Weight Loss Journey for Feeling Gooder

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feelinggooder

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Howdy everyone,


I'm a little over a week into my latest journey and have been making good progress so far. I've been introduced to a couple of these diaries by reading @8packabs twitter feed and it seems like a great place to track my progress/setbacks.


I have unfortunately completed this type of journey three years ago but slipped back into old bad habits and found myself back where I had started. When life brought a few changes to me, I failed to make the necessary adjustments and commitment to keeping the weight off so here I start again (for the last time.)


My plan involves making the necessary changes to my routine to guarantee success and then start working back in some realistic goals as I go. I started a little over a week ago and have been eating more frequent smaller meals to fight off hunger throughout the day and making sure I make time in my schedule to get some form of exercise into the mix.


Starting weight as of 2 Jan 2012

294.6 lbs


Weight as of 9 Jan

283.6 lbs and body fat of 37.5% according to my bathroom scale.


Interim Goals:

0. 285 lbs Christmas weight gone 9 Jan 2012 weigh in

1. 275 lbs 15 Jan 2012 weigh in

2. 265 lbs 28 Jan 2012 weigh in

3. 255 lbs 18 Feb 2012 weigh in

4. 250 lbs 4 March 2012 weigh in

5. 245 lbs 4 March 2012 weigh in

6. 30% body fat by 31 Mar 2012 4 March 2012 weigh in

7. Complete a 5k run by end of April Completed on 17 March 2012

8. 240 lbs March 25 Weigh in

9. Complete a 10k run by end of May Ran 11.9 km on 14 Apr 2012

10. 235 lbs by 31 May 2012 (average a little under 2 lbs per week) 8 April 2012 Weigh in

11. Get down to below 25% body fat (estimate this will mean getting down to 230lbs)

12. Complete a sprint distance triathlon Long Sprint Triathlon 19 May 2012

13. Run a 10k distance is under an hour Training run on 3 May 2012

14. Complete Spartan Race Completed on 3 June 2012

15. Half Marathon - Complete May 2014

16. Gran Fondo event - 100k

17. Olympic distance Triathlon

18. Half Ironman 70.3

19. Under 20% body fat (Estimate this means getting down to about 215lbs)


Progress: Weight Body Fat % Weight Lost Week Weight Lost total

02 Jan 2012 294.6 lbs 39.6 (estimate) 0 0
09 Jan 2012 283.6 lbs 37.5% 11 11
15 Jan 2012 273.8 lbs 35.9 9.8 20.8
22 Jan 2012 268.6 lbs 35.9 5.2 26.0
28 Jan 2012 264.8 lbs 34.1 3.8 29.8
5 Feb 2012 261.4 lbs 34.0 3.4 33.2
12 Feb 2012 257.2 lbs 32.4 4.2 37.4
18 Feb 2012 254.0 lbs 31.1 3.2 40.6
26 Feb 2012 250.2 lbs 30.7 3.8 44.4
4 Mar 2012 245.0 lbs 30.0 5.2 49.6
11 Mar 2012 241.6 lbs 30.0 3.4 53
18 Mar 2012 240.4 lbs 29.1 1.2 54.2
25 Mar 2012 239.2 lbs 29.1 1.2 55.4
1 Apr 2012 237.8 lbs 28.9 1.4 56.8
8 Apr 2012 234.2 lbs 27.0 3.6 60.4
15 Apr 2012 233.2 lbs 28.0 1.0 61.4
22 Apr 2012 234.4 lbs 27.3 +1.2 60.2
29 Apr 2012 232.4 lbs 27.7 2.0 62.2
06 May 2012 230.6 lbs 27.6 1.8 64.0
13 May 2012 231.8 lbs 25.8 +1.2 62.8
20 May 2012 230.6 lbs 26.4 1.2 64,0
27 May 2012 228.4 lbs 26.1 2.2 66.2
3 Jun 2012 228.4 lbs 26.7 0 66.2
11 Jun 2012 230.2 lbs 27.4 +1.8 64.4
17 Jun 2012 227.8 lbs 25.9 2.4 66.8
24 Jun 2012 227.6 lbs 26.4 0.2 67.0
1 Jul 2012 231.8 lbs 26.3 +4.2 62.8
11 Jul 2012 233.8 lbs 28.0 +2.0 60.8
15 Jul 2012 231.0 lbs 27.5 2.8 63.6
22 Jul 2012 232.8 lbs 27.8 +1.8 61.8
29 Jul 2012 230.0 lbs 27.2 2.8 64.6
5 Aug 2012 231.4 lbs 27.6 +1.4 63.2
12 Aug 2012 228.0 lbs 27.5 3.4 66.6
20 Aug 2012 229.8 lbs 26.8 1.8 64.8
25 Aug 2012 229.2 lbs 25.7 0.6 65.4
02 Sep 2012 226.4 lbs 27.0 2.8 68.2
09 Sep 2012 228.8 lbs 29.1 +2.4 65.8
17 Sep 2012 232.0 lbs 27.8 +3.2 62.6
24 Sep 2012 230.6 lbs 26.8 1.4 64.0
30 Sep 2012 226.4 lbs 27.2 4.2 68.2
07 Oct 2012 225.0 lbs 27.4 1.4 69.6
14 Oct 2012 224.2 lbs 26.7 0.8 70.4
21 Oct 2012 226.0 lbs 27.1 +1.8 68.6
28 Oct 2012 224.2 lbs 26.7 1.8 70.4
04 Nov 2012 228.8 lbs 28.0 +4.6 65.8
11 Nov 2012 227.2 lbs 27.2 1.6 67.4
16 Nov 2012 228.6 lbs 28.0 +1.4 66.0
25 Nov 2012 232.2 lbs 28.5 +3.6 62.4
30 Nov 2012 229.0 lbs 28.9 -3.2 65.6
09 Dec 2012 231.2 lbs 28.8 +2.2 63.4
01 Jan 2013 245.8 lbs 29.2 +14.6 48.8
06 Jan 2013 233.6 28.3 -12.2 61.0
13 Jan 2013 234.8 28.2 +1.2 59.8
22 Feb 2013 241.4 31.2 +6.6 53.2
31 Mar 2013 242.2 31.1 +0.8 52.4
07 Apr 2013 240.7 31.0 -1.5 53.9
14 Apr 2013 240.8 31.1 +0.1 53.8
20 Apr 2013 240.7 31.1 -0.1 53.9
28 Apr 2013 245.0 31.3 +4.3 49.6
05 May 2013 239.3 30.8 -5.7 55.3
30 May 2013 238.9 30.8 -0.4
26 Jun 2013 235.7 30.2 -3.2
7 Mar 2014 240.3 31.3 +4.6
27 May 2014 249.1 +8.8
 
