SultanOfSwing

Due to being a perennial fatass, this year I decided to start trying to do something about it. Still haven't quite successfully reined in the eating (though still managed to lose about 20lbs so far) but I'm doing OK on the fitness front.

Started lifting weights and the couch to 5K program in January. I was able to work up to running 5K within the 8/9 weeks of the program and before I had a couple of injuries and illnesses, I had progressed to a 310 lb squat and 285 lb deadlift. Ended up taking a couple of months off after hurting my back and I'm way back down in the 100s for both now. Also, I can't run much more than a mile at the moment because I got DOMS something shocking when I went back to lifting again. Working on that too.

In addition, I walk a lot. I've always liked walking, and I'll range from a mile or so 'round the block' to a 3-5 mile loop around town up to a 15 mile walk to and from the forest preserve trails the next town over. I could walk all day long if I didn't have anything else to do, honestly. Occasionally I ride my bike and I play soccer as well in the summer.

Still need to sort out my eating though. No use being fit if I'm still fat

jambey2510

Wait, you don't workout so you can eat donuts and stuff? That's usually my aim! My 15-20km run is done because i know I'm usually getting pizza that evening lol

SultanOfSwing

I practice CICO rather than all that counting macros faff, so I can eat what I want as long as I keep it within my number, which is usually around a 500-750 deficit per day. Working out increases my TDEE, so I can eat more and maintain the deficit.

Problem is, it gets to the point where I stop counting and eat a buttload of crisps or something, which can turn into 1,000 calories in a bloody scarily short time

jambey2510

Oh I don't count my macros. Most of the time I eat as much meat (which is very filling) and vegetables (for all the vitamins low calorie content) as I feel like eating. I'm pretty much paleo. And this often means I'm definitely under my daily target, usually by at least 500, sometimes 1000! Which is why I decide to eat pizza once a week so I'm not starving myself

SultanOfSwing

My problem is too many carbs. I love carbs, unfortunately. I'm going to have to do another week or two of pseudo-keto I think. I usually drop 5-10 lbs in water alone when I do that, so it helps. Plus I need to up my protein or my upper body lifts suffer. Lots of eggs and chicken on the horizon, I think. If I can just get through a day or two of meat and salads, usually I can keep it up for a week or so, then start to reintroduce carbs in sensible amounts.

I'm pissed off with myself, I flirted with my lowest weight in nearly 20 years (sadly it's still 205 lbs) recently, only to fall off the wagon and put 10 back on again. At least I'm not at the 240-ish I was just before Christmas, but I still have another 50 to lose to get to my goal weight.

jambey2510

Carbs is everyones worst enemy! That's why I eat pizza, it's sort of my refeed meal if you want, and makes the other six days of eating paleo so much easier as I have my refeed to look forward to! If you want quick, easy breakfasts, look at making fritattas. I make a huge one and that's breakfast sorted for 3-4 days! Warm up in the microwave and sorted.

Look at the whole picture - you put on weight short term, we all do, but at least you're still below your starting weight by a lot! I'm a measly 150lbs, and to be honest, I don't see it dropping any lower than that!

FinnDiego

Yep, same as saving money by riding my bike to work! I'm past $2k into just one bike itself. Add lights, helmets and clothing, second breakfasts, big dinners, beer stops, etc and I'm pretty sure my cost per mile approaches driving... Heck of a lot more fun though and I wouldn't be in nearly good a shape if the 805 wasn't such a mess which motivates me to ride a couple of times a week instead!

19 miles each way. I do a bit of running too but that's more of a chore - I run because it's good exercise, but ride my bike because I like it!

Bob

Yeah, biking is mental. I ride a mid level hardtail so avoid certain trails that aren't fun without full suspension but I know a few folks who have a whole family of bikes.

$6K full suspension trail/xc, a $5K downhill bike, a $3K fatty for the winter and another $2k road bike for conditioning.

