The BLF Get-in-Shape Thread: (formerly, "A Newer, Thinner Rusty" Thread)....

I have an IRL friend who had a GB surgery. It went really well for him. It was the usual: he looked like death for a few weeks, losing weight the whole time, then continued to lose weight (and look better) until he got way down. He probably went from ‘morbidly obese’ down to middling ‘overweight’ or something along those lines. Maybe dropped 140lb. I think he and I both knew that if he had had the discipline he could have done that on his own, but he didn’t - it is what it is. Anyway he was and is happy with the outcome and for years he was the talk at parties. It felt great to hear people say how much better he looked & etc. I still feel proud of him when I think about it or the subject comes up. He was unrecognizable to the point where sometimes I’d get confused, and I saw him daily. People who knew him but saw him less often often did not recognize him at all.

So I know exactly how great it is to show up and be a whole new person. When surgery is involved like a GB or lap band people find it possible to dismiss the weight loss after a while. They are still impressed, but they can get over it eventually. I can see how doing this all on your own would just blow people’s minds and leave them staggering for hours. Even with the awkwardness that brings, I know that had to be great.

Actually I think that's great, and definitely something I'm looking forward to, in terms of having less of a tolerance to alcohol. It definitely would help my wallet if nothing else to be able to be pleasantly buzzed from just 1-2 drinks instead of 8 to 12. It's also shocking how many calories I've ended up consuming that way... probably ~1500-2000 calories just from booze, not to mention any junk snack food.

Have you tried intermittent fasting, as part of the OMAD routine, basically taking a day or two off altogether from food, during the week?

Reason I'm asking is I'm doing a short fast (today is day four, water only since tuesday) plan to end it saturday or monday, depending on how I feel, and after will be giving OMAD another shot, but I'm tempted to try introducing one or two days off completely without food. At it turns out while I have damn near zero self control when it comes to snacking, skipping food altogether, especially for just a day, is quite easy.

This time around, I hadn’t done any total fasting, but I have many years ago. Doing so occasionally does seem to jump-start weight loss, although the best way is either OMAD or bi-OMAD (yes, you can also have a day of grazing followed by a day of total fasting—followed by another day of eating, etc). But this, IMO, is not as satisfying as the standard OMAD I do. Then again, the big factor everyone who has done it can agree on is that it takes actually less self-control than the moderating business.

That said, I enjoyed two big home-cooked meals today, followed by a killer pushup routine and cardio workout. As I’m sitting up tracking a storm and watching TV, I’m relishing the new exercise mats mom got me. They got their first use tonight!

That's the main thing... self control. I found it incredibly easy to skip one day of eating altogether. Ended my fast yesterday, with some chicken and rice because of a family dinner, but still running a calorie deficit of at least 6000 calories for the week. Feel fantastic today :D

Exercise is going to be the next big step. For now my goal is to start off with just an hour to two of walking every other day (or everyday weather permitting) and go from there.

Edit: An interesting side effect of the fast, the chicken and rice tasted way too salty, meanwhile fruits taste incredible.

Weekly Report - 7th week on Rusty's plan:

I lost 2 pounds again this week bringing my total weight loss under this plan to 31 lbs (Weight 264 this morning). I think this will be my last weekly report. I'll update when I hit my target range. I'd like to thank Rusty one more time for providing me knowledge and inspiration needed to get on track to a healthier weight and life style.

Speaking as a son who lost his father at an early age due to health issues because of his size, I must say that you have done a fantastic job and i hope you have a long happy health life with your family.

Take care and God Bless you and your family.

I’m still on the program too…I need to start measuring my weight losses as well

And yes…I need to exercise as well

Down 14lb since starting in earnest as of the 9th. Still working out the kinks, but it's nice to see the change on the scale.

Biggest thing I'm having difficulty with is sticking to only water in between meals... keep cheating with drinking 2-3 cups of coffee, with cream and sugar, or a cup of juice during the day.