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I saw these questions posted in Sarah's diary and decided to answer them for myself. I think the exercise of answering these questions definitely helps shed some light on where the issues lie and can help identify a few more areas to work on. If anyone has thoughts, comments or wants to share their own answers I'd love to read em.



1. What is your current height and weight?

6'1", 283.6lbs as of 7 Jan 2012
2. If you were at an ideal weight now, what would that weight be?
220 lbs
3. At what weight would you like to be at four months from now?
250
4. Why do you want to lose weight?
Feel Gooder and be able to watch my daughter grow up

5. Do you want to lose weight for a specific life event such as wedding or reunion? If so, when is that event?

Not a specific life event, all life events

6. What obstacles could get between you and your weight loss goals?

Buffets and slipping into bad habits

7. Why do you think that you now have a weight problem?

It's impacting my ability to take part in activities

8. What lifestyle changes do you think would help you lose weight?

More frequent, smaller meals. Focus on incorporating exercise into daily routines

9. Have you lost weight in the past? If so, what has worked in the past to help you lose weight?

Yes, eating better and exercise

10. Why do you believe that you did not lose weight or you gained the weight back?

Fell back into old habits. My work schedule changed and I did not make necessary adjustments.

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?

Everything seems to work, problem has been making the changes stick

12. Would you try writing down all food and drink consumed for a given period of time?

Yes, usually end up with lists all over the place though

13. Do you cook at home often? If so, what do you cook?

Hadn't been in the past but have committed to cooking at home once again. Preparing large number of meals in advance that include healthier options

14. How often do you go out to eat? Where do you go?

Had been going out 1-2 times weekly to various restaurants and buffets

15. What are your three favorite foods?

Chicken, Shwarmas and Pizza

16. What are your three favorite restaurants?

Malaysian, Shwarmas, and KFC

17. What are three things you can do differently when it comes to food?

Prepare healthier alternatives, ensure meals are prepared in advance, try to incorporate more vegetables into each meal

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

Flat stomach, weight would no longer hold me back from certain activities

19. Do you eat when you are not hungry?

Occasionally

20. Do you binge eat (large amounts at a time)?

Have in the past, working on it

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

Have in the past, working on it

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

Have in the past, working on it

23. Do you eat as a reward?

Have in the past, working on it

24. Do you eat while watching TV or using the computer?
Yes, sometimes eat at desk while working, or eat meals in from of TV

25. What do you normally eat for a meal?

Serving of meat, serving of rice/potato, vegetable

26. What type of snacks do you eat?

Apple, Yogurt, Natural peanut butter with rice cake

27. In terms of exercise, what, if anything, are you currently doing?

Walking to and from work 20 minutes morning, 40 minutes evening. Limited sit ups, push ups at home

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

Home and walking to/from work

29. What, if anything, are your three favorite types of exercise?

Jogging, elliptical, strength training

30. What is your daily/weekly/monthly/yearly motivation to move towards your goals?

Daughter, wife and feeling gooder in general

31. Do you have rewards for certain goals?

Not yet but will be setting some soon.
 