My missus would shoot me if I even think about a major upgrade...the Spank pedals at $100 was challenge enough The fork i'm eyeing up is also a big no at $1300

SultanOfSwing

When I am eating 'properly', I just make a whole bunch of boiled eggs at the start of the week and I'll have two of those for breakfast every week day, then I allow myself some fried eggs and bacon at the weekend. I have recently discovered I quite enjoy Greek yoghurt so I have that for a morning snack. When I'm going 'low carb', really what I'm trying to do is keep it under 50g per day, so really that just means not eating bread and rice, and I get the simple carbs I need for energy to exercise basically from apples. I love apples, as long as I can eat at least two throughout the course of a day, I can usually handle 'going without' just about anything else. Usually I'll either eat lunch meat and cheese, or just a salad for my lunches at work and they see me right. I might then have freed up enough room for something like a pizza or Chinese by the weekend, as long as I do some kind of exercise each day. Most of the time I lift weights Monday, Wednesday and Friday and I try to run 5K or walk at least a few miles on the off days.

I haven't quite got to the meal prep stage and I probably never will. Tinned vegetables become my friend, if I just have two chicken breasts and a tin of green beans, that does me for dinner.

Yeah, looking at the bigger picture I'm down 20 lbs since starting this in January (35 lbs from my heaviest) and I'm trending downwards overall. Most of my main weight spikes are due to water anyway, there is no way I'm eating 3,500 calories in surplus in one day, which is what equates to a pound of fat. Plus I am building muscle lifting as well, and given the amount of lower body focus in my program, it's in the larger muscles too.

I'm aiming for 165 (I'm 5'9 so that's right at the top end of the ideal range) but honestly, I don't know if I'll ever get there. I'd be satisfied with 180 and 15% body fat, if I can build enough muscle. We'll see how it goes. Sub-200 is my first goal, I haven't been below 200 lbs since I was 19

MtbbikeVanlife

Yeah, I'm in for $8k full sus (6Fattie S-Works), $4k full sus (back up 29er) and $1k hard tail.

Luckily for me, my girlfriend rides too - just the one bike though! (at the moment...).

I'm lucky in that I can ride some excellent singletrack trails in the city from the apartment door.

Bob

If I don't get killed on the way, I can peddle out to a bunch of half decent trails within 20-40 mins and get a few decent mile loops around them but they don't have much in way of parking to make it worth driving over to save time. There's a great technical trail up the hill but it's so not much fun on my hardtail as it's a proper rock garden...I think I like the looks of the trails out west compared to the technical stuff that's around here and the really nice stuff is in the south of the state, not far, but far enough away to be a chore.

Also, I'm short but not a small frame short. Someone in our local group is selling a nice Specialised number for a grand, which is a cracking deal but it's a small frame and nearly all the others that people sell are large. Someone was flogging a 9 month old top end $1400 Rocky Mountain hardtail for a few hundred but it was just to large a frame to be comfortable.

Hiro11

Mostly cycling and running for me. I'm a bit of a cycling addict. I ride road and gravel most of the year and fat bike in the winter. I have too many bikes and spend too much money on bike stuff. I used to run a lot, I'm down to maybe 15 miles a week now. I still enjoy running a great deal. I was a collegiate swimmer so I'll sometimes swim a bit in the dead of the Chicago winter.

Hiro11

I grew up mountain biking in western Mass and went to college in the Berkshires. I've ridden in many different states and Western Mass has some of the best mountain biking and road cycling in the US. I highly recommend Earl's Trails in Amherst (and a ton of other local spots) and pretty much anything around Williamstown, Ma.

Bob

Yeah, there are some great spots around Amherst, Holyoak and Northampton...Thunder mountain is pretty impressive too. Bit far for me though, a couple hours in the car, with similar distance to Kingdom Trails in Burke, VT which is pretty fab riding too.

South of the state, once you get past all the weirdness of the DCR and the ware watershed issues, there's some great stuff in Sutton, Douglas, Mendon zoo trails and Vietnam trails from Holliston out to to Milford/Mendon area and there are some impressive newish trails popping up around the back of Sturbridge Village.

scrubbedexpat091

did about 3 hours of total walking Saturday between 2 different mostly level hiking areas nearby, my legs still hurt from it, even wore the dog out, but her legs are short, so no surprise, she refused to walk the last 1/2 hour on the last trail, laid down and refused,so had to carry her, but probably a bit much for a small dog.