Man to Man: A Support System for Men (part 2)

Starting weight (5/21): 174.5
5/28: 174
6/4: 175.5
6/11: 175
7/4 Goal: 165

Did a little better on the diet this week, but didn't get in any exercise yet. Did lost a half pound for my efforts. I'm close to getting my mind right to get back on the exercise regimen, but we'll see. I've got a busy weekend with the kids (10 soccer games over the the next three days), and then it is time for some me time (ie, exercising). I know that losing weight is mostly diet, but I need to get exercise in to be able to consume a reasonable amount of calories. I'm consistently going over on a day, and just throwing in the towel when I get to that point and eating some crap. With a few hundred more calories to play with, I'll better be able to manage that.

Won't be able to make my goal now at this point, but we'll see how close I can get.

Hi guys

I know this is kind of a random thing to post but I turned a corner today I think. Before I came here to myfitnesspal I would try to watch what I ate but then at some point I would get to a day where I had eaten so much I said.. it is one day.. I will start in the morning. Then perhaps I would start in the morning.. but within two days I had a day not counted again.. which became four.. that was a cycle in weightloss I struggled with for years.

Since finding this forum I decided to never do that and to exercise in the morning to never get behind. That worked for a week or two but this week I have had many days that threatened to be real exclusions. I managed to hold them to my calorie levels but today I got to 11pm and was looking at working off 900 calories before I slept.. I really wanted to sleep and not bother. But I made myself get out of bed and exercise and I worked 900 calories off and I feel so good it is awesome.. you know the feeling you get when you finish exercising and your legs feel wobbly and you are guzzling water like it is out of style.. but you feel you want to set your alarm to wake at five so you can go for a run before you go to work? I feel so good and it is wonderful that I did it because I told myself when I was.. I am taking it seriously this time.. this time is not going to miss out like before.. I am doing this. I am going to achieve what I set myself to achieve and I am going to do it this time. No excuses I want it to happen and no days that do not count and no wasting time in the middle of it.

Here's to the cause

Wow been doing this for three months now and just found this section.
Height 5'9"
Starting weight 190
Weight as of today 170
I've been doing pretty good until now but I have just quit smoking (about two weeks now) and am hoping I can keep up the loss. Anyway good luck to all and I'll be checking in from time to time (now that I know where all the fella's is at)

Morning guys. I lost another pound on the July 4 challenge. I am now down to 177. Looks like I won't hit my 170 goal but I should be able to get within a couple of pounds of it.

Welcome to the newcomers and keep up the good work everyone.

I know it's nice to have high goals, but 90 lbs in 3 months I think is a little agressive. Just remember, it's 80% Diet. I've worked out my entire adult life, and it wasn't until I started counting calories that I had any success losing weight.

Ya I know my goal is probley set alittle higher then I can do but thats just how I am, gets me more motivated haha. But ya I completely changed my diet threw out things I dont need and restocked at costco full of healthy more nutritional things that will suit me better. Plus counting calories on myfitness pal. So far lost 4.6lbs so Im pretty excited :glasses:

Anywho,,, something interesting happened friday evening. When I got home from work at the end of my 52 mile round trip I was drenched, pouring sweat. 91 degrees and humid. So I parked the bike, get the dogs out and I jumped in the river and swam for 10 minutes to cool down and get the sweat off. Then came back in the house, peeled and dried off, hit the can and hopped on the scale.

It doesn't count, it's not real,,, I was just dehydrated, but it was still pretty $*%in' sweet. 199.6 lbs. :laugh: :happy:

Way to go Casper - like you said, end of day, not your usual weigh in day/time, etc. - but it still had to be cool to see that on the scale! Keep up the bike rides, man. That's awesome. You motivate me. I have a 26 mile round trip to my office along a pretty heavily trafficked road. I'd be a bit apprehensive to ride to work that way for fear of getting flattened by a gravel hauler. Plus, I work in an office and don't have access to a shower. I imagine I'd be pretty ripe after 26 miles...

Casper, Nice work man! Seriously it takes some patience and perseverance to be keeping up with this site since Jan 09. Especially considering the gains you've made by the end of '09 would've put you well into the normal healthy range for your age and body type. It's pretty impressive that you've stuck through with your goal and even if it's water weight loss - you hit it nonetheless.

Gr8dad - Don't even think about the scale, you don't need that scale to get in shape and be healthy. People are able to lose ALLOT of weight healthily at just about any age and any time period in their lives, so it's never too late, and you'll never missed the boat as long as you don't give up. Everybody makes it home.

I've been looking at myself in the mirror and I feel like I've been losing muscle. Haven't lifted hard in a long time, eating light, and doing allot of cardio and I've been questioning where I'm going with this. Yesterday saw the "I want to look like that guy" movie

http://www.iwanttolooklikethatguy.com/

and figured, yeah y'know I want to put on some muscle mass at this point - don't want to end up scrawny. But at the same time I kinda want to see my weight-loss goals come to completion, don't want to start something w/o finishing what I started before it. So I should at least hit my MFP weight goal before focusing on building...

and today I checked it, and YAH! I hit my goal, got to 149.5 lbs, that's half a pound under my MFP goal. My Fat Loss Monitor says I'm at 16.2% body fat, which kinda stinks b/c I've been stuck at 16% for over a month and if that thing is accurate it would suggest that the last few lbs of weight that I've lost have been muscle and not fat, and nobody wants to hit their goal through muscle loss.