Thanks for dropping by my thread. We are almost exactly the same size. Nice work on week one. I like your long term goals. Maybe you should consider setting some short term ones like lose 4 lbs in a week or something like that? Anyway welcome, and I look forward to watching your progress on the train to skinnytown.
 
Thank you right back for visiting my thread. Hopefully we can help keep each other motivated and reporting back regularly over the next months/years. Good idea on having shorter term goals as well as the long term ones.

I'm trying to break the goals down into 10 lb increments and the main short term goal is to keep to my meal plans and increase exercise as I go. The exercise is still one I'm trying to figure out in terms of finding the right balance and schedule.


Now time to get on that train... chooo chooo!!!
 
Hey feelinggooder!

Welcome to the forum! I hated those questions...but they were very helpful for me...I felt like someone had been reading my mind and watching me from a distance when they wrote those questions! Glad you took the decision to take control of your life! We're on a journey here, this is a process, not an event (hate that...In most things, I just like to get it done!...doesn't work that way!)

I look forward to your posts and if I can help in any way, let me know!
 
Thanks for the welcome message scbibhouse,


I hear ya on it being a journey, next step is to keep making sure I keep picking new destinations this time instead of lounging around once I make my first stop.


I've started putting together enough equipment to make sure I can get a reasonable workout done at home, so far I've converted my twin towel racks back into their original purpose (elliptical and treadmill) and tracked down a decent weight bench and free weights on local classifieds sites. I highly recommend picking up used weights as they don't seem to wear out very easily and are crazy expensive if buying them brand new. Last night I got to enjoy the pleasure of picking up the weight bench that came with 385lbs of vinyl weights as well as 285lbs of plate weights that came with a number of bars. By the time I managed to carry everything in from the truck and get stuff set up I was exhausted and think I got a great workout in the process.


This morning I walked 1.5 miles in -15C weather and looks like my walk back to catch the bus after work is approx 2.5 miles.


Plan is starting to come together, looking forward to re-reading these entries in a few months to see how far I've come.
 
You get a gold star for walking in that cold!! DANG!!


i used to lift a lot back in my college football days. Now my sons play high school football and they are getting more into it.

I must admit I have shyed away from it because It would really highlight to me how much strenth I have lost and how much muscle turned to flab over the last 20 years.

But I am starting to think about adding some strength components to my plan...I know its the right thing to do.


Stay on this mini roll you have got started.
 
Yeah, the walk in the cold was only half optional... I take a commuter bus that doesn't go all the way to my work. On really bad days I end up taking another bus to get the rest of the way but today was deceivingly sunny out so I started walking and by the time I realized how cold it actually was, I was halfway to work.


I'm not looking forward to seeing how light I have to start out with on the strength training front. I felt quite silly last time I started any form of training as I outweighed my training partner by a solid 100lbs and had to use half the weight he did for the exercises. I know it's more important to prevent injuries when it comes to this stuff and while it's not a contest but I still have a bit of a competitive streak left over from younger days.


It's been hard to resist jumping on the scale to check on progress. Last week I found myself jumping on the scale multiple times every day so this week I removed the scale from the bathroom and only plan on weighing in at the end of the week.
 
Hi Feelinggooder, thanks for the post on my diary thread. I know how you feel about the scale and having to hide it. I haven't hid mine yet but I'm heading in that direction. Also, on the weights, don't feel bad about starting out light, everybody is a different levels of fitness in the beginning and its making those improvements and seeing results that motivate us to most. Good luck!
 
Thanks for dropping by as well oldschool,


I try not to let the light weights bug me too much, it's more of a reminder of how far I had come/slipped back. I know it will only take a couple weeks/months for the weight to return to where it had been and at least I'm now doing something about it before it's too late...


As for the scale that I disappeared, I have missed jumping on the scale but no longer as much as I had been. I find it's starting to force me to hold to the meal plans/exercise a little more since I can't guarantee that I'm losing weight right now. The uncertainty of not knowing and the potential surprise when I get back on the scale seem to be helping. It also keeps me from worrying about normal weight fluctuations throughout the day.


Now to bundle up and go for a brisk walk in the brisk temperature outside...
 
Finished setting up free weights and various bars at home tonight. Managed to do a bit of strength training including the following exercises.


