OT: 2012 Is The Year I Do It

[gaw 5]

Lipo......yikes! yes......just kidding....sorry!

[tranquillo 10]

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Thanks again everyone for all your support and motivation, it will serve me well over the following months in my quest for 186.

 

Tranquillo, best of luck on your program Sir. You have the same distance to go as I do, so how about the first to get to their goal and stay at their ideal weight for all of 2012 treats the other to a $20 gift certificate to their favorite online book store?

 

 

 

 

Alrighty then, off to do some road work. "I'm going to get thin, 'cause when I lose I win! I'm going to get thin, 'cause when I lose I win! ... "

 

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Ok, Lou, :boxing:you're on. I'll try and knock up a graph like yours to make it easier to compare.

 

I'm going to try and stick to my wife's low GL diet and keep up my exercise programme.

 

OvS made a mistake when he said Yoga sucks. What he meant to say was "Yoga doesn't suit me but it may work for the next guy".

Having taught Chinese exercise systems for more than 20 years I can safely say that, what looks gentle can be very hard work and very toning when done properly.

[CW3SF 0]

You have a long journey ahead of you --- VERY LONG !! But keep at it and do a variety of activities and by all means hydrate, lots and lots of water.

 

I'll be 75 this April and hiking has been my way of keeping in shape ( 175 lbs & 6 feet ) while eating most anything in view. My buddy and I try to get in

two hikes a week of 9 miles and 2000 feet of elevation gain while carrying the same pack we hunt with in Colorado. That comes to about 7000 plus

calories left on the trail. Which means we can eat a large portions and stay the same weight-- so long as we keep hiking. Chocolate and red wine is great.

 

Start out slow and steady. Weigh yourself at the same time each day ( just after you get up in the morning is the best ). Many of my friends fail because

they push to hard , suffer sore muscles and cut out way more food than is correct.

 

It sounds like you may be going down that road of much to hard to fast and set up for failure---- I hope not.

 

Take a tally of what you eat now over a week and see just what you can do without or change. Light beer anyone? A protein shake after a workout is a great Idea

but only if your workout used more calories than the shake has in it. The much needed protein is absorbed quickly to help the muscle tissue in the healing process.

 

Try to find a doctor that is "into exercise and diet" ( the doc should look the part ) and get a complete work up. Learn what you heart beat rate should be at the best

exercise level and keep track of it. We are talking getting involved here, not just cutting out a beer every now and then ane walking around the block once in a while.

 

Good Luck

 

 

[themightysrc 5]

A heartening thread - good luck to everyone in their personal quests.

 

Thankfully, I don't need to lose weight as I conquered a slight overweightness problem years ago by simply realising that I had to eat a little less and a little healthier. Took about 6 months to shed the stone that I shouldn't have been carrying, and it's stayed off ever since.

 

A far, far harder task was quitting smoking.

 

I managed it (after several attempts) in 1997 after gentle encouragement from my wife ("Do you think you'll ever give up smoking....?" - very clever), only to recommence (like a complete fool) at the end of 2006 whilst I was doing my PGCE in fairly stressful circumstances.

 

Having been brooding about it for most of 2011, I finally had my last cigarette on Xmas Eve, expecting to be back on by now.

 

Not only have I managed to stay off the weed, but I don't even feel the urge to smoke any longer. I went to my local to watch some football the other evening - which would otherwise have seen me rolling up X number of fags and smoking them - but I didn't even get a vague yearning. I can smell other people's smoke, but that's all it is: other people's left over smoke.

 

So, I'm getting healthier, saving money and feeling smug!

Edited January 4, 2012 by themightysrc

[OvS 8]

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OvS, I will look into P90x and see what it's about. I have a couple of friends here on our local fire department who are in a program that sounds very similar to the one you are following, and this is what I am aiming for as well. I want to do a general toning up again, and get a bit more muscle back in my shoulders and upper arms.

