2015 Clyde/Athena Tri-N-4- Weight Loss Mentor Group - Open (Page 7)

NAME: Matt, 45, Northern Virginia

STORY: Spent my 30's creeping from 240 to 300lbs. Hit 40 (sound familiar?) and decided to change. Lost 85 lbs in 6 months almost entirely through nutrition. Gradually returned to the active world (tennis, biking, hiking.) I started to up my miles on biking shortly after that. Started strength training to keep from looking like a cyclist. Started running. Got talked into my first sprint tri. Learned to swim (big TI fan.) Enjoyed the tri. Got talked into a marathon. Finished that (no one enjoys a marathon.) Mostly I've been successful at staying leanish. I'm 6'4" with a very large frame so 215 was pretty lean. I mostly hover in the low 220's. Post-marathon I find myself up to 230. It's a bit of a struggle.

FAMILY STATUS: Married with 3 kids. They know that when I'm healthy, I'm happy so they're generally supportive.

CURRENT TRAINING: Just finished a Garmin 5k program in the hopes that it will help my pace. Currently in week 8 of 12 of Higdon's Novice 2 Half Marathon Program. Will try Garmin Sprint Tri program after the Rock and Roll Half Marathon.

2014 RACES:
Various OCRs and 5ks
Reston Sprint Tri
Marine Corps Marathon

2015 RACES:
Rock and Roll Half Marathon (DC)
Reston Sprint Tri
Leesburg 20k
Various Century Rides

WEIGHTLOSS:
I'm no longer obese so I'm a success in that regard (pats self on back), but I've got a 5% yo-yo going on (wags finger in mirror) that requires as much effort to control as the initial weight loss. In a way, that initial weight loss was simpler because I wasn't concerned about athletic performance or muscle loss. It's very hard for me to maintain a calorie deficit in a week of hard training.

EXTRA INFO:
1. My goal is to place in a Clydesdale class.
2. I'm slow but extremely determined.
3. I like to complain about how hungry I am.
4. Big fan of MyFitnessPal and my FitBit Aria wi-fi scale.

Welcome to the group Matt, and congratulations with your successful weight-loss! Looking forward to hearing about your journey to meet your goals.

Hump-day update: This "recovery week" thing is hard. I always feel like I need to kill every workout, so taking it easy makes me a little anxious. That being said, I had a great ride outside today, and even though I was taking it fairly easy, I was still able to set some PRs on some STRAVA segments (all hills). While I now want to go back and smash those PRs next week when I'm not taking it easy, I may wait a little longer, until the street sweepers get to that road. They really laid the gravel down in those steep sections, and there are a lot of gravely turns. Oh well, it will soon become one of my normal training routes. My easy run yesterday was also quite enjoyable. It's nice to exercise and not feel like your lungs are going to explode or legs are going to fall off. I may have to do this again. Swimming is still going well. My Tuesday swim was 3700 yards, and I was finally able to complete the entire workout in the given time.

Have a great rest of the week all!

Thanks. I see we're sharing MFP and Garmin handles:

MFP - trimbolim
GC - TrimboliM

This week I'm 5 weeks out from my half marathon which puts me at at 21 mile goal for the week. Did 20 miles last week without much complaining. A new thing that I'm doing differently this training cycle is including pace runs which I did for 5 miles last night with some success. My goal pace is 10:30/mi (PR was 11:17/mi) but I managed 10:02/mi mostly because it felt good at the time.

I'm 15 weeks out from my sprint tri and have not managed to get myself into a pool this year. I'm looking forward to it, I just have to work it into my schedule without irritating the wife too much.

Oh, and I had a good, high protein breakfast at 9 and I'm starving again by 11 so I inhaled an apple. I thought seriously about eating the core.

227 this morning. Down 5lbs in last 3 weeks.

I just started MFP myself. If I do it for a week I will share.

training going ok. Mostly just running 3 miles a day 5 days a week. I just need to get a handle on the weight. I been stuck around 315 for the last 3 months. With a month to go until my half marathon now is the time to do something about it. Ok 1.5 months ago when I signed up was the time but now its do or die.

I'd like to join....

NAME: Anne

STORY: was athlete in highschool. Gained tons of weight in first marriage. Lost all of it in divorce. Gained it back after quitting smoking, getting married and having 2 more kids. Last summer did a super sprint with no training and loved it....i was 2nd to last. Trained a month and did another...was still back of the packer...but far from last. I was hooked.

FAMILY STATUS: married. 3 kids: 17 boy, 9 girl, 7 girl

2014: 2 super sprints, 1 small duathlon, 1 5k.

2015: many.... 2 half marathons, 2 century bike rides, many super sprints, an open water sprint , an open water olympic...all part of training for Miami 70.3 in october .

WEIGHTLOSS: i dont really know. I know that when i did the first race in july i was about 225. I know that in october i was about 195. I havent weighed myself since then. I know that i started as a size 18/20 and am now a 12/14. I know my youngest couldnt put her arms around my waist and now she can. I dont know what my goal even is..silly huh.

