50extra - My weight loss journey with all the embarrassing details
Replies
-
Mate I have every confidence in you that you can do anything you set your mind to. So all being well with your knee i know you are going to do everything within your power to get to that goal. AND I will be here with you every step of the way plugging at my own goal and rooting for us both to succeed. We are all over this and can smash anything we set our minds too.0
-
Ok so my trip here in Moscow has been extended by a week and I decided I had to do something to keep moving forward. Each morning I look at the scale but it still says 222 pounds. Not acceptable.
So bring on T25. This was the first time I did a T25 workout since April 4th and my body hates me again. Not only have I taken a month off I have gained 5 pounds since last time and I sure can feel it. Much like the first time I did this workout, I was only able to do approximately 50% and that includes modifying exercises. Nevertheless I worked out a bit, I'm now seating and on track with my calories for the day. I am hoping that I can do one T25 workout per day until I get to Siberia to my bike.
The knee is sore, like limping to walk sore but it's odd, the movement of squats and lunges don't hurt at all. I walked down the stairs after work today for 7 stories and by the bottom it was hurting, I am certain that I could have walked up the stairs pain free. It's a pain that I haven't felt before and it's in the opposite range of motion that it would typically hurt. I tried taking it easy and it hasn't gotten better, now I'll try working it and see if that helps. Running is for sure out until I figure out what's up with it.
Even with a disappointing workout I am a happy camper. I have been lazy with exercise and diet for all of April, it feels good to be getting back into it.
0 -
Sorry to hear that your knee hasn't healed well yet. It will, hopefully sooner than later, as long as you take care of it. I know it's easier said than done though. When I hurt by back I had to stop bodyweight training for several weeks, and I still haven't gotten back to it. I'll try again on Monday...since I like to keep a MWF schedule with that workout.
Just a thought on your 212 goal for returning home from this shift. Since you know that you gain weight on the flight, have you considered weighing in right before you leave to head home?
Oh, and how was the BBQ?0 -
Jillian, to be honest I am not even going to be able to do a proper weigh in when I get home to see if I have met my goal. Although I would love to say that I will get down to the 212 mark by the morning of May 18th, I think that 19 days is a little short to be losing 9 or so pounds. The reason that I wont be able to do a weigh in is I am literally flying home which takes around 36 hours or so with the layovers that I have now, I get in on Thursday at 3:30, I will come home from the airport, hop in the pickup and drive down to the lake. I guess I could hop on the scale real quick while I shower off the airplane stink but to get an accurate measurement I would need to wait at least 24 hours after flying to let my body get back to normal. On a positive note, if my wife lets me, I am hoping to get in around a week down there. We still have a ton of spring cleanup to do, and there is literally over 1000 feet of trees that we had taken down that still need to have the branches taken off, cut up into small pieces and then split. Its fun stuff and is a nice little workout to boot!
No workout last night. Truthfully it was me being lazy but I used the excuse that my muscles are so sore from the workout the night before. I probably could have pushed through it but I ate within my calories so I didn't feel like the workout was 100% necessary to do last night. Depending what happens today after work I will get my butt moving tonight.
The BBQ was fantastic! We didn't even end up cooking the bacon wrapped scallops or the bbq'd veggies as it was a meat and beer kind of feast. We ended up doing lamb chops, beef tenderloin, and two different kind of sausages and just ate it as appetizers/finger food. I didn't record my calories for that day but I am sure that I would have been well into the 4000 range with the beer that we drank. All in all it was a great afternoon/evening. Here in Russia, many of the people that live in the cities have places called Datchas, they are pretty much summer houses or cabins. We were out at our general directors place so it unbelievable since he is very well off. His place is a two story brick house and then a huge thick green grass lawn and in the backyard he has his bonya(sauna) which is another two story log home that has a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, two living rooms and a big sauna. Its far enough outside of the city that you can't hear any cars, motorcycles or more importantly any horns.
0 -
That meat BBQ sounds kinda awesome. I could definitely go one of those (it's the Aussie in me). And you know sometimes it's good to say im not exercising today. You're not being lazy you're listening to your body. Sometimes it tried to slip a shifty in and you go nah we're exercising but other times you listen to it and go yup today we are recovering. Especially with that knee you have to baby your body a bit. I think you made a good choice.0
-
Sooooo, I was sitting in the office yesterday and at about 11am got invited back out to the general directors house for another BBQ. It was Easter in Russia yesterday and since it was a beautiful day with blue skies and around 20 degrees outside I had to go. It turned out there were 12 adults out there and I did the cooking, and without being to cocky, I absolutely nailed it! My day ended with around 4000 calories and each and everyone of them were worth it. Truthfully 4000 calories is probably a bit low because I didn't account for any butter or the chocolate I had at the end of the night. It was such a great day.
