Page 2 of 22 FirstFirst 123412 ... LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 215

Thread: 2021 Fitness & Weight Loss Challenge

  1. #11
    Site Supporter 0ddl0t's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Jefferson
    Quote Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's View Post
    What's the scan run you, just out of curiosity?
    Through the university sports medicine clinic the dexa scans here are $50 and the VO2 is $150. You're in Indiana, no? Looks like there is a place in Indy charging $125, but you might have to go out of state to find one for $50: https://dexascan.com/locations/usa/indiana/ For best results don't eat for a few hours beforehand and stay fully hydrated (DXA is extremely accurate at finding bone mass and very accurate at finding fat mass, but (de)hydration can cause significant fluctuations in lean mass readings).
    I get a free VO2 test annually but it's on a steeply inclined treadmill and my knee gives up before my cardio system does. My Garmin watch does a pretty good estimation, as it turns out.
    My fitbit also gives a relative VO2 max reading, but it is currently pretty optimistic. The algorithms aren't very good at estimating VO2 max for obese individuals, but they get better the more athletic you become since the formulae were largely derived from athletes' data. When I tested at 26 three months ago, fitbit put me at 29-33 (~19% high). Today it says 37-41 when I'm at 35 (~11% high).

    For my VO2 max test I opted to use the bike since that was my primary form of cardio in October, but they can also do the test (here) on a treadmill or rowing machine if you prefer. The score is nice to have, but my main benefit is knowing my specific heart rate training zones so I can get the most from my exercise regime. For instance, fitbit says my "cardio" heart rate zone (aka medium endurance) begins at 127 bpm, but the vo2 max tests showed that zone beginning at 139 initially and 137 today.

    Subsequent tests shouldn't tell me that much more, but I do expect my heart rate zones to drift downward as my heart's stroke volume increases with fitness.

    Quote Originally Posted by Risto View Post
    Wow that’s amazing work!

    What’s your diet like? Severe calorie restriction?
    Thanks!

    I was targeting a calorie restriction resulting in 1% weight loss per week, all from fat. The 35 lbs of fat I lost in 12 weeks - a bit over my 1% per week goal - works out to an average daily deficit of 1458 calories. That's way too extreme for 99.9% of the population and I can no longer sustain that deficit without losing lean mass. That's because the amount of fat your body can burn in a day is related to the amount of fat it has on hand. According to research by the late Seymour Alpert (using data from the Minnesota Starvation Experiment), that fat loss limit occurs at deficit of about 20-32 calories per day per pound of fat mass. For me today that's 20 calories per day x 70 lb of body fat = 1400 calorie deficit.

    As far as Macros, I running around 40% carbs, 40% protein, & 20% fat, but I really only care about getting 1 gram of Protein for every 1 lb of lean mass in my body (works out to about 170g of protein for me). I also shoot for a minimum of 30g of fiber which really seems to help keep me feeling full all day. What does that look like in foods & quantities? Here are my meals from yesterday & today:

    Yesterday's Breakfast:
    Orgain protein shake (150 cal, 20g protein, 3g fiber)
    Banana (105 cal, 1.3g protein, 3g fiber)

    Post workout snack:
    Orgain protein shake (150 cal, 20g protein, 3g fiber)

    Lunch:
    6 oz cooked boneless skinless chicken breast (220 cal, 52g protein, 0g fiber)
    1 bag of frozen green beans (147 cal, 8.4g protein, 8.4g fiber)
    1/4 tsp Chile Lime Seasoning (0 cal, 0 protein, 0 fiber, 180mg sodium)

    Dinner:
    5.3 oz cooked boneless skinless chicken breast (194 cal, 45.9g protein, 0g fiber)
    1 can of Cannellini beans rinsed & drained (338 cal, 23.7g protein, 20.3g fiber)
    2 large jalapenos - 62 grams total - (18 cal, 0.6g protein, 1.7g fiber)
    1/4 tsp Chile Lime Seasoning (0 cal, 0 protein, 0 fiber, 180mg sodium)

