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The Official MR Weight Loss Challenge™

shecky

shecky

Guest
Original poster
May 24, 2003
2,580
5
Obviously you're not a golfer.
hi. my name is shecky. i am a big fat guy.

but.. i am a big fat guy who is doing something about it, and maybe you are in the same boat. So with no further adue, allow me to present:

The Official MR Weight Loss Challenge™

if you want to loose weight and be encouraged and supported by your fellow MR members, then you should take part. How? its simple:

1. commit to loosing the weight to yourself via self-reflective internal monologue
2. commit to loosing the weight on this thread by posting your intentions, your starting weight, and where you would like to end up.
3. grab any number of free weight-tracking applications/spreadsheets/websites (see below) and monitor your weightloss daily/weekly
4. post a screenshot of your graph showing your weightloss here every Monday
5. add in any tips, sucessful techniques, etc. as you think of them
6. post encouragement for your fellow challengers
7. enjoy being healthy, feeling better and living longer!

Current participants
Shecky
ejb190
srf4real
TheDance511 ??
.Andy
mattscott306
max_altitude
t1937r0
viccles
Max Payne
jsalzer
AJ Muni
Rower_CPU

notes

tracking: i have used the free excel spreadsheet from The Hacker's Diet but anything that tracks weight and shows your trend works. the idea is to not just post numbers but show a visual graph (hopefully with the line going down as you loose weight) such as this one. Now i use the Physics Diet site, which is like the hackers diet charts only online and no Excel and pesky macros are needed. also free!

thanks to this thread at Arstechnica for the inspiration and precedent.
 
obviously, i will start:

i am 34, and i started at 299 lbs. but i have been changing my eating habits (watching calories) and walking every other day for a couple of weeks so far and i have already dropped about 11 lbs. i will post my chart when i get home tonight. i am 6'0" so ideally i would like to be about 200 by the time i am done.

bring it on!

as promised: actual weight 288.5, trend 292.8
 

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I think this is a great idea. I wish someone would have thought of it before I lost weight! But I'll cheer on from the sidelines :)
 
I am currently 205 and 5'10". My goal has been 175. I got down to about 180 about two years ago when I was trying to get in shape for a law enforcement job. I didn't get that job, had neck surgery, lost my job, ended a relationship, and regressed into depression. Since then I have a better job, got married to a friend who stood by my side the whole time, and bought a house. Now it's time to get myself back in shape.

I actually ran last night for the first time in a long time. Didn't go very far and my quads hurt today, but it felt good! I have a long road back to my 3 and 4 mile runs, but I will get there.

I am not sure how active I will be on posting updates, but I will give it a shot.
 
I'm 6' 1" and my digital scale hollered 239 at me two weeks ago. I was only 205 four years ago, but I'll be 40 in July... so I've been on a loose Sobe diet for a week and a day now, not stopping until I can get into my tightest pair of old baggies! Fortunately I am extremely active, I hope to be buff again by summer.;) Good idea shecky, now you guys can all ride me when I cheat like me wife does!:D
 
i am interested in this....im 230... but i dont rly look FAT im just like u know... i dont look like one of those guys with their belly's hanging over their pants
 
Anyway I'm all for this thread shecky. It'll be nice to lose some weight with fellow macrumorers :). The last couple of years have been bad for my normally Adonis physique ;)! I'm 5'11" and 88kgs (194 pounds) and would like to get back down to around 80kgs (176 pounds) by mid year. I've been purely doing weights at the gym the last few years, but being vegetarian I've got a diet relatively high in carbs and fats so I've put the weight around my stomach. So to get back into shape I've added tennis, soccer, and cycling to my routine to burn those extra colories. I've also been making a concerted effort to cut down on fats (less cheeses) and carbs (less chocolate) and to increase my protein intake.

So I'm definitely alongside everyone for support. Lets do it :mad:<-- that's a determined smiley.
 
shecky said:
to be honest, while i appreciate your attempt at giving us useful information, i would prefer you take your religious garbage to another thread and don't pollute this one with it. thanks.
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Perhaps a diet thread in the PRS forum? :)

Some of the stuff he said was good, like avoid soda and crap, but most of it is complete bull.

Anyways, Shecky I only have to lose about 15 lbs but I'm with ya.
 
[I went to see my doctor for a regular check up at the end of last year. I'm not over weight (5'11, 160) but i'm not in shape. She asked me how I eat, what I eat, when I eat and offered a ton of great suggestions on how to make my life healthier. Not everyone thinks the world is full of eeeeeeeevil heathens trying to make a quick buck.

Anyway, good luck to those giving it a go, I look forward to following your progress.
 
You can count me in too. I'm at 78kg now (that's about 170 lbs for our US folk) and I'd like to get down to around 68-70kg, so about 8-10kg/17-22lbs.

I'm planning to get a gym membership and go a couple of times a week. I've been going probably once a week on average but that's just not enough. I eat fairly well as it is, but there's always bad things I can cut down on.

I've also been considering doing a detox of some kind, most likely the Lemonade Detox. Not so much for losing weight, but just for general health and well being.
 
i am really happy to see everyone getting on board here! this should be great!

by the way, i would definitely recommend the Physics Diet site to track and chart progress - i do not put in calories or anything there, just weight every day.


edit: oh! and i found another "before" pic of me, in this one i am swimming:

humpback.jpg
 
Hi Shecky!

