1 Year anniversary (PICS). Didn’t make my goal...
alexveksler
Posts: 409 Member
…but came pretty close. It has not been an easy journey. It never is, we all know that. My anniversary was 2 days ago, August 16, so I wanted to get my stats measured and get the final picture so I could compare with the one I took on August 16, 2011. Before I continue my rant, here are my stats and pics:
.
Height: 5’9”
Starting weight: 254LBs
Current weight: ~190LBs (still going)
Starting Body Fat: 32%
Current Body Fat: 21%
.
365 progress
.
Me in 2010
.
August 16, 2011
.
August 16, 2012
.
August 16, 2012 after my daily workout
.
.
My goal was to reach 185LB, but making this kind of goals 1 year in advance for someone who has been overweight for a long time is unrealistic. My initial goal was to reach 200. Sounded like a good round number. Once I reached it, I have adjusted my weight goal by 5LB. While disappointed, I still think that I averaged around 1LB per week, which by all the standards is pretty good weight loss. And it was doable with an average working man’s lifestyle, like mine. Out of town business trips, family gatherings, drinks with friends, etc… We have to take these things into consideration and plan our nutrition and exercise around them.
What can I tell you about this experience? There have been plateaus, unexpected weight gains, which drove me nuts. Sometimes I would go 10 days and record the same weight. Ugh! But reading your comments and reading comments of success stories here helped me to stay focused on my long term goal and not worry too much about the short term progress.
.
.
Exercise: Local gym down the street was the best thing ever happened to me. While my home gym is still around and is served as a clothes hangers and storage, I found it more motivating to get out and do my exercises outside the home. About 8 months into my diet and exercise I wanted to try and see if I could workout everyday instead of taking weekends (or couple of days) off per week. You know what? I found it that it is totally OK to workout 7 days per week. And nice thing about it, you can combine an a cardio and weight lifting workouts without worrying about missing something that day. Daily trips to the gym allowed me to do cardio and take 1 weight lifting routine per day in the same day, alternating pushing (chest, shoulder, triceps) and pulling(biceps, back, legs) exercises. AND while working out 7 days per week, this allowed my muscles to recover from the fatigue. I slowly increased my time on elliptical trainer Precor 465 to a 60 minute (level 20/resistance18) workout. I would register around 850 calories burned, which was a good calorie deficit to my nutrition.
And then I had a bright idea. Why not do 30 minute cardio, stop and do a weight lifting routine. Then complete with second 30 minute cardio, followed by a second weight lifting routine? Guess what? It worked. I was not as tired and out of breath and was able to combine cardio and with an additional weight lifting routine in a same session. With good diet my weight started to move. Yay!!
.
.
Diet: It is no longer a diet. It is the way I eat and plan on eating if I want to maintain my weight. #1. I cook my own meals. With our lifestyles we will have plenty of opportunities to eat out. An electronic food scale (around $50. These things even come with a food database today) was the best thing happened in my kitchen. NOTHING was placed in my plate before it was checked. It will get easier as you cook and remember your food items. Still all my meats, fish, the things you cook in a large pieces and having to cut into your portions or pull out from the containers will be measured. I built my diet on more of a low carbohydrate concept. I COMPLETELY removed refined sugars. If it’s white, it is not used. Bread, pasta, crackers, rice, snacks, candy. GONE from my pantry. It is amazing that I can’t even look at the slice of bread right now. Also, salad dressings. GONE. Pam spray, balsamic vinegar, pepper and various salad spices gave me various flavors that I can live with for the rest of my life. Fruits were limited initially, but as I lost more weight, I slowly introduced more and more fruits. I am up to 60-70 grams of carbs per day and still able to lose weight. And that’s plenty to have few fruit servings daily.
.
.
That’s my story. My final thoughts about my rant:
1. Stay focused. If you read my post so far, you probably wanted to know what I did to lose 60LB
.
2. Do not get discouraged. You will succeed if you provide your body with good food and exercise. AND WATER. Make it your friend. Thanks to MiO’s various flavors, drink 10-12 cups per day. I do.
.
3. Monitor your progress daily. When you get stuck, generate nutrition and exercise reports and compare. Perhaps you need to some adjustment. Whether or not you think your body is a machine, you still a driver. And you are in control.
.
4. It is all about YOU. Not about your spouse, your partner, your family. You are doing this for yourself and it is the best feeling in the world to say “I did it”.
.
.
Good luck to Ya’ll. They say life begins after 50. And some of us are not 50 anymore.
.
Height: 5’9”
Starting weight: 254LBs
Current weight: ~190LBs (still going)
Starting Body Fat: 32%
Current Body Fat: 21%
.
365 progress
.
Me in 2010
.
August 16, 2011
.
August 16, 2012
.
August 16, 2012 after my daily workout
.
.
My goal was to reach 185LB, but making this kind of goals 1 year in advance for someone who has been overweight for a long time is unrealistic. My initial goal was to reach 200. Sounded like a good round number. Once I reached it, I have adjusted my weight goal by 5LB. While disappointed, I still think that I averaged around 1LB per week, which by all the standards is pretty good weight loss. And it was doable with an average working man’s lifestyle, like mine. Out of town business trips, family gatherings, drinks with friends, etc… We have to take these things into consideration and plan our nutrition and exercise around them.
What can I tell you about this experience? There have been plateaus, unexpected weight gains, which drove me nuts. Sometimes I would go 10 days and record the same weight. Ugh! But reading your comments and reading comments of success stories here helped me to stay focused on my long term goal and not worry too much about the short term progress.
.
.