Bench Press

Incline Bench

Curls


and a few other exercises that I'll have to look up the names of while looking for an old 12 week program I did a couple years back. Adding this to the 4miles of walking for the day and I'm pretty tired but feel good at the same time.
 
Quick post this morning to put up a reminder to celebrate the small victories along the journey.


There are going to be setbacks along the way but there are going to be more small victories. Here are a few of the ones I plan to look out for:



Bending down to put on my socks takes less effort and no longer shames me...

My wardrobe increases as that shirt/pants/coat that used to be tighter no longer endangers the lives of those around me from a button popping free...

Reclaiming a belt notch that had been surrendered months ago

Can complete extra reps/sets or add weight to any strength exercise, can go a couple minutes longer or miles further in cardio exercises

Have more energy to chase around my three year old daughter

Pass by that fast food joint and have no desire to drop in

Successful weekly weigh in that sees a drop in weight
 
I actually reclaimed a belt hole this morning! I snuck on the scale (really to see if I needed to kick it in gear before Sat.) I was down 4 (282.5)

Good to see your plan gel.

Now we gotta make it habit...that takes time on task.
 
Time on task indeed, day by day until it all becomes second nature and then reinforce the fact that I don't want to see these numbers on the scale anymore.


Tried a new approach to dining out for lunch today that worked out very well. I attended a retirement lunch for a friend at work and knew going in that the pub style menu wasn't going to lend itself to making healthy choices. So I decided to have a pre-lunch lunch at the office consisting of a small baked potato (no butter) along with a small piece of chicken breast and a smaller piece of pork. Then at the lunch lunch I ordered a side garden salad with a vinagrette dressing.


Opted for ice water instead of beer as well so on top of making it out of there without taking a big hit on my calorie intake it was also mighty easy on the wallet.
 
I'll have to try the pre-lunch lunch tomorrow when I have a lunch meeting, I was not looking forward to it but now I am only because I can put it through a test cycle. I like your small victories list, can't wait to not feel the same with the putting on socks thing. I'd also like to paint my toenails. Its kinda humiliating asking my 10 year old son to paint them for me.
 
hey feeling gooder! nice approach for the lunch gathering! Sounds like something I will do when I gather with my girlfriends for dinner or happy hour. Eat before you go out!


I noticed in your questionairre that you love buffets, so do i, partially to this one that is newly open and very fresh and clean....I just gotta make the right choices, right? and portion control!


anyways, thanks for stopping by my diary and good luck!!
 
Oldschool & Laureelee best of luck to you both trying out pre-meal meals. :biggrin: If it works out, I'll have to start working on my infomercial...


Who'd a thunk eating before eating could ever help anyone??


Seriously though, I found it helped keep me on track to show up to a pub while not being hungry. In a few months, I'm sure it won't bother me as much but at this point I'm barely getting started..


Stuck with my meal plans today and managed to get the same 4 miles of walking in despite having to walk in some icky winter conditions. At least the cold/snow/rain provided a little extra motivation to move faster.
 
Originally Posted by feelinggooder


Quick post this morning to put up a reminder to celebrate the small victories along the journey.



There are going to be setbacks along the way but there are going to be more small victories. Here are a few of the ones I plan to look out for:




Bending down to put on my socks takes less effort and no longer shames me...

My wardrobe increases as that shirt/pants/coat that used to be tighter no longer endangers the lives of those around me from a button popping free...

Reclaiming a belt notch that had been surrendered months ago

Can complete extra reps/sets or add weight to any strength exercise, can go a couple minutes longer or miles further in cardio exercises

Have more energy to chase around my three year old daughter

Pass by that fast food joint and have no desire to drop in

Successful weekly weigh in that sees a drop in weight
Click to expand...





:cheers2:
Dear friend...I love this list! It was humorous and spoke many truths. Good to see how many different things you have to look forward to :) it's amazing how much losing weight, not only changes your life...but changes the lives of the ones you love. Best luck, you'll do great.
 
Thanks for the support success, glad you liked the list.


Got to experience one mini victory today as an old (but still brand new) pair of jeans made its way back into my wearable selection of clothes. It's only a mini victory because although I was able to fit into them and decided to keep them on for the day, the belt I am wearing is serving no practical purpose.


Meal planning is working out well and I have avoided pitfalls of binge eating. The one area I know I'm missing out on right now are veggies so I'll have to work on finding more veggies on my "do not hate" list. (or maybe start dipping them in gravy.... j/k )


It's getting increasingly difficult to hold to my commitment at the start of the week to avoid the scale as I reeeeeaaallly want to check up on how I've been doing. I've decided to make my weekly weigh in Sunday morning first thing so only two days to go and I get to see how well this week has gone.


Appreciate everyone who has taken the time to drop in on this diary so far.
 
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