Bob's weightloss tips
As clutch_c points out, there are a lot of BARGErs who could stand to drop a pound or two. As someone who has dropped about 45 of them since the beginning of the year and I feel like I'm probably in the best shape of my adult life, at least since college, I thought I'd share what I've done.
My weight loss actually started about three years ago when I was 60+ pounds heavier than I am today. I was getting dangerously close to three bills. At some point, I've just gotten sick of being fat. I do an annual snowshoe trip in the mountains that is somewhat inherently dangerous, made much more so by my lack of fitness. I also feel like I've really missed out on some cool activities by being so out of shape. I'd like to say that there was something magic that I've done, but it was really just diet and exercise.
Step 1 was cutting out the pop. I used to drink 2-3 cans per day, sometimes more. I still say Coke from McDonald's tastes the best. 2 cans per day is about 300 calories a day, or 30 lbs a year worth of calories. I must have made up the calories a bit elsewhere, since I really only dropped about 10 lbs from this.
Step 2 was getting a dog and taking said dog on at least two walks a day. Even though they are generally pretty short, probably a total of a mile between them, all of the walking helped me drop another 5-10 lbs, and more importantly set me up to be able to actually work out this year.
Step 3 was this winter I set a goal of doing a triathlon this summer. Back in February, I signed up for the Rattlesnake Triathlon in two weeks. I think this was the real key. It was an event that I knew there was no way I could do at the time, and while I had enough time to get in shape for it, I could not procrastinate. I'm actually a little concerned about what happens on August 17th, so I need to find a new goal. But, if you want to get in shape, I highly recommend finding an event 3-6 months from now that you'll have to be pretty diligent about working out to be able to finish it. It can be anything, a 5k, a charity bike ride, heck even a BARGE fun run. But put something out there and commit to it. And tell people so you'll have some shame if you back out.
Step 4 actually work out. Regularly. At least 30-60 minutes a day. I try to do something at least 6 days a week, with one day off for recovery. One of the nice things about having triathlon as a goal is I had three different options for workouts, and in the beginning when I couldn't do any of them for very long, I did a lot of combining. I'd bike for 20-30 minutes and run/walk for 15-20 minutes, or run then swim, etc. My goal was to do 3 workouts of each type a week.
Step 4 improve your diet. My diet is still not that great. I eat out all the time. Chocolate is still a weakness. So is beer. But the key is, it's better than it was. I did not do anything radical. One of my goals was to burn 500 calories a day by exercising and to cut 500 calories per day from my diet. That would be about 7000 calories a week, which works out to about 2 lbs per week. My loss was closer to 1.5, but that's close enough. Most of the things I've done have been around cutting carbs, so I've switched to burrito bowls with no rice from Chipotle. Just that cuts about 500 calories out. I've been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer French fries, with mixed success. But on the whole, my diet is a lot better than it was a year ago. I do recommend eating breakfast every day, mine is generally a granola bar.
Step 5 be patient. I don't think I've lost more than 3 lbs in any single week, but I've lost weight just about every week since January (with the exception of the weeks where I was on vacation).
And that's really it. As you lose weight, it becomes more difficult to lose the next pound, however as I've gotten in better shape I've been able to work out harder. I have actually done a 5k, a 4 mile run, two triathlons, and rode 150 miles in two days in the MS150, so I'm ahead of where I expected to be. My original plan was to just finish the Rattlesnake. Now I've got time goals and want to be competitive, well, at least finish in the top 2/3rds of my age group.
Some other tips:
- Start slowly. Really. The last thing you want to do is get all hyped up about an exercise program and then hurt yourself two weeks in. It's tough to restart once you've stopped.
- Find a time for you that works. I have way more flexibility than a lot of you, since I don't have a wife or kids to schedule around, but I think this is a key thing.
- Don't beat yourself up if you miss a day or eat too much another day. It doesn't matter. It's all one long session.
- But, don't miss two days in a row. I think I've only missed two days in a row once or twice since I started. I think if I ever miss three days, I'll be very much at risk for missing the next 300.
- Find some sort of forum to get support. I've posted updates here on LJ and can't tell you how gratifying it is to get encouragement from the likes of njchick, ronsrants, and freelikebeer. Thanks guys! There are lots of options out there, find one. I also post periodically to http://beginnertriathlete.com/ , although that has been more with tri specific questions.
- Get a physical. This falls into the "do as I say, not as I do". I'm probably lucky I didn't end up on the floor of the Y. When I ran my first treadmill mile at a blazing 12 minutes per mile my heartrate hit 182. My theoretical maximum (221-age) is 180. Doh! Don't do that. See "start slowly."
