Two-Month Ten-Pounds Challenge

[Jacob]

Did any of you start again? If not, wanna start another 10 pound challenge on May 1st?

I did. So far its going great, but nobody seems to be reporting, so maybe starting again would be good.

[thesaint258]

Did any of you start again? If not, wanna start another 10 pound challenge on May 1st?

May 1st sounds good to me. I hurt my back at the gym, so I haven't been for a week and a half, and my calorie intake hasn't been too good, so the 1st would be a good time to get back on the wagon.

[Donuthole]

Did any of you start again? If not, wanna start another 10 pound challenge on May 1st?

I didn't start again, and I've gained back about 3 of the 9 I lost. So I'm all for starting again May 1.

[SuperGabers]

Okay. May 1 it is. Until then, the challenge is to keep any weight you have lost off.

Jacob, you just get a head start...

[Portland Ute]

Ha! I seriously doubt there is a worse national cuisine than Filipino food. There are very few things that taste good in my opinion. Asia has so many great flavors and none come from this country.

I actually did it by working out like a mad man and increasing my whole grain intake significantly. While it is just a recumbent bike, I've done at least 20 miles a day and about 20 minutes of light weight work with high reps and sets. And I'm not doing the bike on wimpy levels, so that helps. I get a pretty good work out. And the whole grains fill me up. I don't have the cravings I've had in the past when working out hard. I haven't felt hungry but I've cut probably 35% of my calories out while increasing my activity levels dramatically. Hopefully it stays that way.

You've shared your feelings about Filipino food with me before, so I thought you'd get a chuckle.

Your plan seems to be working great. That's awesome. I need to re-motivate.

[Pheidippides]

I'm having a very similar experience to yours and I have similar goals. I have spent the last couple of years at around 195 but when my wife trained for a marathon last summer/fall I lost my running time and didn't stop eating like I was running a lot. On New Year's day this year I was at a very unhealthy for me 225. I started cutting on Jan. 2 trying to lose 2 pounds/week. Around April 1 I hit 200 pounds like clockwork but then I couldn't seem to get lower. This week I finally dropped below hitting 198. My goal is 180.

I'm on the precise other end of that fluctuation, and I feel magnificent. I can drop another 10 or so safely but it would just be vanity/performance pounds and not for health. I've stopped dieting while I go through my last training sessions (since I'm up in the 20 miler range now) but maybe I'll try to lose a few more after my next race.

In other news, I had to go shopping for some new swim trunks yesterday. I walked out of the store with a perfect-fitting pair - and they were the Small size. I have never worn small at any time in my adultish life (into the baggy jeans thing in HS) but I do now. Sort of blowing my mind.

[ERCougar]

So for fun (and because it's only $10 for suu staff), I got my body fat percentage measured in the BodPod. For those of you haven't don't this, it's a little 'pod' you sit in that measures your body volume and calculates a density for your body, and then from that, a body fat percentage. Apparently, it's what they use instead of water weights these days. A couple of interesting things to think about:
1) my body fat estimate from the army calculator (you can find this online pretty easily--it's the one that uses height, abdominal circumference, and neck measurements) was by far the closest, and only 0.4% off, less than the 1% margin of error associated with the BodPod. My impedance scale was about 4% off--the more I read about these, the more worthless I think they are. I haven't done a caliper test, but I've heard that in experienced hands (not the trainers at golds), these are pretty accurate.
2) I've lost about 15 lbs on 2 months. I took an army algorithm measurement before the weight loss and if I believe that, I've lost about 5 lbs of lean body weight. That's a little annoying. I talked to the exercise physiologist about this and she said that at my weight, 1-2 lbs a week is way too fast. I'm not doing heavy weight training, but I am doing pull ups, pushups, and squats 3x/wk. She recommended 0.5 lbs/wk if I want to limit my loss to fat. So, since I have 10 lbs until my goal (185), I think I'll shoot for a pound a week until 190, then 0.5 per week for the next few months.