    Evening snack:
    1.02 oz smokehouse almonds (173 cal, 6.1g protein, 3g fiber)
    3.1 oz pitted prunes (207 cal, 2g protein, 6.2g fiber)

    Daily totals:
    1700 calories
    31.4g fat (3.2g Saturated)
    196.5g carbs (48.7g fiber, 57.4g sugar)
    180.1g protein
    2338mg Sodium
    263.7mg Cholesterol

    My base daily energy expenditure is about 2550 plus I burned about an additional 600 calories (34 min on exercise bike VO2 max test plus 2 30 minute walks) for a daily deficit of about 1450


    Today's breakfast:
    Orgain protein shake (150 cal, 20g protein, 3g fiber)
    Banana (105 cal, 1.3g protein, 3g fiber)

    Lunch:
    6.7 oz cooked & trimmed top sirloin (407 cal, 53.4g protein, 0 fiber)
    210 g broccoli (71 cal, 5.9g protein, 5.4g fiber)
    1/4 tsp Chile Lime Seasoning (0 cal, 0 protein, 0 fiber, 180mg sodium)

    Dinner (split into 2 meals consumed ~2 hours apart):
    1.75 cups black beans (397 cal, 26.7g protein, 26.2g fiber)
    1/4 pound 73% lean ground beef (350 cal, 19g protein, 0g fiber)
    1 scoop whey protein isolate (100 cal, 25g protein, 0 fiber)
    2 small, 30g total, jalapenos (8 cal, 0.3g protein, 0.8g fiber)
    2 mini sweet peppers (18 cal, 0.6g protein, 1.2g fiber)

    Evening snack:
    1 clementine (35 cal, 0.6g protein, 1.3g fiber)
    1.7 oz cooked boneless skinless chicken breast (62 cal, 14.7g protein, 0 fiber)

    Today's totals:
    1701 calories
    58.2g fat (20.3g saturated)
    136.2g carbs (40.9g fiber, 31.2g sugar)
    167.3g protein
    918mg sodium
    266mg cholesterol

    I burned about 2550 calories as my base expenditure + about an extra 540 going for a 41 minute run and 18 minute walk for a daily deficit of 1389 calories.
    Last edited by 0ddl0t; 01-08-2021 at 12:18 AM.

  2. #12
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Texas
    @0ddl0t


    Are you hungry often? If so, how do you deal with it?

  3. #13
    Site Supporter 0ddl0t's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Jefferson
    Quote Originally Posted by TheNewbie View Post
    @0ddl0t


    Are you hungry often? If so, how do you deal with it?
    Never, which is funny because I was often hungry when I was eating 3500-5500 calories worth of junk food. This guy has a pretty obnoxious youtube persona, but this video pretty much covers it:


  4. #14
    Site Supporter EricM's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Midwest
    I need to approach my health and fitness seriously this year and maybe some public accountability will help. My goal is to lose about 45 lbs to break into the 160's then work on strength. It's taken a sedentary lifestyle and actively eating poorly to get me where I am, so the first 25 will come off without much trouble but the next 20 will be new territory in my adult life. I'm stepping on the smart scale every morning and will commit to posting a chart at the start of each month moving forward.

    Right now I'm easing into things by eating less garbage while establishing a routine of rowing for LSD cardio and getting my form back on lifting. A few years ago I had a power rack in my basement and was lifting regularly...my strength was never impressive but my back and knees and everything never felt better. A major abdominal surgery brought that to a halt, then I had to sell the rack and move a couple times, and life kinda fell apart during everything that followed. I feel like I've aged ten years in the last three. Life is more stable now, I've got a good exercise setup again and I'm excited to get after it, but I'll be taking it slow. Last night just squatting the bar felt awkward. OHP felt better but it didn't take much weight before I felt my form suffer. Forget about chinups and pullups, I'll be doing negatives for a while. Looking forward to deadlifting this weekend, that was always my favorite.

