2 pounds to goal

cowboy48

Hello,

I should have joined this forum a long time ago but now that I am just about done my weight loss I want to maintain now. I am 49 years old and I have always been fat. Not overweight or chunky or big - just fat. Right from the time I was about 6 I was always the 'fat' kid. I have been up and down in weight my whole life. When I turned 49 last August I decided that I wasn't going to enter my 50's fat. I had enough- I spent 45 or so years fat and I was tired of it. At my heaviest about 4 years ago I weighed 320 pounds at 5'11". It took me about 6 months or so to lose 100 pounds using the old WW points program. I didn't exercise at all but lost the weight anyway. I decided to take 3 months off and maintain at 220 pounds to give my body a rest. Well the 3 months turned into over 2 years and I had gained 35 pounds back again. I was now 255 pounds at my 40th birthday and 'fat' again.

Since I had dieted on and off my whole life I knew what I could and couldn't eet. So I had the diet part down. This time I decided to add exercise as well. The problem was what kind of exercise should I or could I do? I decided to try running. Now don't get me wrong I couldn't run a block if I tried - never could either. I live out in the country on an acreage so I decided to run my subdivision. I started running to the next driveway- took a rest and then ran to the next driveway. By early October ( remember I started late August) I could run the whole subdivision without stopping - 2 KM.. We had a 5 K fun run ( with a group of people I exercise with) that I signed up for on New Year's Day. I completed that. Then I entered my first 'official 10K run on March 21, I finished that and now am traiing for a 1/2 marathon on my 50th birthday.

Along with the running and watching my diet I am now 2 pounds away from my goal of 175 pounds. I have not been this light since I was about 12 years old. The running helped with some of my toning and tightening. In fact my love handles that I have always had are just about gone. I now look forward to finishing my 1/2 marathon and trying to maintain my current weight. I think that is going to be harder than losing the weight. I am not sure but hope to keep you updated on my struggles as I encounter them.

OSUalum

Congratulations! What a incredible accomplishment!
I'm sure you'll do a fantastic job at maintaining and staying healthy!

cowboy48

Congratulations! What a incredible accomplishment!
I'm sure you'll do a fantastic job at maintaining and staying healthy!

Thanks but i am not so sure-lol. I am having a problem with eating more food. My daily calorie is between 1400 and 1600 calories but according to maintenance I should be eating between 2000 and 3000 calories depending on my exercise for that day. I don't think I could eat that much yet. I am going to try to slowly increase my calories to about 2000 calories and see if that works. It is the mental part of maintenance that is going to be difficult. Knowing I have to eat more is going to be tough. I will have to see how I will deal with this

A_New_Horizon

Wow. What an accomplishement. You should post some pics, so we can see your progess. You have worked hard, and you should show it off. What a success story.

cowboy48

Wow. What an accomplishement. You should post some pics, so we can see your progess. You have worked hard, and you should show it off. What a success story.

Thank you!! I may post pics in a bit - I will have to think about it. Thanks for stopping by!!

Tree72

Thanks so much for sharing your story with us. It's great to hear that determination and hard work can accomplish so much. Good luck with navigating the next part of your journey.

cowboy48

Well I started a 1/2 marathon clinic yesterday. It was interesting to actually be in a formal running clinic instead of doing training on my own. Looking at the training schedule I could start at week 11, I think-lol. I am still keeping up my training from my 10K run in March so I am running distances further than the schedule allows. My 1/2 marathon schedule is as such Tuesday - classroom and tempo run ( this is always the shortest run of the week) Wednesday - hill training, and Sunday is Long slow run day. I will do my normal training in between these days so I can run farther on those days. I also do a bootcamp on Thursday nights and I will run 6K before that class.

