The RacerX weight loss thread

[RacerX]

OK, I'm fat. I realize I need motivation to get me to lose weight. In the 7 months preceding my 10th year high school reunion, I applied a vigorous gym schedule and was able to go from 265 lbs to 202 lbs.This accomplishment and the subsequent praise from my family, friends, and classmates encouraged me to continue and I reached 191 a couple months later. Continued weight training brought me to a more healthy 220, where I stayed for a number of years.

Fast forward to 2006: I am still 6'4" tall, but now weigh approximately 325 pounds. I carry a lot of it on my stomach area, and it looks disgusting. A lot of you have seen numerous photos of myself through the years.
Now that I am getting older, I realize I need to get this gut off or it will start to affect things like my joint health, heart health, blood pressure, and possible diabetes symptoms.

This thread (I hope) will be a new motivator. I will record my exercise regimen and possibly my eating habits. I hope some of you will ecourage me, and maybe even join me!

I can't afford to join a gym just yet, so I will give reports in this thread about my walking, biking & tennis regimens and hopefully, regular weight loss bulletins.

Starting stats:
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 325
Shirt size: 20" neck
Waist: approx 46"
Blood pressure: 132/80 (verified at Red Cross Nov. 23)
Glucose: 91 (down from 111)

I should probably take a "before" pic...heh heh... moobs...


Recent regimen:

-Thursday Nov 23: walked 2 large dogs for 40 minutes (will get mileage later)

-Friday Nov. 24: Played tennis for approximately 60 minutes, took a break, then another 45 minutes. Got beat 5-0

-Saturday Nov. 25: Walked to train station (under construction) and back. Round trip: 2.2 miles

-Sunday Nov. 26: Walked to Carmax, Subway, then home. Total miles: 2.84

-

[Bandersnatch]

Wow good luck with this man, i should probably show this to my dad so he can get his ass in shape, his weight is now affecting his health.

I wish you the best of luck with this dude, as it is a huge undertaking. I have no doubt you will accomplish what you set out to.

[charvelguy]

get a smaller car.. I recommend an Aveo.

Ok.

Ron, I wish ya all the best.. ya did it before, ya can do it again eh?.. sure you can.
btw.. your BP seems a little on the high side is it not? Good thing you are keeping track of your health.
I need to get a blood sugar level test done soon myself and see if I may be getting into diabetic zone

[Norton]

I thnik you forgot to write your eye color :ROTF:



You might very well do it.Just discipline and motivation are needed
And we would like to see you healtiher and sexier

[kruneh]

Hey Ron, good luck!!
Always good to see people getting motivated for stuff like this.
Don´t let the thread die, we´re here to support you.

[St.James]

- Monday Nov 27: Walked to the 99 cent store for a tub of ice cream. Walked back home. Killed the tub in 10.2 mins. Slept it off for 8.5 hours.

- Tuesday Nov 28: Started diet over again.

[RacerX]

Oops, the diastolic number was 80. (I edited the above post) I remember asking the Red Cross nurse about normal ranges, IIRC she said healthy diastolic numbers can range from 75 - 100. Wiki says normal is 120s/80d.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_pressure

I usually use the BP machines in grocery/drug stores, and while I have been told they aren't very accurate, I'll assume regular usage will at least inform me of directional changes. They also usually have more specific systolic/diastolic range charts printed on them, so I'll find one and report back here.

I'm pretty sure they state that systolic danger area is around 139+

On the store machines my systolic ranges from 138 - 144, diastolic from 78 - 83.

[RacerX]

- Monday Nov 27: Walked to the 99 cent store for a tub of ice cream. Walked back home. Killed the tub in 10.2 mins. Slept it off for 8.5 hours.

Har dee freakin' har

That's fine, Dave, you can motivate me that way ( you ass. )

But you are correct, ice cream has been my downfall...also eating at night right here in front of the PC! (right now I am chewing gum, which I will attempt to do in place of late-night snacking)

BTW the nearest 99 Cents Only store is 2.9 miles away, making for a very vigorous 5.8 mile hike... I have bicycled there but never walked...maybe a future goal?

[HoWheels]

Let me know if you wanna do some bike rides on the Santa Ana River Trail

-a

[buzzsaww]

Come to Tokyo and do some sumo with me, I need a challenge!

[Drake S.]

2 Things Good luck Ron , & Good for you Bro! You got support!

[ilbianconero]

Hey RacerX
Couple of advices:
Remember that losing weight is not that hard but becoming lean is not that easy (possible though). That's why most people as they age become less and lesser lean.
Losing weight initially will be faster (you're losing mostly water and not fat). When the weight loss slows down, you're losing fat.
Weight lifting is not the best way to lose weight. What you want is lower calories intake (good luck with that if you live in US with all the fast food culture ) AND cardio exercises such as running, bike, swimming, etc.
You have to abserve both and NOT just one of them or you'll be dissapointed + be prepared to go long distance with it as you won't see that much results in short period of time (unles if you starve yourself or if you're very fat).
I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm simply being realistic and let you know that it takes discipline (correct spelling?) and patience. And this is why most people start this sort of thing, do it for a couple of months and then you never see them in the gym again.
I've been bodybuilding since late 1993. Back then I was very thin (140 pounds). With the help of regular weight lifting, I went up to 160 pounds and in the last 3 years, with the aid of anabolic steroids, I've gone even higher. I'm at 187 pounds. I'm 5 11" by the way. My waist is 32".
I also do regular cardio since it's good for your heart.
Once you started to go to gym, say start with treadmill, do about 30-40 minutes of running, at a pace that you can hold a conversation with somebody and do this every day. Don't bother with weights. Gradually, up the pace. Lesser that 30 mins is pointless for you but I don't think you need to do an hour of it either (but if you did, fine) And cut you food intake, otherwise don't bother. Seriously!

So remember, set your sights for long term and with dieting and cardio, you'll see results. But you have to be patient and stick at it or you'll end up like the great majority.
Your diet should have little sugar (no sweets, soft drinks, etc).
You can have vegies, and low fat meat but low carbs.
Just try to eat things like salad and fruit. I don't mean on top of the usual food but as a substitute. It's

[ilbianconero]

Hey RacerX
Couple of advices:
Remember that losing weight is not that hard but becoming lean is not that easy (possible though). That's why most people as they age become less and lesser lean.
Losing weight initially will be faster (you're losing mostly water and not fat). When the weight loss slows down, you're losing fat.
Weight lifting is not the best way to lose weight. What you want is lower calories intake (good luck with that if you live in US with all the fast food culture ) AND cardio exercises such as running, bike, swimming, etc.
You have to abserve both and NOT just one of them or you'll be dissapointed + be prepared to go long distance with it as you won't see that much results in short period of time (unles if you starve yourself or if you're very fat).
I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm simply being realistic and let you know that it takes discipline (correct spelling?) and patience. And this is why most people start this sort of thing, do it for a couple of months and then you never see them in the gym again.
I've been bodybuilding since late 1993. Back then I was very thin (140 pounds). With the help of regular weight lifting, I went up to 160 pounds and in the last 3 years, with the aid of anabolic steroids, I've gone even higher. I'm at 187 pounds. I'm 5 11" by the way. My waist is 32".
I also do regular cardio since it's good for your heart.
Once you started to go to gym, say start with treadmill, do about 30-40 minutes of running, at a pace that you can hold a conversation with somebody and do this every day. Don't bother with weights. Gradually, up the pace. Lesser that 30 mins is pointless for you but I don't think you need to do an hour of it either (but if you did, fine) And cut you food intake, otherwise don't bother. Seriously!
Of course, if you don't want to goto gym, you can run outside but eventually going to the gym is good. That way, on the treadmill, you'll have to have a steady speed. Outside, you'll tend to slow down.

So remember, set your sights for long term and with dieting and cardio, you'll see results. But you have to be patient and stick at it or you'll end up like the great majority.
Your diet should have little sugar (no sweets, soft drinks, etc).
You can have vegies, and low fat meat but low carbs.
Just try to eat things like salad and fruit. I don't mean on top of the usual food but as a substitute. It's not that easy to change you eating habits but that's what it takes.
Another thing you can do is to use some pharmacuticals (proper medicine not the over the counter crap) to help but I guess that's not what you want.
Good Luck

(one last last thing: people that are overweight, are candidates of diabetis in later stages of their lives)

[micha]

best of luck to you ron!
is it your dogs you're talking about btw? or did I get something wrong?
dogs are great to get your ass out of your house anyway... doesn't feel that stupid to just walk around when you got a dog around you. at least I experienced so...

keep it going and stay healthy!

[St.James]

Har dee freakin' har

That's fine, Dave, you can motivate me that way ( you ass. )

But you are correct, ice cream has been my downfall...also eating at night right here in front of the PC! (right now I am chewing gum, which I will attempt to do in place of late-night snacking)

BTW the nearest 99 Cents Only store is 2.9 miles away, making for a very vigorous 5.8 mile hike... I have bicycled there but never walked...maybe a future goal?

Oh My ribbing was purely motivational, of course!