 

 

Hey Lou, you're a fireman? ... me too.. I'm in a Truck company.. H,L and Heavy Rescue (Full Hurst). Nice to meet another Brother! :)

 

See... this forum totally rocks!!! :)

 

OvS

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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OvS, sorry Sir if I phrased it poorly, I am not a member of our local fire department, I only work with them a lot. In my role as an ambulance and rescue vehicle sales and service man I often get to work with many of the finest volunteers on the face of this tired old Earth. My hat's off to you Sir, and to Bullethead, and the other OFF flyers here who give of themselves in such a fine way. True heros each and every one of you.

 

Si, I wish you all the best in your quest to quit smoking. I did the same myself when I was 20, and even though I'd only been smoking for a year or so it was still gawd-awful stopping. But I've been glad for it ever since.

 

CW3FS, I should be as fit as you when I hit 75. I love to hike and have started going at it again. However, out here in the midwestern prairies, I'd have to walk to the other end of Wyoming to climb 2000 feet in elevation.

 

Tranquillo, we have ourselves a contest then!

 

Gaw, glad of that, and I figured as much.

 

 

Thanks again everyone.

 

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[Flyby PC 23]

 

A far, far harder task was quitting smoking.

 

 

Nope.

 

Once upon a time I was a 40 - 60 a day man, spending more on ciggies than I paid in rent. I liked smoking, big time, and didn't want to stop, but I just couldn't afford it. No point trying to cut down smoking rolling tobacco, I'd try it, but just add it onto the 40 -60 a day. I reckoned not wanting to stop was a big torpedo amidships for the will power to actually stop.

 

 

So I went to a hypnotist. It was quite expensive, (Ha! " just 2 weeks cigarette money, but when you smoke, you don't 'see' that money as wasted), but all the same it felt like a lot of money to spend on 'crank' hocus pocus which wasn't going to work anyway.

 

 

I won't go in to details, I very nearly didn't go, but I did, and I stopped smoking there and then, and not only that, I went straight from the hypnotist back to work and into a site hut where the air was blue with other smokers. I never had a hint of craving or withdrawal, and nor did I turn into some hypocritical holy anti-smoking evangelist. I've never been tortured with craving nor anxiety, not once.

 

This was, err,... 21 years ago, and I've never smoked a single draw since, so I reckon you could say it definitely worked.

 

Drives me nuts seeing all these people tormenting themselves to distraction, and even getting niccotine patches on the NHS!!! What a waste of money!!!! (Your physical addiction to niccotine only lasts for 48 hours, but it's the habit that draws you back. To my mind a niccotine patch just feeds the addiction, and isn't really helpful at all. It's like telling a heroin junkie to stop injecting his heroin and start smoking it instead isn't it?

 

 

Go to a reputable hypnotist. Job done.

 

Mine quoted a 96% success rate on the first session or you got a second session free, and if that failed, you got your money back 100%.

 

I don't want to advertise on principle, but the man I used was part of the Allen Carr franchise. Check it out. Best money I ever spent.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Good on you Flyby! I am a firm believer in whatever works for the individual, as long as it isn't unhealthy.

 

Update on my progress: I've dropped 9.2 pounds of my 'Christmas ' weight in the first week. I knew a large chunk would fall away fast and I will likely lose another 4 to 5 this week as well. After that however the real fun begins. So far though the 1,200 calories per day and increased exercise and walking is going very, very well.

 

Me so happy.

 

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[Creaghorn 10]

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Good on you Flyby! I am a firm believer in whatever works for the individual, as long as it isn't unhealthy.

 

Update on my progress: I've dropped 9.2 pounds of my 'Christmas ' weight in the first week. I knew a large chunk would fall away fast and I will likely lose another 4 to 5 this week as well. After that however the real fun begins. So far though the 1,200 calories per day and increased exercise and walking is going very, very well.

 

Me so happy.

 

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glad it works for you .

how do you know how much calories you eat? do you look at the packages and calculate or are you guessing?

[Von Paulus 8]

My experience with smoke, is that there isn't a standard way to quit, and each individual must find what his more appropriate to him.

I try reducing and acupuncture. None of those worked.

Until one day, seven years ago, my ex-wife pick on me because I was smoking too much while watching TV and was making her to smoke at a higher rhythm.

In the middle of the arguing, I said that I would quit smoking at that precise moment and would never get any cigarette again. And I've asked her, that If I being a non smoker, she would also quit smoking because it would certainly annoy me. She said she don't believe that I could quit... I'm a man, my word is my word, and never smoked again since. She too quit smoking 7 months later.

