HalFitness

Meanwhile, I'm officially down below 230 lbs. Down to 228 lbs. I've gotten used to intermittent fasting. I miss my morning smoothies, but it also gives me a little more time in the morning. Maybe for more yoga, or getting lunch ready, that sort of thing.

I also started checking out the recipes on the DDP Yoga app. I made a dill cucumber salad the other day. It was okay, but I think I put too much garlic in it. Also made roasted chickpeas last night. They turned out okay, but not as crunchy as I read they're supposed to be, so call it a work in progress.

I find I'm just not as hungry these days. I don't get cravings as much anymore, and if I do, I can manage to ignore it or find a healthier alternative.

Today, I decided to go for a walk and did a little exploring. I knew there was a walking trail on Albro Lake just up the street, but I never looked into it. So, I walked the entirety of it today, for about 45 minutes. I'll probably go walking on the trail again sometime, because it was much more pleasant than using the sidewalk and crossing busy streets.
 
So here's an interesting perspective. I just biked to and from the pet store to get Ruff & Tuff more food and litter. About a 10 km round trip.

I lugged the 26.45 pound bag of litte home in my backpack. It was grueling as an added weight or resistance, but I made it.

As of today, I'm down to 225 pounds, down from 250.

So I basically biked home with close to the equivalent of what I've lost so far. Obviously, my weight would've been more evenly distributed, but still.
 
So here's an interesting perspective. I just biked to and from the pet store to get Ruff & Tuff more food and litter. About a 10 km round trip.

I lugged the 26.45 pound bag of litte home in my backpack. It was grueling as an added weight or resistance, but I made it.

As of today, I'm down to 225 pounds, down from 250.

So I basically biked home with close to the equivalent of what I've lost so far. Obviously, my weight would've been more evenly distributed, but still.
The next time you go shopping, try this experiment:
1) Pick up a hand basket
2) Put 3 bags of flour into it
3) Carry it around for the next 15 minutes while you push your cart. Don't put the basket down, not even for a second.
4) Go put the flour back
5) Notice the difference
5) Realize that's what you were doing up until now, realize how much of a difference it makes, get big silly grin on face.
--Patrick
 

GasBandit

Staff member
They sell butter/margarine by the pound, or 3 pounds, or sometimes even 5 pounds.

When I was losing weight, being at the grocery store, I would use the size and bulkiness of them to viscerally illustrate to myself how much weight I'd lost. It was a powerful reinforcement.
 
I know this is probably a terrible, terrible message to put here, and all that, but I've been really struggling for a while - partially because of antidepressants but also just drinking and snacking too much. I was up to about 90 kgs (~200lbs).
Die to recent stress with my wife's move from long-term sickness to invalid, my own job being on the brink of being lost, bike being stolen etc, I've started smoking again after about a year of nothing. In three weeks I'm down to 85.9kgs (~190 lbs).
Now, I know smoking is a terrible habit and I feel guilty and bad for doing it... But on the other hand, finally breaking the rising trend and going back down does feel kind of good. I just don't want it this way, but exercise and dieting didn't change much and this is having a pretty big impact.
 
I know this is probably a terrible, terrible message to put here, and all that, but I've been really struggling for a while - partially because of antidepressants but also just drinking and snacking too much. I was up to about 90 kgs (~200lbs).
Die to recent stress with my wife's move from long-term sickness to invalid, my own job being on the brink of being lost, bike being stolen etc, I've started smoking again after about a year of nothing. In three weeks I'm down to 85.9kgs (~190 lbs).
Now, I know smoking is a terrible habit and I feel guilty and bad for doing it... But on the other hand, finally breaking the rising trend and going back down does feel kind of good. I just don't want it this way, but exercise and dieting didn't change much and this is having a pretty big impact.
I don't think there's anything wrong with posting less than healthy changes in here, too. I've done it before, so I'd be a hypocrite telling you not to.

I'm sorry you're going through this, man.
 
Stress is a motherfucker. It can cause so many things to go wrong in your body and your mind. I've seen its devastating effects first-hand.

Now, smoking is by no means healthy and it's not a sustainable plan to lose weight or whatever.

But I, for one, will not judge you for indulging in one bad habit if it lowers your stress levels. You've quit before (a whole year, too, bravo, that's incrediby hard to do), you can do it again. You're strong enough, we have empirical evidence of that.

