I am now less of a man than I used to be...Cosmo

Singh_6

Cosmo,

very timely, I got to thinking about my health lately, now I may weigh 160# soaking wet, but I am getting soft in the belly. This all started last month after my brother in law , in his early 40's found out he has diabetes, hi blood pressure, last week they removed his gall bladder, and repaired a hernia, he was 280 lbs . He just lost ten pounds.
Sometimes in our biz , we eat poorly, I rarely eat a real lunch, but always have donuts, etc, and soft drinks during the day in between a job.

At least I'm not the only one with the expensive treadmill dust collector.
Be well, good luck.

Cosmo_3

getting back to fit

I was always big. 190lbs in junior high, 225lbs in high school, 235 in college, and well in the last say 10 years I managed to get up to my heaviest weight of 270lbs three weeks ago.

The combination of my size 40 jeans getting too tight to put on, my dress size pants getting up to 43, a long distance relationship that is on again/off again since october, and finally looking in the mirror and not recognizing the person in the reflection really scared me.

I had been hovering at the 265lb mark for a few years now, and always eating anything and everything I wanted, many times even knowing that it was just to have that 30 seconds of satisfaction.

So about March 5th I started on the $2,000.00 treadmill I bought in 2004, and barely used. The first 4 days I did 30 minutes of speed walking to get my legs in a little bit of shape. I committed myself to only eat full meals at breakfast and lunch, and a snack after my evening workout. I really felt like I was starving that first week...

But this morning I looked at the scale and I finally crossed under the 250 lb plateau I had been hovering near for a week now. 248lbs!!! This scale can read % bodyfat, bone, water, and muscle. It is accurate to only 3-5% but it is okay. What is awsome is seeing the weight go down, and the muscle weight go up! I have been very careful to drink lots of water and try not to dehydrate just to get a result.

Now I not only fit into all my size 40 jeans and pants, but this morning I tried on an old pair of size 38 work jeans I have and they fit well!!!

I have been letting myself cheat if I felt I had to by eating a little more at lunch, but to keep it to simple carbs that I can burn that evening. As far as workouts, I do a 60 minute speed interval program on the treadmill, then strength, and then do strength exercises with an old pair of 25 pound dumbbells I reclaimed from a tenant eviction. The funny part is I have always read a lot about fitness, and nutrition as well as nutrition classes that I had to take in college. All I am doing is simply applying what I know, and the results are there- 22 lbs gone!!

The other nice thing was being able to play basketball again with the boys this past Sunday, at first I was out of breath but then I bounced back and kept playing for a couple of hours. It has been a while since I have felt this good, and I have been careful to let each body part rest a day or two between strength exercises, and to vary the cardio at night so I don't over do it. I am surprised at how quickly my body is responding and like the results.

I don't want to set a weight goal just yet, but it would be nice to get to the point where I can look trim enough this summer to want to go swimming on the beach instead of fishing all day. I love to fish, but I also love to swim, and looking at bikini's ain't bad either!! I have an appointment with my doc today, and I will see what I might have to watch for if anything, luckily I have always had low cholesterol, and I am sure that I can push myself a little at 34.

I have never thought before that one day I might actually eliminate the gut and lose the love-handles, but you know I just might...

Wish me luck guys!

Cosmo

jp_2

good job

keep it up!

Gene_3

good luck

I'll tell ya, I've cut out all drinks cept tea and water and wine

started looking at the SUGAR levels

carefully check your drinks, especially "sports" drinks

most say 2 servings per container

then list levels per serving

so if your drink then says 32grams sugar per serving and you drink the whole bottle

you just ate 64 grams of sugar

I lost 2" off my waist and 10lbs without changing anything else

this is also why DIABETES is on the rise

ALH_4

Loss

It's not a diet. It's a change of lifestyle. I wish you the best of luck!

Cosmo_3

you are right

Although I have never been much of a softdrink consumer. I have always eaten good, wholesome foods, whole grains, veggies, etc. Just WAY too much!!

You are right about the sports drinks, I have been basically drinking water and cheating now and then when I want something like that with the lower sugar sports drinks, or diet tea.

I did find out though that a good tip is to let yourself eat something bad for you now and then, but only a little!

Cosmo

Ken_40

Good pont.

I decided to get back on Atkins. It works. Winters in VT are not a time to be outdoors walking or working. Treadmills can work, but diet AND excerices is key.

I hear spring is here? You'd never know it here. A foot of new snow and near zero temps tonight. Skiing is the answer. Bad knees the problem.

Oh well...

Cosmo_3

Atkins

I am lucky to have more than a few doctors in my extended family, and they all pretty much don't agree with the Atkins diet. Of course it is only their opinion, but they did say that most doctors approve of the South Beach Diet.

To tell you the truth, to me all that diet book mumbo jumbo is for people on the fence, looking at everyone else running around the track. I hate to call people lazy, and ignorant but I really think that by now everybody pretty much should know what is good and not good just by watching the news, and reading labels. But I may be off on that view, I have always been interested in nutrition.