I know there's always the danger of getting it again. And boy, how I wanted this year, after all the stressful things that happened in my life this year, a divorce, the loss of business and my mother's death with cancer. But have been strong and faithful to my word. It's still a fight that I'm battling.

 

Glad to know that things are working with you, Lou.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Von Paulus

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Thanks VP and Creaghorn, mucho appreciato.

 

Creaghorn to your question: I use information on the packaging, independent online calorie counter guides, and product/company websites. I then use the HIGHEST value for each particular item as companies have been known to fudge numbers a bit in order to make their 'low calorie' products even more attractive.

 

"What?! Companies being less than honest about their products?!"

 

Yes, it's a shocker, but it's been known to happen.

 

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[themightysrc 5]

"Si, I wish you all the best in your quest to quit smoking. I did the same myself when I was 20, and even though I'd only been smoking for a year or so it was still gawd-awful stopping. But I've been glad for it ever since."

 

Hi Lou Happy New Year. BTW. I actually gave up and was quite happy with the outcome, and was fearing that I'd be unable to do it this time, but it's proven not to be the case.

 

My pardner went back to work today (she was off sick last week), and I was expecting the nicotine induced tap on the back of the head as I drove her to the tram station - my usual point of weakening - but I'm delighted to say that not only didn't it kick in, but that the usual bored and listless feeling I'd get on returning home (a sure trigger for buying dome papers and tobacco) was eminently ignorable.

 

Looks like it's working. Just as well, for reasons that I might report in a couple of month's time!

 

Cheers,

Si

[Von Paulus 8]

Si, one thing that helped me in the first months, was chewing gum.

Four months later I quit on chewing gum too.

[Javito1986 14]

I know I'm much younger than most of the chaps on this thread but I'll share my .02!

 

I myself lost 25lbs in 2011, through a combinationn of a low-carb high protein diet and P90X workouts. I used LoseIt! The online website to calculate my daily calorie budget and keep track of my overall nutritional intake (x% fat, x% carb, x% protein, etc). I find that very helpful even when you're not on any particular regimen. It keeps you disciplined and allows you to balance your diet accordingly. For example if I know, because I can see it on the chart, that my diet before dinner was, say, 40% carb and only 30% protein I'll know to skip the sourdough and have some chicken instead. Etc.

 

As for P90X, it's nothing special, and yet it is. The reason it works so well is because it doesn't b.s. around with fake solutions, it's just your basic, at its core, lots and lots of hard work and eating well. What really helps is the structure, discipline, and guidance it gives you through the workouts.

 

I for once went through the program a while ago, but still use the workouts a year later. They are fantastic, and I can do them in the floor of my living room. Never could be bothered to pay for gym membership, and I hate getting stared by a bunch of bozos.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Javito1986

[tranquillo 10]

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Good on you Flyby! I am a firm believer in whatever works for the individual, as long as it isn't unhealthy.

 

Update on my progress: I've dropped 9.2 pounds of my 'Christmas ' weight in the first week. I knew a large chunk would fall away fast and I will likely lose another 4 to 5 this week as well. After that however the real fun begins. So far though the 1,200 calories per day and increased exercise and walking is going very, very well.

 

Me so happy.

 

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Lou, I'm impressed. Well done. I've lost 7 pounds this week. If I hadn't been comfort eating during my computer ordeal it may have been more? I haven't cycled so much in a long while. 10 miles a day but I do live near marshland near the sea so it's fairly flat.

[Flyby PC 23]

Just to repeat fellas, with the hypnotist, there were No withdrawals, No cravings, No mental torture. I was a heavy heavy smoker, and it was easy and permanent. It simply flicked a switch in my head, and I was suddenly a non-smoker again. No will power involved.

 

Why torture yourselves fighting against something you want to do? Switch off the 'want' instead. It IS that easy.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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It has been four weeks now since I initiated my 'New Lifestyle', and wanted to give you all an update. It's been going very well, both the change in eating habits and the exercising, and I've dropped over 18 pounds. My desktop wallpaper is serving as excellent inspiration for me each and every morning, and it even sports my first 'award':

 

 

 

 

Tranquillo, I hope your program is going equally well, Sir. I want a run for my money you know.

