The physical fitness encouragement and accountability thread.

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E-Rocker

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Based on some of the discussion in the Real Life & What's Happening thread, it seemed like some folks would be interested in a thread of encouragement and accountability for their physical fitness goals, so here you go!

My goal is to weigh less than 180 lbs/ 81.6 kg/ 12.9 stone, with a stretch goal of specifically weighing 165 lbs/ 74.8 kg/ 11.8 stone. I suppose it would be good for me to have a deadline, so I'll choose US Labor Day, which is Monday, September 5th, 2022.

Current weight is about 185 lbs/ 83.9 kg/ 13.2 stone.

My current methods:

  • Working with a personal trainer on Mondays and Wednesdays, mostly on strength training.
  • Counting calories.
  • Changing my ratio of home-cooked meals vs. restaurant meals to heavily favor home-cooked meals.
  • Limiting alcohol consumption to @ social events only.
  • Training for a half-marathon. I'm nearly done with week 3 of the 12 week program.
 
Good idea. I was at my ideal weight before COVID hit. Now I'm about 20# overweight ... My method for losing weight is usually just cutting out a lot of unnecessary snacking from boredom / stress / etc. I will hold myself accountable by posting my weight here once a week.
 
I don't have much to add to E E-Rocker as I am doing more or less the same thing without exercise.
  • Counting calories i.e. tracking food and exercise.
  • The wife and I keep each other accountable.
  • Limiting alcohol consumption to special occasions.
    • This wasn't a deliberate decision but a natural consequence of tracking calories. I've had 2 ounces of scotch in the past couple months simply because I'd rather have the equivalent calories in food unless it's a special occasion.
  • Avoid eating out in favor of home prep.
    • Again, this was a natural consequence of counting calories and not a deliberate decision. A single fast food meal can easily wipe out a day's worth of calories!
    • When home prep isn't an option stick to places that publish their nutritional info.
  • Avoid ultra processed foods
    • No one over 40 should be eating this stuff on the regular

Everything is going good and I'm losing weight at a steady 1lb a week BUT at the time of writing I am dragging my feet on exercise. I am having a lot of trouble getting back in the saddle after 18 months or so of inactivity. My wife and I have wildly different schedules which makes it even more difficult to get started.
 
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I was on a good regime when Covid first hit for about a year but fell off.

- Swim 2-3 times a week, I enjoy this much more than the gym or running

- Sit-ups and push-ups each morning, gradually increasing the number overtime

- Cut way back on beer, using edibles more for recreation on weekends only

Ironically, or perhaps not, returning to working in the office made this harder to fulfill. But now we're allowed to work a hybrid of remote/office so my plan is to use at least my 2-3 remote days to get back on track. We'll see if I can stick to it.
 
Just weighed myself at 17 Stone 1lb so I'm probably a stone or so over my target weight. Two weeks before I go on holiday I'll cut out eating garbage and start on the push ups and weights again. I'm off/on/off with exercise and yoyo with my weight all the time so it never takes long to get back into it. When I first started push ups I could barely do two but got obsessive at one point with a 1000/day target. Now I'm happy to do 50, wait a few seconds and squeeze out another ten. Weirdly enough it feels like it's those extra ten that make the difference.

I have a multi gym that's a home for spiders and a rowing machine that is great for putting boxes and draping stuff off which really need using not to mention a pushbike that is in 'as new' condition to my shame.

If I want to lose weight fast I replace one meal with porridge (using water for extra benefit instead of milk - gruel in other words) and miss a meal out. The real killer for me is snacking though because my job is pretty dull unless something out of course happens.

The other problem is age I guess and I really can't be arsed a lot of the time these days with various age related aches and pains. Only the girlfriend keeps me semi motivated as she goes to the gym three+ times a week and plays squash so is in decent shape. I don't want to revert to being a potato with cocktail sticks for arms and legs again so have to do something I suppose.

I'll check into the thread in a week and see if I've lost anything. Other than my sanity.
 
Don’t forget nuts. Nature’s pastries!

A bit of a stretch, I admit, but having fruits and juts around for snacking has been a huge help.
I hate fruit but love nuts.

I'm 194lbs as of this morning. My normal weight for the last 20 years has been around 188lbs. I'm 5'11" and should apparently be around 165-170lbs according to some BMI calcs. I've only once hit under 180 since ending college in 95. That was after a 3 week stomach flu where eating was borderline impossible.

I think my strategy will be:
Cut out alcohol (done since late December)
Minimize snacking(not doing well there)
Chase children around(done)
Walk up and down my yard (I live on a cliff)
Maybe work out or use one of my wife's Pelaton things.
Maybe use weights more.
 
September last year I had some tests done that showed insulin resistance (values very close to full-fledged type 2 diabetes) and severe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

As a healthcare professional, I was petrified and more than a little ashamed.

As a parent, I was truly afraid I wouldn’t be there for my son’s adulthood. I lost my dad at 16 to lung disease (heavy smoker) and by God I miss him still at 42. My son is such a great kid, and deserves better.

So the step was a radical, if unstructured low-calorie diet (“lazy keto”). I opted for low-carb as insulin resistance was an issue, even though there’s not much evidence that very low-carb diets are superior to regular hypocaloric diets. It was also an easy diet for me to follow: cut down radically on sweets, bread, pasta, just about anything made of flour really, anything fried, and starchy veggies like rice and potatoes.

I also cut alcohol completely. Even though insulin resistance was probably the major driver of liver disease in my case, even moderate alcohol consumption is linked to delayed recovery. And I was going all in. Even found an appreciative home for my open whisky bottle.

I lost weight relatively quickly and even brought down my %body fat, but at the cost of quite a bit of muscle mass. And if you’re fighting your blood sugar levels, muscle mass is a big deal — the more muscle, the more your body eats up glucose, bringing the blood levels down.

So phase two, started concurrently actually, was dragging my four-year-sedentary ass to the gym. I have never enjoyed going to the gym but at some point one has to concede that it absolutely is the most time-effective way to get exercise, especially of the isometric, muscle-building.

I mean, sure, I would rather be swimming, or rock climbing, or hiking, or doing some martial art or other — but the gym allowed me to spend one full hour a day, every day except Sunday, at the time of my convenience to take care of my exercise needs. And in my case, within walking distance of my home.

Case in point: yesterday I went in for tests and my liver is clear. Blood tests and ultrasound attested to the absence of fatty liver disease. Glucose and other tests still place in the insulin resistance range, albeit barely.

In the next days I’ll be meeting with my physician to check on my test results, gauge my current body composition (bioelectrical impedance) and decide whether my current medication suffices, and probably with a new dietician the better to plan a diet that might be more compatible with muscle gain without jeopardizing my metabolic improvement.

Which is another key tenet for me — don’t do this alone. Your budget allowing, retain the services of a nutritionist/dietician and a personal trainer, and have a physician periodically check up on you. They will hold you accountable, gauge your progress and help you plan each step along the way without you having to curate metric fucktons of bullshit on the goddamn internet.

Hope that helps someone. If anyone’s interested I can post my progress in numbers later.
 
Just weighed myself at 17 Stone 1lb so I'm probably a stone or so over my target weight. Two weeks before I go on holiday I'll cut out eating garbage and start on the push ups and weights again. I'm off/on/off with exercise and yoyo with my weight all the time so it never takes long to get back into it. When I first started push ups I could barely do two but got obsessive at one point with a 1000/day target. Now I'm happy to do 50, wait a few seconds and squeeze out another ten. Weirdly enough it feels like it's those extra ten that make the difference.

I have a multi gym that's a home for spiders and a rowing machine that is great for putting boxes and draping stuff off which really need using not to mention a pushbike that is in 'as new' condition to my shame.

If I want to lose weight fast I replace one meal with porridge (using water for extra benefit instead of milk - gruel in other words) and miss a meal out. The real killer for me is snacking though because my job is pretty dull unless something out of course happens.

The other problem is age I guess and I really can't be arsed a lot of the time these days with various age related aches and pains. Only the girlfriend keeps me semi motivated as she goes to the gym three+ times a week and plays squash so is in decent shape. I don't want to revert to being a potato with cocktail sticks for arms and legs again so have to do something I suppose.

I'll check into the thread in a week and see if I've lost anything. Other than my sanity.

I hate fruit but love nuts.

I'm 194lbs as of this morning. My normal weight for the last 20 years has been around 188lbs. I'm 5'11" and should apparently be around 165-170lbs according to some BMI calcs. I've only once hit under 180 since ending college in 95. That was after a 3 week stomach flu where eating was borderline impossible.

I think my strategy will be:
Cut out alcohol (done since late December)
Minimize snacking(not doing well there)
Chase children around(done)
Walk up and down my yard (I live on a cliff)
Maybe work out or use one of my wife's Pelaton things.
Maybe use weights more.
Guys — you will snack.

Account for that in your meal plans.

