Rids - 283lb to Marathon - Let the journey begin

[Rids]

So,

2013 departs and my sedentary ways have become... even more sedentary. I'm in bad shape - all my life I've battled against my weight, sometimes winning, mostly losing - never losing this badly. At 18 I was 15.5 stone, at 19 I was 11 stone. At 23 I was 15.5 stone, at 25 I was 12 stone.

At 27 I got married, I had children, and I changed jobs. On Boxing Day I topped the scales at 20 stone 3lb - I've let it go too far this time. I know what I need to do to lose weight, I've always been able to do it, calorie control, portion control, exercise - I've never been able to keep it off in the long term - I can manage a year or two, then the kebabs come back into it, the discipline gos, and the weight comes back.

Well this time the first challenge is going to be getting the weight off, realistically I've got to be looking at losing around 100lbs to get into a healthy range - that's going to be quite a task, nearly twice as much weight loss as I've ever had to do before. This time I need to make sure I do it right, I'm 31 now, and I feel old - I get down on the ground to play with my kids and its practically an epic saga. I don't want to be like my dad was, too out of shape to really do anything with me.

Money is tight at the moment, my wife has been laid off work and we're eating into our savings, gym memberships are pretty much out of the question for the foreseeable future. This leaves me with my feet and the open road - don't worry, I'm not crazy enough to start running at this weight - but I see myself doing a lot of walking. With time, once a bit of weight is off and I've squirreled away some money, perhaps with your help I can build in some other aspects - for now this is my log, my story, my diary, something to keep me sane, to keep me going, to keep my motivation. I hope that some of you enjoy reading it, or that its at least not the most painful thing you've ever read in your life.

There are "before" pictures, I'm not posting them yet as to be frank they disgust me - maybe I'll have the confidence once I've begun to notice some changes.

Thanks for reading so far - stay tuned for some updates.

 

[Rids]

I've not really been a runner previously - other than work on the treadmill to get fit. I'm a long off of being a runner at present too, just too much weight to risk on the joints at present, and the fact that I'd, you know, drop dead.

I've been eating right pretty much since boxing day, low(er) fat content, 1850 calories a day or there abouts, don't get me wrong I'm still not settting any records for great nutrition but baby steps here, baby steps.

I've already noticed some changes - I'm not up 5 times every night to use the bathroom - which is a bit of a relief I was thinking of skipping the bathroom and just investing in a giant man nappy.

Anyway, moving on....

I was gifted a Bluetooth Heart Rate monitor by a friend - somebody got it for him, and he has a far better one since he is Captain Triathlon, and he passed it on to me. Today I fired it up, along with the map my walk app, and I set about doing some walking.


Instead of driving to the station this morning, I walked - 0.8 miles, 12 minutes, roughly 160 calories.
Decided to take a long walk at lunch, got lost, 3.35 miles, 52 minutes, 800 calories (apparently, although its linked to HRM so maybe I'm just that unfit)
Walked from work to the station - 0.95 miles, 13:5 minutes, 200 calories.
Station to home via Tesco - 1 mile, 14 minutes 30, 210 calories.

So thats a reasonable amount of walking for one day - I've been advised to eat back some of my exercise calories - this is something I would have strictly avoided in the past, however because I'm not trying to crash diet this time, and I want to do things properly I've gone with the advise, allowed myself an extra 400 calories today, felt good. I have energy, and I'm not hungry.

Thats the first day out of the way, always the easiest, lets see what tomorrow brings.

 

[Rids]

More days, more steps.

Its been a busy week, I had to work all weekend for the first time 4 years, I've been flat out and no chance to get out and really do any decent lunch time walking, as such not done as much as I'd hoped, until today where I made up for it somewhat.

Saturday - 3.1 miles
Sunday - 2.8 miles
Monday - 3.7 miles
Today - 8.8 miles (rawr!)

Been comfortably eating a net 1200-1800 calories, feeling good, not starving, bit sore after todays efforts so probably only aiming for 4 or so miles tomorrow.

Onwards and upwards, not much more to add at the minute.

