Sick of being unfit and overweight?

[Jaime Tomahawk]

Then lets do this together!

My father and I have a bet on to reach a certain weight first. He's trying the diet method. I'm going for exercise and calorie control. I'm goignto make notes on where I'm up to and screw it, everyone interested, lets do this together and encouage one another if you need to.

Post what you think you need to, to help you stay on track. Post where you started from and keep at it, dont miss a day.

I am right now 78.5 kg. The bet is 73kg. I have bran and sultanas for breakfast, usually a crappy take away lunch and a fairly decent dinner at night. No alcohol, no smoking. Lack of sex.

I do 8 circuits of the local lake on a mountain bike - that distance is about 12km a day. For variety, I'm going to drop in some swimming.

Rightio, join in with the fun and more importantly - KEEP GOING.

[Pierce Tondry]

I am not trying to hit a certain weight, but I am trying to hit a certain distance. I am in training for a 10k (6.2 mi.) run at the beginning of April, so my goal is to be able to do that running constantly all the way through. My farthest distance run thus far is 1.5 mi. Only took me about fifteen-twenty minutes to do it, but man was I hurting at the end.

So that is me.

[Mu Satach]

Originally posted by Jaime Tomahawk
Sick of being unfit and overweight?

Why yes oh guru of late night TV... err... internet.

The starting point - I can't walk up 2 flights of stairs these day's without nearly passing out.

The BIG goal - Be able to run the homecoming 5K in Oct. and have a completion time of under 30 min. I have a lot of crap to take of so I figure it will take me several months to get even back to where I could start a beginner's running program and then a few more months to be able to get the time down to under 30 min.

the mini goals for Feb
- hit the gym 3 times a week work out on the eliptical machine for 30 min. so's not to re-injure meself
- a cup or two of dark veggies everyday
- a good 6-7 hours of sleep everynight

[Mitch]

Been trying to get down to 180 pounds since the beginning of the year. Started art 210, and now I'm at 202. Working at it, but dang if I'm not busy and eat terribly.

Still, want to hit 180 by May.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Working on losing about 90 or so pounds. Little steps here. Been eating very well, and when time permits I work out. I'm burning 500 calories each workout session, so its nothing too strenuous.

[Mu Satach]

Originally posted by Mitch
Started art 210, and now I'm at 202. Working at it, but dang if I'm not

Way to go! 8lbs is a great amount of progress.

[Leten Snat]

5 months ago I was at 109kg (240 lbs) and I am now down to 103.5 kg (228 lbs), and begining of the week I just got a Gym membership, so let's hope I can get it down faster. I'm aiming for at LEAST 90.5kg (200 lbs) by this time next year. I'm hoping for more than that. I'm hoping to get to a healthy weight by Feb next year.

Please keep in mind that I am about 1.88 meters tall (6' 2"), So an optmal weight for me is between 72.5 kg (160 lbs) - 86 kg (190 lbs)

[Ryan Pode]

I'm trying to gain weight. But, the key is 30 minutes of physical activity a day. That way you get your heart pumping and your metabolism up and thus you burn calories faster. So whether its biking, running, walking or lifting weights, as long as you get around 30 minutes a day you can get healthy.

[JMK]

The thing most people have not mentioned is diet. And I don't mean any particular diet, I mean what you eat on a day-to-day basis. Most people don't, a lot of people actually believe that you can eat whatever you'd like so long as work out *a little*. You can exercise all you like, but there has to be at least an equal effort in to improving diet. Usually that means a diet high in fibre and loaded with veggies, as Mu said she would do for herself. If you still pound a whole row of cookies or slam a gallon a Sunny D, you're not going to help yourself much at all.

If you really wanted to get healthy, you'd cut out hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. That stuff will sabotage any efforts you make to get in shape, and it is absolutely everywhere. When I visited GA/FLA this past summer I was stunned to see how many foods HFCS was in: breakfast cereals, juices (hence my Sunny D comment), ketchup (never got that one), hell they couldn't even leave honey alone. They had to amp it up with that stuff. Do yourselves a favor and skip that stuff.

Of course I would never discourage you from working out regardless of what you decide to eat, but obviously you'd get far better results from doing both.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

I always watch my fat grams. Of course, I used to be really anal retentive about that, and when I was in great shape back in football, I was taking in only 10 grams or so a day.

That helps, but here's another one:

Be concious of when you eat your carbs. Don't cut them out, because you need them to burn for your daily energy. I'm not saying go wild on them, but its okay to have them.

Myself, I make sure to eat most of my carbs for breakfast. Cheerios, a tangerine, and a banana usually. Its light stuff and keeps you going well into lunchtime.

