General Discussion Triathlon Talk » If you were obese and now are not ... Rss Feed  
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2012-01-02 8:06 AM
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Subject: RE: If you were obese and now are not ...
Went to the doctor as was informed I was a walking heart attack at 310 pounds.  She told me I should do something and do it quick as I was on blood pressure, cholestrol, and almost on sugar medication.  I was 38 and we had just had our fifth child.  I lost 20 pounds quickly through dieting but decided I would need to exercise "some".  Started that day, January 25th of 2010 at 292 pounds, still smoking a pack and a half a day, and ran/walked/panted for 1 mile.  Quit smoking that day and by March of 2010 ran a 5K.  It was a small 5K in Va Beach and actually managed to finish 3rd in my AG at a blistering pace of 8 min/15 sec miles and was hooked.  Ran a 10K in April, 2 sprint tri's during the summer, and a 15K in October.  This year after 3 sprint tri's, an Olympic, 10K, 15K, and a half I have lost in total around 100 pounds and hope to get another 20 off by April.  Couldn't stop exercising now if I wanted too.  It truly is a high for me! 


2012-01-02 11:21 AM
in reply to: #3947205

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Detroit, MI. Kinda.
Subject: RE: If you were obese and now are not ...
falconsprint63 - 2011-12-21 12:40 AM

I'm still fat, but I'm working on it.  Started at 282 and hit a low of about 245. back up a bit this fall at about 255, but shooting for 225 for next race season.  when people ask I tell them i ran my a-- off.  I enjoy the biking, but it takes too long, i've always been a swimmer, but all it does is make my shoulders big.  an ex marine friend once told me running was the only way to loose weight and so far it works.  HM on the books for Feb and hopefully that will help with weight goal. only moderate diet change--still like desert when it's offered. 

 

 

We have the same starting weight!  Keep at it...down to 190 now.  8 more to go for 100.  I'd personally recommend some weight training for a few good reasons.  Stay tough...working out and making good food choices is hard, but not liking yourself when you look in the mirror is harder!

2012-01-02 11:40 AM
in reply to: #3965096

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Subject: RE: If you were obese and now are not ...
MacMadame - 2012-01-01 4:36 PM

So I hesitated to post in this thread because I know what a negative attitude many people have about weight loss surgery and because I don't think my situation is remotely applicable to yours, but I decided to bite the bullet. 

How did you lose the weight? 

Weight loss surgery combined with a high protein, somewhat lower than a normal endurance athlete carb diet, training for triathlon, and logging all my food intake / exercise.

What do you feel were the factors that motivated you to start, and keep, getting fitter? 

To start:

Health and quality of life. I wanted to be around to see my kids have kids. My cholesterol and blood pressure had gone from excellent to fair. I was having more trouble moving around.

To keep:

Endurance events. Every time I meet a goal, I want to do something even crazier. My goals now are not the modest ones I started with and it's gone way beyond "lose some weight to live longer".

Did you yo-yo? 

No. I do go up 3-5 pounds in the winter and lose it in the Spring, but I don't consider that to be yo-yoing since we're talking about less than 10 pounds and most endurance athletes go through this even the ones without weight problems. (IOW, if Chris Lieto gains 5 pounds every winter, who am I to squawk about gaining 3? )

How have you kept it off (or not)?

I've kept most of it off. However, I recently had to stop training AT ALL due to a head injury and I put on quite a bit of weight the first month as I continued to eat like I was still training for a marathon.

I've stopped gaining now but my "winter weight gain" is 10 pounds this year, not 3-5.

Only time will tell if this weight gain will succumb to a few 50-100 mile bike rides, but I'm not ravenously hungry all the time like I was before my surgery so it seems pretty doable. Especially if I sign up for that 50 mile trail race and the Double Century I've got my eye on. Laughing

 

Nothing wrong with having either bariatric or liposuction - it can be a great jump start for someone who needs/can afford it. The changes are temporary unless lifestyle changes are made, and making those changes is no less of an accomplishment if the initial losses are surgically enhanced.  Sadly, every single person I know (in person) that has had weight loss surgery failed to change their habits and threw their money away.  That said, great job on making actual changes!  And like you sorta said - 3lbs is nothing...  10 might be a warning sign, but keep your head in the game and keep up with the new life and you'll continue to be awesome!

2012-01-03 1:24 AM
in reply to: #3939370

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Subject: RE: If you were obese and now are not ...
I decided one day that I really wanted to start running (it's always been on my bucket list to run a marathon). After a couple of weeks noticed that I was starting to lose weight as well, so I made an effort to try and start eating better. No sugar sodas, cut out a lot of the candy and junk food, eat more fiber and watch portion sizes. I also made a point to work out at least 4x week. Little by little the weight started coming off and after 6 months I had lost 45 lbs. I've kept it off for 4 months now though I put a few back on from the holidays and from slacking on my training, though that should come back off again now that I'm gearing up for a half marathon next month. I like looking back at old photos of myself to remind me of how fat I really was (I always had a pretty good body image since I was fat my entire life, but now that I'm at a healthy weight, I now realize how fat I really was and that I can't ever go back to that)
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