So on the BBQ I did lamb chops, sirloin steak, sausages, bacon wrapped scallops, bbq mushrooms with lots of butter, potato carrot onion and peppers, fried mushrooms. Everything turned out amazing, except the fact that the people wanted their steaks cooked to the point of having zero blood which meant i had to cook them to about a medium well done. I am a medium rare eater so to me that ruined the steaks but they loved them. I probably cooked for around 3 hours straight, we did it appetizer style again where i would just pull one thing off the bbq and everyone would use toothpicks or their forks and eat it course by course. Just an amazing day. It was one of the days that helped me forget that I am half a world away from my family for an evening and helped me kick back and relax.
Oh and needless to say, after 4.5 liters of beer I didn't work out
So its Monday now, I have a meeting here Wednesday morning and fly to Siberia on Wednesday night. My weight hasn't moved much here, I weighed in this morning at 220.6 pounds. I have MAJOR work to do on my bike!!!
I hope everyone had as good of weekend as I did! Now that its a new month, its time to bear down and focus for me. April was a bit of a setback for me in terms of weight loss but I went on a great holiday with my family, was able to get a couple days at the lake and so far have had a great first week at work. Its crazy to think that I only have 2 weeks left and I am back down to the lake!0 -
That BBQ sounds Awesome!!!! Are you sure you're not Aussie???? You'd do well down here with your culinary skills on the barbie.
So April was a bit disappointing for both of us. May is a new month and we need to settle into some serious weight loss and health gain. I have outlined my goals for the month on my blog. What are yours? How is the knee going?0 -
It truly was fantastic Kell. I'm not the best BBQer there is, but it just so happened that everything worked out real nice for that cook. I wish I was better at it but the only way to get there is to keep practicing.
Hmmm, I guess my goals for May haven't really changed too much from the ones i set at the end of March. My short term goal for May is to be down to 212 by the 19th when I get home, and my total May goal is to get down 209.9 pounds by the end of the month. For the record, at 211 pounds I will be "Overweight".
Exercise goals for this trip in.
I will be in Siberia for 13 days, my goal is to workout 12 of the 13 days that I am there and at least 10 days doing T25. I know with complete certainty that if I can do that, and not slip up even one day with food I will achieve my goal. I will not drink any beer for the rest of my shift.0 -
I like your goals. Let's smash them out of the park. May is the month0
-
Good luck on reaching your goals, I know you'll kick butt to achieve them! 0
-
Wifire and Kell, thanks for the votes of confidence, I am full of enthusiasm, time to put some of it to work.
Going back over this post, I apologize for the novel, I just have lots to say!
So I made it to Sunny Siberia. It blew me away that its already getting daylight here at 3am. It won't be long before there is no darkness at all. Today is going to be a really long, slow day. I landed around 3:30 am and got to my apartment at 4. By the time I unpacked and laid down it was 4:30 and I looked at the clock at 5:05 and was still wide awake for some reason, probably because I started to write a book on personal finance and was thinking about which direction I should take it, but that's another topic for another area in life not associated with MFP.
Waking up this morning I had to thank the me from March, I opened up the freezer and had very nicely sized frozen meals to get me started losing again! Its so hard when I get in here and have nothing to eat, I end up making easy choices that aren't on the healthy side for a few days until I can find a ride to the grocery store and the energy to cook something up. So like I said, thank you me from March!
Working out tonight is going to be tough. I literally got about an hour of sleep last night so anything that I am able to do will be 100% reliant on caffeine and straight willpower. My goal for tonight is to get back and do a T25 session as well as an easy ride on the bike. I haven't peddled my butt off for almost a month, last time I took a month off of running and started again I hurt my knee, which for the record hasn't bothered me for a week or so now.
I do have some good news about the flooring for my soon to be home gym. The company contacted me back and they stock the lighter weight version of what I was looking at about a 30 minute drive from my house. This will save me over $400 on shipping alone. I was going to get the exact same style of mats that are used in crossfit gyms around the country but decided due to the price that it probably wasn't realistic. The company that I am buying the flooring from is the one that supplied the flooring for the training area in "The Hunger Games" movies. It should be high quality and last for what we will using it for. I will be buying 240sq/ft of it for $1165 taxes included. I initially said that I wanted to keep it below $1000 but I ended up adding 48 more sq/ft so that I have a place to put my treadmill and hopefully the stationary bike. The only issue with choosing a different product than I originally was looking at is the edges of the mat will look like a puzzle piece instead of finished flat edge. If this bothers me too much I can buy trim pieces and have them shipped across the country, this is an issue that I will address later.
