by JLOB 32 Replies latest social physical
I beilive the only true way to gain a heathy body is the old fashion method of eating less and moving more.
Wise words. If people just realised that burning more calories than you consume is the only way to lose weight, the diet companies would go out of business (and there'd be far fewer chronically obese people).
Thanks everyone for your encouraging replies. I am excitied to hear about all of your successes. I will update this posting this upcoming weekend. I want to tell everyone how I did it.
Everyone keep the faith in yourself.
Way to go Ex Fatman, I used to know what it was like able to run a marathon.(boo hoo) can't do it anymore.
How I lost my 80 pounds....
I began by knowing myself and really knowing my strengths and weakneses. I did not set out to "Lose weight" at all. I set out to improve my life style so that I could live a healthy one. I wanted to learn new behaviors so I could become healthier.
I started in Feburary of 2002 at that time I weighed 280 pounds and had a 42 inch waist. I focused on reducing my fat intake. I did not worry about Carbs and I did not count calories. I change what I ate and how I ate it. I began to eat 5 to 6 times a day. I taught myself to graze and not to eat meals. I stop eating after 6:00 PM. Everything I eat is low in fat. My daily goal was not to eat more than 10 grams of fat a day. By April (after 3 months) I had totally changed my eating habits and lost 30 pounds. I dropped to 250 pounds without excercising at all. The 30 pounds I lost came off because the change in my eating habits and incorporating low fat foods.
In April I began to excercise. I enjoyed running in the past so I took up running again. When I started running I was not very good at it and could not run very far. I kept with it though and stayed true to myself. By July I had lost over 50 pounds and my running had gottten to a point where I was really enjoying it. In July I joined a marathon training club and begain training for a marathon. To date I lost over 80 pounds and 10 inches on my waist. Next Sunday January 19th 2003 I will be participating in a marathon in which I will complete in less than 4 hours. I am a totally diferent person than who I was a year ago.
I said you have to know yourself. Along the way I did make it a point to have cheat days where I could eat whatever I wanted and not worry about the fat grams. The once a week cheat day allowed me to enjoy the foods I knew I could not live without thusly taking away any temptations for my weaknesses.
The key to anything we set out to accomplish is are own behavior. By modifying my eating and excersise behaviors I have become a healthy 36 year old. My conitued behavior will keep me healthy. No product, diet, program, pill or other crazy weight loss scheme can modify your behavior. Only you can do that. To be successful in weight managment you must begin and end with your behavior. Once your behavior is is place counting calories, carbs, or fat grams is easy. Do not pay anyone to help you lose weight. Once you really want to change you will. Your behavoir always follows your heart.
Before After
JLOB:
In order for your pics to show up you have to place them on a website- we can't see them from your hard drive. If you email them to me, I'll post them for you. You have my email addy.
XW
Yes..please send them to Xena...I would love to see them. Great post!! You should start a new thread with your last post...that way more people will see it and benifit from your great advice. Let us know how the marathon goes...I'll be rooting for you!(even though your already a winner)
Edited by - rubytuesday on 11 January 2003 23:16:50
Xenawarriorprinces was kind enough to post the pictures.
Check her posting dated 1-14-03 in the friends forum.
I'll let everyone know how I do on the marathon this weekend after I run it.
JLOB-first major congratulations on your weight loss. I was wondering if you could talk a little more about getting into running, and any tips you might have. I have never been a runner. At different time in my life when I exercised I mostly walked and did aerobics(so boring). But I was thinking to myself that maybe I should set a goal for myself, like being in a marathon, as a way to keep me on track with my workouts. What do you think?
Meadow77
I would suggest that you begin by knowing yourself and staying within your own abilities. Do not try to do to much. You should never compare your efforts to anyone else. You should compare your efforts to your own personal goals.
I would start by setting realistic goals that you know you can achieve. Choose goals that are somewhat challenging but mainly achievable and fun. You should have fun with your excercising. If you enjoy running/walking then you will want to do more of it. The key at the begining is stay consistant with your excercising and do not push yourself too hard. Set a schedule and try to develop a routine. You want to practice your set routine for at least 30 days. Once you follow the same routine (ie run/walk 3 days a week, Monday-Wensday-Saturday) for 30 days it will become a habit. Once it becomes a habit you can begin to challenge yourself to do more.
As you learn to have fun excercising and begin to routinly raise your expectations as you get better at it, you will be on track to set reasonable acheivable goals like running a marathon. I would not set out to run a marathon until I know my behavior and enjoyment could support the effort. If you begin to run at a pace and a distant that is fun for you and really get into running I would suggest signing up with a marathon training group. Marathon groups have people with all types of running ablities, they are not for profesional or advance runners. Just about every major city has several marathon training gruops that anyone can join. What is good about joining a group is that you will meet other people that share the same abilities as you and have the same goal. When I decieded to run the marathon I Joined a group here in my hometown of Houston. The group I joined is called USA FIT. You can find them on the internet. There are other groups besides USA FIT that can help you prepare for a marathon.
Excercise can be alot of fun it done for the right reasons and if you stay within your abilities. Excecise can be tuff and short lived if you try to do too much to fast. Life is long, you have plenty of time to get your excecise habits in order. You want to chage your behavior to last the rest of your life, not just learn to run a marathon and be done with it.
I beilive in you and know you can achieve anything you set your mind and hart to. Take your time, have fun and good luck.
I'll be waiting to hear your story next.
JLOB-Thank You so much. That was such a sweet and kind post. I have started working out again and will take your suggestions to heart. Thank You and congrats again.
