Training & Nutrition - Weight Loss Club

I got on a scale for the first time in two months last night. I'm glad to say that I've lost another 10 pounds, and i feel pretty darn good.

Max: 307
Current: 268

Great thread over at MTBR.com about lot's of folks who've dropped tons of weight because of there addiction to cycling...

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=31629&highlight=100

Stats:

Male
26 years old
Maximum weight: 264
Current weight: 240 (after about a month and a half of riding)

Man, that feels good. Still got a long road ahead of me. Amazing what a little exercise can do for you. Keep on riding...

Wow. 43 pages worth of posts, and I've now read two pages worth. I think I might drop three pounds just reading it all!!!!! It's interesting though. Noticing people having some of the same experiences as I do, which seem so weird to me and people around me.

Anyway, got fat early (7 years old) got thin from running (starting at 14) and went back and forth (never too fat though) until age 27. When I was 20-21 I was around 150-160 and a rather fast runner (1:36:00 half marathon, 18:50 5k) But as years passed I got lazy, found that running was starting to hurt my knees etc. Tried gyms (elliptical machines mostly) with no success. Continued to eat like a horse (a rather overfed but poorly nourished horse that is) About 230 lbs at age 28. By that time I had decided I needed to just accept that I'm not athletic or active anymore.

Then I got mad one day and spent about $70 on a bike at Target. Rode for a while, had it stolen. Bought another, same thing. Was feeling a little better about myself though weight was the same.

Then I bought a (relatively speaking) good bike (and finally a good lock!!). Started going about 50-70 miles a week, and most of that mileage was between home and the YMCA (swim, machines etc.) Still ate like hell but dropped down a bit. Discovered and joined a running club etc.


Nowadays ('bout 2 years later) I bike about 120 miles and run about 30 miles a week. And I'm still overweight and have had a difficult time dropping. I eat a little better now (and that's also improving). I'm not too frustrated at this point, as my biking/running speed and endurance continue to improve. I did weigh in at 193 this morning, which is the lowest total in a while. Eventually I'd like to see how I'd perform at 170 pounds.

My problem is that I can be extremely disciplined and diligent when it comes to workouts, but cannot really do so when it comes to eating (and drinking for that matter). But lately there's a neat phenomenon. When I plan my workouts (meaning "I'll run/swim/bike at 6pm" rather than "I'll go to the gym sometime after work") I can control things like how big of a lunch I eat. I can't eat less for the health of it, but I can if I know it would ruin my workout!!!!!! Also, the more morning workouts I plan, the less likely I am to drink/eat/ or even stay up late. And, running or biking a lot tends to make me feel like sleeping at 11pm or midnight, which is good because nothing I ever do after midnight is good for my health!!!!

lol nothing i do after 9pm is good for my health haha~~ But good job on the weight loss it will come along man it will.!!

Wow. 43 pages worth of posts, and I've now read two pages worth. I think I might drop three pounds just reading it all!!!!!

:roflmao: Wouldn't that be great if it were true? Oh, I can't button my pants better go pick up Clancy's newsiest stuff… or just a couple of magazines every few days to maintain. But, when I think about the reality of the situation it would create one more excuse not to ride… NEVER MIND!

Good job on the weight loss... keep at it!

Well I haven't posted in a while so thought I would give an update. So far I have gone from 220 pounds on 12/1/04 to 174 pounds on 6/23/05. I have been at this weight for a while which is fine with me. I'm not really trying to lose any during race season. I would like to be about 165 for next season though. What is probably more important is that my body fat has gone from 24.7% down to 15.9%. I would like to get it down to around 12% by December. That is my only real goal as of right now.

Anyway, the first picture is from last year when I was around 205 pounds. I ended up gaining another 15 pounds after the picture was taken. The second picture was this past weekend when I was racing 24 hours of Big Bear.

Well this week I lost 1.5lbs. I have now lost a total of 6.5lbs in 6 weeks, and 1 inch off my waist and hips. Slow and steady progress. 10lbs to go for my goal!

That is great, keep it up!

Hello all, I've been keeping active lately and watching what I eat close enough for my liking. I'm still losing weight and my riding is improving with every pound that comes off. I've been doing more mountain biking lately than road riding, but its very challenging! I was very pleasantly suprised when I stepped on the scale, I'm at a lower weight than I have been since I started college over four years ago.

