Down 47.2 lbs in 107 days

jessicastanfill wrote: »

Congratulations!! So inspiring. Can I ask what was your daily deficit and what amount of cardio did you do? Also what kind of foods did you eat?

As far as cardio, My minimum goal was to do the elliptical 3-4 times a week for a minimum of 35 min. And a minimum of 500 calories each. I actually would push myself to do more, especially if I was feeling week or unenergetic. After the first 2-3 weeks, I was going as long as 45-50 min., eventually topping out at about 65 min. I would mix up the pace, incline and resistance. I normally did 15-17.5 degrees of incline at a pace that would vary from 55 rpm to as fast as 100 rpm, but mostly around 65 rpm. I have recently changed up my cardio routine to adjust for my new goals. I now do about 25-35 min at an incline of 30 degrees. 4 min warm up at a resistance of 6-8, then 30 seconds as fast as I can (over 100 rpm) followed by 30 seconds backwards at a slow pace, 16 times in a row. Then ending with a more steady pace for 5-10 min or so.

For calories, my goal was to consume less than 1500 per day, starting out. I actually did between 1,300-1,500. I tried to avoid eating any of my burned excercise calories and only did so on a few select occasions. As my results progressed and my fitness improved, I raised my calorie goal to 1,680. It was only the last couple weeks that I raised my calorie goal to 2130 and I am now eating most of my burned calories from excercise.

For food, I made several changes that I was able to live with. No hard & fast rule, but I did cut out all wheat (my wife is allergic to wheat, so I did it to support her efforts), I significantly reduced my sugar intake (no sodas, only dark chocolate, ice cream maybe 1 scoop every 2 weeks). I switched to Almond milk. Started eating breakfast every day, typically consisting of steel cut oatmeal, a cup of blueberries or a banana, and Triple Zero yogurt (sometimes an egg or two in place of yogurt). Basically no cheese, except cottage cheese. I would eat spinach in place of bread & still do. I try to only eat organic and "try" to avoid processed foods as much as possible. I drink 8 cups of water a day and eat fruit more often. I reduced red meat in favor of more fish (usually wild Alaskan Salmon or Halibut) and chicken (rotisserie from Costco, Walmart, or Safeway).

I travel a lot for work, so I eat out frequently. I almost always order from the light menu, but log & track everything that goes in my mouth. As I got closer to my goal, I would allow myself a little more freedom (especially when I spent 2 weeks in Hawaii). But I would weigh myself every morning that I was home, or in a hotel with a scale.

If you eat the right foods, you can get through this without feeling hungry. I never felt that I was starving and I averaged a loss of close to half a pound a day.

dankaplin wrote: »

This is awesome. I'm starting my journey and this is the inspiration I needed.

Good luck on your journey. It's very doable... Once I made the decision, I was committed to hit my daily goals. I joined a few Challenges on here, which also helped with my accountability.

On days that I really felt the need to have something that did not fit in my calorie goals, I made sure that I paid for it with extra effort in cardio, or walking extra steps. I did do some resistance training throughout, but it was not a strong focus.

branbuds wrote: »

Congrats on your success! It will take time to get used to doing resistance training rather then focusing on cardio. But if you can lose 53.1 pounds, then I am sure you can adjust to a new type of exercise! Wtg!!

Thanks!!! I'm confident I can make the transition...

charlottemcmath wrote: »

Omg you're amazing! Such an inspirational story and so nice to be forthcoming with your method. I'm down 17 lb in 45 days and I'm really striving for a big, quick loss like yours.

Thank you! Don't get discouraged... My wife has been doing basically the same thing as me, except her workouts were not quite as intense as mine, more frequent, but just as long, or longer. Our bodies are all different, so we need to find what works best for us. My wife is about 5'4" and is currently about 135. She's lost roughly 30 lbs in the same time-frame as I.