Have healthy snacks laying around at all times. Fruits, fresh or dried. Nuts. Eggs. Low-fat milk and/or yoghurt. Sugar-free granola. 70%+ chocolate. The nature and quantity of what is “healthy” for you varies with the precise nature and aims of your diet.

I cannot stress enough how important it was for me to have a ND to resort to. If anything it made dieting easier by showing me that I could eat a lot more (in variety but also in quantity) than I thought I could.

And the other key to successful dieting, in my case, was not giving up when you slip up. Had a piece of cake? It’s okay. Don’t give up, don’t have a second one. Had a second and a third? Take a deep breath, drink a lot of water, and tomorrow start anew. Constancy beats intensity in dieting, exercise, in all things.

Also, plan for your cheat meals. Really get into them. I have been having maybe three cheat meals a week. I still get to enjoy pasta, pizza, burgers and even the odd piece of cake every now and then.
 
Guys — you will snack.

Account for that in your meal plans.

Have healthy snacks laying around at all times. Fruits, fresh or dried. Nuts. Eggs. Low-fat milk and/or yoghurt. Sugar-free granola. 70%+ chocolate. The nature and quantity of what is “healthy” for you varies with the precise nature and aims of your diet.

I cannot stress enough how important it was for me to have a ND to resort to. If anything it made dieting easier by showing me that I could eat a lot more (in variety but also in quantity) than I thought I could.

And the other key to successful dieting, in my case, was not giving up when you slip up. Had a piece of cake? It’s okay. Don’t give up, don’t have a second one. Had a second and a third? Take a deep breath, drink a lot of water, and tomorrow start anew. Constancy beats intensity in dieting, exercise, in all things.

Also, plan for your cheat meals. Really get into them. I have been having maybe three cheat meals a week. I still get to enjoy pasta, pizza, burgers and even the odd piece of cake every now and then.
This is sort of my reality. I've never been that into the extremes and I see the burnout and injury caused by them that mess with my more intense friends.

I also just don't get that defeated when I have bad days so it's just acknowledging it's time to pay more attention than less and be more conscious about eating vs random.
 
I love fruit and yogurt and don't have much a sweet tooth. Beer aside I don't think diet has been my issue, lack of physical activity is.

I've always been a skinny motherfucker so I'm flabby now but not really overweight per se, more just completely out-of-shape.
 
My goal is to slim down to 75kg and get to running 10km without having to stop. I run three times a week and every time I try to do 50m more than last time.

When I started I was pushing 90kg and could barely do 2km, most of it downhill, without wheezing like Darth Vader and getting a stitch in my side.

Now I'm down to 77kg and doing about 5.4km. So I think I'll reach my weight goal long before I achieve that 10km run.

If I can get in shape anyone can.

And I love that I'm actually welcome to talk about my fitness goals here.
 
I've been trying for a while, but really didn't make any progress until this year and the stress of what my marriage is going through. I'm down to 260 from 320 and still going, and seeing a dietician. I'm ChuckDee68 on MyFitnessPal if you want to link up.
 
I might as well post on Mondays, even though there tends to be some weekend cheating ...

Today: 178.5 lbs. I'd like to be a lot closer to 160. Losing weights happens INCREDIBLY slowly for me, probably a half-pound a week at the fastest, so I'm definitely not thinking this will happen all at once / very soon. I'm playing the long game, here ...
 
Amazing or concerning LOL. Not sure which yet. Trying to get to a healthy state mentally- week three of the separation and I'm still not doing so good.

First time I read that I didn't take account what's causing/aiding the weight loss. It sucks youre stress is probably hurting your appetite.
Losing 60 lbs is amazing if you've got the excess weight to lose. Let's face it getting a lot higher than 320 starts making it hard to exercise and motivate. You're getting to a place where you have more options. Don't sell that short. If you decide you don't like it you can always put the weight back on. That's usually a lot easier and pretty fun.
 
First time I read that I didn't take account what's causing/aiding the weight loss. It sucks youre stress is probably hurting your appetite.
Losing 60 lbs is amazing if you've got the excess weight to lose. Let's face it getting a lot higher than 320 starts making it hard to exercise and motivate. You're getting to a place where you have more options. Don't sell that short. If you decide you don't like it you can always put the weight back on. That's usually a lot easier and pretty fun.
I definitely had the excess weight to lose. I haven't been this size in a very long time, and I needed to lose it. Also in the case that things do end up working out, I don't want to be the big guy next to a much smaller woman though she said she doesn't care about that. The last picture we took together reinforced that. My dietician isn't worried yet, so that's a good sign.
 
Don’t forget nuts. Nature’s pastries!