 

Onward and downdward!

 

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[Olham 164]

Lou, that's a great way of doing it, and that downward curve, and the courageous look of Guynemer must be very inspiring indeed.

Congrats to your first 6 kills - arh - kilograms, Sir!

 

I have also started it this year. Been in the Fitness Studio yesterday (all muscles are aching - didn't know we had so many muscles?)

My food has also changed a lot.

No readymades and fast food; only whole grain dark bread; hardly any sugar; no noodles.

 

It's mostly quite Asian or Japanese.

Yesterday's warm dish was fried Shiitake mushrooms, fried little green peppers, rice with white fish.

The fish was done in alufoil, with parsley, chives, thin cut carrot, thin cut leeks, lemon, ginger, and butter.

 

Breakfast is a bit new to me - no bread

Whole grain oat flakes with milk and yoghurt, banana, apple, nuts and honey.

Eggs only once a week.

 

Started it with 89 kilograms. I'll report, how it goes on.

I wish you and me good success!

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Congratulations, Lou! You are off to a great start. Myself, I have sworn off of cookies and am trying to cut down on ice cream. I have a sneaky feeling I will have to start exercising to actually get any weight to come off, though.

 

Olham--also a nice start. I'm glad you are not cutting out breakfast; I think people have more trouble losing weight when they cut out breakfast than if they instead modify their breakfast diet. Not having bread for breakfast must represent quite a change for you. Keep up the good work!

[tranquillo 10]

Very well done, Lou. I've lost a total of 14 pounds. I had a glitch last week where I didn't lose any but it's back on track again now. I may be overdoing the exercising a little as I'm bulking up more than I wanted. I'll have to cut down on the Katas - the cycling can stay as it is because I'm enjoying it too much

 

Here's my "poor mans" chart.

 

[Olham 164]

Olham--also a nice start. I'm glad you are not cutting out breakfast; I think people have more trouble

losing weight when they cut out breakfast than if they instead modify their breakfast diet.

Not having bread for breakfast must represent quite a change for you. Keep up the good work!

Thank you, HPW. Not eating is probably the fastest way for slimming, but not so good.

We need enrgy for our everyday works and troubles.

But it is what we eat, that decides. And we know quite well, what's unhealthy.

Usualy all the stuff we are greedy for. Must be insanity...

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

I think you are exactly right--we most crave what is the least healthy for us.

 

I think it must be a byproduct of our evolutionary history--most people did not live long anyway and often went long stretches without eating much of anything. Easier to bulk up on high fat foods that provided quick energy rather than feel like you were starving eating simple nuts and berries!

 

 

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Thank you Olham, I am feeling better with each passing week: more energy and more motivation. And well done Sir on your own program. Giving up the bread items at breakfast though, very tough.

 

Thank you as well, Herr Prop-Wasche. And if giving up bread is hard, giving up cookies and cutting back on ice cream is far tougher. I know, becuase I've done the same. Your point Sir about exercising is spot on, you really need to make that part of the whole program.

 

And thank you Tranquillo, looks like our 'contest' is off to an excellent start. Good going Sir, and not to worry about the occasional flat spot in the chart, that is to be expected during a long term program.

 

 

Keep up the fine efforts everyone!

 

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[Olham 164]

Giving up the bread items at breakfast though, very tough.

The Japanese didn't eat any bread before the Americans brought it to them.

They ate things like Miso soup with tofu, alges and spring onions, fried fish and rice, etc. for breakfast.

They didn't know diabetes and several other diseases before the second world war was over.

So I just switched over for Asian breakfast.

Don't know how long I can keep that up, but so far it's okay.

 

The only bread that would be okay is real full grain bread - like Pumpernickel.

Unfortunately for you, the American bakers add all sorts of stuff that reduces it's healthiness.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpernickel

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Really Olham, you're going to accuse us Americans of using additives in our bread? This from the man who's people made bread with sawdust. The word 'ersatz' comes to mind right about now.

 

Just kidding mein Freund, but you pitched the ball so I had to swing.

 

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