FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

I was checking out our incoming links this evening when I came across this article written by Kimberly Sherman at CalorieLab Calorie Counter News back on June 14.   Take a few minutes to read it, it’s quite flattering.  Thanks Kimberly! 

Here’s a link to the original article:

Diet blogs: Men banding together to lose weight (CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

Here’s an interesting article from LifeHack.org.  I’m not sure I agree with every single tip here, but most of them are spot on.  I especially thought this was interesting:

I was able to lose 50 pounds without dieting on the weekends. I found myself tired, depressed, and unmotivated if I tried to continue my diet into the weekend. I felt that Friday and Saturday (my weekend) was a time to celebrate 5 days of dieting.

Not dieting on weekends.  Hmm…I may have to ponder that one, but I don’t think I’m quite there just yet.  It worked for this guy, though, and if you’re working through some motivational issues, this just might be the ticket. 

10 Unconventional Diet Tips: How to lose 50 pounds in three months - lifehack.org

I’m in the middle of Week 4 of my Couch to 5k plan, and tonight’s workout involved two sets each of a 3-minute run, followed by a 5-minute run, with sufficient walking time in between.  A few weeks ago this wouldn’t have been possible.  Tonight was a great run.  I completed both sets with energy to burn.  I’m nowhere near ready for that 5k yet, but I’ll get there soon.

I’m down at the Great Pacific Wine & Coffee Company, and getting my weekly treat of a cream cheese bagel with something from the tap.  Tonight it’s a Full Sail, from just down the road in Hood River.  If you have never been to the GP, it’s quite the cultural oasis in this small town. 

I was browsing the news from the weight loss world when I found these reports on our chances of keeping the weight off after a big loss:

Big Weight Loss More Likely To Stick: 

A new study suggests people who lose large amounts of weight are more likely to keep it off.

This next article seems to contradict the first:

Americans Can Maintain Weight Loss

Unfortunately, those with more weight to lose were those more likely to regain, according to the study now appearing online and in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Although it does have some otherwise encouraging words:

“Weight maintenance following weight loss is doable,” said lead author Edward Weiss, a medical epidemiologist with the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity. “We’re still learning the things that are necessary for weight maintenance in the long run.”

 I like this next article from CBN.com the best.  It suggests exercise as the best way to keep the pounds off after losing weight:

Many people believe that dieters who lose weight usually gain it back. But a new survey finds that six of 10 people keep most of the weight off a year later.

And nearly eight percent are still losing weight.

So there you have it, a small collection of some of the weight loss news I’ve been reading while getting a small meal at my favorite hangout.  Now you’re up to date.

This is my “official” WeightWatchers BEFORE picture. This is the picture you will see blown up behind me as I hold the waistband of my pants way out in front of me. I wanted to post it because it is a whole lot less gruesome than the one posted before.

Well boys & girls, it’s Thursday…

It’s Weigh-In Day!

Anton… A drum roll if you please…

Starting Weight (Dec. 22, 2006) - 392
Weight Today (May 17, 2007) - 359

Weight Lost This Week - 1.2 lbs.
Total Loss - 33 lbs

Cross-Published on Rejecting Your Reality

Below is�a statement that I worked through with my Dr., earlier this year.� He asked me to post it on my bathroom mirror, and where ever I would see it.� When ever I saw it, I was supposed to say it out loud, and also tell a “few”�safe friends.� It sounds ludicrous when you first speak it, but when I finally thought about it, it was, and sometimes is, true.

�Read it out loud, and then do a little self evaluation.�

“As it stands today, I prefer to continue living my current
lifestyle, which leads to early death and the abandonment of my wife & family, rather than control the amount and frequency of my food intake, exercise, and feeling my fears.”

Well?

Cross posted on Rejecting Your Reality
and with ‘encouragement’ from Paul at Sucks To Be Fat.