  5. #15
    Hokey / Ancient JAD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Kansas City
    Quote Originally Posted by Robinson View Post
    It could just be my ignorance, but 160 seems a bit light if you want to be benching 250+.
    It’s a silly goal but I did want a stretch number associated with strength. I currently max 190 or so and 225 is a more realistic number. I am pretty sure I have 16 pounds of fat.

  6. #16
    Modding this sack of shit BehindBlueI's's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Midwest
    Quote Originally Posted by 0ddl0t View Post
    Through the university sports medicine clinic the dexa scans here are $50 and the VO2 is $150. You're in Indiana, no? Looks like there is a place in Indy charging $125, but you might have to go out of state to find one for $50: https://dexascan.com/locations/usa/indiana/ For best results don't eat for a few hours beforehand and stay fully hydrated (DXA is extremely accurate at finding bone mass and very accurate at finding fat mass, but (de)hydration can cause significant fluctuations in lean mass readings).

    My fitbit also gives a relative VO2 max reading, but it is currently pretty optimistic. The algorithms aren't very good at estimating VO2 max for obese individuals, but they get better the more athletic you become since the formulae were largely derived from athletes' data. When I tested at 26 three months ago, fitbit put me at 29-33 (~19% high). Today it says 37-41 when I'm at 35 (~11% high).
    Oof, yeah that's a little salty for me just to scratch the curiosity itch.

    We can only do treadmill at our wellness exam. It was within 1 or 2 of my Garmin measurement, I don't recall exactly, but like I said I had to pull up a little short because my knee was hurting and warning me we were in for a bad day if the inclination went up one more time.

    215-220 was my goal last year, which I did but then wanted to go under 200. I briefly got to 206.8 (maybe, my scale started swinging wildly but I think new batteries have resolved that), but couldn't maintain it, got some little nagging injuries, spent much of the second half of the year in the 215-ish range, and then went off the reservation as detailed in the 2020 thread. I've signed up for several challenges on Garmin which usually helps keep me motivated. Having the goal of being prepared for Bataan was a big help for me in 2019 and 2020. I do better with concrete goals.

    My wife is now losing weight as well, and that means she's no longer trying to carb load me daily out of boredom and cooking new things.

    Anyway, 221.6 on 01/01/2021.

    220.2 this morning.

    Goal this year: 190-200.

    Yearly totals:
    16.4 miles jogged
    112k steps taken
    0 miles cycled
    33.6 miles walked/hiked
    Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.

  7. #17
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    In the desert, looking for water.
    Well, shit. 210# this morning. 48yo, 5’10”.

    Goal weight 180-185#.

  8. #18
    Turned 51 the other day and decided I need to lose 20 minimum. Six foot one and today 237 lbs. If could get to 215 I'd be thrilled.

    For some reason, losing weight has become six times harder than it was just a few years ago. I plan to add a ton of walking and water to what I already do. Last week, I knocked out 41,000 steps and switched to drinking nothing but water. I was drinking a few diet drinks and sugar free orange juice water packets but that's out now. Water only, aside from my morning fresh ground, French press coffee and a tad of half and half. I'm chugging a bottle of water first thing when I wake up too which I had never done before.

    I'm down 3 pounds so far.....which for me....is huge as nothing I was doing before was showing any results. I'm going to try to go back to 3 times a week from twice per week body weight and dumbbell workouts and see if my elbows can take it. My diet is pretty clean as I don't do fried foods/fast food and haven't in years. My blood work is always pretty great and my resting pulse is mid to high 40s even though I really don't have a cardio game. Cutting sodium is also a focus but I never add salt to anything and we don't have a shaker at home on the table. I'm a huge pepper guy and have worn out pepper mills a plenty.

    My outer carrier, gun belt, and wrist watch keep me in check and this week all three are looser than last week. I'm considering adding a weighted vest to the walking or either a ruck to add to the difficulty. My focus in my fifties is going to be flexibility and joints and continue my workouts as long as they are not causing me issues.

