2019 Weight Loss Challenge Thread

[Joe in PNG]

Did my first Thanksgiving 5k this weekend. I walked it, since my knees are arthritic trash- but did pretty good. Was able to keep up a quick walking pace the whole 46 minutes, and wasn't dead tired afterwards.

[BehindBlueI's]

I've been eating a lot of 'savory oatmeal' dishes. It's really easy to make a 600-ish calorie bowl for a meal and it's both tasty and filling. It ends up being sort of a risotto texture.

Combinations so far:

1) Shrimp, spinach, mushroom, 1 oz mozzarella

2) Taco seasoning, shredded beef, jalapeno, avocado, egg

3) Egg, turkey sausage, mustard greens, jalapeno

4) 2 eggs, 1 oz mozzarella, mushrooms, tomatoes, jalapeno

You can use various stocks to hydrate the oats if you like. I think a seafood stock would have went really well with the shrimp but we got them pre-boiled at the local grocer.

[Joe in PNG]

204, but I've been drinking a lot of water.
Still within specs.

201, and that the first weigh in after Thanksgiving.

[BehindBlueI's]

Post-Thanksgiving weekend weigh in: 234.4

232.0

[GyroF-16]

I’ll make this my last check-in for 2019.
On 1 Jan, I started at 198.6.
By the end of March, I was down to 168.
I’ve managed to hold under 170 almost every day since then, mostly hanging in the mid-160s.
I’d estimate that I cut 1000 calories from my average daily intake, and significantly increased my weekly calorie burn to get to this point and stay here.
Attachment 45812

[Chance]

In March, I clocked in at over 200 pounds at 5'9" and 35 years old. I'm not sure how far over 200 because, like... knowing my exact weight wasn't going to make me feel better, right? With the help of intermittent fasting, I am hovering right below 170 at the moment. I'll probably finish the year over 170 due to the holidays, et cetera.

With the help of Starting Strength and the novice effect, I was able to go from squatting the bare bar to 265 for five legit reps. My squat has regressed about 30 pounds (weight loss and strength gain being mutually exclusive), but I will work my way back up and beyond once I'm not in a consistent calorie deficit.

Lessons learned:

1) Intermittent fasting is the most stupidly simple way to maintain a calorie deficit ever. I will never try a diet again.
2) Find an actual strength coach to teach you the exercises because you're almost certainly not getting the most out of the exercise the way you're doing it now. No, your high school football coach doesn't count.
3) It really doesn't take much kit to workout at home. Get a squat rack, a bench, and an Echo Bike and you'll probably be fine.
4) Aging sucks, so if dying young is an option for you, I'd look into it before it's too late.

Books I found helpful:

Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training
Bigger, Leaner, Stronger (ignore the screaming douchiness - it actually has a lot of very solid information)
The Vertical Diet
Food: What the Heck Should I Eat?
Eat, Stop, Eat

And finally, Larry Lindenman's info on long, slow distance and fasting were both resources I came back to over and over.

Hopefully, me putting this out publicly will help keep me motivated to stay the course. I invite any of you to mock me mercilessly if we run into each other at a class and I'm fat again.

[AKDoug]

Still stuck in the mid 220's.The only positive is that I've found a level of intake that doesn't wreck me and I've developed good habits to avoid the bad foods. Unfortunately, I'm still eating too much food that is supposedly good for me, and too much of even a good thing is bad.

I guess I'll check in for the 2020 thread next month. Going to be on vacation until the end of the year this weekend.

[vandal]

With work travel and BJJ injuries I'm now missing the regular exercise component that would presumably bring weight loss.

Bouncing between 215 and 218 but I'm considering Keto a superpower now. When traveling I have to remember to ask my wife "Oh do you want to eat?" because I don't get hungry. The food independence is very freeing.

Had my first physical after a year of Keto. Last time my cholesterol was just over-the-line high, now everything is in ideal range despite heavy cream lattes and bacon for breakfasts.

[BehindBlueI's]

Another recipe I'm using a lot, this makes a snack bar/square:

0.25 cup, Walnuts halves (then crush)
2 egg, medium
0.50 cup, Skim Fat Free Milk
1.0 cup, water
3 cup, Oatmeal
0.66 cup, 50% Less Sugar Dried Cranberries (Kroger brand)

Hydrate oats with water and milk.
Mix in remaining ingredients
Smooth into baking dish so mix is 1.5-2" high, approximately.
Bake for 20 minutes @ 350 F

Allow to cool, cut into 8 squares (or however many you like, but nutrition information assumes 8 servings):
Nutrition Facts
Servings 8.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 183
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 5 g 8 %
Saturated Fat 1 g 3 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 42 mg 14 %
Sodium 23 mg 1 %
Potassium 327 mg 9 %
Total Carbohydrate 30 g 10 %
Dietary Fiber 7 g 26 %
Sugars 5 g
Protein 7 g 14 %
Vitamin A 2 %
Vitamin C 1 %
Calcium 3 %
Iron 2 %

[AKDoug]

I think I mentioned somewhere back in the beginnings of this thread that I started on this journey to assist my wife in her pre-diabetic and minor high blood pressure problems.

Mission accomplished !!! After losing 40 lbs she has improved her health tremendously. She just got back from the doc. Her last visit 3 months ago she had an A1C of 5.7, this time it was 5.6 (down from 6.4 a year ago). BP was down in low normal range. The doc has completely removed her from Metformin (pre-diabetes med) and reduced her BP meds from 2 pills to 1 and reduced the one remaining to half the dose. If she continues to improve she will be off BP meds entirely in 3 months.

I am so glad I took the steps to help her figure out how to accomplish this, as well as benefiting myself. Probably my greatest accomplishment of 2019.