I also spoke to the Mrs. about what we are going to get for weights to start out, I think I wrote on here before about it but after typing this much I am not about to click the back button to look and retype it. So if this is a re-post I apologize. We are going to buy a power rack, an adjustable bench (incline/flat/decline), a 300lb weight set with bar, and a rack to put the weights on so my basement doesn't get filled with anymore crap than it already has, and trust me, its got a lot of stuff in it. I really want to buy a complete dumbell set but I am going to wait and see if I can stick to the weights before I blow anymore money for the basement. All of this works out to $1145 so we will be under the $2500 or so that I was willing to spend. There will even be some room for some miscellaneous kettlebells and dumbells for T25 Beta.
So everything is in stock locally which is great. The mats I just have to call ahead by one day and pay for them, and all of the weight equipment is at the store. If I don't end up staying down at my property for 10 days like I am hoping to do, I will purchase everything on May 27th. Truthfully I don't know how much lifting I will get to do this time home because I have A TON of work to do. My non fitness goal for this time home is to finish my backyard. That means picking rocks, landscaping the entire thing and laying down sod. I figure that after living in the house for 4 years and having a walking daughter its probably time to get some grass laid down.
So that's it for now. Hopefully at this time tomorrow I will be able to complain at how sore my legs are and how out of shape I have become since my last trip in!
I love MFP, and I love having you guys to share this experience with!
0 -
@50extra Don't apologize for writing a novel, this is your journal!
I'm glad the knee is feeling better! I do the same thing. If I let myself get to hungry, I grab the easiest thing and it's usually not filling so I end up eating way more than necessary. haha Still take it easy on that knee though!
That's great about the flooring! Anytime money can be saved, it's an exciting thing. haha I actually like the puzzle piece look, I have no idea why. It just appeals to me. haha Hopefully you won't hate it but at least if you do, there is a solution for it! How do you feel about your treadmill? I'd like some insight. I'm thinking of eventually getting one for my future home gym.
I don't know what program you're looking into for strength training but this is one of my favorite reads about home gyms. You may have seen it already or it may not apply to what you want to do but just in case:
http://stronglifts.com/home-gym-equipment-buyer-guide/
Sounds like a lot of yard work and just in general a lot to do, just take it one day at a time and do what you can do!
Thanks for sharing, I look forward to your next update! 0 -
Glad you prepared for this! I think that's one of the greatest challenges of watching what you eat - preparation! You're goals are awesome and that gym sounds amazing. Kick May's butt
0 -
@WifiresGettingFit , thanks for that link, I hadn't read it before. Thankfully I am right on point with what I am buying according to that article. The prices of the equipment looks really nice until I factor in exchange rate and shipping to Canada, the prices that I can get it for locally are very competitive which is a nice change because we usually get ripped off on anything that we buy.
As for what kind of workout I am going to do, I really have no idea, I have been browsing around when I get time to read about proper techniques but as for an actual program, I think I will get the stuff and figure it out from there. I have never really lifted with a bar before, it always was with dumbells so I have a bit of learning to do. I can tell by looking at my arms that I am losing muscle and I need to do something about it sooner rather than later.
So tonight I got home from work and started working towards my goal of working out for 12 of the days I am here doing T25 10 times. I ended up forgetting my T25 program at work but found a place to stream it online, when it went down after a few minutes I found another one, when it went down after a few more minutes I found a third place to stream it from and completed the exercise. It was kind of a crappy workout but at least I did it. I am hoping that tomorrow I will get a better one in.
After T25 I hopped on the bike and did a lazy 22 minutes, I was going really good up until about the 12 minute mark and my enthusiasm dropped to the floor. I was able to get a good sweat going and burned somewhere around 500 calories for the 50 or so minutes I worked out.
One day at a time is how I am looking forward for this trip. I have a workout goal, and a weight loss goal that I really want to hit and I am going to try my hardest to get there.0 -
@50extra You're welcome! Glad you're getting the equipment for decent prices. It doesn't always occur to me that there are people on here from all around the globe.
This may help in picking a program: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
I hope you get a better workout in tomorrow. Why did your enthusiasm drop? Are you getting bored with your routine?0 -
It went from being hard to super hard and I just didn't have it in me. After 25 minutes of T25 I was already a sweaty mess and tired then I hopped on the bike. When I am on the bike I try to ride at about setting 8 for 2 minutes and then turn the resistance to maximum and stand up and peddle as hard as I can for one minute, rinse and repeat. The second my will to ride that hard drops its impossible to keep going. I think I got in 4 sets at 100% intensity before I lost it.
