Neil_B

2011 Clydesdales/ Athenas Biggest Loser Week 05 01/31 to 02/06 - Come join us!

Please join us as we all work toward our goals to be healthier and fitter!

How Does this Work?

On Mondays:
Post your starting weight for the week, post goals for the week, and report on the prior week.

Throughout week come on back and let us know how you are doing. (The good, not so good and the awesome.)


2011 Participants - Welcome newbies!!!

Adenthang
B.Alive
bbeasley
BigPolishJimmie
BigUgly
CraigB
cyclokitty
davin1023
DoubleTap
dehoff
gigemags1155
gus69
InsanityBeckons
jeneralist
Jethro56
John423
morph3715
mrdelprate
mthayer
OiS
Passage4
petflunky
ReallyBigGuy
RichardGlover
Rthomse
RunningPirate
Sayre Kulp
Seenowevil
Seve
showme230
SingleSpeedDemon
Suprafly
thestoutdog
Tony.N
Wogsterca
wxduff
Wylde0

*If I missed anyone, please let me know and I'll add you in.

Neil_B

I'm dropping out until I'm able to exercise again.

bbeasley

July 2010 252lbs
Starting the New Year 229
1/9/2011 227
1/16 231
1/24/2011 230
1/31/2011 224

john423

1-17: 246.8
1-24: 241.2
1-31: 240.6

After the week I have had, I have never been happier with such a small loss in my life. It's down, not up, and that's what matters.

RunningPirate

11/29 = 236.0 lbs
12/06 = 229.5 lbs
12/13 = 229.0 lbs
12/20 = 228.5 lbs
12/27 = 232.0 lbs
01/03 = 228.5 lbs
01/10 = 232.0 lbs
01/17 = 226.5 lbs
01/23 = 224.0 lbs
01/31 = 224.0 lbs

Hell - after a week of business travel and eating out, I'll happily break even!

CraigB

I've considered dropping out, like the Historian, until my back allows me to get back to exercising, but then I thought about it and decided there's more happening, in my own case, than simply the lack of activity, and I might as well face up to it. My poor performance is my own doing, and I fully admit it. So here goes:

Heaviest - 304.5 a few years ago, 264.5 when I got serious in April '10.

01/01 - 210.5
01/08 - 209.5
01/15 - 210.5
01/22 - 208.5
01/29 - 210.5

My wife and I had a frank discussion the other evening about how the wind has gone out of our collective sails, and we talked for some time about what we can do to get back on track and enthused about this. In my own case, it's been a few bad choices made during some trying circumstances that have led to stalling out, or even the yo-yoing you see in my numbers over the past few weeks. I don't know about others, but for me, that lack of progress, and the occasional regression, tend to feed on themselves and lead to a vicious cycle. As superficial as it sounds, nothing succeeds like success, and I'm sure if I can put together one really good week of staying on plan both food- and exercise-wise, I know I'll see results, and that, I hope, will replenish my low motivation.

One other thing I realized, as I was looking over my weight loss spreadsheet - I've completely lost track of my intermediate goals. For months now, all I've been thinking of is the magic "200" mark, plus my ultimate goal, which is still 45 pounds away. But on my spreadsheet I had been tracking all kinds of other intermediate goals like 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% body weight loss marks. I have a 25% loss mark coming up even before I break 200, and I'd forgotten all about it. I think refocusing on those little goals will help substantially. It's time to stop with the "big view" and start looking more at the small changes I can implement in my immediate future.

RunningPirate

Yo-yoing over the past few weeks? Not sure what you're looking at, brother, but all I see is a 2 lb delta...and that ain't much (less than 1% of your weight, actually)! Granted, it's not loss - I understand that - but do give yourself credit where credit is due. In five weeks of poor diet, I could have easily gained a lot more than that. Credit yourself for at least maintaining!

Yours is an excellent point on intermediate goals. While I (and a lot of others, I'd reckon) focus on The Final Goal, I do know it's important to really work on what's in front of me: Lose the next pound; don't worry about the 20 or 30 or 50 that's after it.

BTW - sorry to hear about the back. I know how frustrating it is to get hurt or sick while in the middle of a good exercise run.

BigUgly

1/1/2011 - 250
1/6/2011 - 246
1/17/2011 - 250
1/24/2011 - 247
1/31/2011 - 244

Now if I can just stay consistent, 220 around June should be no problem. Can't wait until I can get outside and ride, fightin' off the funk is tough.