This IS a lifestyle change, and I am not saying it is easy. I would love nothing better than boiling up a whole package of fettuccine pasta, then coat with a stick of fresh butter, and grate on some cheese...hmmm. But those days unfortunately are gone until I can no longer see the remnants of all my past meals around my midsection.

The other thing that helped a lot is learning to say no to some customers. The stress of coming home after a long day, and having to be up all night to do paperwork, and estimates is killing me, I need a little "ME" time. I just try to give myself 1 1/2 hours every evening for exercise. I was wasting that time a few days a week anyway watching "dirty jobs", or any other show on Discovery, or the History channel, now I only watch while I am on the treadmill.

It is really easy once you start, you just make the time, everyone has to wait for that 1 1/2 hours.

You guys must admit, except for when we do a service call in a hot boiler room we don't sweat a whole lot in winter. Especially those of us who do new construction and service like me. It feels good to sweat everyday, and get all the frustrations out at the same time.

Hey Ken where are you in VT? I was up at Stowe the weekend of Feb 11th, maybe next year I coul make a pit stop and see your supremely efficient house!

Cosmo

EBEBRATT-Ed

Cosmo,

Keep up the good work! But don't over do it.

I am in the same boat as you. I lost 35 pounds a few years ago by "sort of" following Atkins. Carbohydrates are poison to me. I gained a few pounds back but kept it off for a few years and felt pretty good.

Now, my wife has cancer and with all the stress "and me doing the cooking" I fell back into my old habits of not eating right and not working out (weights and a Nordic Track). The pounds came right back on and I'm back where I was and started feeling like crap. So I just started again a few weeks back and havent lost much yet. Trying to get back in the good routine. Keep up the good work.


Ed

Joe_75

I have a friend who kept a pic on his frig of how he looked before he started loosing weight to motivate him. It is a tough battle but worth it, Good Luck

William Faust

Some info for Cosmo

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?ex=1174622400&en=af5882cfddb426af&ei=5070. This is a NY Times article. The summary: 1. Don’t eat what your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. That includes avoiding processed foods (like margarine); 2. avoid food with ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than five in number or have high-fructose corn syrup (diabetes formula); 3. shop in places other than a supermarket when possible; 4. buy organic - it costs more but packs more good stuff; 5. eat until you are 80% full; 6. go heavy on plants. With exception of seeds, plants are less “energy dense.”

Another thing you can do is drink a glass of RED wine at every meal because iy includes something called resveratrol. That stuff speeds up activity of the SIRT1 gene that leads to a higher metabolism rate which results in fewer and smaller fat cells.

Start every meal with a salad. A Penn State study showed that people who do this consume 12% fewer calories. They concluded that all the chewing fools the person's brain into thinking that it has consumed a lot of calories.

Eat one grapefruit each day. Control studies indicate that it is a weight-loss guarantee.

Move your body. You may have genes that compel you to be sedentary.

Eat when you're hungry. You may have genes that compel you to eat whenever food is available.

Eat to 80% full (see above). You may lack genes that tell you that it's time to stop eating.

The foregoing having been said, my problem has historically been the opposite. In 1976 at the age of 21, I was 6'3" tall and weighed 154 lbs. Basically, I would disappear if I turned sideways. I decided that I didn't like this, so I worked out in a college gym four days per week for a year. I had to eat like a freaking horse to get up to 188 because the workouts had ratcheted up my metabolism and because I wasn't going to take drugs. I haven't had any meaningful exercise regime since about 1984 except that I walk a great deal (love it). I'm now at 6'4" and 200 (dressed), but I still look thin. I've figured out that that's my plateau without going the muscle route again (muscle weighs more than fat), because my body seems to regulate that weight; I just seem to sort of mindlessly go through a period of less calories when I'm getting a couple of extra pounds on me.

Good luck with the waistline. It's more about feeling good than looking good.

Anyway, I hope some of the above ideas might be interesting and helpful. I got them for my wife.

Guy Woollard

Fitness

I, like most, knew that I needed to do SOMETHING- either change my diet, start exercising , or preferably both. In reality, I did nothing. My middle son has made Captain of the football team, and has been working out regularly, so I saw that as an opportunity to support him AND get in some sort of shape (wait, round is a shape, isn't it?).
5:30 last Wednesday AM we were at the Y, and I can see how this can actually work: For 4 days it really hurt to bend my arms enough to put food in my mouth. Things were worse off than I had expected. I am going with him tomorrow AM again, which means that I will need a straw for my beer on Friday night (look MA, no hands!).
I will go at least once a week with him now and see where that leads. Hopefully into my old wardrobe....

I applaud you, Cosmo, for jumping into it with both feet, as it isn't easy. The benefit is that you will be here to offer your wisdom and insight for many more years.


Guy Woollard
N.E. Regional Sales Mgr
Triangle Tube Corp.

