I was lazy yesterday. No exercise and ate a bit much. Still didn't go over on calories, but my sodium intake was very high (again) and calcium was low (again).

Still holding strong at 251, but going down hopefully. It's a long time till next Tuesday's weigh in.
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Met with my trainer today.........seems he had to check his equipment calibration as he figured there was no way I lost what I did in body fat. He was sure it was water weight.

Having said that I am well above my target for the month and isn't yet the mid point.

Been hitting the cardio hard and the weights harder, my intent as I drop is not to lose any muscle mass but just body fat.........it is a little tougher to do but the end result is worth it.

Eating has been relatively good, been staying away from the starches as much as is reasonable and supplementing with lots of fruits and veggies.

Looking forward to the end of this month.............promised myself a little reward if I break the 20lb barrier (a couple of cold guinness and a Cohiba Esplendido Seleccionn Reserva) :-)
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It's very hard to do, but can be done.

Enjoy the Guinness and Cohiba, Shawn!:-)
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Yup it is something that people typically don't know I think.

It is impossible to gain muscle mass and lose fat at the same time.

One takes a caloric surplus (building muscle)

The other a caloric deficit (losing fat)

That isn't to say you can't get stronger.............which is the part I was always confused about.

The reason people think they are building muscle is that as the fat drops definition of muscle is more visible.

But working your muscles is very important to weight loss as the increase in muscle strength also helps to increase your metabolism meaning that you will burn more calories at rest.

Using a combination of weight training and cardio along with a good nutrition plan is by far the best and healthiest way to lose weight.

Hell I am a weight loss expert...................now if only I could learn to be a weight maintaining expert....................
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I have blossomed to 200.0. :-)
It's just cause I ate all through vacation and walked a million miles.
I had found that my left leg and arm were severely atrophied, got those fixed up and that's a lot of the weight gain.
Now I'm gonna get back to my water and my routine. I should be back down to 185 and be able to keep my muscles right. I'll be satisfied at that. :-)
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i am now up too 270. thats around my all time high. you know you are lazy if you forgot where you put your gym membership card...
i am going to search it tomorrow.one of my problems is that if i stop drinking cola i get headaches and cant focus. takes 10 days or so until i dont have this problem anymore.
probably switching to tea... :-)
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switch to something without sugar. Use a sugar substitute or water. Drinks are what add on the pounds.
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Switch to diet cola still has the caffeine. Try to ween yourself off of that too as I am not a big fan of aspartame.

Tea works the caffeine is still there in tea as well.

Tons of calories in Soda and not one good thing either............sure you knew that.
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Both you and Scott have said this. Why is aspartame bad in regards to weightloss?:-) I try to stay away from Diet drinks as much as possible, but I can't go without my Sweet n Low in my coffee and teas.
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I assume Sweet n Low contains aspartame?
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Not bad with regard to weight loss at all. In fact I drink Diet Ice Tea which has Aspartame..........it is like all other things............done in moderation they are ok.

There is a recent study that claims (not really fully vetted yet) that by breaking the link between sweetness and high calorie consumption that you confuse the bodies ability to regulate intake and therefore cause increased appetite in those that consume it. If that increase in appetite is not met with Calories the body's natural response is to lower the basal metabolic rate as it tries to prevent oncoming starvation. The study is inconclusive as it varies across test subjects.

The general consensus in the scientific community is that saccharin (Sweet N Low), aspartame (NutraSweet) and sucralose (Splenda) are harmless when consumed in moderation.

Nope it contains Sacharine



Hope that helps...............I am a little obsessive about stuff, so when I am back into it.............I am all into it :-)
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That makes sense. I'm not a big sweets fan, so I overcompensate with a lot of meats. Since Sweet n low doesn't contain aspartame, I should be ok. I don't drink sodas at all right now, diet or regular.
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400 calorie burn workout (Don't know how accurate that is, but I'm going by it). Tomorrow is the weekly weigh in, but I'm not optimistic. I overate today and yesterday big time. High fat and too many calories. Also a lot of sodium that will probably help retain water weight. Drank a good bit over the weekend too. That didn't help. My fingers are crossed for tomorrow, but I'm not optimistic about it.
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The key is to get back at it amigo. We cannot change what has happened and the future is unknown the now is what matters.

On the calorie burn if you want a good accurate measure I recommend polar heart monitors. I use mine religiously. That plus having your heart rate will help you get the most out of your work out.

Besides you have to keep it up, otherwise who will keep up the thread :-)
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I keep it up then slack off, then pick back up again, then...

I started this thread a VERY long time ago.

But I'm planning on sticking with it this time. slowly but surely. At least this thread has kept me out of the 260lbs range for a very long time. I'm not optimistic about this week's weigh in, but I'm still optimistic about the long term goal.:-)
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I am down 8 lbs to 229 after my first 2 weeks back in the swing of things.

I just had my back surgery yesterday and so far, so good. I had bone spurs drilled off of 2 vertebrae that pushed a disc into my spinal cord for 30 days, I'll have. 10 lb weight restriction, but will try to log a few miles on the treadmill and start back in my spinning classes. Doc said i need to relieve the pressure on my back or I may be doing this again.
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Keep it up, Duane!:-)
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That's cool info about the aspartame, Shawn. Didn't know that. I did know diet cola makes me want to eat more.
The main thing with Aspartame is that it causes a protein in the joints to turns on and starts eating the joints. It damn near had me crippled. Mind ya, I was drinking nothing but caffeine free diet pepsi all day every day, so I put a ton of it in me daily for about five years to get in bad shape.
I got back to my grape water three days ago, have no appetite to speak of, and am down to 195.4 already. Yesterday I had a bowl of that hay cereal with honey in it for breakfast/lunch, then pizza for dinner.
Scott (Sofaman) switched from cola to grape water a couple months ago and has dropped about 25 pounds already. He feels better, his back and stuff hurts a lot less, and hasn't had to eat tons of motrin every day to get to work.
Grape water kicks ass. :-)

It's also not a good idea to switch from a really high sugar consumption to a really low one all at once. Go slow. :-)
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Good luck brother, try eating lots of celery and peanut butter, and Kiwi to speed up the matab.
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I am all for Kiwi a great fruit. More than your daily C, tons of potassium which helps cell water, iron.......and is apparently a negative calorie fruit (takes more calories to digest it than it provides)

I would be careful on the peanut butter though........on table spoon is 100cal and ton of fat, also more sodium than you need. Don't get me wrong it is a mostly good fats, measure out a tablespoon........not much there.
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