Fat Boy Running

If you follow the routines on the homepage you will be able to complete your sprint no problem. Fifty pounds is a lot to lose in 20 weeks but can be done. You will have to cut out all the good tasting foods and eat all the good for you foods and train real hard. I still eat food that is not that great for me but I am working out two to 3 hours a day. I have lost 14 pounds in the two months that I have been training. Whether or not you can lose the weight depends on your metabolism, How many calories you burn and how many you use. Even if you do not lose all the weight you want by Memorial Day, The most important aspect is that you change your lifestyle around and keep on the trend. Good luck accomplishing your goals.
Kevin

50lbs is a lot,b ut it can be done. With all the training, you have to be sure to nourish your body enough though or you will break down. You generally want to shoot for 1.5-2lbs of fat loss a week. Plus, if you gain any muscle, your "Weight" will go up, but fat loss will still decrease. 75-80% of fat loss is nutrition. Do you have a nutrition plan? I have followed BFL for a year with great results. Others on this forum have done other programs with great results.

What's up there devil dog? I'm 5'11'' and was 265 myself not all that long ago so it can be done. If you lose 3lbs a week, which is avg weight loss, you should be 60lbs lighter by race day - maybe you just maintain 3 or 4 weeks out though so your energy level is good for race day. I'll defer to the experts here.

I'm planning a sprint in August and have a goal to get down to my Marine Corp weight of < 190. I dropped 30 pounds pretty quickly (about 3 months) and have since been losing slowly (about a pound a week) due to the winter weather here. I've been doing elliptical at the gym during lunch but it doesn't compare to cycling or running. My recommendation, so that you don't get shin splints, is to focus on cycling (maybe a spinning class if you have to train indoors) and diet while doing light runs and swimming. OORAH! P.S. any chance you were 8541?

I personally say that you just start watching what you are eating and start your training. With the aerobic training that you will be doing, you will lose some weight maybe not everything you want to drop in a short time frame, but some. I would also suggest that you not focus soley on this first race. When I tend to focus on something short term and don't have a goal past that, I tend to acomplish that goal and say "Now What!".

My former coach told me that I didn't get to the point that I was overnight and the trip back could take a while. And I think he was right!

Realisticly, I think that in that time frame you have you can loose between 20 and 40 lbs and still achieve your goal with no problem.

Just my two cents!

I dropped ten pounds quickly with just training. I then incorporated the south beach diet principles with the training and got to 265. I put some pounds back on over the holidays but have gotten back to 265. My goal by my first race, August, is 220. I think it can be done, but Michael is the wise sage on this one -- you didnt gain all that weight over night, it took years, and it is going to take hard work, discipline and time to achieve your goal. 65% of my training plan is cycling, the other 35% is walking/jogging. I still walk more than I jog because of knee pain, plantar fascitis and shin splints. I belive I am simply too heavy to jog full time and remain injury free. I am going to incorporate swimming in February. Keep everyone updated on your progress. As another guy battling my weight and trying to become more healthy, I really use other guys and gals of like girth as inspiration.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone.

MSS, unfortunately I was not a Scout/Sniper. I had a number of friends in STA 3/8, but the company didn't see the need to send me out to Stone Bay when I was planning on EAS'ing anyway. I was half-way through my 6 year enlistment when I finally got to Recon. By the time I finished the training pipeline and deployed, I only had nine months left in the Corps. Not much of an investment for them. However, had I re-enlisted my next two schools were Ranger and Scout/Sniper.

I did complete Airborne, Amphibious Reconnaissance School, Reconnaissance and Surveillance Course, SERE, Pre-Scuba, High-Risk Personnel Course (Counterterrorism Shooting Package at Quantico), and various other gut-check evolutions that I can't remember.

Check out our website at www.radioreconplt.com. My real name is Jeremy Choate.

Semper Fi!!

Semper Fi my friend. I'll check out the site. I got out in '91 and was 0311, Squad leader, Cpl. I got a good look at the M40A1 during a CAX at 29 stumps and have a lot of respect for STA/Recon. Welcome to the site - I'm new here myself - keep Tri'in!

hi Jeremy, nice to see a Maraine here. My husband and I were both in the Corps, me from '82-'86, him from '81-'87. I was avionics, 6322/6342, he was a crew chief after being recon. Yes we met on the flight line so to speak. We were stationed with HMM-268 at Tustin. Long time ago......

For the record, hubby is bigger than you are! He got on the scale the other day and almost had a heart attack. Pushing 3 bills now. Ouch. I want him to do a tri with me someday, but I doubt it will be this summer. Message boards don't interest him, so I can't get him to hang out here.

anyhow, nice to see you here.
Ellen

For losing weight the most important thing is how much you train, total number of hours in a week. I get fitter when I train longer and harder less often but every spring I need to train at a lower intensity every day to drop the extra ten pounds or so that I gain in the winter.

As far as only training to lsoe weight, 70-80% of fat loss is nutrition unless you are training hours a day. If you eat a lot oif junk throughout the day, then training will help you maintain and maybe even lose a little, but to maximize fat loss, then nutrition is critical. Also, be sure not to restrict calories too much. With tri training, you have teo get enough food or you will go in starvation mode and not lose weight anyways.

I've noticed that although I haven't lost any weight since starting the elliptical 2-3 hrs/week in October and lifting 2-3 x weekly, I have gone down a pant size. The fat must be converting into muscle. I'd like to drop down to my college weight of 190, so I could keep up with my wife climbing, but I feel better now than I have for a long time. Probably will lose weight as I increase the running/swiming to get ready for race. Definitely feel where you're coming from though. Best of luck with your goal!