 

[Rids]

I weigh in officially tomorrow so we'll see what the scale says. I'm concerned that my first weigh in @ 283 was following a couple of days of being ill, so it might not have been a true reflection. Bracing myself for a 0 loss this week, but I feel a lot healthier, and I'm sure I'll see results in the following weeks even if I strike out tomorrow.

Walking feels easier, I'm constantly trying to push myself so I'm working on upping the pace, if I arrive at the station without looking like a very wet beetroot then I'm just not trying.

Diet advice is something that I'll need, at the moment its just baby steps for me. I've cut out the chips, the burgers, the kebabs and all the other crap I used to eat. I've cut down on chocolate, however there have been some snacks. Everything I eat is logged on MyFitnessPal though, making sure that my net calorie intake is as accurate as possible. Been eating things like chicken breast, brown bread, eggs, jacket potato's, that sort of thing - I'm a fussy git at the best of times, I'll need to branch out and experiment, I'm sure I'll crack it with time.

Various online calculators put my maintenance calories around the 3000 mark, 1800 a day should be good for around a 2lb weight loss each week. Although I am exercising I'm making sure to eat back half my calories burned through exercise - this should (hopefully) stop my body from grinding to a complete halt as it wonders where all the food has gone, and it stops me from feeling hungry. Generally I've been taking in 2000-2300 calories a day, my net number is just a lot lower because of the walking.

So what have I done over the last couple of days?

Wednesday - Felt like taking ti easy, ended up letting a mate dictate the lunch time walk - 7.2 miles - ****** he is!!
Today - Really busy at work, no time to get out at lunchtime to go anywhere, 2.8 miles.

Hoping to have the time for a decent walk tomorrow, certainly hoping to clock up 6 miles+.

Saturday I've got a 6 hour tattoo session booked, so probably going to have to eat a reasonable amount as I've been known to get a bit lightheaded after a long session if I don't keep the blood sugar up.

 

[Rids]

Had the first official weigh in this morning, 276lb, thats a 7lb drop. Realise thats only the first week and most of that will be water weight, but its still weight off, and hopefully pounds I'm not going to see again.

Didn't get a chance to do much today as had a crazy one at work, think I clocked up around 5 miles in total.

 

[Rids]

Not been the best week for me.
Saturday - Toughest tattoo session I've ever set for, 5 hours on the inside of the arm... hurt, lots. Didnt get any walking in, ate takeaway crap.
Sunday - Felt like absolute hell, for some reason getting tattoo'd really takes it out of me. Wife took me to Harvester to cheer me up - also ate crap.
Monday - Ate a lot better, clocked up 8 miles walking, Fenchurch Street to Victoria along the river is a nice walk actually.
Tuesday - Awful day at work, started at 8am left at midnight, didn't manage to get out of the office at lunch time or do any real walking after I left work. Only clocked up 2 miles all day.
Wednesday - Broke the back of my work load for the week, managed to get in another couple of decent walks - 9 miles, made the trip to Victoria again.
Thursday - Family funeral, didn't get any walking in, ate reasonably.
Friday - Another tattoo session, got about 2 miles walking in but curled up in a ball of pain for the rest of the evening, ate reasonably.

So as you can see, not the best week at all. Weighed in today and managed a 2lb loss - 274lbs. Next couple of weeks should be much more routine - hoping to make big improvements in my discipline and rack up 35+ miles each week.

 

[Rids]

Anther week another weigh in.

Been an up and down week for me with regards to diet and exercise, once again weekend was crap, but pulled things back with a strong mid-week.

Saturday - Laser tattoo removal, can only be described as ouch. Didn't exercise, ate reasonably.
Sunday - Went out for a Toby Carvery, ate like a king, didn't exercise.
Monday - 8 miles of walking couple with eating well.
Tuesday - 8.5 miles of walking, eating well.
Wednesday - 8.5 miles of walking, eating well.
Thursday - 10 miles of walking (woohooo!) and eating well.
Friday - my legs are falling off, eating well, 4 miles of walking.

Just shy of 40 miles this week, has felt good, been getting up early in the morning and getting a good hour of walking in before work. Also been taking a big walk either lunchtime or after work, definitely feeling a lot fitter, having to push a lot harder to keep my heart rate up. If you see somebody walking along the Thames somewhere between Fenchurch Street and Victoria looking as red as a beetroot its probably me!