It’s OK… gasp, turn away in disgust, shield the eyes of your children, I’ve seen/heard it all before.
This is me at my known MAX, 412 lbs. trying to squeeze myself into a seat at Safeco Field. I tried WeightWatchers half-heartedly during the fall of 2005, but never really took it seriously.
With the dawning of 2007 I saw two major events on the horizon. My 20-year high school reunion, my best friends wedding (he is eclipsed by me in this picture) and there is the ‘health’ thing. Time to do something ‘for real’!
I returned to WeightWatchers with renewed dedication. My starting weight this time was a svelte 392 lbs., it is this weight that I refer to in my weekly weigh-in posts and in the Ticker Factory widget you see at the top of my blog.
WeightWatchers says my goal weight is between 155 and 180. I swear, if I get down that low I’ll look like an anorexic. So right now I’m putting my target at 200lbs.
Stay tuned, I’m believe that the accountability of FatBloggers will see me through

I read about The Diet Pulpit’s Honesty Challenge on Healthy Honi’s blog. I hope I am the first of the FatBloggers to post their ‘Ten Reasons”. Not being one to pass up a good meme, here we go!

List the 10 reasons you HONESTLY want to lose weight. It can be positive changes that will need to be made, or it can be the reasons deep down you want to make these changes.

1. I want to feel better in my40’s than I did in my 30’s.

2. Since you don’t see Willard Scott wishing a Happy Birthday to a fat guy, I need to make a change.

3. I was always embarrassed when my fat parents would show up at school events. I wanted to crawl into a hole when my friends would ask, “Are they your parents?”. I don’t want to put my kids through that more than I already have.

4. Just ask my wife, I love to buy clothes. Do you realize how much MORE fun that would be if I could buy ‘off the rack’?

5. After losing just 30lbs. my knees don’t hurt as bad and I have more energy. I want to see what it will feel like to lose 100 lbs.

6. I want to do Cycle Oregon.

7. I want to be able to fit behind the wheel of my dream car, 1966 Mustang Fastback.

8. I want to fit comfortably in the rides at Disneyland.

9. I want to ENJOY traveling with my wife in retirement, being those retired couples that walk along the beach wearing matching blue windbreakers.

10. I most definitely still want to be enjoying the “marriage bed” when we get back to the Winnebago.

TAG… you’re it.

I do love it when things work out the way they are supposed to. Jan, my Weight Watchers leader, gives us ‘bravo stickers’ for; tracking everyday, working out at least 5x, and drinking all your water. It’s pretty amazing, that when you do those things, you lose weight! Go figure!

Anton, drum roll if you will…

Week 16 has the scale DOWN another 4.8 lbs. for a TOTAL LOSS of 31.4 lbs.

Only 7.6 lbs until the first BIG benchmark.

Cross published over on Rejecting Your Reality.

I’m still yo-yoing between 235 and 237. Just call me Duncan. At least I’m not getting any heavier than that, so hopefully things will pull forward again soon. It’s getting better weather here now, so hopefully more walking is in the near future. I seem to do better when I have some kind of routine, and the routine has been suffering as of late, so maybe that’s partly to blame for my lack of attention to exercise and eating healthier. Thanks again for all those who are supporting me.

Speaking of supporting someone, I just got a visit from my buddy Greg, from http://www.fatguyblog.com. He’s still hanging in there, he just hasn’t had much time to blog lately. His heel spurs are still acting up, though, so exercise for him has been much lessened. I tried to give him some encouragement. I enjoyed his visit, even though I wish I wouldn’t have been at work and spent more time with him. Greg is one of those guys whho, even though I haven’t known him that long, I feel I can talk to him about nearly anything. He’s a lot of fun to talk to, and I’m grateful that his blog led me to contact him and make a new friend. We have a lot of similar interests and I always am enlightened in some ways when he has time to visit. I know a lot of you that read my blog also read his, so I thought I would let you know he is doing okay.

Well, over on fatguyblog.com, there is an ad for realage.com, where you can take a test to see what your real age is. That means, what your calender age is adjusted by how well (or not) you have taken care of your body. Some people are older than their calender age and some people who may be older in years that are in good health can be several years younger “real age”. To be honest, I did it just for kicks, but I was a bit nervous about it. I expected the results to look something like: Calender age: 38.7 Real age: Methuselah.

Instead, with just a minimum amount of information (some things I just didn’t know), I came out just shy of two years older, between 40 and 41. While this still stinks (time flies fast enough without being unhealthy speeding it up) I was better off than I had hoped. Getting healthier, though, can cause that trend to reverse.

Its not a bad little test, so if you’re interested in taking it yourself, go to www.realage.com.