2022 weight loss thread

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Paul Victory
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2022 weight loss thread

Post by Paul Victory »

Having totally bailed on last year's thread and not having done any erging in months, it’s not surprising that I find myself back in the red zone. So I decided it’s time to start over. Being an eternal optimist, I’m going to refer to this as a weight loss thread, but who knows?

Paul V

Date________Weight (kgs)_____Weekly Change_____Overall Change
01/01/22______100.5
M 68 6'1" 124kg (May05), 92kg (Feb06), 122kg (Aug10), 95kg (Sep11), 117kg (Jun13), now 98kg
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Carole S »

I am joining you in being an eternal optimist
We will never give up no matter how bumpy the road and Im glad to see the back of an awful 2021, 2 family bereavements, covid, other family problems...no wonder cake and chocolate featured heavily
Must be better in 2022
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Paul Victory »

Sounds like a very tough year. Here’s to a better 2022!
M 68 6'1" 124kg (May05), 92kg (Feb06), 122kg (Aug10), 95kg (Sep11), 117kg (Jun13), now 98kg
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Carole S »

Had a better week and today at the eye hospital was discharged from clinic with excellent diabetic news and have lost a couple of pounds
Onwards downwards
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by paulgould »

Much like Paul V I let things slide the last few months of the year, with work pressures and a bit of cba which saw me just top 100kg on New Years Day.
Planning to get back into shape for some long walking challenges this summer, the main one being a Round the Island in 24hrs - about 116km with 2100m of elevation change - aiming to get back under 90kg but I may be setting the bar too high :D .

Good luck to both Paul and Carole and here's hoping for a much better 2022!!

Date________Weight (kgs)_____Weekly Change_____Overall Change
01/01/22______100.1
08/01/22______98.0__________ -2.1 _________________ -2.1
15/01/22______96.5__________ -1.5 _________________ -3.6

Paul G
56, 1.74m , Sep '20 - 114 kg , currently - 98 kg
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200m - 30.8
300m - 47.7
30r20 - 7754m
12 hr - 139300m
100 mile - 14:10.12
200km - 18:28.30
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Jill »

Carole, Paul and Paul, wishing you a successful weight loss and then weight loss management year.

Although these days I rarely post on this thread, I do usually read the comments and am always rooting for those of you who are fighting the good fight against weight gain.

Paul V, how is the situation with your back?

.
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by paulgould »

Thanks for the support Jill

More steady but slow progress for me this week

Date________Weight (kgs)_____Weekly Change_____Overall Change
01/01/22______100.1
08/01/22______98.0__________ -2.1 _________________ -2.1
15/01/22______96.5__________ -1.5 _________________ -3.6
22/01/22______95.5__________ -1.0_________________ -4.6

Paul G
56, 1.74m , Sep '20 - 114 kg , currently - 98 kg
Image
200m - 30.8
300m - 47.7
30r20 - 7754m
12 hr - 139300m
100 mile - 14:10.12
200km - 18:28.30
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Carole S »

Well done Paul thats a great month so far :D
Family things have been getting in my way as we catch up with those we missed at Xmas
BUT
Ive had my butt on the Concept seat more than in the armchair :lol:
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by obirobsan »

Hey all -- Thanks to Carole S for pointing me here. I guess this is my home since I started on the erg journey as part of my weight loss plan. I'm using alternate day fasting, which seems to crush the weight for me - unfortunately, my thought on the erg (it will help me prevent lean muscle loss) didn't quite play out, which makes me a little sad and means there will be work at the end of this trip that probably involves weights. Ick. :P Weights are not motivating! Crushing the erg is!!! Yes, this is why my family & friends think I'm crazy.

I started at a little over 280, and weighed in at 234ish this morning. My original goal was 199 - but I think (after doing some back of my hand hardcore numeric analysis) that going much beneath 220 is going to be super hard without a lot of muscle loss or somehow digging like 5% body fat out of my back pocket. (I was at 30% body fat in Feb.. so..... I hope that back pocket is big, well, it probably was.. see the 30% body fat!). So maybe another 15 pounds or so to lose, then migrate over to a plan that doesn't lose weight and doesn't gain weight.

Here's visually what my year's looked like...

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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Jill »

Hello there Obirobsan. :)

These days, I think of myself as a Honorary Member of this thread and I do hope that you will continue to be successful with your weight loss plans.

