Post your diet and workout plans here

[falafel]

Chicken Pot Pie today for lunch and it's pretty delicious. This does not taste like diet food.

Halloween packaged whoppers for me. I agree, this is as good as the real thing (just smaller portions).

[SteelBlue]

I've yo-yoed in and out of great shape a few times now over the past 10 years. When I'm fit I feel great, have a couple marathons and several centuries under my belt and have even managed to be relatively strong in the gym once or twice. Something, usually an injury that requires several weeks rest but sometimes it's just a general burnout, ends up stopping me a year or two into a good program. In essence, I suck at moderation so I'm either in great shape or I'm kind of a fat p.o.s.. Truth be told, I'm usually happier fat. I love food and I hate watching what I eat. However, my BP had been hovering around medication levels and with a family history of diabetes often onset in late 40s when overweight, I decided to try again to get it together. I'm 46 years old and had reached a new high weight at nearly 240 pounds and I'd estimate my body fat was probably 25% or more.

I always do something very similar to the Body for Life program to cut weight. It requires a lot of dedication, but I lose 2 pounds a week like clockwork and it seems to preserve muscle better than anything else I've tried. If you don't know what BFL is, it's basically a body builder's cutting diet. Six meals a day, one protein the size of your palm and one carb the size of your fist for each. All the veggies you want. You actually get a ton of food, but it you're a carb lover like me, it still requires much discipline. Workouts alternate between lifting and an intense 20 minute interval workout each day with one day off per week. A cheat day is also taken one day a week in which anything can be eaten and has the effect of keeping me sane.

I'm approaching the sixth month of the program now and I hit 40 pounds lost today. I am feeling better than I have in 5 years (which, not coincidentally, was the last time I did this). Systolic BP now runs in the low 100s instead of hovering around 140, waist size is 33, and life is good. So now, I have to figure out how to stay here when the burnout hits. I'm going to try and stay within the same program framework but perhaps with a slight increase in carbs, with an eye on keeping my weight within 5 pounds of my final weight (looking to land around 190, currently 196). It's depressing how quickly the weight comes back when I'm not vigilant about what I eat.

One thing different this time is that I'm not doing any extended cardio. In the past I've turned to long distance running and cycling and when I've had to stop for injury, I've ballooned up quickly. This time I've just done the intense intervals and lots of weights. I'm curious to see if this makes moderation easier.

[Eddie]

I've yo-yoed in and out of great shape a few times now over the past 10 years. When I'm fit I feel great, have a couple marathons and several centuries under my belt and have even managed to be relatively strong in the gym once or twice. Something, usually an injury that requires several weeks rest but sometimes it's just a general burnout, ends up stopping me a year or two into a good program. In essence, I suck at moderation so I'm either in great shape or I'm kind of a fat p.o.s.. Truth be told, I'm usually happier fat. I love food and I hate watching what I eat. However, my BP had been hovering around medication levels and with a family history of diabetes often onset in late 40s when overweight, I decided to try again to get it together. I'm 46 years old and had reached a new high weight at nearly 240 pounds and I'd estimate my body fat was probably 25% or more...

I swear, if you had said you were 47 this first paragraph could've been about me.

I tend to get into the cardio/endurance training rather than the intense/weights training too. I'm at 240 and decided it was time to get closer to 200. I can tell when I'm picking up weight, because when I cross about 220 I start to get more and more frequent heartburn.

I'm so inflexible, that I keep thinking I need to look into some kind of stretching/man yoga routine that I can do at home without any real equipment. Just started playing bball early Friday mornings before work, and the lack of endurance is killing me right now. I've got to decide if I want to run the court on offense or defense, because no way I'm going both ways.

This week I just started eating better. Fewer calories, cutting sugar. In the past I've used Daily Plate to track calories, which has allowed me to eat some good stuff throughout the week so long as I'm willing to eat a lot of veggies in between to fill up on. I've typically allowed myself one "free" day where I don't track calories. And since this week is Fast Sunday, I should note that I also count this as a freebie day. I figure since I'm only eating one meal, I'm pretty safe to eat as much as I want for that meal.