Max: 304
Min: 264

What a GREAT THREAD!

Just out of curiosity, has anyone else here read Heft On Wheels: How to Do a 180 On A Bicycle? It was written by a writing professor from Southern Illinois University Carbondale who liked to ride bikes, but was way overweight, an alcoholic and a chain smoker. He was also desperately unhappy even though he had a nice wife and family and made a decent living. When he finally snapped, he went crazy on a liquid-only diet and rode like a demon. The one thing that really stuck with me was that he said he only made progress when he stopped reassuring himself that he was achieving a moral victory when he got dropped by the other riders in his road racing group, because any other fat, alcoholic smoker wouldn't even have bothered to be out there doing it and he didn't get dropped "that badly for a fat guy with no wind."
I remember the week I started my current diet was deer season in Illinois, and recall climbing several barbed wire fences (awkwardly, but I did it) and thinking "Well, hey, that was pretty good for a 400-pounder! Must be in pretty good shape for my weight!"
Then I had to stop and think, what in the world are you talking about? It's not like you had a leg shot off in Iraq! You CHOSE to get this fat. It's not an excuse.





I was the runt of the litter when I was a little boy; my grandpa used to tease me that I'd never be big enough to play football, I'd better learn to hit a baseball. When I had my appendix removed at 9, the surgeon told my mom to watch me grow in the next few years. According to him, I had very large internal organs at that time and would end up not just tall, but BIG. Well, he was right. I ended up about 6'2", 260 for the last few years of high school. I wasn't Mr. Olympia, but I was in pretty good shape for my size. I ran the 3200 meters in high school track (2 miles for the metric challenged.)
College football slimmed me down some and I ended up about 230-240 (those guys were ALL big and worse, they were all FAST.) But my first semester I had a 2.7 GPA. That spring, with football over, I got a 4.0. That made it clear to me what had to be done, so I quit football and I've been gaining ever since.

A couple of summers ago, I was going to get in better shape, so I started practicing Tae Kwon Do. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't very practical, and a hernia put me out of action shortly after I started. Last June 1, the day I had surgery to correct the hernia, the hospital weighed me at 396. Then I had to loaf for a couple of months trying to get the recovery done right (which isn't easy at that weight, as even getting out of bed takes some force.) When I thought I was recovered, I was determined to start doing some cardio and lifting weights. I still wasn't doing much with my diet except trying to cut out sweets, but it wasn't working.
Well, I worked out all right--for a week! Then the area around my hernia swelled up like there were grapefruit in there and got hot to the touch. The site had become infected two months after it was completely healed! I spent over a week in the hospital and then had an IV administered at home to kill the infection for the next three weeks. Then I just gave up and ate whatever I wanted. I figure that by November, I must have weighed in the neighborhood of 400-425, but I don't know. I didn't weigh myself.

In November of last year, I got fed up and tried a low-carb diet more in frustration than in hope that it would work. I was suprised how easy it was to stick with, so I kept going, and I started to feel better. I didn't weigh myself until I'd been on it at least a month, and when I did, I had to use two bathroom scales. They showed me just under 370, and I was elated! I've been on the diet ever since and I now do some kind of cardio daily, even if it's just a long walk on my lunch hour. Now that it's hot out, I've pulled my old bike out of the back of the garage and fixed it up, which is what eventually led me here.

As of this morning I weigh an even 320 (my parents gave me an accurate scale for my birthday in March.) I intend to be 300 or less before November 1st. The only bump in the road is that the hernia is back, and I have to have it repaired again on July 11, which means another period of rehab and taking it easy. But I believe I can control my weight during that time with diet and go from there.

Losing this weight has been a dream come true. I was beginning to accept that I was going to be fat for life. It seemed like I had no self-control and no discipline left. Now I know that's not me.

What a GREAT THREAD!

Just out of curiosity, has anyone else here read Heft On Wheels: How to Do a 180 On A Bicycle? It was written by a writing professor from Southern Illinois University Carbondale who liked to ride bikes, but was way overweight, an alcoholic and a chain smoker. He was also desperately unhappy even though he had a nice wife and family and made a decent living. When he finally snapped, he went crazy on a liquid-only diet and rode like a demon. The one thing that really stuck with me was that he said he only made progress when he stopped reassuring himself that he was achieving a moral victory when he got dropped by the other riders in his road racing group, because any other fat, alcoholic smoker wouldn't even have bothered to be out there doing it and he didn't get dropped "that badly for a fat guy with no wind."
I remember the week I started my current diet was deer season in Illinois, and recall climbing several barbed wire fences (awkwardly, but I did it) and thinking "Well, hey, that was pretty good for a 400-pounder! Must be in pretty good shape for my weight!"
Then I had to stop and think, what in the world are you talking about? It's not like you had a leg shot off in Iraq! You CHOSE to get this fat. It's not an excuse.