Got on the scales... and the result is a 3lb loss. Bang in line with what I was hoping. Thats 12lb lost so far - realise my weight isn't falling off like it is some of the other guys on the board, but its still coming off, its still weight I'm never going to see again. Might be slow, but I'll get there.

 

[Rids]

Well its been nearly a year since I posted this thread - guess its time for an update on my progress.

I fell of the diet mid-February, and went back to my old ways, living off of Kebabs, chips and trans-fats. I soon piled on all the weight that I had lost - although I did maintain some of the fitness I had gained from the walking as I continued with that.

Time went by, I flirting with the concept of eating healthily, I decided it wasn't for me and continued to eat. On the 31st of May I made this emo post in a fat-bashing thread that appeared in GD - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=26382536&postcount=191 - I don't know why, but seeing it all in plain text helped me.

On July 21st I started my diet proper - 5 months on and I've managed to stick to it. My eating has been a lot better, I tend to eat 1500-1800 calories a day, lots of chicken, no sugars or bread.

I weighed in at 283 before I started dieting, I'm down to 217 - don't get me wrong I've got a long way to go still, but there is a real and noticable difference. I feel healthier, fitter, I'm more active and you can see the change in me.

I have a goal now, 196lb by the end of February, 182lb by the end of April. I start swimming on the 20th of January, I'll be looking to start Stronglifts at the back end of March.

 

[Rids]

Well its time for another update, goal for 1st of March was 196lbs, unfortunately I still top the scales at 204lbs so fell a little bit short of expectations.

I'm not surprised, its not been the best couple of months with regards to my diet. I've had to work a lot more than usual, I've also had to go away for work for a couple of weeks which really screws with my routine. Swimming has started but I've not thrown myself into it like I thought I would.

That's enough with all the negatives though, another 13 pounds lost. Really looking forward to the next milestone, so called Onederland, where I get below the 200lb mark.

Goal for April is still 182lb, weather is getting better so more enjoyable to be out and about, no more work trips planned, lets get it on!

 

[Rids]

Another 2 months down, another 11lbs down.

Current weight: 193lbs

Finally made it under the 200lb mark. This is the lightest I've been in at least 7 years, probably more. Aiming to get down to 12 stone, so 25lbs to go. Progress is slow now, its a real grind. I think where I have lost so much weight and feel a lot like myself again I'm starting to enjoy life once more, so I am having a couple of nights out a month.

I have joined a gym at last, I've been going every 2 days. At the moment its very light resistance training and 45 minutes of cardio. The stretch goal is to run a marathon in 2016, so I've signed up for my first 5k in two months time, so the cardio is there to try and build my fitness up so that I can manage that. As long as that doesnt go too badly I'll try and build for a 10k a couple of months after that and then we will see where I end up.

I'll dig out some photos when I get home from work, I think I'm finally confident enough to show off the change.

 

[Rids]

Cheers fella, I'm 5'11 and a bit, just shy of 6 foot.

 

[Rids]

Good work. 11 lbs in two months is still very decent progress and a healthy rate to be losing weight.

My net change over the last two months has been... gained a pound . Actually, gained six on a 2 week family holiday over easter and subsequently lost 5. Before the holiday my usual 1-2 lbs a week had tailed off to nothing.

Slow progress is much better than no progress!

Yeah I feel your pain there, if I have a night out on a friday I'll undo any progress I've made in the last couple of weeks.

I got stuck around the 14 stone 3 mark for along period of time. The only way I managed to kick through it was to get myself down the gym and increase the amount of calories I was burning.

Brace yourselves people, its time for the photos. Here is a photo taken from my daughters christening in February 2014. Warning contains photos of large mammal, possibly a beached whale, and I don't mean the ex-wife.

Spoiler

This is one taken in the work mirrior today.

Spoiler

 

[Rids]

Right, time to ask some advice.

I've been hitting the gym 3 or 4 times a week recently, mainly just straight up cardio work as I was at an overcrowded gym and it was impossible to get near the resistance training stuff. I've now found a better, more expense gym so resistance training has definitely become an option.