So I'm starting anew. I'm gonna cut the cardio and focus on heavy lifting and eating tons of protein. I'm gonna start the Max OST Overload lifting schedule and try some heavy lifting. Whaddaya guys think? Given that I'm a 5'7" 149.5 lbs, 16% bf guy, how much muscle should I aim for? maybe 10 lbs of muscle mass? Is this the direction I should go even, or should I double-down and try to break my body fat below 16%? (Eventually I'd like to be at 155-160 lbs range, w/ 10-13% body fat).

Welcome man. Anybody who's dropped a century can post with us anytime.

Casper, Nice work man! Seriously it takes some patience and perseverance to be keeping up with this site since Jan 09. Especially considering the gains you've made by the end of '09 would've put you well into the normal healthy range for your age and body type. It's pretty impressive that you've stuck through with your goal and even if it's water weight loss - you hit it nonetheless.

At this point I'm just phobic about backsliding. I really dig my better life and my better body and I'm terrified that if I quit I'll yoyo back. Also, my wife Mariettarose is a member here too, and she wants to drop some more and we're working on it together. I guess I just accept that this is my life now - I monitor my diet and exercise. It's not going to change, I'm not going to stop, it's just how it is.

So I'm starting anew. I'm gonna cut the cardio and focus on heavy lifting and eating tons of protein. I'm gonna start the Max OST Overload lifting schedule and try some heavy lifting. Whaddaya guys think? Given that I'm a 5'7" 149.5 lbs, 16% bf guy, how much muscle should I aim for? maybe 10 lbs of muscle mass? Is this the direction I should go even, or should I double-down and try to break my body fat below 16%? (Eventually I'd like to be at 155-160 lbs range, w/ 10-13% body fat).

Work on whatever's most important to you man. If you wanna be bigger then Hog&Dog it for a while and get bigger. If you wanna get leaner first then protein & green veggies and cardio. Go where you're going,,, it's all good. You're not starting over, your considering a slight adjustment in course. Rock on dude.

Now I need advise and wonder if any of you have the same issue as me...

I am currently at the lowest weight I have ever been in my adult life (228 as of Monday). Somewhere between 6th and 7th grade (25+ years ago) I went from the 100s to 240+ in a year and never went back. I am 6'0 and just to give you an idea of body type I have a size 8 hat.

My wife, my mother, others are constantly telling me I am getting "too skinny" When I say I still have some to lose they tell me I have body dismorphic disorder

This erks me to no end! My BMI still has me in the "obese" range (221.8 is top end of overweight for me and my next "goal") and I see areas that need work especially in my gut. I know that they have never seen me this way therefore it is weird for them so I always answer the same.."I am going to continue to eat right and work out and my body will figure itself out."

MFP gives me 1580 calories, I do an hour of cardio in the mornings for 1000, I always eat all of the 2580 alloted. I do guesstimate portion sizes and never count when I officiate sports (softball and football umpire) but it seems to work and I average 2 pounds a week.

How do you deal with it when all your friends and family want you to "stop losing" when you are doing everything you know is right? Or am I the only one dealing with this?

Teroknor - Congrats on all your progress! You've done a fantastic job and should be proud!

Do you have a medical opinion about your weight, body fat percentage, etc? I don't know that you need one, but that might be sufficient to get the ladies in your life off your back :bigsmile:

It can be hard for our loved ones to accept the change we want for ourselves - particularly if they have weight "issues" of their own and are not doing anything about their situation.

I had mentioned to my mom that I'd been working hard and losing weight. The next time I went to visit her she had made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies because she "knew I'd help her eat them" which I did - but I was also doing hours of manual labor in her backyard so it all came out in the wash.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you luck!

In my family, providing food has always been an expression of love - however misguided - and it can be difficult to get people to find other ways to do that.

Hey, guys!

I started in February at 255.5, probably the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I am 36, 5' 6" but I am stocky, so I never understood how those BMI calculators could say I needed to weigh 155 lbs.

In Feb. of this year, I thought I was having kidney stones, which led to an anxiety attack, which led me to think I was having a heart attack. After a night in the ER, everything checked out okay, except for my weight. The doc told me I should lose 20-30 pounds or risk going onto high blood pressure meds.

Well, that was enough motivation right there, so shortly after that I began working out and moderately changing my diet. I have lost 26 pounds since February and feel really good after hitting the Elliptical Trainer every night.

I only found MFP a few weeks ago, but I already enjoy it much more than the previous website I was using, Calorie Counter from about.com.

My medium term goal would be to be at 200 pounds on my birthday on September 7th, but that might be too aggresive, however that's not stopping me from trying. I am currently at 229 and dropping.

Thanks for the inspirational posts, fellas! I hope that I could provide inspiration to someone just by posting my story as well.

Hey, guys!
I started in February at 255.5, probably the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I am 36, 5' 6" but I am stocky, so I never understood how those BMI calculators could say I needed to weigh 155 lbs.
<<snip>>

Welcome aboard. I was in about the same boat. 270 pounds and just a little taller @ 5'8" and mega stocky. When I started out I had about a 46" waist and my BMI was over 40. Well,,, I've lost a foot off of the waist (yes, a foot - 12 inches, ain't that wild?). I've lost close to 70 pounds and now weigh about 202. I have abs now,,, and still I'm obese. To get to merely 'overweight' I need to get below about 197. To get to 'healthy' on the BMI chart I need to get down around 164. I'm about 13% bodyfat, my lean bodymass is close to 180. Only way I'm getting to 164 is with anorexia and organ donation.

Anywho,,, don't sweat the BMI. It's crap for Clydesdales like us and doesn't work at all. You're well on your way. Welcome.

Yup yup,,, I use this one and a pair calipers I paid $15 for @ GNC : http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

Mail order man - http://www.accumeasurefitness.com/

I have these, they're fine.