I was the runt of the litter when I was a little boy; my grandpa used to tease me that I'd never be big enough to play football, I'd better learn to hit a baseball. When I had my appendix removed at 9, the surgeon told my mom to watch me grow in the next few years. According to him, I had very large internal organs at that time and would end up not just tall, but BIG. Well, he was right. I ended up about 6'2", 260 for the last few years of high school. I wasn't Mr. Olympia, but I was in pretty good shape for my size. I ran the 3200 meters in high school track (2 miles for the metric challenged.)
College football slimmed me down some and I ended up about 230-240 (those guys were ALL big and worse, they were all FAST.) But my first semester I had a 2.7 GPA. That spring, with football over, I got a 4.0. That made it clear to me what had to be done, so I quit football and I've been gaining ever since.

A couple of summers ago, I was going to get in better shape, so I started practicing Tae Kwon Do. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't very practical, and a hernia put me out of action shortly after I started. Last June 1, the day I had surgery to correct the hernia, the hospital weighed me at 396. Then I had to loaf for a couple of months trying to get the recovery done right (which isn't easy at that weight, as even getting out of bed takes some force.) When I thought I was recovered, I was determined to start doing some cardio and lifting weights. I still wasn't doing much with my diet except trying to cut out sweets, but it wasn't working.
Well, I worked out all right--for a week! Then the area around my hernia swelled up like there were grapefruit in there and got hot to the touch. The site had become infected two months after it was completely healed! I spent over a week in the hospital and then had an IV administered at home to kill the infection for the next three weeks. Then I just gave up and ate whatever I wanted. I figure that by November, I must have weighed in the neighborhood of 400-425, but I don't know. I didn't weigh myself.

In November of last year, I got fed up and tried a low-carb diet more in frustration than in hope that it would work. I was suprised how easy it was to stick with, so I kept going, and I started to feel better. I didn't weigh myself until I'd been on it at least a month, and when I did, I had to use two bathroom scales. They showed me just under 370, and I was elated! I've been on the diet ever since and I now do some kind of cardio daily, even if it's just a long walk on my lunch hour. Now that it's hot out, I've pulled my old bike out of the back of the garage and fixed it up, which is what eventually led me here.

As of this morning I weigh an even 320 (my parents gave me an accurate scale for my birthday in March.) I intend to be 300 or less before November 1st. The only bump in the road is that the hernia is back, and I have to have it repaired again on July 11, which means another period of rehab and taking it easy. But I believe I can control my weight during that time with diet and go from there.

Losing this weight has been a dream come true. I was beginning to accept that I was going to be fat for life. It seemed like I had no self-control and no discipline left. Now I know that's not me.


That's awesome man. Keep it up! I too have a bit of a weight problem (now about 240, was around 260 about a month ago). You'll start to hit plateus from time to time. The key is to keep on working out through those plateus. Then you'll see more results again. Just keep riding. That's all.

Thanks! I was way off on that title, by the way. It's actually Heft On Wheels: A Field Guide to Doing a 180 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/sim-explorer/explore-items/-/1400052408/0/101/1/none/purchase/ref%3Dpd%5Fsxp%5Fr0/104-4417421-3893546).

Great read, although his writing leaves a great deal to be desired, especially for a man who teaches writing for a living.

I have to say finding this place seems to be helping. I've been getting up veerry early the last few days to bike first thing, and I think it's really jump-started the diet. I also found www.fitday.com from a member's signature here, and if anybody who's working on weight loss is not using FitDay, I highly recommend it. It's free, it lets you track your food intake, your activity, your goals, your protein, fat, and carbohydrates by grams and by percentages, and you can even keep a journal. Did I mention it's free?
It's awesome, immediate feedback on your dietary habits. I've made a couple of small changes in the last couple of days based on what it shows me, and I've been getting hungrier at the appropriate times. I think it's a good sign.

