The RacerX weight loss thread

[sambencuda]

I'm with you Ron. I'm 300lbs, 6,3 and a 40" waist. Remember my "if I lose 50 lbs I get a Harley" thread? Well, I was 315 when I started that last fall and at the time I was about 315lbs I went down to 290lbs, but I'm back up to 300 now. I've just started going to the gym again (mostly for cardio) but I need to change my eating habbits big time.

I hope you can find a system that works for you. I'm going to use this thread as motivation myself. We can do it. It' sjus tgoing to take time.

BTW, I never got the Harley, I ended up with the 69 Charger, but I feel like I let myself down by not dropping the full 50lbs. (not to mention my wife who made the initial offer!)

[fett]

Well, I'm 6'6" and 260 with clothes on. I have a 42 inch waste. Below the belly. It's the spare tire that bothers me. But, it's snowing or it's raining or it's dark. I guess I will try not to get anymore fat and weight 'till spring when I can walk or ride my bike or just get off my ass. Until then, I don't eat fast food; chips; candy; sugared soda. I eat one really big meal that I cook myself using olive oil. Lots, and I mean lots of veggies. (I love Bell Peppers); lean meat and lots of beer. I really do watch what I eat. And I DO read the lables.

[Chad]

This is motivation for me too, fellas. I had a great diet a few years back by necessity. I became hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and it was making it hard to function. I went to eating 6 times a day. Breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, supper, & snack before bedtime. By snack, I mean a HEALTHY snack. Some almonds, raw vegetables, plain yogurt, etc. As others have said this makes your metabolism function more efficiently. I cut out bread & sugar. That right there can cause weight loss. I wasn't even trying to lose weight, I was just trying to get my blood sugar levels under control. I"m 6' and went from 185 lbs. to a low of 168 pounds. I didn't excercise much. Just ate lots of vegetables and healthy stuff.

Fast forward to now. My blood sugar stabilized and my diet went to the wayside. And I work about 60 to 80 hours a week in a fairly high stress situation (I own a business), which cuts into free time to excercise and eat properly. I end up eating too late a lot. And can't find time to fit in decent snacks during the day, so I end up eating more than I should when I do eat.

I haven't weighed for quite awhile, but I'm guessing I'm in the 215 range. I want to get control of this before it gets out of hand. My older sister really put on weight in her mid-30s (I'm 33) and I want to try and avoid that.

I think I'll start by trying to cut my portions back, then go from there. And I need to get some decent snacks at the grocery and get back to that habit.

I also should bring supper to work, so I can eat supper at a decent time (around 6pm or so). Any ideas? I've considered buying someting like low calorie microwave dinners. I know they may not be super healthy, but at least lower fat and they would limit my intake.

Oh yeah, I must admit I've kinda been avoiding it, so I'm gonna get an official (get up, take a shower, weigh in "the buff") weight in the morning.

[mm2002]

I'm 5'11", 185 lbs, and I had two huge plates of buiscuts and sausage gravy this morning, along with a platter of buiscuts (just for buttering with grape jelly), and scrambled eggs (plenty of butter, salt, pepper, etc.) I love everything greasy. Tonight (as I do at least twice a week) I'm making tacos. Lots of greasy hamburger, and PLENTY of hot sauce. Oh yeah, there's veggies in there too....shredded lettuce, maters, beans, and uunions......YUMMY!!!! Lots of cheese too. Oh yeah, I could fucking live on cheese if i had to. I love cheese. Tommorow night I'm smoking about 8 lbs. of pork steaks. We'll eat those with a huge tub of mustard tater salad, and some very good barbeque sauce, and maybe a few slices of wheat bread.
Man, you guys should come over for one of my catfish frys! We're talking mass quantities of fried catfish (the good farm raised and grain fed stuff), hush puppies, cole slaw, and tater salad!!! For dessert I prefer cheese cake, you know the "Jello" refrigerator kind? Tonight I'm making the tacos, and my wife is making a batch of fudge brownies. I like the brownies fresh out of the oven, hot, and I drench 'em in butter! YUM!
Yeah, I guess I'm what you'd call a health food freak, but I do like to eat the good stuff.
I'm having lunch at Long John Silvers tommorow! YUMMY!!!!

OK, the above was not a joke, I really DO eat like this! Plus I smoke 2 packs a day, and I LOVE beer!!!! B E E R.........yum.