A bit of a stretch, I admit, but having fruits and juts around for snacking has been a huge help.
Absolutely! I keep a blend of dried cranberry and nuts handy at all times. I have a serving in the morning with my oatmeal and will also have a handful (i.e. 1/4 cup serving) when I crave a sugary and savory snack. A 1/4 cup serving is 170 calories is not bad if you exercise portion control. There are some added sugars in the cranberries but since I eat almost zero refined sugar outside of this I am not too concerned. That said, I've seen dried fruit with dessert levels of added sugar so check the labels before you buy..

Edit. If anyone wants to add me on MyFitnessPal please PM me.
 
Someone connected with me on MyFitnessPal... thanks! I don't know who it is though. Maybe we should get a list of usernames for easy connection for all that want to connect.
 
Intermittent fasting (shorten your eating window). Dump transfats and seed oils (polyunsaturated). Dump extra carbs where you can. Add back saturated fat in everything. That's how I lost 60+ lbs. and lowered my A1C, and while physically unable to exercise. Still a lot of damage to undo.

Sardines and Fish Oils are your friends, especially if you grew up heavily eating fruits and nuts and vegetables and whole grains your whole life like me. Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratios imbalance is totally a thing. As are phytoestrogens.

Be careful out there.
 
Great thread!
I'm not doing a diet right now because Easter. I'd return to announce it when I restart keto, but on Easter, it's unsustainable...:grin:

I'm visiting a fitness gym a couple times a week, and doing BJJ a couple times a week. Depending on my other obligations and health, that can be from 7 times a week combined, to as few as 2, but I usually average around 4:tongue:. The gym does calisthenic-type exercises (stretching is the worst part, and I love it:angel:), but I plan to get into kettlebells as well when I get in better shape (better shape avoids injury with KB:devil:).

I also got a grappling dummy, but am not doing much with it because the self-made one I got folds too easily, and most of my moves seem to rely on the opponent's structure as well. I should look into a dummy with better structure.
Of course, I can only work with the dummy when the kids aren't home, because I don't want to teach the small ones triangles and armbars yet, lest they try them on each other...and they've been sick lately:shade:.
 
Weekly check-in, usually Mondays. I think I'll organize like this ...

Starting weight (2022-04-25): 178.5#
Goal weight: under 160#
Last week's weight: 178.5# (since last week was the starting week)
This week's weight: 177.5#

I try not to get too excited by any specific day's weight, since it can simply be some variation in water weight, etc., but I've been weighing on and off during the week, and I think I am indeed moving in the right direction. I'm mostly just avoiding boredom / stress eating, and making sure that meals are reasonable but satisfying. As the weather continues to improve, I should be able to get moving some more too, hopefully with lots of summer walks. Even under the best of circumstances, It's hard for me to lose more than a half-pound a week, so I'm not expecting a big shift from week to week, but hopefully over the next months, I can at least move in the right direction.
 
Great thread!
I'm not doing a diet right now because Easter. I'd return to announce it when I restart keto, but on Easter, it's unsustainable...:grin:

I'm visiting a fitness gym a couple times a week, and doing BJJ a couple times a week. Depending on my other obligations and health, that can be from 7 times a week combined, to as few as 2, but I usually average around 4:tongue:. The gym does calisthenic-type exercises (stretching is the worst part, and I love it:angel:), but I plan to get into kettlebells as well when I get in better shape (better shape avoids injury with KB:devil:).

I also got a grappling dummy, but am not doing much with it because the self-made one I got folds too easily, and most of my moves seem to rely on the opponent's structure as well. I should look into a dummy with better structure.
Of course, I can only work with the dummy when the kids aren't home, because I don't want to teach the small ones triangles and armbars yet, lest they try them on each other...and they've been sick lately:shade:.
Damn, I miss BJJ. If only I could work it in my schedule.

If I was wealthy beyond the necessity to work, I'd be swimming every other day, lifting every day and alternating between BJJ and Muay Thai in the evenings. And who knows, maybe getting some gaming done. :hehe:
 
This past week, I did not do so well with goals of eating mostly @ home rather than restaurants & only drinking socially. I did keep up with my personal training and half-marathon training, though. Still holding steady @ 185 lbs.
Steady is not necessarily bad. You might be losing fat and gaining muscle. Don't give up your weight goal (and diet!) yet but realize it's not always a straight path.
 
If I was wealthy beyond the necessity to work, I'd be swimming every other day, lifting every day and alternating between BJJ and Muay Thai in the evenings. And who knows, maybe getting some gaming done. :hehe:

I've never been able to get all three in. I had a period where I was in Shidokan almost every day, another where I was swimming almost every day, and for the last year until I lost the heart for it, I was doing Peloton every day. I get my new bike this week, so hopefully I'll be able to do that consistently along with walking.
 