Also, I've been plateaued in the 320's for almost three weeks now, and this morning I was 316.8 right after I woke up (320.0 last night before bed.) I really think I can get under 310 before my surgery (that's almost two weeks away.)

Man, I'd kill to be 240 again! Hell, I'd take 260 at the moment!
But then, at my size, 240 is pretty natural.

i just signed up for that fitday thing wow thats great!! Thanks for the heads up!!

Still at the 330's. Been at a small plateu for a week and a half so i will prolly break outta it soon!

I have to say finding this place seems to be helping. I've been getting up veerry early the last few days to bike first thing, and I think it's really jump-started the diet. I also found www.fitday.com from a member's signature here, and if anybody who's working on weight loss is not using FitDay, I highly recommend it. It's free, it lets you track your food intake, your activity, your goals, your protein, fat, and carbohydrates by grams and by percentages, and you can even keep a journal. Did I mention it's free?
It's awesome, immediate feedback on your dietary habits. I've made a couple of small changes in the last couple of days based on what it shows me, and I've been getting hungrier at the appropriate times. I think it's a good sign.

Also, I've been plateaued in the 320's for almost three weeks now, and this morning I was 316.8 right after I woke up (320.0 last night before bed.) I really think I can get under 310 before my surgery (that's almost two weeks away.)

Man, I'd kill to be 240 again! Hell, I'd take 260 at the moment!
But then, at my size, 240 is pretty natural.

I wish I could get up early to ride my bike to work. It would only take a half hour, but I'm still too lazy to get up earlier. I do ride after work though.

With my body size, I should be about 190 or so.

Ha! I don't get up early to bike to work. I'm a lazy, shiftless school teacher. My wife leaves for summer school at 7:00 a.m., but as long as I'm back before then to watch the kids, I'm golden. So I roll out of bed about 5:30 and go take a ride, come back at 7:00 and it all works out. Whether I could do this when I have to get to work . . . well, it's a 35-minute commute in a car, 45 if you have to drop off the kids at the sitter first. To do it on a bike would be . . . a long time. And to bike and then come home and shower and still make it to work, I'd have to get home by about 6:30 or so. Biking to work would be interesting, but I don't see how you do it unless you're showering at work. If I rode a bike for an hour like a lot of these guys say they do to get to work, I'd be drenched.

Ha! I don't get up early to bike to work. I'm a lazy, shiftless school teacher. My wife leaves for summer school at 7:00 a.m., but as long as I'm back before then to watch the kids, I'm golden. So I roll out of bed about 5:30 and go take a ride, come back at 7:00 and it all works out. Whether I could do this when I have to get to work . . . well, it's a 35-minute commute in a car, 45 if you have to drop off the kids at the sitter first. To do it on a bike would be . . . a long time. And to bike and then come home and shower and still make it to work, I'd have to get home by about 6:30 or so. Biking to work would be interesting, but I don't see how you do it unless you're showering at work. If I rode a bike for an hour like a lot of these guys say they do to get to work, I'd be drenched.

Just be a sweaty pig like the rest of them. :)

Ummmm! The smell of success! :D WWW.TOURDEPANTS.COM

Oh boy did I blow it this weekend. Ice cream, pizza (a lot), cheese doodles, biscuits, bacon, fries, pulled pork sandwich, more pizza...you name it, I had it! My family is visiting me this coming week so I won't exactly be on a diet, but I will try to keep it to a dull roar.

I sure hope I don't gain back all the weight I lost! :eek:

I actually found a recipe for a healthy (that's right healthy, not less unhealthy) pizza. If anyone wants the recipe PM me.

down to 328 as of yesterday morning!

You go dude!

All right, Big Lug!

As an aside, how many of you have wives or husbands or whoever keeping you going?

My wife is awesome. She's pretty overweight herself by now, and she can't do the same diet I'm on because she's got all kinds of wacky allergies. But she's doing the best she can and, in the meantime, she buys me groceries she'd never eat in a million years (like the five pounds of fish in our freezer) and cooks me meals she's not going to eat. Her summer school is finally over and she's home during the day now, so today she grilled four tilapia filets over charcoal with all kinds of pepper and Rosemary (never heard of Rosemary on fish, but it was delicious) and roasted an entire red pepper for me. Folks, she would never eat a roasted pepper or a fish filet, and anyway I'm the cook in the family. For her to cook me a meal is pretty cool, but she cooked me a perfect meal. It was freaking delicious and there wasn't an ounce of guilt over eating it.