    So that's me for 2021. Since ammo is nowhere to be found, I have devoted a ton of time to dry fire and dry draw. I'm re-reading the Bible and plan on reading a ton of books this year to better myself and keep the mental/spiritual game strong.

    Haven't drank in 7 years.....tobacco free for nearly 20 now. If I can knock off some fat I'll be happy.

    Regards....and Happy New year .

  9. #19
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    ABQ
    When I see the weight loss thread I am tempted to post and I recall @Tom_Jones ' first post in the 2020 thread, and I acknowledge his point. I agree with it! I respect the man an awful lot, and he thouroughly trounced my ass the last couple of times we trained together. I shouldn't be allowed to breathe @JodyH's air. I am out of shape and carrying around about 50 extra pounds. 6'1.5 and 230#. 47 years old.

    That said, get your physicians involved! The last several years I have been trying to drop weight. With. No. Success. At. All. Finally during the Year of Our Corona I got a new Primary Care doc who LISTENED to me and my concerns. That, under new insurance, took 5.5 months. Learned my testosterone was low and he set me up with an endocrinologist, who listend to me and gave me several additional tests. That took 2.5 months. Set me up with a sleep study, another month. Waiting for the official results on that, but Obstructive Sleep Apnea is the likely diagnosis.

    My primary care's theory is my sleep habits caused me to not recuperate or recover like I should, and it had an impact on my hormones. Which reduced my recovery and recuperation, and reduced the quality of my sleep. Which affected recovery and hormones. My testosterone had bottomed out at 78 ng/dl, where normal is 350-850 ng/dl. I had to lie in bed for 8-10 hours to get 4-6 hours of sleep. I was always tired. My doc believed that the vicious circle reduced my ability and desire to work out hard, while making me need it more. I believed I was working out like an animal, and seeing no improvements, when in reality I was likely doing the best I was capable of, but nowhere near enough. When my kids got older and changed schools I was no longer walking them to and from school. And I like to eat and drink. Which can effect sleep quality and hormone levels.

    Tomorrow I start my 3rd week of testosterone injections. I should really start seeing/feeling reults in the next week or two. I am feeling a bit more energy on a day to day basis, and I am easing back into fitness to avoid injury and build a solid base. Walking more. Drinking more water. Dry January. Eating big salads (raw) or stir fries (cooked) to get at least a pound of vegetables into me a day during my main meal. Lean protien. Fiber supplements. Olive oil shooters. Intermittent fasting. Waiting for the sleep study results, but likely going to get a CPAP. Several co-workers, friends, and my wife have CPAPs, and, with the right masks and whatnot report quality sleep doubling, and waking up less tired, not using the snooze bar, and having energy for the day.

    I do not want to live this way, but I am tired of being tired. I am tired of being gassed after a foot pursuit or fight with someone. And the light at the end of the tunnel is that my hormone panel indicates my low-t may be reversable, and losing 50 pounds may reduce or relieve sleep apnea to the point where treatment is not necessary.

    I will still be sleeping a really messed up schedule, but the sleep should actually support my efforts, instead of countering them.

    I am in this year.

    pat
    Last edited by UNM1136; 01-08-2021 at 09:38 AM.

  10. #20
    I’m in.

    59 years old and 236.6 this morning. 5’9” tall. My goal is to get below 200 then reassess.

    Obstacles: rotator cuffs are a mess, mild arthritis in my left hip, desk job.

    Plan: focus on diet, flexibility, hydration, sleep, stamina, and strength.

    Means:
    • Return to a modified Keto diet, which worked for me pre-COVID. With my physical issues, most weight loss will have to come from this.
    • Continue to weigh food and track it on the Loseit app.
    • Continue to weigh in every morning.
    • Get back to working out with kettlebells until I get vaccinated, then reactivate my LA Fitness membership. I don’t need to deadlift 315 again but I do need resistance training on the classic, multi-joint compound lifts.

    Dry January has not shown the results that I wanted, but I do see less booze in my future.


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

User Tag List

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •