Any one ever hear of the military diet? It seems so odd that I could see if working, reminds me of the Mayo Clinic diet that people my parents' age used to do, very regimented food choices. I like the fact that it lasts three days then you go off it for 3-4 days but don't think it includes enough protein and it discourages working out.

Hey Guys,

Been traveling for the last month so kinda out of range. Went to Europe for three weeks and did a 10 day cruise in Norway. All that and I lost 5 pounds! Woohoo... Down to the lowest weight I have been in 25+ years. The 250 mark is a huge barrier I have approached several times and have never been able to break. Heading towards the next goal of 240. Also realized as I looked at records I started at 284 not 280.

Current weight 247

-37 total

If you are looking for a diet where you eat (close to) nothing during the day and things like ice cream at night, look at intermittent fasting. People have really good results with that, but you have to be willing to change your lifestyle for it to work.

I am feeling way better in the late morning and afternoon if I didn't eat anything for breakfast/lunch than when I am eating so little that I am still hungry right after the meal. A slice of toast with peanut butter and half of a fruit or an egg doesn't even satisfy me for 30 minutes.

A problem most runners face when changing to longer distance is that they tend to buy their shoes too small. When upping your distance, and in your case you have, you need to buy your running shoes a half to a full size bigger than your normal shoe size. The reason for this is that all of that repeated pounding causes your feet to swell significantly during your run and your toes bang in the front of your shoes, over and over and over.

As a basic rule you should have a thumb width between your longest toe and the front of your shoe. This should give you enough room for your feet to spread out during your run and avoid toe nail issues. Also remember that different brands run either long or short on sizes so the actual size printed on the shoe doesn't mean as much as how it actually fits. When you first put them on they'll feel weird being that big, but you''ll get used to that and be much happier on long runs.

As to blisters while you run be sure to wear non-cotton socks.

This information comes from me, as a guy who just started significant weight loss (Down 17 lbs in 2 weeks) but was previously a serious triathlete and marathon runner. I also worked at a running specialty store and fit and sold running shoes for over 5 years.

I hope this helps.

Been out for a couple of months due to multiple surgeries. Still at it, though. Weighed in this morning at 209.4. Goal for the end of the year is 195. I'm trying to make small changes rather than a full blown diet/workout plan so that it becomes normal and not something I can easily fall out of.

Thanks to Travis for starting this.

@JABSolstice I'm really glad people are making positive changes through this thread. Maybe- no without a doubt - the coolest experience I've ever had on the internet!

Thanks again all of your for input re: toe nails. Was kind of a weird thing to be asking about, but the input was helpful and I think my problems are behind me in that area.

Also thanks for analysis re: military diet. I am thinking I may give it or something similar a whirl around holiday time because LDT really loves his family's holiday cooking and knows he has no self-control in that area.

Just got back from another cruise vacation and folks. I lifted 1-3 times per day but did not do as much cardio as I had planned. My arms, legs, chest and back feel really full from the increased food and lifting. I did extremely high reps with light weight to avoid injury but had great results. Sadly this is the first cruise I didn't feed any kitties on, oh well got comped again so there's always next time.

I am posting today to say that I failed and stepped on the scale before September. I did it before the cruise, 2 days after and 5 days after (today). Happy to say I only only gained 3 pounds on the ship despite eating a ton.

As of today I am at 229 and dang it I'm starting to look fit! I'm 9 pounds from what I thought was possible by the end of the year and I've still got 4 months to go!

Thank you all for your help and giving me someplace to be accountable. Let's keep up the awesome work together!

Gogogo LongDT! Sounds like you're making positive lifestyle changes.

physical yesterday. 178, down 25 lbs since superbowl weekend.

still walking >10 miles/day. still avoiding high fat foods. upped my beer intake to <2 ltrs/day. priorities

Way to go, does the booze intake correlate with the miles increase? Whenever I drink (which for me means getting drunk because I don't see the point of having a couple) I always wake up with insane miles logged. I think I did 16.2 one day in June this year and had a 17+ day at the Republican National Convention last year on the night I blacked out. I can't sit still when I'm drinking or I get really tired.

thanks.

booze increase correlates to i drink too much. made a choice. food or booze. drinking won.

miles are a product of summer and walking 27 holes /day at our club. once fall comes i go back to work, lose the daily miles...and gain back the lbs. wife insists the cheese and crackers and chips and sausage are far more dangerous than three beers/day. i plan to see if that bears out this winter. no more high-fat foods. keep drinking. and swim 1k each morning.