Great stuff buddy! This is an awesome post and a great endeavour.

I would join, but i already started back in September.

the only thing i would revisit with your goals is not weight. Please understand i'm not going to preach - what i'm about to tell you is what i have learned from the program i'm doing - www.grecoleandandfit.com and it's worked:

in September 2006, I was 156 pounds (I'm only 5' 2" so that is way overweight). My body fat was 24.6%, thus proving i was a lard arse.

I'm now down to 142-144 and my BF% is now between 15 and 16%...and steadily dropping every week and a half or so. Think about that for a second...in just over 5 months, i've lost 10% of body fat. That's 10% of what my body was. It blows my mind when i think about it and it's totally motivating. I moved from a category of terrible to 'good' for my age. The next category is 'excellent' :)

So, you need to have someone analyze your body fat % and then monitor it going forward as you will your weight.

You can use a great tool such as this:
http://www.costco.ca/en-CA/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10288162&whse=BCCA&topnav=&browse=

why?

Simple. Muscle mass weighs more than body fat. Muscle also burns fat....for up to 48 hours after working out. This raises your metabolism. Now, for someone who is very overweight, I would consult a physician and a physical training to ensure you start on a proper path starting with light cardio/weight workouts and proper eating to the point where you gradually intensify workouts.

Eating is probably the most important thing. You can work out all you want, but if you eat like crap, you'll still be crap (is what i always tell myself :) Eat a diet which is 40/30/30 where each meal/snack is 40% carbohydrates (good fruits and veggies); 30% protein and 30% fats (the good EFAs - essential fatty acids). Protein is what feeds muscles, thus making muscles grow. By talking about muscles growing, i certainly don't mean to say that you're going to become a musclehead or anything. :)

Also, eat 5 times a day or every 2 - 2.5 hours apart. the idea here is you need to feed the body it's fuel or it will feel deprived and when it eats next it will 'store' energy in the form of fat thinking it's going to be deprived again. This is a HUGE reason why 'crash' diets result in ppl losing weight and then piling it on quickly again. Gradual weight/body % loss should be the focus.

I won't get into anything religious, but the other poster mentioned detoxification which i'll admit i need to do to the fullest extent.

But i do drink lots of water.

Consult a doctor to understand the right amount for you b/c it may vary and drinking too much water can be dangerous. on average, an overweight individual should be drinking 2.5 L's per day or (80 oz's if my math is right - that seems like alot so i might be wrong), but you do need to drink a lot.

Again, this note wasn't meant to be preachy, but more educational.
It's worked for me.

Oh and for motivational purposes, take a few pictures of yourself when you start. from behind, from the side and from the front...preferably in just underwear. I know it sounds weird, but you see you every day. you will get great comments from other folks on how much better you look, but looking back at your own pics, you'll SEE firsthand what they mean.

BEST OF LUCK! This is a life changing experience and I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

Cheers,
Keebler
 
mattscott306 said:
79 bucks? Plus shipping to the US. That blows.
Click to expand...

devilot said:
It looks like you can cook up your own version. But you'd still need to come up with ingredients such as the "most important" one, Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup. :p
Click to expand...

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that you can actually just do it with organic maple syrup (which is what I'll be doing). The one advertised on that site is probably a bit of a sham.
 
Zwhaler said:
I wish I could just gain weight... my metabolism is too fast!
Click to expand...
twoodcc said:
i'm in the same boat......and considering that i run around 40-50 miles a week, that probably isn't helping either.....
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:

Then really, this isn't the thread for [either of] you. I'd venture to guess that you will find absolutely no sympathy from actual participants of this thread.



I need to lose a few but I'm not quite sure I want to be a part of the challenge. Great idea though. :)
 
Keebler said:
**snip**
Click to expand...

this is some poignant stuff here. what i am doing is basically paying attention to calories, trying to keep it under 1800 a day (which for me is a BIG drop) as well as exercise regularly. the places where i fall short are:

-i do not drink enough water
-i do drink too much caffeine
-i prefer a big dinner to a big lunch
-i do not eat often enough
-i have a snack (tho a healthy and reasonably low calorie one) after 10PM. i think this is the worst offender of them all. i have got to stop doing that!

i do think my intake is reasonable tho, lot of chicken breast, some fish and seafood, salads (with a little olive oil+vinegar), watery fruits (lots of grapefruit - i actually love it!) multigrain breads, brown rice, roasted turkey breast, etc. i could probably cut down on my salt intake. and i do allow myself one "bad" dinner a week, tho i do not do it to excess.
 
Excellent idea. I'm in.

Height: 5'10"
Weight: 198lbs
Target: 160kbs
Target date: August 1

That works out to two pounds a week, on average.

The primary way I'll get to target is by running. Back in November and December, I participated in the Nike Challenges right here on MR. Did pretty well until I injured myself. Now, I'm gonna start over, 20 pounds heavier than I was in December.

I, like shecky, will be using the tools provided with the Hacker's Diet. Try them, they're great!
 
devilot said:
It looks like you can cook up your own version. But you'd still need to come up with ingredients such as the "most important" one, Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup. :p
Click to expand...

max_altitude said:
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that you can actually just do it with organic maple syrup (which is what I'll be doing). The one advertised on that site is probably a bit of a sham.
Click to expand...

Haha, I just may be joining you in it. I'm gonna read up on it a bit more though.
 
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