If I was bored of my routine I would be in trouble, its only day 1
Thanks for that link, I will have a look at it in the morning, its 11pm over here, I still need to shower and hit the sack. Thanks a bunch for tuning in, I appreciate every single response I get on here.0 -
I think it sounds like you're trying to do too much too soon. You have to work up to intensity like that. I understand wanting to challenge yourself but keep it reasonable.
Again, to me it sounds like the trouble is trying to do too much too soon and you're wearing yourself out too quickly. You have to work up to intensity like that. You don't start off at the highest settings just starting out. Make a reasonable workout plan and try to do a little more each time you work out so basically you're working up to the highest resistance settings as opposed to starting out there.
No problem, hope you sleep well!0 -
It sounds like you have great strategy for workouts and your "to do list" for home. What part of Canada are you from? I used to live in Michigan and we used to go to Canada a lot. Love the accent!!!! Your home gym sounds fantastic when you finish you should post pictures for us.0
-
@WifiresGettingFit anything past doing a T25 workout in a night is strictly bonus. It is extremely demanding on the body especially weighing in around 220 pounds. The debate between HIIT and slow and steady cardio has been on going for a long time as to what is better. I could get on the bike, turn it up to about a 10 resistance and ride it for an hour but i would barely work up a sweat doing that. Its much the same as walking for me. If I have a good pair of shoes I can go walking for hours and not work up a sweat but run for 5 minutes and its a different story.
To me, sweating = burning so I do it as much as I can. The high intensity stuff makes me feel a lot like I did back when I did track and field and played hockey. I love the feeling of being completely spent, heart beating out of my chest and sweat running down my face. Since my body is already warmed up by the time I get on the bike, I don't need to warm up. I look at it sort of like the T25 is my strength portion of the workout and then the bike is my cardio. I would have liked to get a 60 minute workout in, but 52 was alright for my first time back here.
@LottieStanley My to do list right now is huge and many of the projects are large ones. I live by Calgary Alberta. I will surely post something on the home gym when I finally get something set up!0 -
@50extra As far as I know, sweating is just the body's way to regulate temperature. There is probably a little more to it than that but for the most part, I doubt the extra burn if there is one is that significant (but personally I think every calorie counts so maybe it is significant.) With that being said, I also feel like I've had a more successful workout when I end it drenched in sweat but that isn't to say when you're not sweating bullets that your workout isn't effective.0
-
@WifiresGettingFit I am in 100% agreement with you. My opinion comes from my personal experiences. Going public skating for an hour in regular clothes for an hour would have never been as good for me as an hour of hockey practice, just like an hour of leisurely walking through the park could compare to my running training when I was getting ready for a triathlon. Some people don't sweat much at all even if they are working hard, I do, and I use it to gauge how hard I have worked.
Also, if my heart rate isn't up into the 150s I am not working hard enough.
So for me if I am not sweating bullets, I am not getting an effective workout.0 -
@50extra Fair enough. 0
-
Please know that I am not saying that I am correct and you are wrong, by no means, in anyway am I even implying something like that. It's just how I feel about my workouts.
Only 2.5 more hours and I can get home and try to sweat through another t-shirt! Do you have workout plans for today?0 -
@50extra I didn't take it like that at all. No worries.
I've done relatively long workouts (for me) for the last 3 days (60, 105, 120 minutes) so today I am going to take it easy and probably just do some Wii Fit Plus for at least 30 minutes. I have a workout schedule but I hardly ever stick to it. haha I mean I do workouts but it's usually not the ones I have planned so it's more like a guideline than anything. I usually try to workout at least 4 times a week and have at least one actual rest day if I choose to workout more (usually Wednesdays) but I've gotten kind of addicted to the extra calories thus more food so I move more to eat more. haha I really do need to focus more on the diet portion only because I know doing 60-120 minute workouts probably isn't going to be sustainable in the long run for me. Usually about 30-40 minutes in I'm ready to move on and do something else.
How often do you try to workout in a week? Do you always try for a 60 minute workout? Do you give yourself a rest day?
^Sorry if you've already answered these in your journal. I have terrible memory. haha0 -
When I am in Russia working I try to work out 6 days a week for an hour a day. If I only do one workout in a night (30 minutes) I will try to workout 7 days a week. If my body needs a rest for a day or two, it tells me and I don't workout. That being said, my goal is to workout every night until May 18th and I head home. I am trying to make up for last month.
At home I try to workout 4 or 5 times a week but this hasn't happened too many times this year. We are just too busy and its only going to be busier from now until well into the fall.
If/when I ever get to a stage where I am ready to maintain, I will try to workout 3-4 times a week for around 45 minutes a day.