As others have already pointed out, these things are true ...

1. 2 pounds of fat loss per week is about the max. If you lose more than this (as get slim quick diets do) it's water loss (not good for a triathlete ... think kidney stones, cramps, etc) or even worse, muscle loss.

If you think 2 pounds of fat per week is too slow, go to a meat market, ask them for 8 pounds of fat. Sit it up on the counter and imagine how you'll look in one month with that "much" fat removed from your body.

2. Fat loss is 100% nutrition (go with me on this). While eating a crappy diet, it is virtually impossible to create a caloric deficit (use more calories than you take in) through exercise. In other words it's much easier to just "not eat a snickers" than it is to "run for 2 hours". If you contiunue to eat like crap, then 6-10 hours of exercise per day will be required to lose any fat. This is counterproductive as you will break down muscle (and joints) faster than they can be repaired.

You didn't get fat quickly, and you won't get lean quickly.

Rather than think of it as "fat loss" period, think about you changing the way you eat "for life". Make a life change and it becomes easier to deal with.

Trimom - another hard charger! Small world sometimes. Semper Fi.

Wrybosom - just started elliptical during lunch and have been doing it for two weeks now. I do 30 minutes using Interval as a program and after about 20 minutes my feet start to get numb on the steeper inclines. I've been biking and running all summer and have been lifecycling, using stairmaster and treadmill this winter when the weather sucks and my feet only get numb on the elliptical. I have no pain or problems with any of the other equipment. Does this happen to you as well? I thought it was supposed to be low impact? Strides are 140 - 170 depending on the incline.

OH no a bunch of Jar Heads!!!!! Just kidding guys. I was Army from '88-'92.

Edited by kgart 2004-01-14 1:29 PM

my brother is in the Air Force and I still talk to him too!

Ellen

That's a great goal! I concur with the folks on here talking about nutrition. I have been hitting the bike pretty hard for the last three years, without much weight loss. I was up to 242 lbs and a 42" waist at 6'0. Changed my diet about 5 months ago and dropped 47 pounds in about 3-4 months, went down to a 36" waist. Diet AND exercise really is it.

I went semi-low-carb. I'd done the strict low-carb thing before and lost-weight quickly, but never could stick to it. There wasn't much variety, and my energy level was always low for high-intensity exercise. It also never made a lot of sense to me fruit and vegetables really made me fat. So I cut out breads, sugars, candy, all that kind of thing, kept all the fruit and vegetables I want, and the weight just came off pretty easily, and I still have plenty of energy for workouts. I let myself have bread and beer a couple times a week each and dessert once a week, but that's it. I think I'll be able to stick to this for good. I'm bouncing around between 195 and 200 right now, but figure when spring comes and I start really hitting the miles again, I ought to be able to go down to 185 or so. I'll be really happy there. (Heck, after 242, I'm happy here, but I'd like to see a little more weight loss and size 34 pants - don't think I've worn those since junior high.)

Good luck to you. It feels great to look in the mirror and not cringe.!

Michael

That is really inspiring Michael. I cannot wait until I can look in the mirror and not cringe. Then again, the mirror is inspiration and gives the drive to keep on working hard! 30 pounds down, 35 more to go.

hey Chad,

I'll be joining you (so to speak) in the pool during February. I just don't have the moolah to rejoin the Y until then. My Pool-less (and unused) gym membership expires then and it's back to the Y for me. Swimming HAS to be better on the joints at this weight. I've got a treadmill, elliptical, and my bike with a trainer at home, just add water and I'm all set.

You all inspire me so much, I thank you for that.

what you are talking about is possible. I started training in June last year. I'm 6' 00' tall and weighed 247. At the beginning of this year, after the holidays, I was at 208. For most of last year I swam, biked and ran twice a week. I also added weight lifting in 4th quarter of last year. Nutrition wise, I didn't change that much. The one thing I did do differently is eat more often. I make sure I have breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack and dinner. I don't know if that has been the key for me, but it seems to still be working. 'Triathlon Training in 4 hrs a week' by Eric Harr. That was my inspiration and where I got some ideas from. Alot of the plans on this site are similar to what's in the book, but the book does talk about equipment, nutrition, etc. I found that before I found this site. I've found the key to getting fit and staying fit is avoiding injury. Train hard, but be smart and listen to your body.

Good luck with things. Based on attitude, I think you'll do just fine.
T

Well, why exactly do you need to drop 50 lbs by then???

I did my first tri at 33 yo and 325 lbs. I finished DFL, but I finished. I had ridden about 400 miles the year before, did around 100 miles of training in the months leading up to it. Had a great time. No whining. Just train. Spend some time on the bike getting used to the seat. Get decent gear, and maintain it. And have fun.


William

I think its a great possiblity, I started my training program about 50 days ago. When I started out I was 6'3" 259, and fifty days later I'm down to 240 lbs. I know I could be less if my diet was better. Its not bad, but I'm still finding myself cheating. I've been doing the sprint program that's here on the website, and I've only missed a few workouts. I'm shooting to be 225 by mid-summer. I would like to keep my weight between 218 - 224, that's about perfect for me. I haven't had a lot of weight loss lately, as I'm building some muscle mass. Thanks to Ron, and the other participants of this site who have help me with some training issues, I'll be at my goal shortly.