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

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  • prez_beck
    prez_beck Posts: 30
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    Wow..how did you lose so much weight in that period of time? Im down 60 lbs since March 17th..but It seems that I have hit a wall... I still work out and still eat about 1400 calories a day..but the weight doesnt seem to be moving. I am learning to stay away from the scale as much..but I need tips for work outs...


    any help would be great.
  • CasperO
    CasperO Posts: 2,913 Member
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    I started out in Jan '09 and lost 50 pounds in the first 6 months. That got me into pretty decent shape, prob about where D is talking about at 17% or so. Like you, I knocked off a lot of weight pretty quick.

    Also like you - once I got to a certain point it quit working. I quit losing. I also started getting listless, not having a lot of energy, not feeling so good. I was dieting hard, exercising a little and not getting anywhere. Very frustrating. Sound familiar?

    I tried lots'a stuff, but what finally got me moving again was - - - eating more. Yep,,, I redid my setup to 1 pound a week - 500 cal a day deficit. This bumped me up to about 2000 cals a day, and that's what I'm eating now, and it has worked. I cheat a little and I eat most of my ex calories so I'm really losing more like 1/2 pound a week,,, but it's great and I feel fantastic. The feeling good part mean energy which means exercise which just makes it all better. I took my resting pulse yesterday and it was 50... :smile:

    That's what did it for me, goodl uck to you. My $.o2, YMMV.
  • Umpire57
    Umpire57 Posts: 389 Member
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    Once again CasperO, You are the godfather of MFP!

    I have been feeling lethargic lately and uninspired. I was still working out every day and keeping to my numbers but I was sort of blah.

    I have been thinking about it a lot and decided that I was going to try the Alternate 300 on Tuesday.

    Monday night, I get NAILED in the knee w/ a softball that the catcher just missed and never touched so yesterday morning I skipped my workout entirely "because my knee was killing me" (That is what I told myself anyway). I was still feeling kinda down from not working out and came here and saw your last post. I also read Bank's post about too high expectations and I had an epiphany.

    I re-calculated my goals for 1 pound a week instead of 2, got back into the gym this morning and did my standard cardio workout and scoped out the best place in the gym to start the alternate 300 tomorrow and I got an extra 500 calories to boot! :)

    This morning I feel better than I have in weeks. Sometimes it is the little changes that make the most difference.

    Thanks Guys!
  • CasperO
    CasperO Posts: 2,913 Member
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    Good for you, glad you're on track.

    My weight loss progress is now basically glacial, almost nothing. I pudged back up to 212 at the holidays and I've gotten that back off, and I'm still a couple of pounds above 'goal'. But ya' know what? I don't care. That's not really important to me. I'm working for abs and stamina and ability now.

    The good news is that with my current intake level, I'm not really struggling. I'm rarely hungry, I don't really need or want to eat more. This really is something I can do on a long term basis. I think that's really important. I've yoyo'ed once before, lost 40ish pounds back around 2002 and put 'em back on over the next couple years,,, but I don't think that'll happen this time.

    Hope you're there too Ump, working at a level you can sustain. It's pretty cool.

    Good luck with the knee.
  • prez_beck
    prez_beck Posts: 30
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    Thanks CasperO - Thats EXACTLY how I have been feeling... so tired, no energy..I still work out 5 days a week..but nothing is happening. I actually got on the scale this morning and was 4 lbs heavier.... I figured maybe its because of the weight training I did the night before.. Dont know... But maybe I should up my calories from 1400 to 1800 to see if there will be a difference.
  • KS1980
    KS1980 Posts: 40
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    Lot's of good ideas and stories on here. This is the first time I seen this thread and great to see I am not the only male on the site trying to lose weight.
  • CasperO
    CasperO Posts: 2,913 Member
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    Tired, no energy. You're undernourished, your body thinks you've moved to Ethiopia and it's suppressing processes and holding onto every calorie it gets hold of and trying to survive this 'famine'. The dreaded "starvation mode".

    You can do those crazy 1000 cal a day deficits when you're carrying 100 big macs with you, I did it for a long time and it worked. But once get so you can raise your arms and count ribs your bod'll get a lot less cocky. :happy:

    Now the fun starts, enjoy.
  • whyflysouth
    whyflysouth Posts: 308 Member
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    No energy... feeling that way this morning too, even with me upping my calories. But the food I've been eating has been fish, chicken breast, spinach, and broccoli, so I think it's a result of too few carbs. So far I've had a bowl of wheaties, a mars bar mini snack size, two handfulls of the kids honey nut cheerios mixed with some chicken breast.... I'm feeling a little better.

