The DIS Dad's Club Group W.I.S.H. Journal

[AJRitz]

I'm really enjoying that FatSecret App AJRitz told me about yesterday. It tracks (and has in it) just about everything. You can also set your Recommended Daily Intake, adjusted for your body type and activity level, and you can adjust it for how much you want to lose. It sounds a lot like the livestrong "Daily Plate" feature but you can take it with you on your iPhone, iTouch, or iPad. Oh yeah, and it's free.

Hey - thanks for the head's up on the ability to edit your Recommended Daily Intake, based on age, activity level, etc. I had totally missed that feature. I thought that 2000 calories seemed rather severe for someone my size with my goals. A ran the RDI calculator and I'm now working with a much more reasonable 2800 calorie/day ceiling.

 

[stopher1]

Ok, so I have yet to start upping my exercise, but once DW gets home on Saturday evening I fully intend to do so. Since we homeschool our two younger kids, I've basically been filling in as teacher, in addtion to doing my own work. I've been up late, getting my work done since I'm spending a good part of my mornings and afternoons making sure the work is getting done, answering questions, yada yada yada. But I have started cutting back my portions, and skipped the ice cream last night.

 

[Rental01]

Hey - thanks for the head's up on the ability to edit your Recommended Daily Intake, based on age, activity level, etc. I had totally missed that feature. I thought that 2000 calories seemed rather severe for someone my size with my goals. A ran the RDI calculator and I'm now working with a much more reasonable 2800 calorie/day ceiling.

Welcome to the 2,800 calorie club!

*air five*

 

[AJRitz]

Woo hoo! Three pieces of Papa Murphy's Cheese pizza and I've still got a couple hundred calories I could use for a snack after working out tonight if I want.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

I’d like to join in this little reindeer game. I need some type of motivation to get started on this nasty weight loss business and having to fess up to my extravagances here might just be a viable method. So… Here goes:

Current weight: 230ish (And standing only about 5’7”ish in my stocking feet, that catapults me into the ranks of the seriously pudgy).

Body fat: Way, way too much (Didn’t I already admit that?)

Desired weight: Desired, or obtainable? Hummmm… I’ll start with something realistic and say I’m shooting for anything under 200. If I get there, then I might consider discussing the absurd numbers listed as “acceptable weight” for my build.

Exercise routine: At the moment, nothing regular. Obviously that’s the first thing that has to change. Our neighborhood has a fine walking trail and I need to get out there and us it. After I build up a bit of stamina, I'll start adding more aggressive tactics. Obviously without serious physical exertion, I’ll get nowhere.

Eating habits: This is (as many of you have already noted) my greatest downfall. I know what needs to be done, but I also know I’m not going to like it. Portion control will be paramount and has already begun. On the up side, I long ago licked the soda problem by switching to tea (imagine that, a southerner liking iced tea), but unlike most folks down this way, I drink it without any type of sweetener. (I am however partial to a rather strong type of ginger-ale unique to these parts as a reward, but that will have to stop). The real trick will be, adding more filling (vegetarian) things and cutting out as much of the sweets as possible (did I mention that my DW is a baker and a damn good one at that… Sigh…).

What I want to accomplish: I knew at some point, I’d have to get control of the weight and as I’m approaching 50 very quickly, I need to get started before I begin to have related health problems that I will not have the monetary resources to deal with. Surprisingly, I have always had a below average B/P and my cholesterol levels are also oddly low for someone my size and age. That said, most of the extra “Me-nesss” is sitting squarely about my waist line, and I know that I’m adding unneeded stress to all my organs. I think that mostly, it’s just time to get up off my creaky old butt and get busy. So I’m counting on y’all to help crack the whip. (Ouch! Not so hard!! )

 

[Rental01]

Activity report for 9/16/10:

Ow... my body really hurts. Wii Fit said I only burned off 349 calories in the last hour but I know it has to be more. Then again, it's only counting the things I complete in a single run. It doesn't count the five times it thinks I "jumped off" the skateboard or accidentally was bounced to my death on the obstacle course.

My shins are KILLING ME!

But I've lost 3 lbs in the last 3 days. And I have 20 calories left for the day!

Eating report: See above. I've kept it in the limits for the day. Woohoo!

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Desired weight: Desired, or obtainable? Hummmm… I’ll start with something realistic and say I’m shooting for anything under 200. If I get there, then I might consider discussing the absurd numbers listed as “acceptable weight” for my build.

You'd be surprised at what your body can actually do. When I was pushing 250, I looked at some of those BMI tables that said I should be 170 for my ideal weight and laughed. I thought I would be nothing but skin and bones even at 210. At about 230, I realized that I was feeling better and, yeah, I can see where an extra 40 or so pounds could come off. Now that I'm 210(ish), I totally see that its reachable. (I never said easy, I said reachable.)