When I lost my excess weight, I had to keep things simple: eat a little less and for the most part, eat a healthy diet, combined with regular exercise on the ergo.

Carole, apologies for neglecting this thread but tomorrow, I will post what I hope will be a pep talk for you.
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Jill »

Hi Carole, I am sorry that you are struggling at the moment with ongoing weight loss problems. Unfortunately, I cannot offer you a motivation transplant but if you could explain a little more about why you are feeling so down, then perhaps I might be able to come up with some helpful suggestions.

Jill xx
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Carole S »

Hi Jill good to hear from you
My answer is simple
Just passed the 1st anniversary of losing my Mum, visited her final resting place on way home after our Cornish family holiday and since then took refuge amongst the caketins
Been diagnosed with depression by GP but dont want his pills thank you, had it bfore pills dont help
Chronic joint pain prob arthritis setting in so walking and gardening hurts
I just need to get a grip and stop beating myself up emotionally and apply all the theory I already know from many previous attempts
But at moment its very hard to do ...
Took a day off rowing today for a change and went to see a play based on Morecambe and Wise, good to smile and laugh
Thanks for being here x
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Grobi »

Carole S wrote: Wed Jun 15, 2022 11:29 am Could you please motivate us on the original Weightloss thread as no ones there and I for one am REALLY struggling to the point of wanting to just give UP the whole kit & caboodle and slump in my armchair forever !
Well, here I am. I don't know if I can be of any value in this thread, but maybe sharing how I managed to lose 8kg between April and June can help you all to stay motivated.

My body weight usually peaks around christmas (no sports, lots of eating instead) and then peaks furthermore in the first week of January (still no sports, still lots of eating). So I successfully managed to gain weight up to a maximum of 85kg in January. It stayed like that until March. I was of course doing sports (erging), but working from home didn't help any wait loss at all. Once the weather gets less ugly I start commuting again. Whenever possible I use my bike to do that, meaning a 9k round trip. Not much, but it's a start.

I usually start my otw rowing in April, and again I use my bike to get to the boat house and back. Together with commuting a normal home-office-boat house-home day means a round trip of 22k/1.5 hours per day. This is the time when my body weight starts to drop.

The second factor is the rowing otw. I tend to do really long rows otw, between 15k and 21k, meaning 1.5 - 2 hours. Of course erging for that long would cause the same effect, in fact I think rowing otw (for me) is less intense than erging. The reason is that you are busy balancing the boat, looking where you're going, watching out for obstacles in the river etc. And still I managed to lose weight. I think the long distances done at a moderate heart rate (around 100 bpm) are the key.

This is all very time consuming and I know that not everyone can spend so much time rowing and cycling. But what you can do is to use the bike in your daily life as much as possible. When I go to work, then boat house, then home again by bike it takes me around 1.5 hours. If I took the car I'd probably save 15 minutes altogether. My calculation is that I invest 15 minutes for a 1.5 hours workout. Looks like a win to me :D

I don't follow any specific diet. The only thing I do not eat is any candy, chocolate etc. Luckily I don't like sweet stuff particularly, so that helps a lot. I try to avoid carbohydrates in general. I also try to drink as much water as possible. I often feel like thirst is misunderstood as hunger.

All the points above made me drop my body weight from 85kg to 77kg (between April and June). Hopefully you find some useful information for your motivation to keep going with your weight loss.
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by &roid »

Thanks Grobi for the nudge to come join this thread.

I’m coming back to this board after a long hiatus, it’s been nearly fifteen years since I was active on here (and active on an erg). I’ve started a thread viewtopic.php?t=3943 with some details of the rowing part of the journey. My ultimate aim is to get near to and hopefully eventually beat my previous 2K PB of 7:07.

As for the weight part of it, this is something I’ve always struggled with. Before my youngest was born I got right up to 118kg, which put me (un)comfortably into the obese range. I’d tried various things in the past, intermittent fasting (5:2) had worked a bit but I got really grumpy on fasting days and ultimately couldn’t keep it up. I knew that something had to give and finally settled on trying a low carb approach.