I went out on the beers Thursday and Friday night and had far too much alcohol. At some point there was some enthusiastic shape throwing on the dance floor and it seems I tweaked something in my left knee. Didn't really notice it until I was walking to the gym the next morning and about half a mile in it started giving me some grief... its getting better, I'm managing to walk to the gym, do a 20 minute cycle and walk back before starting to feel the twinges but I'm dubious about doing much on it so its really starting to hinder me.

Because of the knee problem I decided on Sunday to do something else - I did my first proper resistance session. Now I've never really lifted in the past apart from some brocep work when I was just a lad, but I gave it a go.

Its now 60 hours later, and my god everything still hurts - I don't mean that in a bad way, like I've hurt anything, but that good muscle fatigue that lets you know you actually did something of value. But its been 2 and a half days... with me still trying to keep off my leg I find myself a little bit lost for what to do. Any ideas how I can either speed this recovery time up a bit so I can get back to resistance training, or suggestions for things to do before I can get back on my knee?

Cheers

 

[Rids]

Thanks guys, started to feel a lot better by Wednesday night and was absolutely fine yesterday. Got myself in for another upper body session. Let somebody talk me into tire flips... lets just say that was one hell of an experience.

I think I'm going to come off the calorie deficit for now and see how things go. I'll get the tape measure out and take some key measurements and use that as a basis to gauge my progress for the next 5 weeks.

 

[Rids]

What a truly ****e day.

Just got back from the gym, worst gym session I've had since I started going. Failed on weights and reps that I'd smashed out on Sunday, dropped weight and still failed. My diet has been on point all week, I've been really physced up to hit the gym hard and it just felt like I had nothing to give.

Not happy, not happy at all.

 

[Rids]

Thanks guys, first time I've experienced that. I'll just get my head down, recover and hit it hard again in a few days.

 

[Rids]

Time for another two monthly weigh in - really wasn't expecting too much from this one. I'd been eating at close to maintenance levels for a while as I've been going to the gym regularly and needed to bump up the calories to aid recovery. I've also been enjoying life far too much, far too many nights out for somebody looking to lose weight, so no big expectations.

13 stone 7lb - that's another 4lb off.

Pretty chuffed with that, I'm also considerably fitter. I can lift more, I can go harder and longer on the bike and it even feels like my shoulder is starting to sort itself out. I managed 20 lengths in the pool on Monday night without any twinges or the feeling it was going to pop out - that may not seem much, hell back when I was fit I used to bust out 150 lengths every morning, but given the trouble its been giving me over the years 20 lengths without instability is a big milestone. I could probably have gone for more but didn't want to overdo it and risk another pop.

I think the slower weight loss has also helped my body to catch up to the loose skin, I still have a small pocket around my stomach but its much smaller and less noticeable than it was.

So pretty slow progress, but its still progress, still grinding the weight down.

Another 7lb by the end of August would be good - but I'm more concerned that I continue to get fitter and stronger.

 

[Rids]

Trying to get away from the idea of using the scale to measure my progress, I've had my PT take a load of measurements for me. Throwing these up now as a basis for comparison after 10 weeks.

Height: 178cm
Weight: 85kg
Bodyfat: 24.4%

Upper Arm: 11.5 inches
Chest: 40.8 inches
Waist: 38.3 inches
Hips: 39.1 inches
Thigh: 21 inches
Calf: 16.7 inches

My goals for the next 10 weeks:
2 inches off the waistline.
Bodyfat to below 20%.
Transitioning from resistance machines to the Stronglifts program.

 

[Rids]

Out of interest how did he measure body fat? I'd recommend you take some pictures for reference as the figure he has given is likely to be a bit of of a shot in the dark being honest.

Defy get on strong lifts ASAP

He used calipers and some fancy spreadsheet. I'm aware it might not be the most accurate.

I've also got a picture now that I can reference in 10 weeks time. Fingers crossed we'll see some progress.

I did some Benchpress last night, was all over the place and at a much lower weight than I would "press" on a machine. I am now beginning to see what people mean about the issues with stabilization that you completely avoid by cheating and using machines. Having said that, my arms and shoulders are like lead weights today so it actually feels like I've worked.

 

[Rids]

Thanks fellas.

Although I'm trying not to define my progress by the scale anymore I'm not going to deny it... getting over 100lb will be a big thing for me.