Exercise: Local gym down the street was the best thing ever happened to me. While my home gym is still around and is served as a clothes hangers and storage, I found it more motivating to get out and do my exercises outside the home. About 8 months into my diet and exercise I wanted to try and see if I could workout everyday instead of taking weekends (or couple of days) off per week. You know what? I found it that it is totally OK to workout 7 days per week. And nice thing about it, you can combine an a cardio and weight lifting workouts without worrying about missing something that day. Daily trips to the gym allowed me to do cardio and take 1 weight lifting routine per day in the same day, alternating pushing (chest, shoulder, triceps) and pulling(biceps, back, legs) exercises. AND while working out 7 days per week, this allowed my muscles to recover from the fatigue. I slowly increased my time on elliptical trainer Precor 465 to a 60 minute (level 20/resistance18) workout. I would register around 850 calories burned, which was a good calorie deficit to my nutrition.
And then I had a bright idea. Why not do 30 minute cardio, stop and do a weight lifting routine. Then complete with second 30 minute cardio, followed by a second weight lifting routine? Guess what? It worked. I was not as tired and out of breath and was able to combine cardio and with an additional weight lifting routine in a same session. With good diet my weight started to move. Yay!!
.
.
Diet: It is no longer a diet. It is the way I eat and plan on eating if I want to maintain my weight. #1. I cook my own meals. With our lifestyles we will have plenty of opportunities to eat out. An electronic food scale (around $50. These things even come with a food database today) was the best thing happened in my kitchen. NOTHING was placed in my plate before it was checked. It will get easier as you cook and remember your food items. Still all my meats, fish, the things you cook in a large pieces and having to cut into your portions or pull out from the containers will be measured. I built my diet on more of a low carbohydrate concept. I COMPLETELY removed refined sugars. If it’s white, it is not used. Bread, pasta, crackers, rice, snacks, candy. GONE from my pantry. It is amazing that I can’t even look at the slice of bread right now. Also, salad dressings. GONE. Pam spray, balsamic vinegar, pepper and various salad spices gave me various flavors that I can live with for the rest of my life. Fruits were limited initially, but as I lost more weight, I slowly introduced more and more fruits. I am up to 60-70 grams of carbs per day and still able to lose weight. And that’s plenty to have few fruit servings daily.
.
.
That’s my story. My final thoughts about my rant:
1. Stay focused. If you read my post so far, you probably wanted to know what I did to lose 60LB
.
2. Do not get discouraged. You will succeed if you provide your body with good food and exercise. AND WATER. Make it your friend. Thanks to MiO’s various flavors, drink 10-12 cups per day. I do.
.
3. Monitor your progress daily. When you get stuck, generate nutrition and exercise reports and compare. Perhaps you need to some adjustment. Whether or not you think your body is a machine, you still a driver. And you are in control.
.
4. It is all about YOU. Not about your spouse, your partner, your family. You are doing this for yourself and it is the best feeling in the world to say “I did it”.
.
.
Good luck to Ya’ll. They say life begins after 50. And some of us are not 50 anymore.
0
Replies
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Great story. I appreciate the "How" part. Remarkable transformation. Congratulations.0
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Way to go, you look great!!0
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Fantastic job!!!!0
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Its Amazing how different u look after just one year.
Fabulous job 0 -
Yay Alex! Awesome work and dedication!!!!0
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You should be so proud of your progress so far! You look amazing. Keep up the awesome work!0
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Love the biceps! You look marvelous.0
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Thanks guys. It's been difficult, but now looking back, it is all worth it. The energy I have now is insane. I am 50 and lift and do more cardio than I did 30 years ago.
Thanks for kind words and you support.0 -
You look phenomenal! Congratulations on your success! :flowerforyou:0
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Wow amazing job! Thanks for sharing your story I needed to hear that today.0
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Thank you for sharing. You're awesome and you look great!0
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Congrats and thanks, great info and advice0
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congrats, you look amazing. thanks for sharing0
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Thanks again to all my MFPeeps!! If I can help 1 person with my story. Motivate him/her, help making decision to stick to a plan or simply inspire them, this an icing on my cake
My food diary is open and I have been recording every single day. There few days were I missed, but for the most part you can see my progress along with my food and exercise data.0 -
Fabulous job, Congrats!!!0
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You look awesome! Congrats!0
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You look great. Well done! Thanks for sharing your story and ideas that have worked. Congrats!0
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Awesome story! Thanks for all of the advice. You look amazing, by the way. Congratulations! :drinker:0
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congratulations on a job very well done.0
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Great job. You can really tell that you exercised while you lost and not just lost.0
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Great job!0
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Congratulations! You look GREAT!0
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Great story and great workout tips.0
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Awesome job!!! I see abs coming in!!0
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I so appreciate those of you that have found success, documenting your stories to share and motivate the rest of us. Great job!0
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Fantastic job and great tips 0
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Great stuff!
And inspiring for those of us who know it's going to be a long haul!0 -
Incredible - and such an honest realistic approach - WTG I am made up for you!! x0
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You look amazing! Great job! 0
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GREAT STORY And WAY TO GO!!! You worked on it, you stayed focused and you have done awesome! My goal is 30 more pounds and I say in a year, but I am not gonna set that kind of time date. I will be interested in seeing where I am in a years time compared to now. BUT, you have done great and have a lot to show for good work, focus, dedication and lifestyle changes. Yes, DIET is a 4 letter word! It has a beginning and an end. Where as wise choices mixed with a good exercise program is a way of life that will bring about great rewards.
I, like you, work out 7 days a week. I may miss a day here or there, but my aim, my goal is 7 days a week. And I, like you , think it works great for me!
Well, happy one year anniversary, congrats on all that you have accomplished.
Take care and happy Sunday to you,
Chetan Payne
Avellino, Italy0
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