That's one little thing, but she does more than I can tell you. You hear about people who actually hold their spouses back from losing weight or getting in shape out of fear or jealousy, but all mine does is support me. Before I decided to lose weight, she never nagged me about it once; now that she sees I'm determined to do it, she's in to the hilt!

That's wonderful! Both my boyfriend and I need to lose some weight (we are normal weights but we have gained about 10lbs over the past year). Problem is, we both love to eat and mostly I cook really good and healthy food for us, but we do have pathetic willpower. We don't sabotage each other on purpose, but we are a bad influence on each other! :eek:

heh, sabotage is the suxor!! Kepp it up guys we have all lost so much weight we have probally lost a geo metro!!

How about a recipe for that roasted pepper?

WWW.TOURDEPANTS.COM :)

It's pretty rough. You light a pile of charcoal. Then you slice a large bell pepper in half and place both halves on the grill. When the bottom gets slightly blackened in a few places, turn it over. When the other side gets small areas of black, take it off the grill and put it on a plate. :D

She and I are very different. She loves casseroles and pasta salads. I want something SIMPLE. She can't stand spicy food; I coat everything in pepper and curry. She can't stand fish; I love it.

Her real problem is that she's allergic to all dairy products (not LI, but actually allergic--it's soy or nothing most of the time) and artificial sweeteners. I don't know how it works, but she's literally allergic to aspartame, saccharine and even Splenda. So she can't even have a diet soda or some sugarless candy. Plus she's got me and twin 9-year-old boys to chase around. But we're all working at it.

Just a note--my wife lost three pounds last week. And she walked four miles with me last night. She's great!

Excellent Don! I'm back on the path starting this weekend myself! Finally!
Last summer I let the rain wear me down and halt my progress, this weekend
I decided to kick it back into gear!
G2

323 !

Keep up the good work everyone! I'm knuckling under and re-focusing my efforts. With our help... America will no longer be thought of as the fattest nation on earth.

WWW.TOURDEPANTS.COM :D

I had my sister and dad over for a week....no cycling. Lots of eating & red wine. :( Too afraid to weigh myself!

just get on the scale and get it over with!! Your allowed some weekends like that! But you gotta bounch right back into routine!

JUF2M, you might as well weigh yourself. You might be suprised!




I had hernia repair surgery this morning, so no cycling for awhile. But that will be the first thing I bring back after walking (for exercise, I mean. . . . I can walk to the bathroom and the kitchen without much trouble.) I'll have to start slow and work my way back up, which is not that big a deal since I was still a complete n00b anyway. I'd like to get up to riding a century by next fall (2006)
In the meantime I'm just working on eating well without sticking so tight to the no-carb thing while I recover. It's gone well today; we'll see.

I think this is going to be good in some ways. The weight loss has made this 100% easier than the same surgery last June. Last time I had real breathing difficulties when I came out of anesthesia; this time, nothing! Last time getting in and out of chairs and especially automobiles was a real struggle every time. I know I was putting all kinds of pressure on the repair and the incision every time I did it. Now that I weigh almost 100 lbs less and have taken a good 8-9 inches off my waist, everything in my life is easier. Everything.

One silver lining in the surgery is that my wife was starting to hint that she'd like to get in shape, too, but she's afraid she can't keep up with me and especially that she's too fat to ride a bike. I don't believe it, but there you go. Now we can both ease into it at a slow pace, and it will be as if we started at the same time. She's even said maybe when I get a better bike we can fit my old bike to her. I think she could get hooked.

Oh, and I found out my scale worked. It said 309 this morning, and the hospital's scale said 308.8. Awesome. The nurse asked me "Did you say you think you might have lost some weight?"
"Yep." I replied. "You guys weighed me at 396 last June." The look on her face was priceless! The anesthesiologist told me he walked past me because he was "looking for a 300-pounder."

Grrrrrrr!
Just when I was ready to get back on the bike and get back on track the Texas Legislature is back in session. So I will not be able to really ride for another month. Why dose this effect my riding? There is no way I can make myself presentable after a ten mile ride in 80 degree temps. and 80-90 percent humidity. My place of employment does not have any showers. I need to start hitting the gym after work and stop making excuses. Another problem is that I have not acclimated myself to the 100+ temps. for the afternoon ride home. Funny... the less I do (activity wise) the worse my nutritional intake will become.