A day will come when you won't need those cigarettes to help you cope. And on that day, we'll be here to celebrate with you. And until that day comes, we'll be here to cheer you on.

And that's not just you. Everybody here who's struggling and busting their ass, and improving. Nick, Tin, mike, Pat, everybody:

I'm proud of you. You rock.
 
I wish I could find it, but I remember reading somewhere that mood lift via exercising for weight loss was less about "burning off all the extra food" and more about convincing your body that you had just accomplished something worthwhile, giving you overall more of a "There, see? I did it" feeling.

--Patrick
 
I think my scale (Fitbit Aria 2) glitched or something because there's no way I'm down almost 2 pounds since yesterday morning.

IF it's true (and it'll probably fluctuate again), it means I'm down 30 pounds since January.

Screenshot_20240711_071634.jpg
 
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Congrats on the 30 pounds :)

As someone who's been weighing himself daily for about 4 years now - a 1.5 pound change on a day isn't that abnormal and perfectly possible. Obviously you didn't suddenly lose more than a pound of fat (sorry) but between dehydration, a good bowel movement, and whatever mine easily fluctuates that much - yours is actually far more stable than mine judging by that last week.
Before I adapted my bedding and pillow, I easily lost over 3 pounds a night (weighing evening/morning for comparison, with nothing but sleep in between) simply from sweating.
 
Congrats on the 30 pounds :)

As someone who's been weighing himself daily for about 4 years now - a 1.5 pound change on a day isn't that abnormal and perfectly possible. Obviously you didn't suddenly lose more than a pound of fat (sorry) but between dehydration, a good bowel movement, and whatever mine easily fluctuates that much - yours is actually far more stable than mine judging by that last week.
Before I adapted my bedding and pillow, I easily lost over 3 pounds a night (weighing evening/morning for comparison, with nothing but sleep in between) simply from sweating.
Here's the 6-month scale. The drop off really started in May, when I began intermittent fasting and tracking calories. I'd already started back on DDP Yoga a month or two before that.

Screenshot_20240711_090025_Lose It!.jpg
 
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This is the last 4 years (weekly averages - kilograms, sorry I'm European)

And here's the daily values:

1720700383655.png


The strong upward movement really started when I started antidepressants; the slight bump back down last few weeks is when I started smoking again :confused: Some of the other big jumps are vacation periods where I wasn't tracking or just not watching my intake :-D
 
View attachment 48807

This is the last 4 years (weekly averages - kilograms, sorry I'm European)

And here's the daily values:

View attachment 48808

The strong upward movement really started when I started antidepressants; the slight bump back down last few weeks is when I started smoking again :confused: Some of the other big jumps are vacation periods where I wasn't tracking or just not watching my intake :-D
Heh, technically, I SHOULD be measuring in kilograms, too, since I'm Canadian. But most Canuckleheads still use pounds when talking about our weight. I don't know why.
 
I just did an hour of DDP Yoga. 10 minute Wake Up, 40 minute Below the Belt, and 10 minute Red Hot Core.

Phew!

I'm also slightly up in weight, which I expected, BUT my fat percentage is starting to dip now, instead. Which I know also fluctuates, but I'll take it.
 
Well, today I went to my first no-gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu class in... 7-8 years, easy. Ran for 90 minutes, including 40 of rolling with, in my case, a brown belt around my size. Some takeaways:

1. Man, that brown belt is good. Tapped me left, right and centre, but gave real good advice too. Really enjoyed working with him.

2. I DID manage to surprise him a couple of times, once catching him in an arm-bar from back control, and ALMOST getting a North-South choke on him. He swears both instances were legitimate. I am doubtful but I'll take the compliment.

3. Very happy with my cardio/endurance. I was able to go for 40 minutes with only minimal breaks (the few seconds it takes to reset after a tap). And as anyone who's done it can attest, no-gi is way more dynamic than gi. You never really stop moving.

4. Man, spats feel WEIRD at first.

Dunno how regular I'm gonna be, since I like to spend my week-ends with Maryse, y'know, but I definitely want to do that again. Awesome.
 
So, let's see. I did about 40 minutes of DDP Yoga this morning. Then I biked a total of 50 km to Lawrencetown Beach and back (taking the Shearwater Flyer Trail and the Salt Marsh trail for the first time). To be fair, I took a bus part of the way there, but I biked all the way home.

To say I'm now exhausted is an understatement.
 
Me: Lazy, inactive, eating junk, and depressed for the last two days.

