The wardrobe experiment (weight loss)

[JAlvy]

Originally Posted by dalante

Hey,

I haven't written in a week, purely because my weight has stagnated for the past week. After loosing 16 pounds in one month, i have been stagnating for the past week, even though I have maintained healthy eating habits.

At the beginning of the experiment, i was 18 kg (40 pounds) over my desired weight. If you do the maths, I still have 11kg (24 pounds) to go.

This makes me think: I am still behaving like someone who is 11kg overweight. What could be the reasons?

First, the exercize. I only exercize once or twice a week. Not because I don't want to, but because I never seem to find the time to.
Second, my natural metabolism: maybe it is still too low and I am not walking and moving energitically enough. humm...
Third, now that I can get into the clothes I bought, maybe I am meant to wear even smaller clothes!!? Why not?
Fourth, I am eating at regular hours, even if I am not hungry, so I wonder if healthy people only eat when they are hungry, or if they eat according to a schedule.

If you have any thoughts on the question, please share. What do people do with their healthy body?
Your devoted weight-looser,

Dalante

You have to work out! To bust through a pleateau, you can work out harder, work out longer, or work out more. Sure, you can cut more calories, but then you're teetering into loosing muscle mass, which is not good. Losing 16 pounds in one month, even that sounds somewhat dangerous and you may have lost a greater amount of muscle than fat.

I don't buy the can't find the time excuse. I used to really believe in it, and consider it viable, but now I realize you make time to work out. I don't doubt that you're a busy guy, but if getting healthy really is important to you, you'll be able to make time.

As for your metabolism, that'll ramp up once you get in the habit of working out.

I recommend the book "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto. Awesome, awesome stuff on nutrition, cardio, weight lifting, everything. I honestly cannot recommend it highly enough. I learned SO much, just by reading that book.

[bellbird]

Dalante good on you for all your efforts. Keep it up
After xmas etc I felt a bit more blobby and knew it was time to do something about it. Also I felt more tired then before. I started cycling for half an hour on my mountainbike before work. I find this resistant training works well. I thought for more then 3 weeks nothing was happening to my shape and I wasn't feeling so energetic when it started taking off all of a sudden. Now it's working well and I find I have more stamina and energy.

Dalante what you do with your wearing smaller sizes of clothes I have done the other way around. Meaning: I find after having cycled for over 6 weeks I now can wear a particular blouse again I haven't been able to for quite some time. I had forgotten about it hanging in my wardrobe and one morning thought what the heck I'll try. I was really amazed when it actually fitted me again. (My goal is about 4 kg, 8 pounds.) What I like about cycling too (I'm not a jogger/runner type person) is that it's good for the toning, great for the bum and tummy! Then again I do a bit of Pilates (15 min) when I get back so it could be that too haha

Anyway: it's great to read your postings and JALvy good point on the making time to exercise because that's true. make it a priority because it is. When I miss out on my morning cycle I don't feel so good as I otherwise do.
And also, thinking of Steve's blog on IM, once you start exercising and it starts getting a bit easier the IM starts kicking in too. I picture myself fit now and I think along with the cycling and sweating it all works.

[Gazzali]

hi there

Fat and thin are the only two opposites we can think of right now. If you are thin you may want to become fat. And if you are fat well there is always a possibility you can become a sumo wrestler.

Years ago i found a way to bring down my weight to a whopping 10 to 12 kg just by avoiding one thing. It worked for me.

you can read this here Beneficial Learning for Outstanding Generation

regards
gazzali
Beneficial Learning for Outstanding Generation

[ChefSalad]

I gotta second that recommendation on Tom Venuto's ebook. It's got a LOT of good. His views on nutrition have helped me out immensely. (For example, he has a grading system for foods that really hits on the head of healthiness. The only thing I'm not 100% sure about is the difference between instant oatmeal and old-fashioned oatmeal. I didn't realize there was one, health-wise.) I only wish I hadn't lost it in a harddrive crash six months ago. I'd buy it again but it's got quite a few things above it in my list of books to buy.

[dalante]

Wow, thanks so much for all these replies. It seems to me that JAlvi hit the spot. After reading his post, I felt like my muscles were floppy. I need to strengthen them to improve my metabolism. So, all right, I will make time (I seriously don't know how, but I will )

Will keep you posted.

[JAlvy]

Weight is a tricky thing. Because you always have to keep in mind that it's both fat and muscle. And there's all that "muscle weighs more than fat" business, etc. etc. To keep track of your body fat, invest in a pair of calipers, or a scale that also computes your body fat percentage. The scale I have right now is by Tanita, it's digital and calculates in increments of .2, which is nice also.

I don't want to sound like somebody who will get you to spend all your money on stuff, but I've realized that in addition to your wardrobe changing in congruence with weight loss, you'll have to add other things as well. Everything I've bought while on my personal weight loss trip (23 pounds in 20 weeks) has been more than worth it.

Stuff I've gotten
- Gym membership (85 for 3 months)
- Lock for locker (3)
- Towel for swimming (5)
- Running shoes (40)
- Digital scale (30)
- Weight lifting gloves (5)
- Swim goggles (5)
- Yoga mat (20)
- Yoga membership (29 for 30 days)
- New gym shorts (15)
- Water bottle (8)
- Digital watch (6)

Of course, the most important thing to invest is your time.

If you're looking to start working out more, set modest goals. It's not realistic to start working out 6x a week straight off, just work on finding out your personal limit, and doing more than previous.

A final point, to serve as motivation. As little back as October/November, my wardrobe consisted almost exclusively of Larges and X Larges, to cover up my spare tire. I went shopping on Monday, and bought my first (ever?) adult Small shirt and jacket.

Keep at it!

[Keith]

Originally Posted by JAlvy

If you're looking to start working out more, set modest goals. It's not realistic to start working out 6x a week straight off

Sure it is. A simple goal of 15 mins exercise per day gets you into a routine that's easier to maintain than a once or twice a week workout session...

[dalante]

Maybe I could do a mix of the two approaches. Train 60-90 minutes 3 times a week and 15 minutes the other days... that sounds like an exciting idea.

Sorry I didn't have the time to post, but I was preparing for an MBA interview that just happened this morning. Now that it is out of the way, I'll be able to refocus on the exercizing.