BigPolishJimmy

Up a bit today, had a big dinner last night. I bet you tomorrow I'll break even with last week, still Monday is the weigh in so here it is:

Week 1 - 268.1
Week 2 - 270.4
Week 3 - 269
Week 4 - 269.4
Week 5 - 270.8

CraigB

Thanks for this. Context is, as they say, everything. It's easy to get frustrated when you don't see the results you want to see, even though you know the reasons. Maybe the long view is needed when looking back, but closeup focus is needed going forward. I'm my own worst critic when it comes to "what have you done for me lately?"

And as far as the back goes, it's benefitted considerably from taking the past week off. And if I can get out of the office chair and into the field today, I think I'll be going into tonight's spin class in good shape. I may limit this week's core work to stretching, and avoid crunches and planks and such for another week or two. We'll see how it goes, but for now, the plan is to resume all the other activity beginning tonight.

adanthang

Starting Weight 9/1/2010 - 241.5 lbs
01/03/11 - 216.5 lbs
01/10/11 - 212.5 lbs
01/17/11 - 216.5 lbs
01/24/11 - 213.0 lbs
01/31/11 - 211.0 lbs

Tony N.

Down 0.8#'s for the week. Been a hard week. Lots of pains (ball of right foot and inside left elbow) hindered my work out as well as plain old funk caused by to do list getting in the way of play time. Kind of disappointed but it is down some. Hoping for about 2#'s per week. Keep telling myself that muscle is heavier than fat so my goal of 2/week may not be realistic. The good news is my pants that were too tight and did not need a belt are now needs 1"+ taken up and I wear my belt 2 notches smaller. WoooooHooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!
Week/Weight
01/217.4
02/214.6
03/214.6
04/211.2
05/210.4 Jan 31, 2011
That's -7#'s for Jan.

jethro56 

You sound like burnout/overtraining has hit you with both barrels. This sub 30 BMI area seems be where our bodies get really serious about fighting back. I've dealt with the emotional roller coaster by going to monthly weighins and dropping my expectations to 4 lbs per month. I won't know how well I'm doing until next weekend, however my spirits are high and my metabolism has picked back up as I don't feel cold all the time.

One thing I've discovered is that I adapt to my exercise routines much more quickly. In other words,I become more efficent and use less energy when I switch workout routines. I need to expand from the 5 activies that I alternate through. I think my first addition will be ping pong. Since your wife is also in a slump how about a dance class? I'd like to do this, however Mattoon doesn't seem to offer this or if they do I haven't been able to find one.

As far as goals coming up I have the big -200 ( this was my orginal goal) and have a plethora of nonfood rewards in mind. Travel, toys and adventure.

cyclokitty 

Last week: 282 lbs
This week: 280 lbs

January in review: I lost 10 lbs! I'm taking a similar view as RunningPirate "Lose the next pound; don't worry about the 20 or 30 or 50 that's after it.". Otherwise I get lost in the future. I take it one day at a time, planning my meals, heading outside for my walks (about 5km), and record everything I eat. In the evening after supper I get a kick looking at the calorie count for the day and seeing that it's under my basal metabolic rate!

Next week's goal: 2-4 lbs, eat more fruit, Saturday's pizza will not have pepperoni on it, make friends with the balance ball.

mrdelprete

Is anyone else seeing a trend here? I keep waiting for the big week and it just isnt happening. I wonder if it anything to do with the snowaggeden here and the fact that I did not ride one mile in 2011 yet.........

12/27 245
1/3 244
1/10 243
1/17 241
1/24 240
1/31 239

thestoutdog

1/03/11 - 319.8
1/10/11 - 314.2
1/17/11 - 310.4
1/24/11 - 311.0
1/31/11 - 311.2

Okay, in my defense (denial), I have been sick for over a week, and my Mrs. Stout is studying for her licenser exam and is traveling this week. I have been walking and am feeling better today. Back to the hardcore training.

Sayre Kulp 

With my heaviest weight being somewhere north of 435 lbs. back in the late summer of 2009,

I've been working my way down since October of 2009.


1/3 = 280.0
1/10 = 273.4
1/17 = 272.2
1/24 = 271.8
1/31 = 269.6


Over 10 pounds down in January - I guess I shouldn't complain. It is getting harder though, I have to admit it.