    Honey nut cheerios and chicken breast tastes pretty good together.
  • dinos
    dinos Posts: 1,390 Member
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    Honey nut cheerios and chicken breast tastes pretty good together.

    i was going go say that You must be very hungry to eat this, but I remembered that I was in turkey some time ago and they offered me a sweet, it's name is Kazan dibi which translates into " bottom of the kettle" it's made of chicken breasts and caramel, has a texture like pudding and it's Fu$&;@/ng delicious
  • CasperO
    CasperO Posts: 2,913 Member
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    Oh yeah, I remember turkish food. Wow,,, just wow. They blend stuff that just don't sound right and make it work. They also can do anything with mutton. Good stuff, I'd like to go back.
  • ccgisme
    ccgisme Posts: 239 Member
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    I only have 21 calories left for the day. Stop talking about Turkish food! :wink: Turksih cotton candy is awesome. A student brought me some one time and it was not the super sweet stuff we're used to in the States - it had pistachios in it...
  • dinos
    dinos Posts: 1,390 Member
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    I gave it some thought. Right now I'd be very happy to work myself below 17% BF and tone my abs and upper body. :smokin:
    A year ago I might have said the same - You might rethink that when you get there,,, we'll see. I'm around 13%-ish, and 80% satisfied, but I want to cut a little more.

    Yes, I agree with you Casper. I'm also a goal-driven person and always realign my goals along the way. I joined mfp just to lose some weight, then started walking, riding a bike, hiking, doing the situp/pushup challenge, raised my monthly mileage from 20K to 250K, started the C25K, learned about calipers-bf calculators-blogging-social networking etc, I'm contemplating the idea of a sprint triathlon, want ripped abs, want to play the guitar, want to seize the day .....
    And talking about seizing the day, one of these days I'm taking the family to a turkish restaurant. :bigsmile:
  • Robs_Journey
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    I started out in Jan '09 and lost 50 pounds in the first 6 months. That got me into pretty decent shape, prob about where D is talking about at 17% or so. Like you, I knocked off a lot of weight pretty quick.

    Also like you - once I got to a certain point it quit working. I quit losing. I also started getting listless, not having a lot of energy, not feeling so good. I was dieting hard, exercising a little and not getting anywhere. Very frustrating. Sound familiar?

    I tried lots'a stuff, but what finally got me moving again was - - - eating more. Yep,,, I redid my setup to 1 pound a week - 500 cal a day deficit. This bumped me up to about 2000 cals a day, and that's what I'm eating now, and it has worked. I cheat a little and I eat most of my ex calories so I'm really losing more like 1/2 pound a week,,, but it's great and I feel fantastic. The feeling good part mean energy which means exercise which just makes it all better. I took my resting pulse yesterday and it was 50... :smile:

    That's what did it for me, goodl uck to you. My $.o2, YMMV.

    I am with you Casper. If I don't eat enough I don't lose weight, If I eat too much, I don't lose weight. My magic number is somewherre between 1800 and 2100 calories. If I stay there I have great workouts and plenty of energy throughout the day.

    Rob
  • ccgisme
    ccgisme Posts: 239 Member
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    Check in time!

    Height 5'10"
    SW May 21, 255.4
    May 28 - 253.8.
    June 4 - 251.0
    June 11 - ???
    June 18 - 251.2
    June 25 - 249.8
    July 2, - 246.4 :glasses:

    Goal: 245

    I'm very happy with this. I don't expect to drop 1.4 lbs by Sunday, but I'm fine with coming this close to my mark. I'm still on schedule to get to 240 by August, which is one of my personal goals.

    Hit a wall with C25K, but I dusted myself off and got back on the horse last night. I will finish it, it's just going to take me longer.

    Hope you all had great weeks! :bigsmile:
  • dinos
    dinos Posts: 1,390 Member
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    Checking in:

    Height 6'3"
    SW May 21, 255.0
    May 28 - 253.5
    June 4 - 251.5
    June 11 - 252
    June 18 - 249.8
    June 25 - 248.7
    July 2 - 249.

    Missed my Weight Goal of 245, as I hit a plateau the last 15 days:sad:.
    On the positive side I lost about an inch round the waist :bigsmile: and reached my revised walk/bike/hike target of 200 miles. It took 17 hours on the bike to travel 139.0 miles + another 22 hours on foot (walking, running and hiking) to cover 62.4 miles + a supportive wife who didn't raise any sh*tstorms. Yet. :bigsmile:
  • CasperO
    CasperO Posts: 2,913 Member
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    Check in - no real change. Biked to work again today. Busy busy times lately, not getting enough ex, eating a little heavy, so no progress. That's Ok.

    Looking forward to weighing in at the end of my bike ride this PM,,, :smile:
  • FORKDOWN
    FORKDOWN Posts: 1,754
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    Time to eat crow. I have created so many challenges on MFP and fall short everytime.

    SW 253.8
    7/2 254.4

    Good job everyone and thanks for particpating. One small victory today, I was dragging *kitten* this morning but forced myself to weightlift. I swear the barbell felt empty this morning, gaining some strength anyway.

    Have a safe 4th.
  • whyflysouth
    whyflysouth Posts: 308 Member
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    I think I put way back when we started this challenge that I'd have ran a 10k by now... hmm... time to find a 10k to run this weekend, lol. Haven't prepared for one, but eh, i sort of just like to fall into things last minute.
  • CasperO
    CasperO Posts: 2,913 Member
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    10 Kilometers = 6.2137 miles. Just go run it man, and let us know how you do. I can bike that in about 23 minutes :-)
  • whyflysouth
    whyflysouth Posts: 308 Member
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    Man! Good motivation casper, sounds easy... i found a 10k race that's on the 4th for $30 so I'm gonna register for it.