3SGTO Biggest Loser Competition

[JohnnyTurbo]

I saw this thread here and there, but never read it until now. I'll chime in just to ad life experience and food for thought for some. If you really want to read something that will put things into perspective and set you on the path of a healthy life read "Fit for Life" by Bill Phillips. Read it until you understand it, then live it. Human beings are remarkable, they can do anything if they put their minds to it. They can also convince themselves that all hope is lost and it's time to eat a whole chocolate cake or two... and a half gallon of ice cream and wash it down with a... diet Coke.

Things I've learned over the years.

• at a certain point you have to switch from a scale to a measuring tape, especially if you are exercising and weight training.
• diet pop is not good for you, sugared pop is worse
• eating healthy, but in large proportions will get you no where
• eating healthy in correct proportions, but zero exercise will get you no where
• not getting 7 hours sleep a night WILL keep your blood pressure and blood sugar numbers high
• not getting 7 hours sleep a night can prevent you from losing weight, especially if you only clock 3 to 5 hours a night in the sack
• from a co-worker - food that is good for you will taste like rocks, tree bark and dog's ass; anything that tastes good will make you fat.
• If it's white, it ain't right. no white rice, potatoes, bread, rolls, buns anything made from white flour
• High glycimic food is not good for you and weight control eg. bananas, pears, apples, grapes and more
• Alcohol is bad for you. Really... no shit... life goes on with out it.
• All veggies are not created equal - peas, carrots, corn are all high in sugar and your body will turn it into fat.
• Cauliflower, broccoli, green beans and some other dark green veggies are VERY good for you
• Do NOT eat anything for the 3 hours before you go to sleep
• Oatmeal everyday for breakfast will help scrub cholesterol out of your system
• My 5'-8' @ X lbs. body is not your 5'-8" @ Y lbs. body - Like was mentioned, muscle make up on a person will make a huge difference. I am at the same weight I was back in the early 2000's wearing a 35 -36" jeans. I am wearing a tight 38" now. The difference is now I have lost a few inches dia around my thighs of muscle and that weight is replaced with an extra 1 to 2 inches of fat still around my waist and lower back. Goals should be set to a weight then fine tuned to a tape measure.
• Ladies - I knew a woman at my gym circa 1993 that was a size 4 and weighed in at a solid 155 lbs. That is why the tape is used when a person exersizes and weight trains

I could go on for hours on this topic because I have lived it and I have fallen off the wagon after living it. Truth - for most of us diet is a four letter word that sets you up for failure sooner or later. Lifestyle change is the term you are searching for. No one said it was easy, but a lifestyle change can be permanent while a diet is nothing more than a temporary fix.

At age 40 I was in the best shape of my life, by 52 I was headed to the worst shape of my life all because I reverted back to my former lifestyle. In the last 9 months I have gone from just shy of two fiddy to my current 213 - 215. Two of the biggest things I did was portion control and from Nov to May I was getting 7 hours sleep a night up from 3 to 4.5 hrs a night. I dropped 15 lbs just by getting more sleep, PLUS my blood sugar came down and so did my blood pressure. Sleep deprivation will kill you over time says my Doctor, I believe him now. I am trying to get myself motivated to get using that expensive Bowflex ultimate extreme emptied my wallet machine in the basement to drop a few more and get my muscle size back. At age 40 I was 17" neck, 47" chest, 17" biceps, 14" forearms, 34" waist, 24" quads (22" would be nice, I couldn't find 34" pants that I could wear with those thighs), 18" calves and scaled in at 205 at 5'8". My current long term goal is to again be in the best shape and health of my life at age 60 in 3 years; yeah, I'm 57 and falling apart. That is not saying I won't be there at age 58 in December, I just want to get where I should be and stay there.

Attached are photos of when I almost hit 250# (my worst) and 2 of me at my best (205#)

[nodoze]

good stuff to hear john and i agree with everything you said. tape measure is the way to go but for someone who is like me and besides my co workers and my cat i dont see anyone that would want to assist in measuring me lifestyle change is key and very hard for most people im finally able to control my weight due to changes in this mainly eliminating the booze , soda;s and other junk i used to eat. now i have a comfortable eating habits that do not neccessarily promote good weight loss but are not atributing to weight gain . im hoping for 230 and then go from their, im about 17 pounds off from that a far cry from the 35 pounds i was in december . its crazy i actually found myself posting on face book that i was able to do ten chair dips , i was legitimately excited . And now i can do hops where as 6 weeks ago i could not (think standing with hand at waist height and juming in a fashion your upper body stays still and your knees hit your hands) , when doing alot of cardio it almost feels like im spring loaded and its great.




maybe its because ive toned down the cars women and booze and have been able to focus on work kids and health .


pics of me throught the stages left me at 230 in 07 (im on the left ) second pic is me at 265-270 in december , right is me last week 245
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[JohnnyTurbo]

I found out years ago that beer added much weight to me, everything else being equal so I knocked it off and really do not miss it. I do know that my not drinking or smoking allows me to spend more on cars, so that is a double positive. Due to my doctor's suggestion, my wife and I basically just drink water with meals and most other times. Here is a tid bit I learned years ago from a nutrition article; a piece of jolly rancher candy or a sucker or any other small piece of candy is enough sugar to cause your body to NOT lose weight for the day. It will not cause you to gain any weight, but more importantly it will prevent you from losing any weight.

