yeesh.

And in non-fitness related news, we're taking my daughter to her open house tonight for preschool... Whoever said time flies wasn't kidding.

Ichyic, good call on the stir fry. Used to make it all the time. Stopped when the kids came - too much time in cutting up veggies. The mexican thing is definitely going to happen. Very easy to replace beef with beans.

Bellyoff, yup, I know the evils of delicious starches. I could almost live exclusively on good bread and butter. Almost.
 
Frozen veggies -- that's a really good idea! Zap 'em and fry 'em? I tend to get hung up on fresh, but frozen is almost as good, especially for a mid-week meal that doesn't have to be special.
 
no zapping, just straight from frozen to fry pan. and there are so many varieties now. I just add mushrooms usually
 
In spite of having some delicious pork chops for dinner, I came in under calories yesterday! By 200 calories. Thanks in part to a 400-cal row.

Going out to lunch today with some coworkers. Hoping to plan ahead a little and see what the menu options are if we go to a chain. Tonight's lifting again. Not sure what dinner is, but we have more salad stuff than a rabbit farm, so I think it'll be another salad. Perhaps with leftover pork chop bits on top.
 
Tough weekend. No cookouts or beer, but my SIL gave birth, and our whole weekend was consumed with that and I got to play Mr. Mom. Very stressful, and easy to give into temptation. Which I did.

On the upside, I'm down 4.8 lbs, and I've gone from 30.3% to 30.0% body fat. Sub-30, here I come! I know the drop is a mixed blessing, since the first week is always a significant change. I gave into temptation too easily last week, but I'm on top of the exercise. Back up to being able to kick out 36 pushups, and my weekly hillclimbs are a cadence of two walks up the hill, followed by a run up the hill - I haven't measured the hill's dimensions, but 20 minutes on it is no small task, according to my heart anyway.

Vee, I agree, vegetarians are terrific when seared on both sides then slow-cooked for another 8 minutes or so. I'm not touching them this week, though.

Sunflower, thanks for the welcome, it's good to be back into a groove. It's tough with two kids, but I know I'm not the first one to have two kids. My parents had two, and they're in reasonable shape.
 
It amazes me all the pushups folks can do. I must be astonishingly weak. Have to figure out how to add some muscle while losing weight. Apparently that's nearly impossible though.

Or else I could decide to weigh 225 pounds and then try and buff out. Maybe look like this:

View attachment 21326
 
Start small - and when no one's looking. Try a couple sets of 5. Too easy? Well, next time go for 8. Or add a third set. You get the idea. I've also been adding slow-motion pushups to the mix, where I take 3 seconds to go down. It's awful, but it works.

Remember - you're really trying to lose fat, which is the key contributor to your weight. Replacing fat with muscle isn't a bad thing!
 
OK, so yesterday was my one failure at vegetarianism. Went out to dinner for Dad's 70th birthday at a restaurant that had no vegetarian entrees. So I came as close as I could and got the seared tuna steak, which was fantastic. Rest day yesterday, too.

Tonight - over an hour of rowing - higher intensity, at that. I can't wait :cry:
 
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