I just need to keep doing what I'm doing and I know I'll get where I'm going.




On a side note, to all who are feeling frustrated with either minimal losses or even slight gains, JUST HANG IN THERE!!! There is a lot at play right now and we all have to realize that. We're only a month past the holidays, right? Can anyone honestly say that the holiday season didn't put a cramp on their diet/exercise habits? I know MY routine sure as hell got a bit mixed up last month and it was tough getting back into the norm at the start of the new year, but with effort I'll get back in the regular swing of things. Likewise - I knew at the end of the year I was getting close to plateauing, so I created a plateau intentionally. I loosened the chains on my diet, so-to-speak, and gave my body a little rest. Sure, my weight went up a slight bit, but I didn't let it get out of hand. And I believe by doing so, I allowed my body to catch up a bit and my metabolism to reset itself a bit. The result is that in the new year I was able to pick up where I left off and continue losing. If your body seems to be fighting you, maybe it's time to take a little break. Let your calorie count break even and relax your exercise habits a little bit. The weather isn't exactly helping matters anyhow, so why not take advantage of the break? When you get back into the swing of things, hopefully your body will be rested and ready to go again.



Maybe the above advice sounds crazy, but it worked for me, so I figured I'd offer. Of course it goes without saying, your mileage may vary. But whatever you guys do, don't give up! A minor setback is just that. There's no pound you put on one week that you can't take off the next week.

InsanityBeckons

1/3 217
1/10 217
1/17 217
1/24 214
1/30 217

Been sick with a cold, I did not do anything last week.

gigemags1155

1/10/11 - 228.8 lbs
1/17/11 - 230.2 lbs
1/24/11 - 229.9 lbs
1/31/11 - 228.8 lbs

It has taken me 3 weeks to get back to where I was but my body feels better so I will take it at this point. Hope everyone has a great week. My main focus this week is going to be getting off of the simple sugars. Plain and simple I have been drinking calories and eating a sugary something everyday so today it ends! Let's see what the scale says next week!

dehoff

1/24/11-246.8
1/31/11-246.1

Spent a lot of last week clearing the driveway of ice and compacted snow. Hopefully I can get more riding time in this week.

pbd

1/3 - 263.2
1/10 - 260.2
1/17 - 257.4
1/24 - 256.4
1/31 - 252.8


These are just spot values, but they do represent pretty well my overall trend. For instance, I didn't *really* lose 1 pound in 1 week and then lose 3.6 pounds the next week, that's an artifact from day-to-day noise in the data. The overall trend was smooth the whole time.

For the month, my averaging shows a trend of a ~2 pound per week loss at a calorie deficit of about 950 calories per day, spot on my goals. Using my tracking statistics and recording every day, every single day this month I was below the running average for the previous day, so every single day in the red!

[Note: That doesn't mean every day was less than the last day, that means every day was less than the weighted-average weight of the past week. A day-to-day change of a pound or less doesn't mean that much at all, but being less than the average from the past week is always good, even if you're higher than the previous single day on any given day.]

robtown

I joined the company exercise / fitness program and received a pedometer on Saturday. I did over 10k steps Sunday - and a huge number were from climbing between 1st floor and the basement. We've been renovating the kitchen and I spent dozens of trips to the compound miter saw cutting crown molding to fit under the granite topped knee wall. On other days I've been using my indoor rower, pull-up machine, stair stepper, and inversion table. I have yet to ride this year but intend to put the winter / bionx equipped cross bike back together and start commuting again. After a month or two (with better weather) I'll be able to switch back to one of my other non-assist bikes.

1/10 - 230.7
1/17 - 225.8
1/24 - 223.6
1/31 - 221.2

CraigB

You may be right, Jethro. Again, a little perspective helps substantially. I need to get better at toeing that fine line between caring what and how I do, and understanding it isn't the be-all and end-all at the same time.

jethro56 

I agree 100%.

mthayer

1-3-11 265.6
1-10-11 262
1-17-11 262
1-23-11 259.4
1-31-11 259

I am not going make any excuses for not loosing anymore weight than what I did. I overate, did not exercise like I should have, and the worst part of all, did not really care. I need to get back on track and quit overeating. That is my biggest problem and thats where I need the most help.