Weight and fat percentage: Down we gooooooo!

Me: Nothing makes sense anymore!

Screenshot_20240802_221747.jpg


(I know, the scale isn't always accurate, but the fact it's still trending generally downwards, either for weight or fat percentage, boggles my mind.)
 
I got new sneakers on sale recently. The amount of cushion feels like I have a pair of tiny trampolines on my feet. I took them for their first real test run tonight.

I haven't tried jogging or running in years, but walking hasn't been the workout it was months ago. After running over 5 km in 40 minutes, I'd say I'm back.

Screenshot_20240812_204458.jpg
 
Tonight, in the latest chapter of "I'm trying to get in some semblance of shape", I went to BJJ, as I usually do at least three times a week. Tonight was competition training (I assume Wednesday will be as well), so after a couple of techniques (three types of arm bars from mount), we split the class in two sides, heavyweights and non-heavyweights. and then we did 5 6-minute rounds. Hard rounds. By the final one, I was running on fumes and the only one I hadn't gone against was Hervé, a 230 pounds brown belt.

So I did. I had arms like wet noodles amd nothing left in the tank, I thought I was gonna puke, or pass out, or puke AND pass out, in any order.

In the end, I did none of those, though I did take a minute because I was legit concerned I was gonna barf on him. But aside from that, I did my best to stop his takedowns at least, snarling and grunting all the way.

Made it to the end. Stopped at least SOME of his attacks. Survived. Made him work for every inch.

Guess I'm in some semblance of shape after all.
 
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Went on an inadvertent bulk, and I've spent the summer slooowly dieting down back to around my normal weight. It actually went pretty well! I didn't end up with a six-pack, but I am showing ab-like tendencies. Think I'm going to stop here and spend a couple months at maintenance, then probably see how another bulk and cut goes.
 
Been worried about my weight for a while. And with this shit going on with Hailey now I need something to work towards and keep my mind off of things. So I got into the metabolic program with my Kaiser insurance. 3 options were available. Surgery, medication, and shake diet. Decided to go with the shake diet, as I didn't want to find myself gaining the weight back quickly with bad habits. Something long term like the shake diet is the only way I'm going to get used to not snacking all the time. I also have the problem of not being motivated if I have to figure out my own diet. With this one I'm told exactly what I can eat. No cheating. No snacking. It's just five shakes a day. I can substitute one shake with one of the bars. Eventually I can try the soups. 800 calories/day. 20 weeks.
It feels expensive but it's basically just my food budget anyway.
Day 2 into it though and I gotta say I really want Del Taco.
But I will persevere.
 
No visual confirmation today as I accidentally reset my trip counter.

~62 miles (100 km)

I might have gone further, except I had to deal with 2 flat tires (actually 1 tire flat twice sequentially).
 
I was going to post this in other places like Facebook and Reddit, until I realized my shirt rides up enough to expose my belly. So, feeling kinda self-conscious about that. But screw it, it's a private video, so can only be found via the link.

This is a time lapse of a DDP Yoga workout. Specifically, the 1 hour 8 minute Double Black Diamond workout. The time lapse is every 5 seconds or so. It was exhausting, but I feel great after doing it earlier this safternoon.

 
I was going to post this in other places like Facebook and Reddit, until I realized my shirt rides up enough to expose my belly. So, feeling kinda self-conscious about that. But screw it, it's a private video, so can only be found via the link.

This is a time lapse of a DDP Yoga workout. Specifically, the 1 hour 8 minute Double Black Diamond workout. The time lapse is every 5 seconds or so. It was exhausting, but I feel great after doing it earlier this safternoon.

Looks tough. A lot of static poses. Nice job!

I have been doing some SarahBeth yoga from YouTube. Her work outs are pretty good.
 
About to finish week 5 of my 20 week shake diet. I’ve cheated on occasion which has slowed me down it feels. Getting through a day without acting on my cravings has been a severe challenge for me, especially when I break and have a little something. But I have made some strides. I’ve cut out soda and energy drinks. I’d say 100% but I had some on Saturday during our big Twilight Imperium game night that only happens every few months.
In these five weeks I’ve lost about 30lbs. Though my loss has now slowed down it has still been very positive for my outlook lately. I’m back to a weight I was at a few years ago, but still about 60 lbs from my goal. Work has kept me from going to the gym as frequently as I’d like but I still get out to walk every day.
long way to go but I’ve at least started the journey.
 
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