So I'm now within the margin of error for my goal weight (75kg) and nearing running 6km without having to stop. I'll need some new shoes soon; the soles are getting a bit thin.
 
I've successfully been putting off going on a diet until the last few weeks when I had cause to dig out my suit from the back of my wardrobe. The suit I bought at the end of my previous diet when I'd dropped my BMI from 28.5 to 23.5....

Unfortunately I dont like fruit and vegetables, I'm a lousy and lazy cook*, and I tend to snack when I'm bored, stressed, depressed, or thiking/writing and need to give my hands something to do whilst my brain works. Really its a miracle I can fit through the average door.
The only diet that has worked for me was Alternate Day Fasting. I was doing Mon/Weds/Fri fasting down to 600cals with the other days and weekends free - though I was trying to stick inside the recommended calories for my target weight and activiy level.
It didnt have the miraculous results people are supposed to get from ADF, but the overall reduction in calorific intake meant I was losing about a pound a week.
And as it involved not eating rather than expensive diet foods, it was actually saving a little money. :smile:


* I once told a friend I was doing my bit to save electrictiy by putting a low-energy bulb in my microwave. I don't think she got the full nuances of that gag.
 
Today begins week 6 of my 12-week half-marathon plan. Still sticking with it. This past week went better with minimizing restaurant meals and minimizing non-social drinking than the previous week, but there's still room for improvement. Still right around 185 lbs.

My last lift in my personal training session today was a leg press of 190 lbs. To the best of my recollection, that's the first time in my life that I've lifted more than my body weight in any type of exercise.
 
I've slowed down some. Not because I'm eating more, but because the general malaise has me so I don't even want to go out. Down to 259 as of this morning. I'm going to try to force myself to get outside at least once a day even if I don't feel like it, and do a long walk twice a week.
 
I've gained quite a bit of weight over Easter. Need to restart that diet.

Also, I thought of a devious way to stop myself from overindulging with sweets. I'm giving up one sweet per week:grin:!
So far, I'm off the chocolate...or should be, the week isn't over yet:devil:!
 
Mother’s Day yesterday meant big honking plate of spaghetti and cake for dessert. Battle lost.

Tomorrow is Mrs. The Butcher’s birthday, which means dining out and more cake.

And next week is Baby Butcher’s birthday (not a baby anymore at 5), which means pizza, a birthday party and you guessed it, yet more cake.

Bought myself some dried dates and a bar of 85% chocolate, both sit untouched as sugar has its claws on me yet again.

And to top it off I’m peeved at my plateauing gains and trying to ramp up protein intake. Waiting for physician visit next week to schedule a new RD visit.
 
Mother’s Day yesterday meant big honking plate of spaghetti and cake for dessert. Battle lost.

Tomorrow is Mrs. The Butcher’s birthday, which means dining out and more cake.

And next week is Baby Butcher’s birthday (not a baby anymore at 5), which means pizza, a birthday party and you guessed it, yet more cake.

Bought myself some dried dates and a bar of 85% chocolate, both sit untouched as sugar has its claws on me yet again.

And to top it off I’m peeved at my plateauing gains and trying to ramp up protein intake. Waiting for physician visit next week to schedule a new RD visit.
You have my sympathy. Same problem here, birthdays are incoming...:grin:
 
I had a bit of a blowout on Saturday taking my mom and Bunny out to dinner. I planned for this day weeks in advance and budgeted 1500 calories over my daily limit. I had 4 tallboys of Kirin beer and that alone is 1,080! I made sure it was my only meal of the day to contain the damage and now my nose is back to the grindstone.
 
I rested on Monday because...well, because my back wasn't feeling well. I rubbed it with three different kinds of stuff and the last one did it, or maybe it was the sleep. Either way, it got the trick done.

So today, I got to two practice sessions (BJJ and conditioning) from 8:30 to 13:00. After that I had an hour to sleep, and went to work...:shade:

Late shifts are my favourite for a reason:grin:!

Also, I took some magnesium between the practices. That has to do it, because I have a private session with my conditioning coach scheduled for tomorrow:angel:!

Tonight, I might use some Russian unguents that help with muscle soreness, though. One of them has bee venom in it, and the other, ant venom...needless to say, you only apply those on the skin:tongue:!

I haven't taken my way after the RnR during the holidays but the wife said I'm not going to like the results, and I'm inclined to believe her.
 
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