Try making that water with crushed ice…ice water smoothy! :party:

Want the best way? If you want the BEST cardio, nothing beats it…

Get your ipod and go to audible.com and download any audio book you’ve been wanting and put on your headphones and walk at a good pace for at least one hour. Don’t measure distance, just time. One full hour of constant, consistent walking. It only takes one hour of your day and you learn something. Do that at least 3 times a week. Of course, music like that is great, too.

Just joined audible, figure I'll give it a shot... listening to music while walking is great, but it's starting to get annoying to hear the same things often.

recommendation on books/site for these audio books sir?

And thanks! I need to get off my duff…I am so stagnant…I work in a cubicle…get home, go to sleep, get up…get on the computer…lather rinse repeat…uggh

I work nights so my days are literally flipped upside down…while I am working everyone is sleeping, while I am sleeping everyone is working…bleh

Good job Rusty!

What you said about how it’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you are ready is true. Once you have the will to change, it’s pretty easy. It’s much harder to eat right or exercise when you have no real motivation to change.

A lot of times it takes a drastic event to make someone change their life. A heart attack, mid-life crisis, getting arrested etc. The reason they refer to it as a “wake up call” is because it wakes you up from a dream like state where you have no reference of time or self awareness.

I was married for 12 years and I didn’t realize how unhappy I was until a couple of months ago when I decided I wanted a divorce. Within two weeks, I started feeling like my old self. It’s been about two months and I’ve lost weight, quit smoking, exercise more and eat better. I’m sleeping better and feel better overall. Sometimes I’m a bit lonely but that’s a small price to pay for all the freedom and benefits. I’ll never marry again and prob won’t even let a women move in ever again.

Thanks. And way to go on moving on. Been there, done that. Gotta keep moving forward; it’s either that or backward. No third direction.

In lieu of walking 1 hr session, have you considered 1 minute session of High-intensity Interval Training?

High-Intensity Training

A lot yes. I'm very lazy so the less time I have to spend doing things I don't really like the better.

I've been doing a bit of reading on the subject, and there is a ton of evidence that supports the benefits of shorter high intensity exercise over longer, low impact less stressful activities.

The key factor to consider though, is that the people used for these studies are usually "healthy" to begin with. Speaking for myself, at least with regard to cardiac health, and strength, I'm definitely not "healthy".

Still, on my walks I've been trying to work in a faster pace, building to a jog, and flat out running, 1-2 times for very short times. Not really intentionally, just felt like it.

As I lose more weight I'm hoping to be able to do more intense exercises. Would be nice to be able to burn off a larger amount of calories faster. Walking at 3-3.5mph according to the calculators I can only burn 400-500 calories. Jogging at a moderate pace (5pmh) that number shoots up to over 1000 calories, and goes up from there with speed.

It's been years since I've gotten on a bike, but that is definitely something I'm considering. It would be nice to be able to cover more of the parks quickly.

It's also getting kind of hot outside, so I'm tempted to join a gym, but that's also not really a budget friendly option.

All in all walking is the most pleasant and safest exercise. With walking often you even have time to contemplate becoming a philosopher! The one good advice I got was to swing the arms whenever you feel doing more.

Congratulations, well done

So it took me 6 days longer then I planned.

3 birthday (including steak dinners and heavy drinking parties), becoming an uncle (and four crazy days helping out), camping, July 4th bbq, and two other parties set me back a lot.

Started at somewhere between 300-310lb, and happy to say, 66 days in I'm down 31lb, showing 268.8lb on the scale this morning.

Definitely also a bit healthier. Where at the start I was dying after an hour of walking 3-3.5mph, I'm now able to do 4mph, on an incline, and recover much faster.

The new smaller diet, and consistency in going to the gym are still very very hard. I tried sticking to one meal a day, and very consistent hours when I eat, but can't really do it. What I can do is eat two smaller meals, really watch closely what/how much I eat, and stick to two meal windows. Occasionally also skipping a meal. I also tried intermittent fasting, and still do it, but not on a regular basis. The reason being is, if I don't eat anything, I notice myself having a much much harder time working out. Even 500-800 calories is enough to leave me with energy though.

Hoping to hit between 260lb by Labor day, 250 by mid September, start weight training after that and get to 200-220 by new years.