[SteelBlue]

I swear, if you had said you were 47 this first paragraph could've been about me.

I tend to get into the cardio/endurance training rather than the intense/weights training too. I'm at 240 and decided it was time to get closer to 200. I can tell when I'm picking up weight, because when I cross about 220 I start to get more and more frequent heartburn.

I forgot to mention that. I have the same problem at almost the same weight (215 for me) and it gets more severe the higher my weight goes. I also start snoring above that weight (like separate bedrooms on the horizon type snoring) and it completely ceases under that weight. I forgot to mention that my height is just under 6' 2", so while I can carry 240 without people thinking I'm fat, I'm essentially a walking tube of goo at that weight.

[BigPiney]

I forgot to mention that. I have the same problem at almost the same weight (215 for me) and it gets more severe the higher my weight goes. I also start snoring above that weight (like separate bedrooms on the horizon type snoring) and it completely ceases under that weight. I forgot to mention that my height is just under 6' 2", so while I can carry 240 without people thinking I'm fat, I'm essentially a walking tube of goo at that weight.

Don't worry, I think you are fat when you are at 240.

[Eddie]

I forgot to mention that. I have the same problem at almost the same weight (215 for me) and it gets more severe the higher my weight goes. I also start snoring above that weight (like separate bedrooms on the horizon type snoring) and it completely ceases under that weight. I forgot to mention that my height is just under 6' 2", so while I can carry 240 without people thinking I'm fat, I'm essentially a walking tube of goo at that weight.

Good grief...you ARE talking about me!

I'm about 6'3", so you're right about spreading the weight out. The first time I really noticed it, I was at a health fair for work. It was poorly attended, so while no one was around I went to a booth where they were doing body fat % readings and figuring BMI. They ran the test, looked at the numbers, and then told me I was obese. She looked at the numbers on the reader and then on the chart again, looked at me, and said "that can't be right!"

I told her I was sure it probably was. She ran it again, and I got the same reading. Thinking back, it was probably "borderline obese" rather than just "obese", but that was the first time I started thinking I needed to pay better attention and get in shape.

[SteelBlue]

Don't worry, I think you are fat when you are at 240.

Ha ha, I know Bluegoose wanted to say the same thing!

[SteelBlue]

Recently switched from a lifting program that went 12, 10, 8, 6, 12,12 to a simple 5 X 5 program. Six months of the same routine had me at a plateau. One week into the 5 X 5 and I'm digging it so far (partly because the weights are still light). 5 sets of 5 reps and you're supposed to go up 5 pounds per workout on each lift. Workouts alternate between an A and a B:

A:
Squat
Bench
Barbell Rows

Then any 2 electives of which I've been doing pull-ups and planks.

B:
Squat
Dead Lift
Overhead Press

Same 2 electives


Hoping this change gives me a bit of a boost.

[falafel]

Recently switched from a lifting program that went 12, 10, 8, 6, 12,12 to a simple 5 X 5 program. Six months of the same routine had me at a plateau. One week into the 5 X 5 and I'm digging it so far (partly because the weights are still light). 5 sets of 5 reps and you're supposed to go up 5 pounds per workout on each lift. Workouts alternate between an A and a B:

A:
Squat
Bench
Barbell Rows

Then any 2 electives of which I've been doing pull-ups and planks.

B:
Squat
Dead Lift
Overhead Press

Same 2 electives


Hoping this change gives me a bit of a boost.

How many days a week?

[YOhio]

You doing the Starting Strength program?

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

How many days a week?

That's kind of a personal question.

[falafel]

I meant how many days have we been on the life boat.

[Omaha 680]

You've ruined the atmosphere now.

[falafel]

Have we started again?

[SteelBlue]

How many days a week?

You doing the Starting Strength program?

3 days a week, cardio on 3 others.

I found several 5 x 5 programs and I think the one I settled on was called "Stronglifts 5x5". But they were all pretty much the same thing.