Wanted to revisit. Down nine more pounds since last check in. Finally got past 240 after a several week plateau. 230 here I come. Just started training for my first ever 5k. I really suck at running but am trying the couch to 5k plan. I have now completed 3 weeks, and have run more than i have ever in my life. Cant imagine running 5k, but could not have imagined being below 240 pounds or even 250 pounds. Seriously this blog was one of the reasons I started. So a big THANK YOU to the community!

Current weight 238

-46 toal

Excellent news! Good for you.

How's everyone doing??? Sorry I haven't been interacting as much lately, work blocked this site and Has been picking up lately so Ive been out of the loop.

Unfortunately, I gained 15 pounds since the last checkin as of today. However, I just got back from a cruise some I'm going to blame some of it on that!

Goal is to start walking/running to the gym and build up to a 5k turkey trot!

Hey folks just wanted to give a yearly update. I did my turkey trot, finished it in at 25:40 which is the fastest my blackass has ever ran 3 miles, even when I was in shape! I've never been a runner but hope to pick up the habit in 2018.

I currently weigh 224. I got down to 213 the week before Thanksgiving but have been lifting heavy weights, eating like a pig and only doing cardio once per day for 30 minutes 4X per week and 60-90 minutes 2X per week.

I cannot believe that I've done so well. While we all lost steam posting in the thread at the end of the year, this group of strangers on the internet helped me stay accountable and on track and I thank you all.

I'm looking to lose fat and gain muscle next year without regard to what the scale says. If others want to start a 2018 thread, I'd be interested in following along and posting my journey towards that goal but would also be interested in maybe doing a healthy lifestyle type thread too. Kwanza will be over before we know it and the New Year will be upon us so decisions to be made! Would be awesome if a vlogger or LVL "celeb" would start this!

Reviving this baby.

I began Jan. 8th at 270 pounds. I'm 32 and 6'2. I get married late April, so I aggressively targeted 209 as a potential landing spot.

I'm currently at 232. Down almost 40 pounds in less than 2 months.

I've been fasting significantly. I've done both intermittent fasting and extended fasting (multiple 3-4 day fast, two five-day fasts, and an eight-day fast thrown in there).

I've been eating somewhat cleaner and have cut out fast food for the most part. I haven't had many meals this year, though (as the fasting suggests). I would say I eat at most 2-3 meals per week right now.

I've been doing Orange Theory for cardio and lifting.

Overall, the fasting has gotten much easier after my body got keto-adapted. The first couple of fasts were hell on wheels as my body adjusted. Now, I have improved insulin sensitivity, so I get fuller faster. I sometimes order my old "fat guy" meals when I am breaking fasts, but I get 2/3 the way through and can't eat anymore. My mind says "eat the 20 wings," like I used to, but then I get to wing 12 and just can't do it anymore. One of the benefits of fasting is reducing insulin resistance in this way.

Anyway, I have every plan to push this thing down to the 200s. I now think 209 is a reasonable goal, but I am shooting for something closer to 205 by the time of my wedding. I have decided that I like this plan enough that I am going to keep going post-wedding. I am really looking for "look good in the mirror" loss, and I think I'll need to get below 200 to get that. I've blown well into "look good in clothes" territory.

Love this thread and the motivation it provides.

Started Keto on 8/27/2017 (my bday) @ 246lbs. I weighed in today at 190Lbs and feel awesome. I kinda hit a plateau about 5 weeks ago but that's ok. I'm 6'2" so I'm right where I want to be.

I've been doing 16/8 intermittent fasting with the occasional 24hr session every week or two and get in 20-30 min of cardio (elliptical + rowing machine) 3-5x per week.

My macros have also been 75/20/5 pretty consistently.

I do drink some alcohol but mostly Vodka with water/sugar free redbull or Michelob ultra.

This is the 3rd "diet" I've done in my life (I'm 44) and can tell you that this is by far the easiest way to lose weight.

