The PPOT Weight Loss Challenge 2012

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by mossguy

Milt - how tall are you?

Maybe a half inch over 6'. Used to be 6'1"

No change in weight this week.

[mossguy]

187 Eating less, and less often.

[mossguy]

187 It looks like this may be my new set point. This is the best weight I have been in many years. I may try for 185, or I may just declare my efforts a success, continue to monitor my intake, and enjoy life as it is.

Milt, I asked about your height because it seems that you may be at a stopping place as well.

[jyl]

If "set point" also means "stuck" then maybe I am at one to. I will redouble my effort to lose weight for the rest of this year and then assess. Stuck at 182-185 range.

[mossguy]

187 This is a good weight for me to "rest". Any weight loss below this will require considerably more effort on my part.

[aigel]

Revisited the high 180s during vacation but am happy to say that I am in the 186 range for the last week now! This means 15 pounds off my June peak and 6 pounds off my starting weight.

Not sure if I can get the 175, but I will not stop until I get to 180.

G

[jyl]

I just keep getting fatter. F--k.

[jyl]

So pissed. I peeked below 180 this summer - 179.5 to be exact. Then settled in the 180-185 range during late summer vacation and kids back to school etc. No problem, I'll get back on the stick in October, I figured. This morning, 189.9! I've picked up 10 lb. I think all I have to do is look at a baguette and I pick up 1 lb. And every 2 days on a business trip seems to equal 1 lb. Pissed off. Going to go for a ride this weekend and flog myself.

[aigel]

Do you log your calories burned? I religiously do and am amazed how much it varies even though I think I do about the same amount of exercise over time.

Also weigh yourself every day if you are home.

Sign up with an exercise group - biking, run group etc. at least a couple times a week to get your base burn rate up.

Business trips are a real killer - I don't have much advice but to buy your food at the grocery store. Only eat out when needed with company. Take your running shoes and put in at least a mile or two in the hotel gym or around town.

This thread sure helps to remember to stay on top of it, if your belt doesn't remind you enough.

G

[Schumi]

I haven't been around PPOT in a while but I'd like to update that I am now down to 174 lbs.

Feelin good.

[mossguy]

184 Unstuck. Going for a new set point.

[aigel]

185 for me the last couple of days!

G

[jyl]

Started logging food again. Traveling 3 days/wk for 3 weeks straight. Trying to get things back under control here.

[aigel]

181 I am more than half way there! I think I may hit my goal towards the end of the year.

G

[willtel]

I just wanted to chime in and let you guys know about a scale I picked up. I connects your wi-fi network and logs your weight on a website so you can track you progress (or lack of it). The data from the scale is also exportable to Excel for more analysis. I'm very happy with mine.

Withings - Find out more - the Withings scale

I got mine from Amazon.

[McLovin]

Hey, I'll join in.

I'm very happy at 185. If I'm at 180, I'm in rockin' good shape (that's pretty much what I was when I was in the best shape of my life in my 20s).

I hadn't watched it very closely, and got up to 195 earlier this year. Part of the problem was our scale died, and it took me a while to get another one. So the weight crept up without me knowing about it.

I've spent most of this year trying to get back to 185. It's weird, b/c 5 years ago, I could lose 5 lbs in a week by just cutting back on eating and exercising hard.

Now, 5 lbs is very difficult to lose.

I was "stuck" at 190 a couple of months ago. It crept up to 194-195 at its peak. I've managed to get it back to 190, but it's been a herculean effort (really cut back on food intake, and work out 12x a week instead of 5x!).

Anyways, I'm now in the middle of a major push to lose those last 5, and see 185.0 on the scale. 5 lbs sounds trivial, but man, when you get older (past 45) is isn't like it used to be.

I'm committing the next 2 weeks to it! I'll report back the next 2 Thursdays, to either suffer the shame of failure, or gloat in my success.

(P.S. Today was 190.4).

[sjf911]

Alright, late to the game but after looking at the pictures from my last rock climbing adventure and struggling to get my pants on, I realized I needed to do something. I'm 54 and 5' 11' initially weighing in at 195 2 months ago. I struggled for 6 weeks to drop to 191 by 10/12 then I discovered a free app for my Iphone by "Lose It" (Lose It! - Succeed at weight loss with Lose It!).
This is an absolutely wonderful tool to allow you to track you calories in and out. I have since lost to 184 today with a goal of under 170 by year end. I can't recommend this app enough (no ownership). It allows you to record your food and exercise in real time and keeps you aware of your daily calorie limit. It also credits you for exercise as you calorie goals are based on an assumed sedentary day.
I'll use yesterday as an example, my calorie budget was 1471 for a desired weight loss rate of 2 pounds per week. I consumed 1704 calories but had a 1052 calorie mountain bike ride netting me only 652 calories consumed (819 under budget). This has been tracking almost perfectly as I am currently losing at a 3lb/wk rate with an initial goal of 2lbs/wk when the additional exercise is included.
I have also been using another free app called map-my-run for logging my workouts. A great duo!

[McLovin]

Wow.

Since last Thurs., I've run 21 miles (1.5 in morning on treadmill and 1.5 in evening on the road, 7 days a week), and done 5 days of 45 mins. gym training (weights, crunches).

I've really watched what I've been eating, too.

Today's weight . . . . . 190.2.

Damn. That was a lot of work to lose .2 lbs.

Hopefully next week will have better results.

[jyl]

For one day this summer I peeked below 180. I was riding quite a bit, training for Seattle to Portland, eating pretty much paleo, doing well. Three months later, I am 10 lb heavier, apparently preparing for hibernation. Arrgh. So, I joined a gym and am doing an hour spin class 3X week, will start lifting as well. I hope that, plus riding to work as usual, and regaining some sort of dietary self control, will get me back to sub 180.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by McLovin

Wow.

Since last Thurs., I've run 21 miles (1.5 in morning on treadmill and 1.5 in evening on the road, 7 days a week), and done 5 days of 45 mins. gym training (weights, crunches).

I've really watched what I've been eating, too.

Today's weight . . . . . 190.2.

Damn. That was a lot of work to lose .2 lbs.

Hopefully next week will have better results.

You probably gained muscle mass. I would also suggest to mix it up and don't do the exact same exercise routine every day. Mix in a swim, a bike ride and an elliptical workout for example. What you also forgot is at least day of rest. It is absolutely necessary IMHO and after a good cardio workout the day before, you will still afterburn and not gain during a rest day. You can reach the point of diminishing returns in exercising if you burn yourself out. Your body will go into emergency mode and conserve like crazy.

G