Get Fit Slowly - Welcome!

weeble — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:14:20 +0000

I've subscribed to Get Fit Slowly for over a year now (Get Rich Slowly, too). I keep both feeds in a "motivation" group. Me, I've been basically pretty fit and active in my adult life, though I've always allowed my fitness to eb and flow a bit. Lately, as I ease into my 40s, there's a whole lot more flowing going on and I'm shocked how quick I can backslide, and by the time I start to pay attention the flowing backslide is beyond what I consider acceptable. Having identified this new state of affairs, I recently invested in the Withings scale and I've dedicated myself to for the first time closely tracking activity and nutrition and body measurments. I've always been a tweaker and I pay attention to my eating and my exercise and the general state of my body , but I've never focussed on or quantified them, if that distinction makes sense. Looking forward to being an active member of this community!

Doctoro Appointment Update

Jeff51 — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:09:48 +0000

Good progress to report.

Weight down to 238 (high 257). BP was officially logged in at 100/70 versus 140/105 a month ago. Sure I am on meds but the 19 lbs down sure didn't hurt. Even better the doc suggested that when gol is hit, might be able to go off all together. But there is bad news.....

Being 51 he suggested a colonostophy. Crap (no pun intended).

Agreed

Jeff51 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:38:39 +0000

That is exactly the type of nutrition plan I am on..I call it the Math Diet...burn more calories than you intake. Seems simple and to date it has worked. I am looking to have a net deficiency of 1500-2000 calories per day. So far in the month of January I have not had a day over 1500 calories taken in and I figure my burn is anywhere from 3500-4000 (using a multitude of calcualtors out there, that by the way all seem come up with differnt numbers).

My reference to sucking is that for so long I regularly ate what I wanted and when I wanted. A habit if you will. Breaking that habit is tough. That is the part that sucks.

Oh and as for my goals..I want to get to 220. Last time I was there was a Freshman in college. At 6'4'' and a large frame, if I get much lower I begin to look like a bean pole. I also want to add or rebuild muscle (hence getting back to weights), improve CV (elliptical and running<---hate running) and basically improve my eating habits as those are what got me to 4 stents, high cholesterol (along with family history), high Bp (140/105) and elevate blood sugar.

So for me it is way, way much more than just losing the lbs, it truly is a lifestyle change.

I go to the doc Friday AM for a follow up from my last visit in December. Will let you all know how it goes.

Finally, I find this medium very theraputic in being able to make public what is on my mind relative to this process. I know losing 40 or so pounds is no where near what many people are up against, but it is forums like this that certainly give everyone an outlet that you might otherwise not have.

Thanks for listening (or reading) all.

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO SUCK!

fitmacdaddy — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:26:32 +0000

Jeff, it definitely doesn't have to suck. I'm not sure of your goals, but if you're just trying to lose weight then just count your calories! Figure out your basal metabolic rate. Add in your activity level. Subtract 500 calories to lose 1 pound per week. Eat whatever you want until you get to those calories for the day. Then stop eating. If you want to eat 1500 calories of cheetos in a day, then do it. Check out the caloric needs calculator at getfitslowly.com to figure out your needs

Really hitting home now

Jeff51 — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:18:05 +0000

That this really sucks. Not so much the exercise as find myself looking forward to it, but what seems like depravation of enjoyable foods at the quantities that got me to 260.

How I do miss the days of sitting down in front of the TV and plowing through a bag of cheetos or chips. Anyone here who says they don't miss that is either a liar or had another favorite crap food. :)

Here though is how I figure it and helps me rationalize. It took me years and years to get from 225 to 260. YEARS. I figure it will take me mere months to go from 260 to 220. Thaqt is the good news. The bad news is of course, it was a hell of a lot more fun gaining it than losing it will be.

The long weekend

Jeff51 — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:17:16 +0000

Made it unscathed. 4 football games too boot.

Got all my workouts in and some extra crunches along the way.

A good weekend.

Hi

johnny42 — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:57:21 +0000

Hi all. I figured I'd introduce myself. I'm John and I'm trying to get back into exercising. I was following the Couch to 5k workouts prior to Thanksgiving, but a knee injury scrapped that plan. So now I have a treadputer set up and have been walking to help rebuild my knee strength. Once I am comfortable and my doctor approves I plan on restarting the C to 5k program. So that's my story.

Reality

Jeff51 — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:56:17 +0000

Odd thing when you think about it. While it may seem like a long, long time that it will take to get to your target, it took a whole lot longer to get to where you are. In my case nearly 25 years has caused this. Not that I am obese (BMI may disagree but that is topic for another day) but way, way, way no where where I want to be. No illusions that I will end up with a body builder physique or be the guy in the Nautalis commercial, but just want to be comforable in my skin and not have to suck my gut in to button my pants.

Anyway I do look forward to getting and staying there and any encourgement will be greatly appreciated as it will certainly be offered by me.

Finding this

Jeff51 — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:48:54 +0000

Actually I found it by searching for "Weight loss blogs".. led me to this http://www.uspharmd.com/blog/2008/top-100-weight-loss-blogs/ and you are #34 under "Guys Losing It" header. Clicked you on and viola!

Thanks for sharing Jeff

fitmacdaddy — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:43:26 +0000

Thanks for joining the group Jeff. I know how hard it can be after that initial success. Keep working hard and feel free to ask for advice when you need it. I started out at 221 pounds just over 2 years ago and am now weighing in at 178. It took me way longer to drop the weight than I expected, but slow and steady is the name of the game.

How did you find the group BTW? Are you a get fit slowly reader or did you find it via dailyburn?

Keep on working! Mac

Happened upon you all

Jeff51 — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:54:54 +0000

Jeff from virginia.
Not sure of the protocol here but if not supposed to do this..I apologize.

6'4'' and started @ 260 (doctors scale). You all know the story, played college ball, stayed active for the first 20 or so years out of school then it went to hell. Went to the Rx and told have cholesterol of 247, Bp of 140/105 and blood suger @ 125. Not good..so either accept the fact I die early of do something about it.

That was December 15. At present I weigh in @ 245. Have been exercising religiously 7 days a week, 60 minutes (elliptical, weights and old fashioned calisthenics. Can easily notice the improvement in stamina. Diet wise staying at or under 1500 and surprisingly not feeling hungry at all. Sure there are times, but not as bad as I thought. Drinking lots of water.

I know the easy part is done, as those first 15 have in the past always seemed to just slide off, like a greased sausage patty down my throat. The tough part will be these 25.

My goal is June 1. So with some luck, hard work, determination and a backbone to stay away from all the crap that got me here, it is doable.

Welcome New Members!

fitmacdaddy — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:28:47 +0000

It's nice to see some new members joining us. Welcome to Andrew, Sarah, and mmclean. I hope we can help motivate each other to drop those pounds!