My eating is always spot on. I normally eat about 1400-1600 calories. With this training, I will have to eat more - I know that already. especially more protein. I am the kind of guy that can eat the same thing everyday - drives my wife crazyt-lol. So eating with my limit has never really been a problem. The problem is going to be increasing the eating to maintenance.

cowboy48

I have hit my goal weight of 175- YIPPEEE!!. I didn't think I would do it but I DID!! It almost took me longer to lose the last 10 pounds as it did the last 70-lol. I thought according to the past 8 weeks that I would lose my normal 1 pound for this week but I got a surprise and lost 2 this week so I have lost a total of 80 pounds this time around and hit my goal. Now what do I do-LOL? I think now the real struggle begins as I have to increase my food intake without gaining and train for my 1/2 marathon and get enough food in my system for that. I think this is going to be harder than losing the weight. I will still be diligent on my calories and watch what I eat but this time I won't have the satisfaction of seeing the scale go down- I just want it to stay the same. That is going to be a psychological nightmare- I think-lol. That is okay- I set out to do something and I FINALLY did it.

rileysowner

Congratulations. I still have a way to go, but the end is in sight. It is good to see someone who made it.

ButterflyKristen

Wow, I love your story. I wonder if you would like doing P90X next, not for weight loss obviously, but to get more toned and to help with your athletic performance. The nutrition program that comes with it might help you with your maintenance phase. Based on what you've said thus far, it looks like you are really eating a lot less than you should given your size and your activity level. If you have very much trouble with maintaining, I would cough up the cash to consult a professional nutritionist that specializes in diet and maintenance; you've worked too hard and put so much heart into the new you to let it frustrate you so much at this point! Well done! You are an inspiration!!!!!!

cowboy48

Wow, I love your story. I wonder if you would like doing P90X next, not for weight loss obviously, but to get more toned and to help with your athletic performance. The nutrition program that comes with it might help you with your maintenance phase. Based on what you've said thus far, it looks like you are really eating a lot less than you should given your size and your activity level. If you have very much trouble with maintaining, I would cough up the cash to consult a professional nutritionist that specializes in diet and maintenance; you've worked too hard and put so much heart into the new you to let it frustrate you so much at this point! Well done! You are an inspiration!!!!!!

Thank you and thanks for the advice. I have thought about a professioanl nutritionist and may go that route. I have also thought about P90X but was unsure as to how well it works. Have you tried it or are you using it now? if so, how did it work for you?

cowboy48

Congratulations. I still have a way to go, but the end is in sight. It is good to see someone who made it.

You can do it!! The last 10 pounds are the hardest but don't give up!!

soccermum75

Amazing story. Congrats! You are an inspiration especially now that i have taken up running. I hope to run a half marathon in september.

ButterflyKristen

I think P90X is a great, comprehensive sculpting regimen. Don't just take my word for it, just do a search on the message boards for P90X and you will see many, many people write positive things about it. I highly recommend it.

rosey808

What an inspirational story. Thank you for sharing and congratulations on your well earned success. Enjoy your 50s!

cowboy48

Amazing story. Congrats! You are an inspiration especially now that i have taken up running. I hope to run a half marathon in september.

Thanks. I am running mine in late August. Good luck on your run!!

cowboy48

I think P90X is a great, comprehensive sculpting regimen. Don't just take my word for it, just do a search on the message boards for P90X and you will see many, many people write positive things about it. I highly recommend it.

Thanks, I may try it. Didn't know whether to believe all those testimonials on the message boards. You don't know how many of them are true-lol. I think it is my next step though as it should help with toning and putting on some muscle.

cowboy48

What an inspirational story. Thank you for sharing and congratulations on your well earned success. Enjoy your 50s!

Thank you, Rosey.

cowboy48

This has been my first full week of maintenance. I guess it went pretty well- I didn't gain-lol - I am still 175 pounds at 5'11". I am still not eating enough but I have added some calories. I am not sure how fast to go to my maintenance limit but I will try to get there in a month or so. My maintenance calories are over 2000 and when I run it goes up to 3000. I can't see myself eating that much- I don't think it is possible anymore- at least not in my current mindset. I don't know if other maintainers have the same problem but from comments I have seen on this forum and others everyone seems to think the same thing - " Maintaining is harder than dieting"-lol. You don't get the thrill of seeing the scale go down after a week of eating right and exercising- your goal is to stay the same. Tough to do this for a long time I guess. No reward for all the hard work. I am going to have to set some new body image goals along with running goals. I thing more toning and adding some muscle is one goal although it is hard as i am running at least 5 days a week and need to take a rest day or two. I have added one weight training day but I run 6K first-LOL.