At lunch, have some more carbs, but not as much. Lunch really should be the most balanced meal you have. Carbs, meats, vegetables, etc.

Dinnertime, avoid carbs entirely. Eating carbs late means storing them. You aren't going to need that energy when you go to sleep, so don't bother. For dinners, hit meats and vegetables almost exclusively. This works great for me because I'm a huge sucker for greek food and that means late night kebabs

Work out when you can. Its tough for me because my schedule is crap, but I try to at least squeeze a few workouts in a week. Don't burn yourself out. You want progress, but don't expect to go out and do crazy Rocky Balboa type stuff. Since my time's at a premium, I know I can belt out a good 500 calorie bike or elliptical routine in about 20 minutes, so that's what I do. Once that becomes boring, I increase how much I want to burn. Last year when I was consistent, I was burning 750 a night, well over half my caloric intake for the day.

[Jaime Tomahawk]

Originally posted by JMK
The thing most people have not mentioned is diet. And I don't mean any particular diet, I mean what you eat on a day-to-day basis. Most people don't, a lot of people actually believe that you can eat whatever you'd like so long as work out *a little*. You can exercise all you like, but there has to be at least an equal effort in to improving diet. Usually that means a diet high in fibre and loaded with veggies, as Mu said she would do for herself. If you still pound a whole row of cookies or slam a gallon a Sunny D, you're not going to help yourself much at all.

If you really wanted to get healthy, you'd cut out hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. That stuff will sabotage any efforts you make to get in shape, and it is absolutely everywhere. When I visited GA/FLA this past summer I was stunned to see how many foods HFCS was in: breakfast cereals, juices (hence my Sunny D comment), ketchup (never got that one), hell they couldn't even leave honey alone. They had to amp it up with that stuff. Do yourselves a favor and skip that stuff.

I've given heavily caffinated drinks and soft drinks away because I found they undo a lot of my efforts. If I need a drink, now have a lot of water, Gatorade and heavily watered down cordial if I feel like somethign sweeter.

But on exercise tho, I've also just try to do something every day - light as you cant have heavy exercise every day. Stretching as well is important.

[Ryan Pode]

Milk and water.

[JMK]

Yep. Milk and water is where it's at. I go through about 3 liters of water a day (3/4 of a gallon), among the other stuff that I drink...milk mostly.

But I pigged out tonight, tostitos and flaming salsa. Oops.

[Trilby Benedetta]

I've been trying to cut out most of the "bad" things I eat. I have been eating wheat instead of white bread - I eat less wheat bread because I don't really enjoy the texture of it, and when I do eat it, it's as a sandwich or with pasta. I eat a lot more fruit now, but I know I still have horrible eating habits overall.

Mark can attest to how picky an eater I can be - I don't really like vegetables, I eat a lot of pasta/bread/grains and a little meat on occasion. I don't drink enough diary, either, because it makes my stomach ache. I'd eventually like to cut diary from my diet all together; organic soy milk is good, surprisingly good.

So, my goals for february are to
- eat more "real" meals (Don't cook, so I'm going to have to start.)
- cut down on the Black Death (ugh, will kill me or cause the murders of thousands)
- work in some walking for exercise

[Ryan Pode]

And for those in college and/or alcoholics, liquor is less fattening than beer if you can manage.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well I am trying to lose weight myself, trying to go down from 185-165. I been trying to walk 2 miles 3-4 days a week and I have cut down sweets, and soft drinks. I have been drinking a lot more water. Since I have started I have lost 4 lbs so I think I am doing good. I am thinking about joining gym to help me work out more though.

[Mu Satach]

Progress for today -

the mini goals for Feb
- Walked home from work, over 1.5 miles, uphill... 36 minutes.
- had brocoli at lunch and some green beans w/dinner.
- got the 7 hours, but it wasn't that good, kept waking up every few hours from crazy nightmares.

[Jaime Tomahawk]

Swimming was a lot harder than I expected. Ugh. I feel dead

[Rutabaga]

Last March, I switched to a low carb, no junk food diet, and so far, I've lost 75 pounds . I'd like to lose some more, but I've hit one of those dreaded plateaus that I'm struggling to get through. I just have to have patience .

I know I'd lose more a little more quickly if I exercised more, but I'm completely lazy.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Here's a good tip for you health junkies:

Salads are good, but aside from ranch, honey mustard, or sesame ginger dressings and such, I generally hate salad dressing. Vinegarettes are way too acidic, and I don't like them for the same reason I don't like white wine.

If you're in the same situation, try salsa on your salad instead of dressing It is very good and still cuts your intake of the bad stuff