New to this today! 200 pound at 5ft 6 - Goal = losing weight/getting fitter - Triathlon tips needed

bbell1424

Hi all,

I am probably at the heaviest I've ever been and decided it is time to take action.
I am not the unfittest, unhealthiest person ever but a period of barely any exercise and a few too many snacks has helped me stack it on.

Ideally the end goal is to lose about 55 pounds but I want to do this slowly and safely. I am also doing a triathlon in June so any food tips/training tips for that would be ideal.

I'm also not a fan of weighing myself loads so will be mainly measuring and then weighing once a month.

All advice would be great!

Thanks!

cme4bb

I started at 212 pounds just over a month ago. Also 5'6. So far I've lost 20 pounds. I cut out all sweets and salty snacks. Drink lots of water and absolutely no soda or sweet tea/sweet drinks. I also cut all my portions in half and I don't eat after 7pm. The way I worked my portions was to make a plate of what I would normally eat and then take half off instead of trying to guess. Obviously it's cut my calorie consumption TREMENDOUSLY!! The first several days, maybe week was the hardest, but I stuck to it and now it's a piece of cake. I've lost 3 inches off my waist, and another 3 off both my bust and hips and I don't work out yet. I WILL eventually, but my goal is to be at 170 before I start exercising heavily because everytime I've ever combined diet and exercise, the scale barely budges and I get discouraged. As far as my diet, I eat meals I'd normally eat, nothing special there, just less. Currently I'm between 900-1200 calories a day and still losing easily. I measure once a month and weigh every day. I have a digital scale and I like seeing my daily progress even if it's .5lb. For me, it's easier to stay on top of it and not slack off and also helps me to know, "Hey I shouldn't have had that extra dinner roll at 8pm last night, I gained a pound". Lol everyone does it differently, there's no right or wrong way, just find what works for you. Good Luck and Welcome!!!!

Eddie__Jones

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

prettygirlstorm1

Hello, from what I have learned from being on this site is Calories in and Calories out!!! As long as you burn more than you take in you will lose weight. I have not given up anything and I don't plan on it which means it will take me longer to lose this 40 pounds. That is ok because once I get it off I plan to keep it off. I work out 4-6 times a week depending on weather and whatever. I know what to do, I just need to do it and my friends continue to encourage me. I would love to help you on this journey and you can help me as well. Feel free to add me and good luck.

bbell1424

Amazing thanks guys really good advice!!

SunshineSwimmer43879

Hi! I am 2 days into a health-based 45lb weight loss. I also do tris and open water swims. What length tri are you doing? What is your previous experience running, biking, and swimming?

SimplySabR

I was in the same place! I looked down at the scale one morning, and there it was - 200lbs. I'm 5'7", and I started my journey to never see those numbers again! I'm currently at 187, and am training for a marathon in November - so we could at least motivate each other for the running portion

3dogsrunning

eazy__ wrote: »

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

This pretty much covers it.

You can check out the triathlon group here
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/88-triathletes-duathletes

My advice for triathlon -
If you are swimming open water for the race make sure you do open water swims beforehand.
If you need a wetsuit, get a wetsuit made for swimming. I made that mistake my first one and paid dearly.
Practice some runs off the bike. It's a whole different ball game.

If you want a reference book, My First Triathlon by Joe Friel is great. He is a solid name in tri training and has tons of useful information. He does suggest doing a pool swim for your first tri but there aren't any around here so everyone I know has done open water and almost everyone has been fine (one person quit but it was her first open water swim. See advice above).

ETA - oh and have fun.

bbell1424

SunshineSwimmer43879 wrote: »

Hi! I am 2 days into a health-based 45lb weight loss. I also do tris and open water swims. What length tri are you doing? What is your previous experience running, biking, and swimming?

Hi! Awesome! It's a 750m open swim 26k bike ride (up a lot of steep hills) and a 2.5k run! The biking I'm comfortableish with, I'm a good swimmer but have no technique and its the run I'm dreading the most even though its a short distance

bbell1424

SimplySabR wrote: »

I was in the same place! I looked down at the scale one morning, and there it was - 200lbs. I'm 5'7", and I started my journey to never see those numbers again! I'm currently at 187, and am training for a marathon in November - so we could at least motivate each other for the running portion

Amazing definitely! Well done for doing a marathon I'm dreading just 2.5k haha

bbell1424

3dogsrunning wrote: »

eazy__ wrote: »

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

This pretty much covers it.

You can check out the triathlon group here
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/88-triathletes-duathletes

My advice for triathlon -
If you are swimming open water for the race make sure you do open water swims beforehand.
If you need a wetsuit, get a wetsuit made for swimming. I made that mistake my first one and paid dearly.
Practice some runs off the bike. It's a whole different ball game.

If you want a reference book, My First Triathlon by Joe Friel is great. He is a solid name in tri training and has tons of useful information. He does suggest doing a pool swim for your first tri but there aren't any around here so everyone I know has done open water and almost everyone has been fine (one person quit but it was her first open water swim. See advice above).

ETA - oh and have fun.

Thats great thanks so much I definitely need to get a wetsuit made for swimming. I'm used to doing open water swimming as I live near the sea but I know when everyones in there at once its a whole different ball game!

J3ffthatcher

I've been doing a couple of sprint tri's for the last few years but the run always was my Achilles heel. Good friend of mine got me a book, Dr. Jordan Metzl's Running Strong, and it has made such a huge difference! The gains I've made have given me the confidence to tackle a couple of Olympic length races this year and, if all goes well, a half marathon in the fall.

Compare this to the fact that I had a knee/IT band injury last year from trying to do run training the wrong way. Stretching, strengthening, and of course running while listening to your body made all the difference in the world, and this is coming from a guy who doesn't read instructions. lol

Feel free to add me, I'll be happy to share any tips I can. If nothing else I look forward to hearing about your journey.