But one plus… my weight is currently holding at 264 lbs.

Good job to all who are on the winning side of this battle. Let's all get after it!

Well, I started riding in April @ about 218 lbs. or so to get in shape for Motorcycle Track Season. Well, it worked but I have since had a bad accident and given up motorcycles for the time being but kept up with the bicycles. I'm down to about 202 or so and feeling great.

I'm switching my rides to after 5PM!

WWW.TOURDEPANTS.COM :D

I kid you not: I weighed 309 first thing in the morning on Monday, when I was leaving for my surgery.
The hospital confirmed this weight.

Yesterday in the middle of the afternoon I got the urge to weigh myself, so I did. In a pair of ultra-lightweight lounge/warmup pants and a pair of light socks, I weighed 320 lbs.

Whoa! I thought. That can't be right. So this morning I weighed myself first thing (as I usually do) in the same pants and what did I weigh? 323! WTF?

Anyway, all kidding aside, I'm not going to worry overmuch about it. I've been continuing to produce ketones through Monday and Tuesday, so I should still be burning fat. I've actually eaten very well since the surgery. The only things I've had that I normally would skip are whole-wheat crackers and sugar-free pudding. Of course, I've been completely inactive, but there's no way I genuinely put on 10-14 pounds of fat in that time. There's more going on here (some of it involves toileting, and you don't really need the details.)
Hell, my beautiful wife took me to see Fantastic Four yesterday and I had ONE piece of popcorn! Not one handful, one kernel! There's no way this is genuine, long-term weight gain. I would guess it's water plus the toilet problem that comes along with abdominal surgery.

This year I'm determined to gain/lose back the weight that I lost before
taking the job I currently have, the stress of it's initial start caused me
to lose my focus and return back to poor eating habits out of stress.
I had lost a bit over 50 pounds but in this new job I gained 30 pounds back
not a good thing! My main goal is not so much weight but to get into
size 32 waist pants again, which I had JUST attained prior to being directed
into the new position, now I'm into 36/38 so I have a ways to go!

Towards that I'm riding my bike at lunch time, do run my errands and excercising
at night as well as cutting out a lot of nasty things I've taken to eating lately.

I also made a small sign that I put on my fridge last night, made my wife and
youngest daughter chuckle but for me it will be a constant reminder of my
goals. I also have an 8 x 10 posted on my wall at work too! Here is a screen
capture of what that sign looks like ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v130/GaryWGraley/garyrules.jpg

To everyone else that is trying to battle a weight problem, I wish you much success, one book that I've use with good results is Harvey Diamond's 'Fit for Life" one and two
G2

You don't eat protein and carbs in the same meal? What's that about?

And why won't that alien quit staring at me?

You don't eat protein and carbs in the same meal? What's that about?

And why won't that alien quit staring at me?
ditto!

I find that I am more full and satisfied longer when I eat protein and carbs together.

I kid you not: I weighed 309 first thing in the morning on Monday, when I was leaving for my surgery.
The hospital confirmed this weight.

Yesterday in the middle of the afternoon I got the urge to weigh myself, so I did. In a pair of ultra-lightweight lounge/warmup pants and a pair of light socks, I weighed 320 lbs.

Whoa! I thought. That can't be right. So this morning I weighed myself first thing (as I usually do) in the same pants and what did I weigh? 323! WTF?

Anyway, all kidding aside, I'm not going to worry overmuch about it. I've been continuing to produce ketones through Monday and Tuesday, so I should still be burning fat. I've actually eaten very well since the surgery. The only things I've had that I normally would skip are whole-wheat crackers and sugar-free pudding. Of course, I've been completely inactive, but there's no way I genuinely put on 10-14 pounds of fat in that time. There's more going on here (some of it involves toileting, and you don't really need the details.)
Hell, my beautiful wife took me to see Fantastic Four yesterday and I had ONE piece of popcorn! Not one handful, one kernel! There's no way this is genuine, long-term weight gain. I would guess it's water plus the toilet problem that comes along with abdominal surgery.


Don: Did you ever see the Seinfeld where Kramer lost a Junior Mint while watching a surgery... Perhaps they left something heavier, like a bone saw, inside of you? :)

In all seriousness... This is a great thread and one I will be checking in on regularly. I started riding again today, though I haven't weighed myself. I was at the Dr. for a sleep study a few weeks ago and I know I was close to 265 so I'll use that as my baseline until I can find a decent scale.