Do it this year, or you'll just be another year older when you finally do.
My weight loss actually started about three years ago when I was 60+ pounds heavier than I am today. I was getting dangerously close to three bills. At some point, I've just gotten sick of being fat. I do an annual snowshoe trip in the mountains that is somewhat inherently dangerous, made much more so by my lack of fitness. I also feel like I've really missed out on some cool activities by being so out of shape. I'd like to say that there was something magic that I've done, but it was really just diet and exercise.
Step 1 was cutting out the pop. I used to drink 2-3 cans per day, sometimes more. I still say Coke from McDonald's tastes the best. 2 cans per day is about 300 calories a day, or 30 lbs a year worth of calories. I must have made up the calories a bit elsewhere, since I really only dropped about 10 lbs from this.
Step 2 was getting a dog and taking said dog on at least two walks a day. Even though they are generally pretty short, probably a total of a mile between them, all of the walking helped me drop another 5-10 lbs, and more importantly set me up to be able to actually work out this year.
Step 3 was this winter I set a goal of doing a triathlon this summer. Back in February, I signed up for the Rattlesnake Triathlon in two weeks. I think this was the real key. It was an event that I knew there was no way I could do at the time, and while I had enough time to get in shape for it, I could not procrastinate. I'm actually a little concerned about what happens on August 17th, so I need to find a new goal. But, if you want to get in shape, I highly recommend finding an event 3-6 months from now that you'll have to be pretty diligent about working out to be able to finish it. It can be anything, a 5k, a charity bike ride, heck even a BARGE fun run. But put something out there and commit to it. And tell people so you'll have some shame if you back out.
Step 4 actually work out. Regularly. At least 30-60 minutes a day. I try to do something at least 6 days a week, with one day off for recovery. One of the nice things about having triathlon as a goal is I had three different options for workouts, and in the beginning when I couldn't do any of them for very long, I did a lot of combining. I'd bike for 20-30 minutes and run/walk for 15-20 minutes, or run then swim, etc. My goal was to do 3 workouts of each type a week.
Step 4 improve your diet. My diet is still not that great. I eat out all the time. Chocolate is still a weakness. So is beer. But the key is, it's better than it was. I did not do anything radical. One of my goals was to burn 500 calories a day by exercising and to cut 500 calories per day from my diet. That would be about 7000 calories a week, which works out to about 2 lbs per week. My loss was closer to 1.5, but that's close enough. Most of the things I've done have been around cutting carbs, so I've switched to burrito bowls with no rice from Chipotle. Just that cuts about 500 calories out. I've been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer French fries, with mixed success. But on the whole, my diet is a lot better than it was a year ago. I do recommend eating breakfast every day, mine is generally a granola bar.
Step 5 be patient. I don't think I've lost more than 3 lbs in any single week, but I've lost weight just about every week since January (with the exception of the weeks where I was on vacation).
And that's really it. As you lose weight, it becomes more difficult to lose the next pound, however as I've gotten in better shape I've been able to work out harder. I have actually done a 5k, a 4 mile run, two triathlons, and rode 150 miles in two days in the MS150, so I'm ahead of where I expected to be. My original plan was to just finish the Rattlesnake. Now I've got time goals and want to be competitive, well, at least finish in the top 2/3rds of my age group.
Some other tips:
- Start slowly. Really. The last thing you want to do is get all hyped up about an exercise program and then hurt yourself two weeks in. It's tough to restart once you've stopped.
- Find a time for you that works. I have way more flexibility than a lot of you, since I don't have a wife or kids to schedule around, but I think this is a key thing.
- Don't beat yourself up if you miss a day or eat too much another day. It doesn't matter. It's all one long session.
- But, don't miss two days in a row. I think I've only missed two days in a row once or twice since I started. I think if I ever miss three days, I'll be very much at risk for missing the next 300.
- Find some sort of forum to get support. I've posted updates here on LJ and can't tell you how gratifying it is to get encouragement from the likes of njchick, ronsrants, and freelikebeer. Thanks guys! There are lots of options out there, find one. I also post periodically to http://beginnertriathlete.com/ , although that has been more with tri specific questions.
- Get a physical. This falls into the "do as I say, not as I do". I'm probably lucky I didn't end up on the floor of the Y. When I ran my first treadmill mile at a blazing 12 minutes per mile my heartrate hit 182. My theoretical maximum (221-age) is 180. Doh! Don't do that. See "start slowly."
Do it this year, or you'll just be another year older when you finally do.