@Making the Move- how often are you doing orange theory? Good on you man. If you do it 3x per week and eat clean you’ll be in great shape. Those classes kick my ass. Make sure you’re nit fasting after class tho. Without protein post workout your gains will diminish

Also remember the golden rule if weight loss- the faster you take the weight off, the quicker it goes back on if you start slacking

Totally forgot about this thread! I am curious to hear who achieved their 2017 goals and what your 2018 goals are?

I gained 10lbs while traveling 4 weeks over the holidays, but fortunately it didn't take me very long to get them off again and back down to ~135lbs.

Did the Houston Marathon as planned in January but failed to break 3 hours. Still very happy with getting to 3:06 which qualified me for the Boston Marathon. That's basically the end-goal for recreational distance runners.

Kinda gave up on trying to get below 130lbs but instead would like to lose maybe 5lbs of fat and replace that with 10lbs of upper body muscle. So I added swimming to the running/cycling mix again and consider doing a half Ironman in the Fall. But for that, I have to seriously work on my nutrition and get away from my high sugar low protein diet. So far I managed to add more protein by drinking a banana/milk/greek yogurt/peanut butter shake after my morning workout, but I still eat at least half a bag of candy each day and my other snacks aren't much healthier either.

Going to use this thread as my first post because this thread is exactly what I am doing right now. I started my journey about 3 weeks ago at 220 lbs. Right now I am down to 212. I am really just watching my calories and making sure I balance my diet with my macronutrients. Lifting 3 times a week (M,W,F) with cardio in between lift days and one day on the weekend. I really want to get down to my ideal weight for my height (5'10) at 175lbs. First main goal is to be able to walk around this summer with my shirt off and not look like I have an inter-tube around my stomach. Already seeing results but have a long way to go.

^ I'm 5'10" and 220 lbs myself jdizzy and have been meaning to start the weightloss but have lacked motivation. Your progress is motivating since we were a similar weight. Going to mainly weight train to speed up the metabolism, with the focus being on squats; and will eat cleaner to lose weight. Let's lose it.

I didn't realize how bad I ate until I actually looked at what I was eating. Calorie counting and making sure my diet is balanced with macronutrients has been the biggest key to my weight loss thus far. I am at about 1900 calories a day which is aggressive for starting out.

Get a gym membership Jose. Just get there and do something. I am on week two of a begginers routine and its amazing the changes I already feel. More energy, lighter on my feet and just feel stronger overall. The hardest part for myself has just been taking that first step to get started. After that, it's all downhill. Keep me up to date as we are essentially "model matches" for each other.

Really inspiring stuff here decoop. What you have lost so far is my ultimate goal for weight loss. Hopefully here in a few months I can share a post like this and inspire someone else who is starting on their journey.

1900 should be around your basal metabolic rate, so your calorie deficit is pretty much what you burn through activity?

My watch tells me my daily resting calories are 1850 and my average daily activity calories are a little over 1250 for a total of 3100 per day.

I am eating less calories than my BMR and working out on top of that. My BMR is right 2300 calories per day. Based on the calorie deficit calculator, I should be around 1687 calories to be aggressive with my weight loss. I am consuming 1900 calories a day. With exercising I am burning anywhere from 200-1000 calories a day. Weekends makes this fluctuate some but I really try to stay in line even more so with the diet.

Keep in mind I started at this at about 45lbs overweight. When I looked up my height to weight ratio and saw I was considered obese, I knew I had to change something.

Do you count your calories madlex? Based on your post it sounds like your really aggressive with your diet but I was wondering what you take in for calories?

I don't. At least for myself, that wouldn't be a healthy approach to dieting, but I have a rough understanding about how many calories certain foods have.

I feel like by counting calories, you're basically limiting yourself to a point where you might be hungry but don't eat because you've already passed your threshold.

I think a better approach is to gain an understanding which foods are good for you and which are bad for you and then try to mostly eat things from the first group. If you're exercising you should be able to eat as much good food as you need to feel satisfied.

For myself, I know the last necessary step is to limit my intake on refined carbohydrates. Unfortunately, that's the one thing I really can't get myself to do. Some people told me to go on a 3 week sugar detox and add the non-refined carbohydrates back to the mix after that. But I can't see myself do that right now. That addiction is strong.