Ya'll are truly an inspiration!

Go for it--I'd sacrifice a child to be at 265 right now!

(Don't look at me like that. . . . I'm not talking one of my kids or anything. . . .)

I started back to the gym late night with a 40 min. spin class. I guess it went ok. I did fine for the first 30 min. and ran out of gas for the last 10. But I feel good for first time back in.

The best thing is that I'm back to cooking my own food. It’s been almost a week and I feel so much better than when I was eating out all the time.

A little disappointing news… My last weigh in was not correct at 264lbs. I weighed over the weekend and it was 271lbs… OUCH!

But I'm back on the right road and will see some results soon.

Hang in there everyone!

Hehe, the alien is there for support, don't heckle him/her too much ;)

As to Protein and Carbs, the theory behind that is we have two types of
Enzymes in our stomach to digest foods properly,
One for Protein
One for Carbs

When you go and eat both at the same meal, they sort of cancel each other out
and as mentioned above by juf2m, you get that full/satisfied but heavy weighted feeling after the
meal because it's not being digested properly.

I also tend to not drink during the meal, as most meals have enough juices to
supply the moisture needed to not gag, if you drink with the meal that also can
tend to dilute the enzymes from doing their job on the food and can slow down
digestion, my wife goes crazy because I don't drink in the restuarants but for me
it works, I drink later on or if I really need a drink but usually not during the meal.

And a week's gone by, clothes are fitting a lot looser now and biking is going faster
with less pain in the thighs on the hills, on my way up or rather down to size 32 pants!
G2

Hey, if it works for you, I won't argue with success. I don't think I could eat without a drink most of the time, so maybe I eat really dry stuff.

Went back to the doctor today for my post-op checkup and everything seems to be healing nicely. I think I should be back on a bike doing leisurely rides in less than a week, though I still can't do any heavy lifting (defined here as more than 15 pounds, so really any lifting at all, not just the heavy stuff) for another three weeks at least. I'm going to have a much bigger scar this time, but it's going to be well worth it.
Someday it will just add a bit of emphasis to the crease in the center of my six-pack. ;)

I was 305 lbs. today both at home and at the surgeon's office, and my surgeon actually noticed before he weighed me that I had lost some weight since the last time he saw me (or at least, saw me upright and conscious.) That was a great feeling. And it means that I've now lost over 90 lbs. minimum from that recorded weight of 396. In terms of Chevy, I've gone from big-block to small-block! It's just unfortunate that my narrow bore tends to cause pinging . . . .

Oh, and I don't think I've mentioned it here, but I've dropped the low-carb diet. Maybe the nagging here had an effect, but mostly, once I started tracking my food intake I noticed that the calories were really, really low--too low not to lose weight no matter how many carbs there were. The only fear I had left was that I would lose control of my cravings for sugar and starch, but I gave it a shot, and I found that now that it's my habit not to gorge on sugar like the queen ant anymore, I simply don't. In my class tonight (we're all schoolteachers) the instructor passed around a Basket of Oreos. I kid you not, a big ol' basket full to the brim of Oreo cookies! I haven't had an Oreo since November.

Well, I'd missed lunch and although I'd just polished off a Subway chicken sandwich and some baked chips, I had a LOT of calories to spare for the day, so I took ONE Oreo. That is HUGE for me! I ate it, I enjoyed it, and the next time the basket came around, I passed it on without even looking. I used to be able to sit down and literally eat an entire bag of Oreos on a Sunday morning while I read the paper. I wouldn't even notice that I had polished off half the bag, I'd just keep dipping them in milk and shoving them in my mouth, two at a time. It must have been incredibly disgusting. And when I look back on it, I can't help but wonder why I did it at all. What did it do for me? I mean, they taste good going down, but that's all it is, it's just a nice taste. I think I'm finally starting to find my way free of this sugar thing.

I was reluctant at first but now it's second nature, you may want to have a
glass of water at the ready for sips, but you can easily just enjoy the meal
without washing it down, unless it's all saltine crackers and dry flour? :)

Sounds like you're on your way back, hope your recovery goes smoothly and
quickly for you!
G2

Awesome Don stick to it man you can will do it the recovery i am sure will go fine and just remember take baths this time and it wont get infected ;)