This has been a revelation to me. It is the only thing I’ve ever tried which both works and feels like something I can keep up. There’s no calorie counting, weighing or restriction on amounts of food I eat, provided I avoid the stuff I know messes up MY metabolism. I put emphasis on the “my” part here because I know this is not true for everyone, plenty of people can eat carbs with little or no ill-effects. Unfortunately, that’s just not me. My body is a super efficient machine when it comes to turning bread into fat! Once I removed sugar and refined carbs from my diet the weight fell off - I dropped over 18kg during 2019 and got to my target weight of around 99kg. The initial lockdown in 2020 caused an 18 month “blip” which saw me fall off the low carb wagon (I bought a pizza oven ffs!) to the point that by New Year’s Day this year I was back to 114kg :(

Thankfully, what 2022 has proven to me is that I can still do what I need to do - as long as I stick to the plan. By going back to the low carb approach I have so far dropped 10kg and have been rowing 3-4 times a week. I feel better than I have done for a couple of years and know that as long as I keep this up I’ll be back down below 100kg again.

In my day job I’m a GP, having done a lot of reading around this type of diet we’ve actually started using it with some of our patients to amazing effect. I’ve got one woman who, in four months, has managed to lose 25kg, come off two diabetes medications and have her blood pressure drop from 150+ systolic to less than 130. For people with carb sensitivity, this is life changing stuff.

I can’t reiterate strongly enough how this won’t be the right diet for everyone, how we all respond to food differs greatly. But for some of us this can give a sustainable, enjoyable way to live while facilitating remarkable weight loss.

I’ll dig out some links to some websites/books that might be helpful if people are interested in trying this approach.
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by &roid »

The book that started it all off for me was the south beach diet by Arthur Agatston https://amzn.eu/d/2uYm9E6 I don’t necessarily agree with his hard line view on cutting out saturated fat (I think this is very old hat in terms of evidence and makes a low carb diet harder to follow than is necessary), but as a way into the concept it’s great.

Michael Mosley has written lots on the subject of diet and exercise, I find his 8 week blood sugar diet book pretty much on the money as a way to reverse the effects of insulin resistance. https://amzn.eu/d/1oQ9r0n

The program we’ve used with our patients at work is based on the work of Dr David Unwin. He’s a fellow GP and regularly posts on twitter @lowcarbGP. This is a summary of his initial advice to patients: https://phcuk.org/wp-content/uploads/A_ ... verted.pdf and the program itself can be found at www.lowcarbprogram.com
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Jill »

Thank you everyone for your excellent comments and various links and also thank you, &roid , as a GP, for setting such a great example on how to look after yourself/ourselves.
Jill wrote: Wed Jun 15, 2022 3:33 pm These days, I think of myself as a Honorary Member of this thread and I do hope that you will continue to be successful with your weight loss plans.

When I lost my excess weight, I had to keep things simple: eat a little less and for the most part, eat a healthy diet, combined with regular exercise on the ergo.
I posted the above back in June in order to explain my approach of the last eight years, in keeping my weight at a healthy level, after years of being overweight.

As most of us know, there are more diet books out there than fleas on a hedgehog and I have two of them: ( no, not hedgehogs ) the fast 800 recipe book and Eat Rich Live Long.

I like the recipes ( although I do not fast at all ) because it’s easy to increase the quantities and they do give the calorie and nutritional content.

Both my parents developed T2D in their seventies and that fact has been a huge help in keeping me motivated, especially as at 73, I have had my three score years and ten and every extra year is a bonus.

When I read Carole’s comment, ‘ I am now taking refuge amongst the cake tins ‘ , I thought that if she ever wanted to write an article about her ongoing weight loss struggles, then she could not have come up with a better title.

Carole my dear, I do hope that you will have read all the updates on here and will let us know how things are going. xx :)
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by stumpy »

&roid wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 7:18 am Thanks Grobi for the nudge to come join this thread.

I’m coming back to this board after a long hiatus, it’s been nearly fifteen years since I was active on here (and active on an erg). I’ve started a thread viewtopic.php?t=3943 with some details of the rowing part of the journey. My ultimate aim is to get near to and hopefully eventually beat my previous 2K PB of 7:07.

As for the weight part of it, this is something I’ve always struggled with. Before my youngest was born I got right up to 118kg, which put me (un)comfortably into the obese range. I’d tried various things in the past, intermittent fasting (5:2) had worked a bit but I got really grumpy on fasting days and ultimately couldn’t keep it up. I knew that something had to give and finally settled on trying a low carb approach.