Just a word of caution about losing too fast...especially for those who aren't that overweight.

[Pheidippides]

So for fun (and because it's only $10 for suu staff), I got my body fat percentage measured in the BodPod. For those of you haven't don't this, it's a little 'pod' you sit in that measures your body volume and calculates a density for your body, and then from that, a body fat percentage. Apparently, it's what they use instead of water weights these days. A couple of interesting things to think about:
1) my body fat estimate from the army calculator (you can find this online pretty easily--it's the one that uses height, abdominal circumference, and neck measurements) was by far the closest, and only 0.4% off, less than the 1% margin of error associated with the BodPod. My impedance scale was about 4% off--the more I read about these, the more worthless I think they are. I haven't done a caliper test, but I've heard that in experienced hands (not the trainers at golds), these are pretty accurate.
2) I've lost about 15 lbs on 2 months. I took an army algorithm measurement before the weight loss and if I believe that, I've lost about 5 lbs of lean body weight. That's a little annoying. I talked to the exercise physiologist about this and she said that at my weight, 1-2 lbs a week is way too fast. I'm not doing heavy weight training, but I am doing pull ups, pushups, and squats 3x/wk. She recommended 0.5 lbs/wk if I want to limit my loss to fat. So, since I have 10 lbs until my goal (185), I think I'll shoot for a pound a week until 190, then 0.5 per week for the next few months.

Just a word of caution about losing too fast...especially for those who aren't that overweight.

I came to the same conclusion you mention in your word of caution. I'm trying to ease the rest of my weight off over a period of weeks and months. I have 10-15 to go but I'm taking my time.

[PaloAltoCougar]

So for fun (and because it's only $10 for suu staff), I got my body fat percentage measured in the BodPod. For those of you haven't don't this, it's a little 'pod' you sit in that measures your body volume and calculates a density for your body, and then from that, a body fat percentage. Apparently, it's what they use instead of water weights these days. A couple of interesting things to think about:
1) my body fat estimate from the army calculator (you can find this online pretty easily--it's the one that uses height, abdominal circumference, and neck measurements) was by far the closest, and only 0.4% off, less than the 1% margin of error associated with the BodPod. My impedance scale was about 4% off--the more I read about these, the more worthless I think they are. I haven't done a caliper test, but I've heard that in experienced hands (not the trainers at golds), these are pretty accurate.
2) I've lost about 15 lbs on 2 months. I took an army algorithm measurement before the weight loss and if I believe that, I've lost about 5 lbs of lean body weight. That's a little annoying. I talked to the exercise physiologist about this and she said that at my weight, 1-2 lbs a week is way too fast. I'm not doing heavy weight training, but I am doing pull ups, pushups, and squats 3x/wk. She recommended 0.5 lbs/wk if I want to limit my loss to fat. So, since I have 10 lbs until my goal (185), I think I'll shoot for a pound a week until 190, then 0.5 per week for the next few months.

Just a word of caution about losing too fast...especially for those who aren't that overweight.

Hey, thanks for the Army calculator reference. I've been bummed that my Omron body fat calculator (a handheld impedence device) shows my body fat at anywhere from 18 to 22%, which seemed high to me. But bless the U.S. Army! I'm just over 13%. Not exactly chiseled, but that's about half what it was around time of CUF's birth.

[SuperGabers]

Starts Tomorrow! Dust off your running shoes.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I didn't weigh in on Sunday because I can be difficult like that. Checked in pre-workout this morning at 268.2

Taking over a week off from working out and eating like a pig is not a recommended weight loss strategy. Back to the grind.

[kccougar]

So last time I measured in at 204, the heaviest I've ever been. This time I measured in at 208

Eventually I want to get under 180 but for now it looks like my goal is going to have to be to break under the 200 lb barrier.

[beefytee]

Thought this was an interesting article:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...tories+2%29%29


Anyone have any insight into the study?