The trick is....I am active! I work my asshole off, I take the kids to the park, I fuck the wife, I generally run around at 100mph trying to stay caught up, and I still get a full nights sleep every night. (at least 7 to 8 hours).

If I were to live the way I like to, and I layed around on my ass 24/7, I guarantee I'd be in pretty pittiful shape. Plus, I have a pretty high metabolism.

[fett]

Those "Low Cal" Dinners don't fill the old tummy. They are only low cal because there's nothing there. 10 oz of some food and lots of water. Just cook up enough good stuff at home that you can take to work. It's cheaper and way better for you. UMMMMMM. Leftovers.

[RacerX]

Wow, great response, guys! I appreciate it.

I'll write more about my eating habits later...I didn't get a chance to do any walking today...and it may be harder now that the days are getting shorter & colder...but I'll try to do some work week exercising right after work (that should be about 5:15 PM)

[6_string_master]

Good luck Ron, you can do it. Remember, have a low calorie diet, and don't put to much stress on your ligaments and tendons in your legs and feet.

[Chad]

Update: I went to the grocery and boughts lots of almonds, yogurt, frozen vegetables & stir fry, etc. Official weigh in this morning: 207. So I'm actually 8 pounds less than what I thought....good to be a little ahead of the game.

[Tekky]

Good luck Ron.

[StukaJU87]

Good luck Ron.

Yup, good luck. I am in the same boat. 5'6"-210lbs. I'll post more tomorrow. Gotta get ready for work.

[Inearthed]

Hey Ron,

Glad to hear you've decided to really start taking measures to improve your life. Around 4 years ago, I spent a good year working out every day, eating fairly healthy, maintaining a healthy weight and living an active lifestyle. Unfortunately due to some other stuff that happened I pretty much gave up on that and turned into a couch / computer potato. Needless to say I never really did anything, my energy level shot waaaay down, the junk food intake went way up and my weight did the same. Towards the beginning of summer I weighed myself and found out I was the heaviest that I've ever been in my entire life. I realized I was a lazy, unmotivated, fat dude. Big, big eye opener. I turned around the next day pretty much and cut out all the extra snacking, jumped down to smaller, more frequent meals, and eliminated pretty much all of the "bad for you" stuff. Grilled chicken and salad are pretty much the staples of my diet. I've not had fast food in around 5 months, not had red meat in around 4, not had any candy in 5 months.

My weight is rapidly approaching my end goal, every few weeks I am switching down to pants with a smaller waist. My energy level has skyrocketed and most importantly, I think, my attitude has improved considerably and I'm feeling much happier.

Good luck to you (and any other JCFers taking part in this). And remember most of all, as cheesy as it sounds, don't give up!

[Thrust]

I think there needs to be further emphasis regarding the incorporation of weight lifting along with any fat loss program. Weights (or some form of resistance training) are essential in healthy fat loss. If you don't develop your lean mass then once you lose the weight you'll still be "skinny fat" and will easily regain fat. By developing muscle you enable your body to burn more calories (muscle burns more calories than fat) thereby keeping the weight off easier.

[Special-K]

Get well dress(way too much dressed) and go for a long walk...
Up the stairs and down the stairs and so on...
You will lose weight more quicker than without the "clothes bandage"

[VitaminG]

Get well dress(way too much dressed) and go for a long walk...
Up the stairs and down the stairs and so on...
You will lose weight more quicker than without the "clothes bandage"

if you're also overweight, you'll probably overstress your heart and put yourself in hospital or worse, the ground.

Moderate sustainable exercise combined with healthy eating is the key to getting started. Once some weight comes off, it'll become much easier to increase the intensity, by incorporating weights or whatever.

the way Ron is approaching this, by starting out with long walks and cycle rides is a good one. After he shifts a few kilos, increases his endurance and strengthens his heart, he can start the running up stairs wearing a mobile sauna & carrying a Volkswagen

[zeegler]

Wow, great response, guys! I appreciate it.

I'll write more about my eating habits later...I didn't get a chance to do any walking today...and it may be harder now that the days are getting shorter & colder...but I'll try to do some work week exercising right after work (that should be about 5:15 PM)

Shorter and colder?!?! How do you survive? :ROTF:

A warm day here right now is 15 degrees celsius. In a month or so it will be below zero. Just be glad you don't live here Ron!!