My training for my 1/2 marathon is coming right along. One thing that hasn't changed is my love for running. I can't see to get enough of it-lol. The clinic that I am in hasn't reached my current training schedule yet so I have been training on my own on some days. Once the clinic catches up to me I will be running full time with the clinic..

cowboy48

I have been maintaining for a about a month now. I still am scared to add too many calories to my diet in case I gain weight. I am still 175 pounds and am eating between 1700-2000 calories. I am not eating any junk on a regular basis although I have been adding pretzels and salsa to my snack list. Not really that bad for you - high in salt I know but I am careful on portion control.

I am still training for my 1/2 marathon and the weekly slow runs are starting to get into some serious distances. I start 10K runs now on Sunday. I can run them with no problem so far but will see how I do at 16 or 20Ks.

I am also part of another forum and some of the maintainers on that site are having some problems with sliding back into old habits and it scares me to death. I DON"T want to slide back and gain my weight back. Maintaining is in fact much harder than losing. There is no reward for maintaining. You don't get to see the scale go down- you just want it to stay the same. How do you long time maintainers do it? Are you that conscious of it all the time? Do you cheat occasionally? Am I going to be counting calories for the rest of my life?

cowboy48

How are the maintainers out there doing? Any tips? Any maintainers out there that gained again so that they are trying to lose again. I am just trying to get an idea of what works and what doesn't.

Tree72

Congratulations on maintaining so far. That definitely sounds like the most difficult part. Unfortunately I don't have any advice as I still have about 30 pounds to go myself.

It sounds like you're on the right track with setting other fitness goals for yourself to keep you focused and aware of your body. Best wishes for continued success as you work through this transition.

cowboy48

WOW - where did the time go? Funny I started this in 2011 and forgot I did-lol. Looking back after 8 years and the journey I have been on and what life has thrown my way has been interesting. Did I gain all the weight back--- Nope! I have gained some weight back but only about 20 pounds or so( after small losses and gains over time) . I think the weight gain has been primarily getting older and not watching my eating so close now. In the last year or so I have started Keto and fasting. I am still running and have run multiple 1/2 marathons, 16Ks,10Ks, 5Ks etc over the last 8 years. I still have running a marathon on my bucket list. Now that I am on the uphill climb to 60 I have to start adding some weight training as muscle loss is a real problem at my age and add some kind of yoga or flexibility portion to my training.

I have to be honest- maintenance has been/is hard. I have to watch what I stuff in mouth all the time. If I eat badly for a bit then I have to go back to eating the way I should be , otherwise I would be 320 pounds again. I knew this was going to be a life long thing and as I get older I have to even more diligent.

I think the important thing is moderation. Everything in one's life should be done in moderation. That always hasn't been the case for me but as I get older I need to remember this! Can I have a piece of cake--- Yup. Should I eat the whole cake- NO!!

Time moves on for everyone and how healthy we are becomes even more important the older we get.

bobsburgersfan

Wow! 8 years later and you've kept almost all the weight off. That's AMAZING. I'm still a long way from maintenance, but I know I'll be tracking for life if I'm going to lose all the weight and then keep it off.

RunStart34

Wow. I just read your story and glad you were able to keep the weight off. I have been on maintenance for about a year but i always have to check myself closely since i gain easily. Did you weight your self often or just base on how the clothes felt?

pierinifitness

Kudos to you youn man and thanufor sharing. Enjoy your new you and your youth.

jamesha100

Thanks for the update. I am the same height as you and the same age as you were in your original posts. If I can lose and keep it off like you have I will be delighted!

cowboy48

Thanks everyone. Xhuerax- for the first 5 years or so I checked my weight often- especially the first year for sure-lol. In the last couple of years I haven't really been on the scale at all. I have been doing this weight loss - gain thing for a long time so I know when I have put a few pounds on. I go mainly on how I look, feel and how my clothes fit for sure.

One thing I do know is if I didn't lose the weight when I did- I would not feel as good as I do now. I shudder to think of my life if I was 57 and weighed close to 400 pounds. I know if I had not taken the steps I did that I would have just kept gaining. Funny how a midlife crisis at 50 turned it all around for me.