Thanks for the welcome. As I lie here getting ready to start the day I am missing spring. It is doggone cold...so I need to trek off to the gym. I go where there is an indoor track. Today's workout plan is to swim for 30 min and spin for 30_40 min. Later today I will get a run workout in....outside.

I was thinking more about my weight loss goals. I signed up for an Irongirl Sprint...I think it is in Aug....my goal is to have to figure out what hoops to jump through to change my Athena registration to a regular one. My guess is I am about 30-40 ish pounds from that

I have a half marathon in about 4 weeks. I missed my long run last week. Do I do this week what I should have done last week?

First tri of season is March 28....a baby Sprint. I am doing a 10k the day before....bring it on spring! I will weigh myself that weekend...start of season weight.

Cheers

Matt,
I am also a Northern Virginian...I am also doing the Rock and Roll half and the Reston Sprint. Are you doing cherry blossom 10 miler? That is as far as my brain takes me right now.

Do you ever do the quarry open water swims in Haymarket?

Cheers!
Anne

Sunday Update:

Firstly, gotta welcome Matt and Anne. I tend to lurk during the week so I hadn't said anything until now. I also accepted Matt's request of MFP...

Speaking of MFP, I started logging 3 weeks ago. I've lost 2.5, 3.5 and now 3.0 in those 3 weeks, putting me to 251. I'm a little wary because 9lbs in 3 weeks has never happened to me with the possible exception of USMC Boot Camp . I have run into an issue with my left foot again. The Dr. said gout before, but I'm thinking bunion... either way I'm not running at the moment, and have swapped my clipless pedals for flats.

Diet: was shooting for 7 days under.. and missed. 5/7 for me. Tuesday was my Anniversary, and I just couldn't keep count. I also couldn't find a good portion of what I ate on MFP or on Pei Wei/PF Chang's sites... and that was just lunch . Friday is a huge question mark. I didn't log anything after breakfast, and I honestly can't remember what I ate.

Swim: Jumped in the pool Tuesday AM since I had to stay home and watch the youngest as Amy was required to be at work for a daytime meeting (she works nights). Swam 1500yds, then attempted to do kick drills... nope... foot was killing me. Since I had to pick Amy up after the meeting, I went ahead and called it a morning. Planned on my usual Fri AM swim, but that was not to be. My 6yr old got sick that morning. Not trying to be gross, but I'm not sure where all of what came up actually came from. I didn't want to risk her getting anyone at the Y sick.

Bike: I cranked out some miles this week. All of it on the trainer, so not too much time spent spinning at one time. Monday was a quick 6.6mi because I was too lazy to put on my tri shorts. In the words of Yosemite Sam: "Mah biscuits are burnin! Fire in the hole!" (Roger Rabbit). I just couldn't stick it out. Got in 9.1mi on Thurs while watching "The Interview". Finished the movie yesterday morning while logging another 10.0mi. I also got a bit froggy last night while watching UFC and logged 8.4mi more. 34.1mi for the week on the trainer isn't too bad... plus I was sweating like crazy each time.

Run: I put in 2.1mi last Sun evening, and that was it for the week. I'm hobbling around like an old man because I can't bend my toe. I'm hoping that ramping up my bike time and losing some of the weight will allow my runs to not be a total disaster this year.

I'm hoping to log 3 swims this week and at get on the trainer at least 4 times for a minimum of 10mi each. I'm still looking for 7 days under my calorie limit, and also going to add logging EVERYthing this week.

I have a confession to make.

I've been cheating on MFP.

Sometimes, between finishing work, and starting my run, I'll have a little snack. I don't worry about logging it, because I also don't add my exercise calories into MFP. So they'll cancel themselves out. That theory doesn't work. if the snack is a piece of fruit, no problem. But it got progressively worse... one day last week I had a long drive home, so got myself McDonalds. No way a 30 minute run cancels that out.

I logged for 40 consecutive days. And lost 7lbs in total. Which is not bad, apart from the fact that I lost it all in the first 3 weeks. The last 3, I've been staying the same.

So on the weekend, when I realized how long I had been logging, without making any progress I made the decision to break my streak, and begin again. Today is day 1 of no excuses. and no cheating.

Last week was not great for workouts. My legs started getting a bit sore, after 10 consecutive days running. And I ended up with 3 days off, and only 90 minutes overall for the week. The good news tho, is I'm feeling nice and rested, and raring to go for another week of trying to make improvements to myself.

Looking for a better week all around this week.

Hello and welcome Matt and Anne.

It sounds like you both have a big year ahead of you. I look forward to reading all about your successes!

Welcome Ann & Matt!!

I felt like I had a really good week knocking out some good 20 miles rides on the bike trainer and I even managed to make it too the pool. I also decided to join a running group to help motivate me and I want to meet people and make new friends. We have met twice now ( Thursday & Saturday ) and so far I am really enjoying it! They are training for a run that will be the day of my first Sprint Tri that I have signed up for in April so I thought this would be prefect to help motivate me to getting outside and run in this cold weather. I am also a MFP user and haven't missed logging in awhile. Feeling like I am staying in my range for calories well and I am happy to report that I am down 1.5lbs this week, so that makes me happy. I am a big meal planner so I have a nice big crockpot of chicken veggie soup cooking for my work week. Doesn't look like I will be getting rid of this cold weather anytime soon so I thought that soup sounded really good.

