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

Thanks for the updates. I’ve been watching this thread with great interest. Best of luck to you brave people.

I went off 5 prescriptions since and my joints hurt less and I use about 2/3 insulin on my pump you did it natraul which is. much much harder congrats to you as well sir,the only problem none of my clothes fit me anymore lol let me see at my work I was 282 and 5’8” now 215

Glad to see things are progressing well for you guys! 62lb in just 6 months is pretty crazy, and it's always nice to be able to ease off meds.

OMAD is definitely not the only option but it's a good one for lots of people simply because it's easy to follow. Personally I tend to limit myself to a very small breakfast (veggie powder, protein powder, two fish oil tablets, multivitamin) and sometimes a yogurt or pudding in the morning, and then a big dinner.

My goal is to hit ~120lb lost by end of summer, and to be able to run a 5k. Went for a very casual park hike yesterday, as it turned out the hike was 18 miles when I traced my route later at night. My legs are kind of sore, but nothing terrible. Don't think I would have been able to come close to doing that a year ago.

So glad to hear that a number of you are seeing improvements. Quality of life means everything, but it's sometimes hard to face that once you get in a place in life where you lose that optimum health, it is (to some degree at least) impossible to get it back.

Spending time around these young hiring managers has shown me that my weathered, saggy skin can still be seen, which translates to not aging well. These younger generations see it (it is TOUGH to get a job after 40!). Like myth presents Jacob who wrestled with the angel and won, but was given a limp that followed him for the rest of his days, being super-heavy leaves behind traces of its own. It has been hard for me to accept that.

I may be able to whip the crap out of most of these youngins' - or outlast them in a race, whichever I need to do - but the changes that are left behind after a sizable weight loss are there to stay. lol

The moral of this post is: DON'T LET YOURSELF GO TOO BADLY!

That part I'm actually dreading - the loose skin. Already I'm seeing some, and I know that when I get down to my goal weigh (185lb hopefully by my birthday in november) I'll have a lot more of it. Might have to get surgery, but I'm nowhere near there yet.

My story just made it on Real Bodies Real Results.

Congratulations Rusty, I hope you keep at it and don’t let complacency creep in over time. People who lose a good deal of weight often relax the fight once they don’t have that reward of watching the weight come off and sink back in to old habits. They not only regain the weight they lost, they gain even more.
People who are young or who have never been on a diet before often find it’s easy to shed pounds. As our bodies age, and especially for those of us who’ve battled the fat monster for years, we have a much harder time. Dieting and aging both metabolically change your body and it becomes harder to convince your body to burn those fat reserves it has built up.
Keep up the good work buddy!

I wanted to be the first to congratulate you ,great job could you post a link going to it please?

Good to hear your “effort” is recognized. Congratulations. :beer:

Big time props for this statement:

"Life is a cycle, a cycle of empty and full, happy and sad, building and tearing down, etc. Make peace with the cycle and you will have peace within yourself, which means peace with what and how you eat. This will give you a new body, and in a way, a new mind."

That, I'm sure, is what I needed to get back on track with OMAD full time.

That's fantastic congratulations! Didn't realize it before, but we actually used to wear the same size pants :D

Congratulations Rusty
and thanks for sharing with us, you are an inspiration.

Great job Rusty Joe.

Finally hit my original goal of 220lb on friday. Decided to celebrate by simulating the bike and run portion of a triathlon at the gym saturday.

Did 56 miles by standing bike, and 13.3 by foot, in about 6 - 6.5 hours. Not a great time apparently, especially without the swim part, but I don't think I would have been able to do even a third of it a year ago.

Nice. You'll find it is easy to beat yourself up on not doing as well as you'd like in something; it's not always easy to maintain status staying active, but it's even harder to work ahead and improve scores and whatnot. I have good and bad days on my runs. It's just a part of life. You're way ahead of so many and way, waaay ahead of where you were. You have to remember that.

Did you really do 6+ hours?! Just you did that is a great time!

Thank you! :D

I put notes on my phone as I finished each part.

23 miles, 61 minutes, by bike, level 13-14/20. 5 minute break.

3 miles, 40 minutes, by elliptical set to max 20 incline, level 5-10 variable. 2 minute break.

4.25 miles, 25 minutes, stride elliptical, 26 stride, level 5-10. 3 minute break.

11 miles, 30 minutes, by bike. 2 minute break.

11 miles, 32 minutes, by bike. 5 minute break.

11 miles, 31 minutes by bike. 45 minute break.

6 miles, 95 minutes.

376 minutes total. Heart rate 140-160bpm throughout, highest peak of 187 on the incline elliptical.

Not sure I could have done it without the breaks. I just walked, used the bathroom on two, and stretched. For the long break, gym was closing at 5, so I drove home, changed, chugged a vegetable & protein shake, and drove to the park to finish up. There is a small lake by where I live with a path that's exactly .75 miles, so I did 8 laps there for the last 6 miles.

I wasn't nearly as sore the next day as I expected to be, actually, just felt very tired (still do today and all I did since was 3 miles on sunday and half hour on the bike yesterday). I think it was doing the last 6 miles mostly walking that kind of saved me. When I got home to change for the longer break my legs, the muscles were really hurting, even just lying down for a minute doing nothing. Pretty sure if I hadn't kept going I would have been very very sore.

Much congrats!

@InfinitusEquitas,

Your detailed account makes it very impressive!
You deserve patting yourself on the back!
Wonder what you can do next year.

Thank you :D

Now that I hit my original goal of 220lb, my new goal is 10% body fat, and while I've been focusing exclusive on cardio for the past year, once I hit 200lb, I want to shit focus to building some muscle. I'm not super weak but I never really did any kind of muscle building exercises, so I want to change that.

I don't think I will do anything like that simulated duathlon anytime soon though. It's been three days, and today is the first day I'm starting to feel more or less normal again. Going to try to shoot for more consistency instead, minimum of 30 minutes of exercise everyday, but shooting for 60-90 minutes per day.