 

[tutter99]

Ok, so I have yet to start upping my exercise, but once DW gets home on Saturday evening I fully intend to do so. Since we homeschool our two younger kids, I've basically been filling in as teacher, in addtion to doing my own work. I've been up late, getting my work done since I'm spending a good part of my mornings and afternoons making sure the work is getting done, answering questions, yada yada yada. But I have started cutting back my portions, and skipped the ice cream last night.

Check out Blue Bunny ice cream if you have it in your area. They have a no sugar added /reduced fat version in quite a few flavors that are really good. They are only about 120 calories in a 1/2 cup and 5 grams of fat. The banana split one is amazing. It's still not an everyday thing but its good for a reward without totally wiping out hard work.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Activity report for 9/16/10:

Ow... my body really hurts. Wii Fit said I only burned off 349 calories in the last hour but I know it has to be more. Then again, it's only counting the things I complete in a single run. It doesn't count the five times it thinks I "jumped off" the skateboard or accidentally was bounced to my death on the obstacle course.

My shins are KILLING ME!

But I've lost 3 lbs in the last 3 days. And I have 20 calories left for the day!

Eating report: See above. I've kept it in the limits for the day. Woohoo!

Nice job.

Just remember everyone - losing the first 10% or so of your body weight is fairly easy. After that, you body will go into preservation mode and it gets a lot harder to keep losing (unless you're Lions Fan, then losing just comes naturally. But I digress...) This is when it's easiest to get discouraged and quit your routines. Stick to it! It may take a week or two or three, but you will start losing weight again.
Most experts agree that to have the best chance of success at loosing weight and keeping it off, try to lose no more than 2 pounds per week.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Check out Blue Bunny ice cream if you have it in your area. They have a no sugar added /reduced fat version in quite a few flavors that are really good. They are only about 120 calories in a 1/2 cup and 5 grams of fat. The banana split one is amazing. It's still not an everyday thing but its good for a reward without totally wiping out hard work.

I believe Edy's has some nice low fat/low cal ice cream. Also check out frozen yogurt. A scoop of that with some skim milk and fresh strawberries (or bananas, blueberries, whatever) in the blender makes a nice treat without breaking the calorie bank.

 

[stopher1]

I believe Edy's has some nice low fat/low cal ice cream. Also check out frozen yogurt. A scoop of that with some skim milk and fresh strawberries (or bananas, blueberries, whatever) in the blender makes a nice treat without breaking the calorie bank.

All of those things are worth a look. I don't want to give it up entirely, but perhaps that's just the selfish side of me coming out, the same selfish side that's said all along that it's okay to enjoy such things, practically daily. And 2nd helpings are okay too.

Tonight as I dished some for the kids, I wanted some, but passed. My DD looked at only 3 bowls and said, "aren't you having some daddy?" And I just smiled and said, "not tonight sweetpea". Now if I can just keep up the "not tonight" for the next 2.5 weeks, it will make it so much easier on my birthday. I turn 40 this year, and I've been thinking about that day for many months now... not so much for anything but, I really want to be thinner in my 40's than I've been throughout my 30's.

 

[tutter99]

Thought I'd share this with you guys, my lifelong best friend was in the same situation as a lot of us. Two years ago his wife got hurt while training for a charity 10k run. He decided to take her place and got hooked, 18 months later he ran his first marathon (26.2 miles) in just over 5 hours. He has lost about 50 pounds along the way and is at a point where he can eat just about anything because he knows he can run it off. He has one of the most inspiring quotes I've read on his Facebook page:

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
-John Bingham, running speaker and writer

To all the dads starting this journey.........

 

[stopher1]

Thought I'd share this with you guys, my lifelong best friend was in the same situation as a lot of us. Two years ago his wife got hurt while training for a charity 10k run. He decided to take her place and got hooked, 18 months later he ran his first marathon (26.2 miles) in just over 5 hours. He has lost about 50 pounds along the way and is at a point where he can eat just about anything because he knows he can run it off. He has one of the most inspiring quotes I've read on his Facebook page:

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
-John Bingham, running speaker and writer

To all the dads starting this journey.........

This is something very similar to a story our Scoutmaster shared with me not too long ago. Not about him personally, but rather about his wife. He's never struggled with his weight, but she has. He shared with me all about the Couch to 5K program, which she started up and has so far lost 22 pounds. Her goal is to run in the Mini here in Indy next spring. He has asked me to start running with him, not for his sake, but mine. So far our schedules haven't meshed, but I do intend to do it myself, and if the time works out, to go along with him as a buddy. That's been my biggest de-motivator though... not having a companion to do it with. I remember those days way back when in HS, and how much easier the Cross Country and track workouts were when I did it WITH someone else.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

You'd be surprised at what your body can actually do. When I was pushing 250, I looked at some of those BMI tables that said I should be 170 for my ideal weight and laughed. I thought I would be nothing but skin and bones even at 210. At about 230, I realized that I was feeling better and, yeah, I can see where an extra 40 or so pounds could come off. Now that I'm 210(ish), I totally see that its reachable. (I never said easy, I said reachable.)