This has been a revelation to me. It is the only thing I’ve ever tried which both works and feels like something I can keep up. There’s no calorie counting, weighing or restriction on amounts of food I eat, provided I avoid the stuff I know messes up MY metabolism. I put emphasis on the “my” part here because I know this is not true for everyone, plenty of people can eat carbs with little or no ill-effects. Unfortunately, that’s just not me. My body is a super efficient machine when it comes to turning bread into fat! Once I removed sugar and refined carbs from my diet the weight fell off - I dropped over 18kg during 2019 and got to my target weight of around 99kg. The initial lockdown in 2020 caused an 18 month “blip” which saw me fall off the low carb wagon (I bought a pizza oven ffs!) to the point that by New Year’s Day this year I was back to 114kg :(

Thankfully, what 2022 has proven to me is that I can still do what I need to do - as long as I stick to the plan. By going back to the low carb approach I have so far dropped 10kg and have been rowing 3-4 times a week. I feel better than I have done for a couple of years and know that as long as I keep this up I’ll be back down below 100kg again.

In my day job I’m a GP, having done a lot of reading around this type of diet we’ve actually started using it with some of our patients to amazing effect. I’ve got one woman who, in four months, has managed to lose 25kg, come off two diabetes medications and have her blood pressure drop from 150+ systolic to less than 130. For people with carb sensitivity, this is life changing stuff.

I can’t reiterate strongly enough how this won’t be the right diet for everyone, how we all respond to food differs greatly. But for some of us this can give a sustainable, enjoyable way to live while facilitating remarkable weight loss.

I’ll dig out some links to some websites/books that might be helpful if people are interested in trying this approach.
. Glad it worked for you I too went down the LCHF approach I read a lot starting off with William Banting the founder of the LCHF movement back in the late 1900s then getting more up to the present day and now follow the science mostly via prof Tim Noakes. I had a little stab at the life style a few years back but soon fell off the wagon, roll on to Feb this year and topping the scales at 93 kg and not feeling good fitness wise decided to improve my eating habits as of today 82.5 kg. I would just like to say we have been fed a right load of crap and lies over the last four decades by the big food producers
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by &roid »

stumpy wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 1:57 pmI had a little stab at the life style a few years back but soon fell off the wagon, roll on to Feb this year and topping the scales at 93 kg and not feeling good fitness wise decided to improve my eating habits as of today 82.5 kg. I would just like to say we have been fed a right load of crap and lies over the last four decades by the big food producers
Colin B
That’s a really good improvement - well done

And you’re dead right about the lies - the more you dig into the history of food guidelines the more obvious it becomes that we’re being sacrificed for the sake of corporate profit. We have twice as many diabetic patients in our practice as we did when I started there in 2004, low fat diets with lots of starch are a prime driver of this.
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by stumpy »

Hi doc thanks for your response, the future predictions on type 2 diabetes for the world as a whole are truly horrendous. The trouble is the general population seem to be addicted to bread and cake and the like. I've managed to cut right down on most carbs mainly by staying under 50g a day. Good luck with your own endeavours keep focused but allow yourself the odd treat.
My progress as of today 82.1kg ffs target 82kg.
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Carole S »

Today I am dusting off my resolve yet AGAIN and trying to honour ny promise to my late Mum to stay strong
Its going to be a rocky road but here I go........
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Draggon »

Carole S wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 5:37 amToday I am dusting off my resolve yet AGAIN and trying to honour ny promise to my late Mum to stay strong
Its going to be a rocky road but here I go........
Go, Carole, Go! =D>

(just thought I'd start a cheering section for you! ;) )
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Carole S »

Draggon wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:31 pm
Carole S wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 5:37 amToday I am dusting off my resolve yet AGAIN and trying to honour ny promise to my late Mum to stay strong
Its going to be a rocky road but here I go........
Go, Carole, Go! =D>

(just thought I'd start a cheering section for you! ;) )

That is very kind and sweet of you
Ive been making fresh starts for over 50 years now so its time for another
Keep cheering thank you

:)
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Carole S »

The cheering is working
Slowly steadily
Awaiting my latest blood test results
Cross everything x
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Draggon »

Carole S wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:34 pm The cheering is working
Slowly steadily
That's great news! Keep it up, and you'll be where you want to be before you know it! :)
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Re: 2022 weight loss thread

Post by Jill »

Carole S wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:34 pm he cheering is working
Slowly steadily
Awaiting my latest blood test results
Cross everything x
Hi Carole, how is the Battle of The Bathroom Scales going?

Good or bad, the cheering you on, will still be on. :)

Jill xx
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