Keep up the Awesome work everyone! I love reading how everyone else is doing and what you are doing. It really helps me to stay motivated and on track. Thank you for all your support! I am Lovin' it!!

Well remember everything is estimates too. If my goal is 2000 cals a days for instance so I eat 20 100 cals snack packs I should lose 2 lbs a week. I could be eating up to 2400 cals which means my weight lose would really 1 lbs a week. Just like if you run 2 miles in 30 mins you probably burn anywhere between 450 to 250 for that 30 mins. Depends on several factors not just weight.

Get on track and remember always over estimate how much you eat and under how much you burn.

I'm baaaaaack

So, long story short, football (both pro and teams I coach) are just a wonderful killer of my in shapeness. I love football season with a passion, however with football comes wing, beer, cold weather all the natural enemies of running. I have literally done nothing since about November, but on 15 or so pounds at least.

Good news, last week started the first official week back and as far as endurance I am light years ahead of last year. Even though I think that is to be expected I was super happy it rang true. By the end of the week I ran 3 miles in the 30 min range somewhat comfortably so thats cool.

Bike- did a cycling class, obv won't be able to tell much until I get outside and ride

Swim- ummmmm, so if anyone remembers me they know I had swim issues anyways, well taking months off apparently didn't help (wno knew). 50m consecutively wasn't easy, 100? Damn near impossible. So again looks like swim is gonna have to be a big part of the focus.

Anyways, good to be back! Hope I can find myself a good watch since all the new ones came out and after that gear wise I think I am in great shape. Hoping for some warm weather sooner than later to get outside.

Have a 2 5k's as kinda pre tri season warmups in April and then my first Tri is the end of May. I will be around!

I'm posting my Sunday update on Monday. My recovery week is over, so it's time to hit it hard again. I only ended up getting 2 swims, 1 bike, and 2 runs, and a family hike in. Just one of those weeks where work/life gets in the way of plans.

Had the day off today and the weather was perfect (for February) so I got out on the bike. 25 miles outside with some headwind and hills. Put some new tires on my bike as well. I up sized to 25 mm gatorskins. So far I can tell a difference in the ride from my 23s. The 25s are a smoother ride. I can't tell if they are any faster or slower yet, but I do like the softer ride.

Planning on 2 swims, 1 more bike, and 3 runs. Looking for some smaller numbers on the scale as well.

Have a great week all!

Hello.

Yesterday was recovery day so i went to a yoga class. Last night we had a snow storm, and i thought i was going to have to hit the trainer at home...however, my gym opened late so i will get my planned 1600 m swim and 4 mile run in.

Tomorrow i hope to find a spin class

Stay warm!

Hello!

Just checking in which I haven't done in a bit but not because I'm slacking though. Been getting my runs and rides in no problem. The swims have been a too few but will be working on that.

The scale has been showing progress in the right direction. Thanks in part for tracking my food in MFP (having a ball following all of you guys by the way) and also because of DietBet. In case you are not familiar with it, it's a website where you join different games by adding to a pot. Those in the game that lose 4% of their weight in a month split the pot.

I'm a game right now that is being hosted by several past contestants from the Biggest Loser TV show and the pot has grown to almost $40,000 (not all games are that big but since they are "celebrities" they draw a lot more people)

By the way I'm not selling you the game or anything. I don't get anything out of this but it has helped me stay on track and losing weight so I thought I'd mention it. If anyones is interested, go to dietbetter.com for more info.

I haven't heard of DietBet but i will check it out. I use an app called "Pact" which helps keeps me accountable for workouts, MFP usage and eating fruits and veggies. I earn money just by staying on track Just thought I would mention it in case you were interested in trying something else

Just a quick mid week update from me,

Diet has been ok, and this time I'm logging EVERYTHING!

Workouts, I've run every day so far this week, and feeling good to finally break that 2.5 hour barrier I've been aiming at for a while now.

A little win for the week was that last nights run put me over 100km for the year to date. A nice little milestone.

Great to see things are going well for you! keep up the good work.

I like this. Prior planning of my meals helps me a lot to make good decisions. Prior preparation would help even more. Maybe something for me to try next week.

I was good boy today at least for the low carb diet wise. They brought in pizza to work because of the cold and I basically had cheese and sauce (it was all cheese pizza on all 4).

Last night I was going to be good and hit the gym apartment gym for some more miles. Turns out the one I normally used was in use and the other newer looking ones could not handle my weight. I literally step on the belt and it would stop. If I try to run it was constantly slip. Needless to say I cleared out my bike trainer area and made sure I can use it tonight. no more using going to try to use that gym when I have a perfectly good bike I can ride.

Quick question:

You said that at one point you were using your bike training to replace some of your run training (if memory serves that is...). Since I am not currently able to run at all due to my foot issue, but biking on flat pedals is just fine, I'm curious as to how you did that.