Years ago Tom and Rosanne Arnold lost a lot of weight together just by cutting out sugar in their diet. Remove all added sugars, lower the intake of processed sugars, knock off the white flour & white rice carbs and remove fried foods and processed foods and there will be much success with weight loss. No hot dogs, bologna, lunch meats, all processed cheese products, fast foods, fried foods, etc. It sounds like all foods are taboo, but in reality you can eat healthy and enjoy it if you gain the correct mindset. Your body is a furnace and it burns fuel (food) to survive. The same way you would not burn Honduras Mahogany in your fireplace, you do not need to shovel in a 16 oz porterhouse steak and baked potato through the pie hole. Boneless skinless chicken breast, Tuna (canned or Tuna steaks), Salmon, Tilapia, eggs, a host of non sugary veggies are all good foods that can promote a healthy lifestyle. The key I found out is do not eat for your taste buds. Honestly, if you make your food on the bland side and eat only to fuel your body and not for enjoyment, weight control becomes an unconscious event. At least that is how it works for me when I get in the mindset. Oh, I do not partake in fast food either. No McDonald's, Wendy's or any of the others. In my adult life I have not spent $50 in Mickey D's, although Burger King was a vice of mine 25 years ago. Had my hand in a KFC bucket 3 times in my life, don't care for fried chicken at all. I have found that for me, if I can get on track for 45 to 60 days, I can do it for the long haul.

[nodoze]

wow i did not know that , is that why "diets" like paleo and atkins worked so well is they took out the starches and sugar because you were only eating meats? i have alot of adjusting left to do in my diet , but im sure you know its a long road and i am getting better

[JohnnyTurbo]

nodoze, for you and all reading this; to use what I feel is an incorrect term - diet - a balanced "diet" for weight management is one that is high in protein and is balanced with carbohydrates. It has been so long that I do not remember the correct ratio, but google will help those that are interested. A human body burns protein better than carbs, so more protein than carbs is the key and the carbs should be COMPLEX carbs, NOT simple carbs. Your body can only assimilate about 25 to 30 grams of protein a session, but to maximize the assimilation, more grams have to be consumed. 35 to 45 g of protein while weight training & exercising will allow the body to max out protein absorption. 5 meals a day is better than 3. Take a day's worth of meals and divide it by 5 and space them out from breakfast to 3 hours before sleep.

My mind is thinking more on weight training & exercise in the above paragraph than just "dieting", but the principles can be applied the same. Here is a dramatic way to visualize weight loss; if you want to lose 35 pounds and see what kind of difference that would make on your body, do the following.

If you have an olympic weight set, good. If you do not have a weight set, find someone who does or go to a gym. Go to the free weight area and look for and pick up a 35 pound plate. Pull the plate to your chest, crossing your arms to hold it tightly in place. Walk around, sit on a bench, get up, if you are at home walk up some steps. Do this for 5 minutes and then put the plate down and repeat all the movements and see the difference. The first time I thought of this was when I lost 45 pounds back in 1991. While at the gym, after losing the weight, I thought, "hmmm, look at that 45 pound plate, that's how much I have lost" I then picked it up, hugged it to my chest and walked around a little bit. I was very glad to be able to put that 45 pounds back on the floor instantly. The thing is you do not put on 45 pounds instantly so you do not realize how badly it drags you down. If you want motivation to see how much X pounds of weight loss means to your body, go grab that much, hug it, walk with it and then put it down.

Alan, go to Home Depot, locate the cement aisle, grab a 50# bag of QuickCrete, hug it to your chest and walk to the check out area. I bet you put it down less than half way there. That is how much weight you lost and no longer have on your body carrying it around EVERYWHERE you go. This is an eye opener to a lot of people that their weight loss is just a number. Doing the grab a weight exercise puts that number into something tangible that you can relate to.

[Alan92RTTT]

Alan, go to Home Depot, locate the cement aisle, grab a 50# bag of QuickCrete, hug it to your chest and walk to the check out area. I bet you put it down less than half way there. That is how much weight you lost and no longer have on your body carrying it around EVERYWHERE you go. This is an eye opener to a lot of people that their weight loss is just a number. Doing the grab a weight exercise puts that number into something tangible that you can relate to.

Not a fair test as my arms were not bearing the full weight I could probably do it tho.

All I need to see the difference is look at a pic from the NG last year.

[nodoze]

ok you may have awnsered a question i have been looking into about protein, im currently not adding any extra than what i get in daily nutrition but have been thinking about it in hopes of seeing better results overall

[JohnnyTurbo]

Alan, probably an internet misunderstanding here. Whether you CAN do what I theorized is immaterial to the point. You probably would not WANT to make the trip because of how loaded down you would feel. I chose you because you said you lost 50 lbs and QuickCrete is a small 50# package. Another example, for anyone, is to pop a 40# bag of dog food on one shoulder and walk a few aisles in the grocery store and see how your back feels. At times, when I was around two fiddy, my lower back would hurt like a mutha. Now at the lower weight, I have to jar my back for it to hurt, just standing vertical doesn't bother me anymore.

[stealthee]

My back and knees hurt at 170 ish. I guess I am just effed.

[Alan92RTTT]

Alan, probably an internet misunderstanding here. Whether you CAN do what I theorized is immaterial to the point. You probably would not WANT to make the trip because of how loaded down you would feel. I chose you because you said you lost 50 lbs and QuickCrete is a small 50# package. Another example, for anyone, is to pop a 40# bag of dog food on one shoulder and walk a few aisles in the grocery store and see how your back feels. At times, when I was around two fiddy, my lower back would hurt like a mutha. Now at the lower weight, I have to jar my back for it to hurt, just standing vertical doesn't bother me anymore.

Got ya.

Even when big I carried a lot of muscle. I used to and still do carry dog food around like a sack of potatoes. But that gives me a bit of a head start on the weight loss challenge.

Correction fitness challenge. It took me a long time to get where I was. If it takes another year to get to where I should be I think thats ok.