Good observation. Oh, and thanks for sharing your experiences. I think that’s exactly the kind of encouragement that some of us are really going to need (especially a few weeks from now).

Well I said I’d do it and at least I’ve gotten started. I survived the day without any sweets or extra snacks and stuck to sensible portions for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and without going back for seconds, which given what we were having for dinner, was really tough). I also got my rump up and out of the computer chair long enough to check out the neighborhood walking trail. According to the pedometer built into my cell phone, one lap from the house up to the front pond and back is 1.8 miles across rolling terrain. I covered this at a fairly brisk pace in about twenty minutes (I’ll add a bit more to the hike each day as my stamina starts building up, or at least that’s the plan). None of this is particularly amazing, but you got to start somewhere (and not over do right out of the box). Now lets see if I can keep it up longer then a week or two.

 

[Rental01]

Nice job.

Just remember everyone - losing the first 10% or so of your body weight is fairly easy. After that, you body will go into preservation mode and it gets a lot harder to keep losing (unless you're Lions Fan, then losing just comes naturally. But I digress...) This is when it's easiest to get discouraged and quit your routines. Stick to it! It may take a week or two or three, but you will start losing weight again.
Most experts agree that to have the best chance of success at losing weight and keeping it off, try to lose no more than 2 pounds per week.

Yeah - I know. I was just pleased that it kept going down for 3 days. We've done this before - I was down to 220 or so for a while.

 

[Coach81]

Wow! What a wonderful IDEA!!! I'll be checking back when I have more time..

Thanks FrezinRafiki for getting me here!!!

 

[AJRitz]

Another 3.22 miles on the treadmill last night in an hour.

Back on the wagon with a healthier breakfast - oatmeal with raisins and nuts.

I'll be taking a break from the treadmill for the next couple of days. The important part is getting back on it on Sunday night.

 

[tutter99]

This is something very similar to a story our Scoutmaster shared with me not too long ago. Not about him personally, but rather about his wife. He's never struggled with his weight, but she has. He shared with me all about the Couch to 5K program, which she started up and has so far lost 22 pounds. Her goal is to run in the Mini here in Indy next spring. He has asked me to start running with him, not for his sake, but mine. So far our schedules haven't meshed, but I do intend to do it myself, and if the time works out, to go along with him as a buddy. That's been my biggest de-motivator though... not having a companion to do it with. I remember those days way back when in HS, and how much easier the Cross Country and track workouts were when I did it WITH someone else.

I started the C25K thing last December to start to get ready for the Disney race in June, then royally messed up my back in January so that kind of killed it. The only thing about it I found was it is a fairly natural progression from week to week but don't get too hung up on it. I went by the mindset that I am going to keep repeating the same week until I can complete the session and am not gasping for breath, then move onto the next week.

Since we're all dads, so therefore gadgets are a must for anything we do, there is a product that I have to plug. If your doing any walking or running look into a Nike+ (not the shoes just the sensor) It is a cool little sensor that fits inside a holder you strap to the laces of one of your shoes, the other device clips into your Ipod and it records your workouts and keeps track of your time/distance. The next time you sync your Ipod or phone it downloads the data to the Nike site where you can compare it against previous sessions or even challenge other friends to beat your time. There are also a bunch of free coaching programs you can download to help you train. It's only about $30.

 

[afwdwfan]

Wow! What a wonderful IDEA!!! I'll be checking back when I have more time..

Thanks FrezinRafiki for getting me here!!!

Alright, our trainer is here!


Pretty reasonable day again yesterday. Kept the food intake in check... had a snack that wasn't the best choice to make yesterday afternoon, but still managed to keep overall calories within check.
Last night I was working on the farm until 10pm, so still haven't done a workout per se, but I did jog about a half mile instead of walking from my pickup truck to get in a semi.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Wow! What a wonderful IDEA!!! I'll be checking back when I have more time..

Thanks FrezinRafiki for getting me here!!!

I figured that with out a professional in here, we're just a bunch of fat guys talking about food. And we all know how that would work

We leave in 3 hours for a wedding this weekend, but I was able to get the dogs to the dog park this morning - it ended up being about a mile hike though the woods. Now I just have to keep the food in check this weekend. Hopefully, I have all of your voices ringing in my head "One helping is enough." "Take the small piece of cake - that one with very little frosting." "And for the love of God, don't blow every thing you've worked for by finishing the kids' plates!"