Right now I am just literally sick of being fat and out of shape, that is why I am working out more per week than I plan too in the future. I want to drop weight. April was a wash for me, or at least close to a wash, I came out 3-5 lbs heavier than I went into it. I'm not complaining about it or making excuses as to why it happened because I both had an awesome 20 some days home and I completely stopped working out and logging food. It was expected but I am still angered at myself because if I had done more last month I would be in a good position to being in some of the best shape of my life by summer. Now I am over a month behind where I should have been.
0 -
@50extra I know what you mean as I've put myself behind many times - about 2 1/2 months behind currently and I don't think there is such a thing as making up for lost time and I do understand where you're coming from but regardless of what I lose this month and the next month and the next month thereafter, I'm still always going to be behind where I could have been had I not said f it for that 2 1/2 months.
By the way, I wouldn't recommend trying to lose more than 1% of your body weight per week. If I did my math correctly based on your goals you posted previously, you're trying to lose 4 pounds a week right now? I advise against it. I'm not trying to be a nag, I just care. I understand wanting to lose weight but be healthy and reasonable about it. Especially if you value your muscles and keep in mind that your heart is a muscle.
As far as your workouts and goal for maintenance, it sounds like a solid plan and I was glad to read that you do take rest days when needed as I think it's a very important part that is sometimes not implemented enough.0 -
Yeah my goal is far fetched but its what I am working towards, I will call it a success even if its temporary water weight.
I will continue eating my calories for the day but trying not to eat back my exercise ones unless I am hungry. My guess is that I get down to 214 by the time I leave here but 212 would be better! I am guessing my weight at around 218 right now but I haven't weighed since I came to Siberia. I will try to remember to weigh in the morning to see if I even have a shot at making it to 212.0 -
All right.0
-
It's been an interesting day today to say the least, I will get to that in a second.
Last night I was again able to convince myself to workout and I am very glad I did. I did the Focus T25 Speed 1.0 disc and was very happy with my efforts. I was able to make it to the 17 minute mark without any modifiying or stopping and then severely slowed down and had to stop several times. I was even able to hop on the bike and ride for 20 minutes just to eek out a couple more burnt calories.
@WifiresGettingFit Since we were talking about it yesterday, I stepped on the scale this morning and am 219.2. Looks like I won't be getting to the 212 mark this shift.
Tonight's workout is going to be really tough, its Total Body Circuit and has about 200 more pushups in it than I am able to complete. Regardless I will attempt it
So this morning... I got picked up and we headed off to work. One of the guys I work with who happens to be a lifelong family friend started acting weird in the truck. He opened his window and was shuffling around in his seat all weird. I asked him if he was okay and he told me that he didn't know. When I asked if he wanted to stop he said no but I made the driver stop anyways. He got out of the truck and I took one look at him, told him to get back in because we were going to the hospital. So we turned around and started back to town. All of a sudden he burped?? and sat up straight. He was like, "I think i just needed to burp I feel a lot better now". I wasn't going to take that for an answer and told the driver to continue to the hospital. He walked inside without any help and immediately was sat down on a table and having his vitals taken. Now I don't have many good things to say about this country but the hospital staff was absolutely unreal. We weren't through the doors for longer than 30 seconds and there were three nurses looking at him. The man wasn't on the table for more than a minute and collapsed and his heart stopped. The nurses started issuing CPR and got it started. We were then told to leave. I just got the news from the hospital, he has already been in surgery and had two clogged or bad (don't really know because of the language barrier) arteries and they inserted either one or two stints. He is still unconscious and on a ventilator but is stable and recovering. Turns out he had two heart attacks and the staff had to revive him twice.
I have known this man for over 20 years and I even dated his daughter for a while. Our relationship was more then a professional one and it kind of shook me up. I made two decisions today that saved a mans life. The first was the decision to stop and turn around and go to the hospital and the second was to skip picking up my translator and go right to the emergency room. These weren't hard decisions or anything, they were just what happened at the time and if either of them were made differently I would be calling his family with bad news instead of good news.
Life is messed up, and this episode today just further opens my eyes on the importance of good health. He is 58 years old.0 -
Wow kudos to you mate for acting how you did. You most certainly save that mans life cause if he had of had the heart attack on the street he would have been dead waiting for an ambulance. And yes 58 is very young to be having that sort of stuff happening. It just goes to show investment in health early can save a lot of heart ache down the track. It took me turning 40 to realise that and i only hope that I haven't left my run too late. I hope you're ok cause i know thing like that can stir up seasoned nurses such as myself let along an every day person with no medical training. That man needs to buy you a beer0
This discussion has been closed.