My 90 day Challenge

patb987 · October 2014

I have battled with weight my whole life, I have wild swings of 30 pounds or so. Luckily I am also have been pretty active my whole life too, so it it easier for me to drop weight than most.

I started this journey at 224 pounds, my goal was two pounds a week for a net of 1500 cal a day. I know many of you will give me flak for this, its the internet you are entitled to your own opinion. I wont lie, the first three weeks were hell. I started every morning with a banana and a nutri grain bar or 3 eggs and toast. Lunch was typically a 6" turkey on flat bread from subway, and then a lot of chicken and veggies for dinners. Every night I had an ice cream bar, a Skinny Cow, so that I still got the sweets I love so much. I also had a cheat day every weak where I would eat to my maintain cal, this helped me with cravings as well.

During this time I ran about 160 miles or so, started at 5.0mph for as long as I could or up to 30mins, every week I added .2 to the speed until I reached 6.0 for 30mins. I didnt start lifting any weights until after almost 60 days as this usually drives my hunger up a lot. Even when I did start lifting I only used light weights with high reps.

Its been 2 weeks since I have completed my 90 days, I dont track every day, but stick to a general diet and have decided to drop another 5 pounds. Which is surprisingly easy to cut off some calories from my maintain now, but I am only looking to drop a pound a week at this point.

With out MFP I dont think I would have had this success, plus having a my now ex GF doing it with me. I love this tool and tell everyone about it, the gamification it brings to the process its great also.

Wrapping this all up, I wouldn't recommend starting off at 2lbs unless you have been pretty active for a majority of your life, it would be a huge shock to many that might derail your enthusiasm. The best exercise you can do is the one you enjoy doing the most. Find time to work out, I have only worked out over 30mins a handfull of times, typically when I was running more the 3 miles just to do it. And treats are not the worst thing you can do, I think they are good to reward yourself for your hard work.

Good luck to you, push yourself and you can do anything you set your mind too.

ewhip17 · October 2014

You'll get no flak from me - you've done a great job. Congratulations.

markiend · October 2014

good job, nice to point out to a lot of people that it doesn't always have to take ages to get results

EmotionalEater84 · October 2014

Wow, great transformation! Kudos to you!!

tifftwoten · October 2014

I am glad you pointed out the bit about 2 lbs/week. I started out that this. I lost 6 pounds last month, but last week I got so depressed about things that I didn't log anything in which was counterproductive. Today I woke up, and took my dog for a 50 minute walk because I was reminding myself that success is not linear.

patb987 · October 2014

tifftwoten wrote: »

I am glad you pointed out the bit about 2 lbs/week. I started out that this. I lost 6 pounds last month, but last week I got so depressed about things that I didn't log anything in which was counterproductive. Today I woke up, and took my dog for a 50 minute walk because I was reminding myself that success is not linear.

If I was starting off from scratch I might actually take it gradually, a half a pound for the first 2-4 weeks, then bump it up, then see how you feel and bump it again if you think its doable. I know its hard and we all want instant gratification, but the most important part is to stick with it! If you stick with it there is 100% chance of reaching your goal. Good luck to you!