Jed_2

Hey, Ken

You should at least be on South Beach, get your veggies back and keep your cholesterol down, so you don't collapse on the treadmill. Or, you could try Weight Watchers Food/Point Exchanges. That way you could save some points and have some beer at the end of the day. Whooopie!

Jed

p.s. And DREAM about the weather!

Wayco Wayne_2

Congrats Cosmo

I've been considering something myself. I walk a lot at work or I would be way heavy. I need to control my eating more than anything. Thanks for sharing your success. I wish you further gains and losses. All appropriate ones of course. WW

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

mtfallsmikey

Good going, Cosmo!

And as a diabetic myself, I had a real hard time getting off the soda, etc. but feel much better now. Start a garden, or container garden, eat lots of YOUR OWN fresh vegetables this summer.

William Faust

sodas are bad

I read on the internet a few yrs. ago of a study in which it was found that drinking an average ONE soda daily (or any drink for that matter that is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, such as a Snapple Ice tea) raises one's risk of developing diabetes by a whopping 40%. I wasn't a big soda drinker anyway, but at that point my soda consumption (regular Coke over ice) became limited to the Friday night pizza.

Cosmo_3

I hear ya

Well guys since I started this thread I took it easy and only lost another 4 pounds.

I am still sticking to the now daily interval exercise on the treadmill, and I have been able to stick to the "only in moderation" way of life. I was temped a few times already when going out to eat and was able to only eat half of the meal, and just doggy bag the rest. I may have mentioned this, but if the cravings are really bad, you might as well allow yourself to just have a little bit of a comfort food, or to let yourself cheat here and there, just to make sure it is only one mouthful, and make sure that you do a little extra exercise to make up for it.

This past week was a good test for me, as is typical in our business everything went haywire and I had a few long days that turned into nights. But I have some good snacks in my truck, and nothing but hot lightly sweetened tea, and water.

We MUST change our lifestyles if we expect to change our bodies for the better!

Cosmo

Weezbo

i wish you good fortune ...

my thoughts on work generally keep me so occupied that i have taken to a see food diet. some guys get a day off and others vacation days...if you drink coffee by the bucket like me you can basically stay perpendicular to the ground just about indefinitely Food is Good though:) Drink 8 8 ounce glasses of water for 8 days. you will lose at least 8 pounds of body weight and feel real clean:)

Good luck.

Dave_4

Everybody in the world must have a different spiin on dieting, but two things I've found to be important are:

1) sleep (because if you don't get enough, you'll crave quick energy snacks throughout the day)
2) a good breakfast with protein, such as a couple of egg whites

When I pay attention to these 2 things, I find it easier to control what I eat for the rest of the day.

Dave_4

Everybody in the world must have a different spiin on dieting, but two things I've found to be important are:

1) sleep (because if you don't get enough, you'll crave quick energy snacks throughout the day)
2) a good breakfast with protein, such as a couple of egg whites

When I pay attention to these 2 things, I find it easier to control what I eat for the rest of the day.

GaryDidier

Diet

Cosmo,
Good luck and I commend you for getting into a reasonable and achievable program that makes sense. I like the part about cheating, only I would consider it as a treat or reward. My best to your continued success.
Gary from Granville

Cosmo_3

See Food diet

Yeah, I hear ya, it's the See Food Diet, coffee & doughnuts, and stress that got me to 270.

Funny though now that I sweat everyday, I find I don't reach for food for stress relief. Though temptations abound...... before checking out the wall just know I was thinking about the oreo's that are in the kitchen cabinet!


Cosmo

Rocky_3

Old and fat no more...at least not fat...

Still old though. Couldn't stand to hear my heart beat like it was coming out of my chest every night in bed from just walking up the stairs to the bedroom. 44 years old and 235, with a blown out back from a boiler job 4 years ago. Wife got us a membership to local health club. The real trick was finding a buddy from church to meet me there at 6:00 every morning. I wouldn't go if left to my own devices, but having to show up for my buddy got my fat butt out of bed every morning for that first critical 5 or 6 weeks. Now I go for myself because I have dropped 18 pounds of fat, feel WAY better, look better, have more energy, and my back feels WAY better. Now I snack all day long on fruit, raw veggies, yogurt, unsalted nuts to avoid that "Ravenous" night-time meal. Key is several small meals during the day, that way your body doesn't think it has to go into "starvation" mode where it hordes all the calories not knowing if it will ever get fed again. Works great. I do 35 minutes on the elliptical machine every day till the sweat is literally running off my head. Then stretch, (good for the old ligaments, tendons, and muscles), then do 40 minutes of a Nautilus-type circuit. Shower and get to work at 7:30 bright eyed and bushy-tailed. Oh yeah, two weeks in Hawaii every March doesn't hurt either!
Keep up the good work until the regime becomes a habit. If you start to falter, find a buddy to work out with. You will show up for a buddy when you normally wouldn't do it for yourself. Worked great for me.

Good health!
Rocky