OFFICIAL Eat Right & Get Fit Challenge

[sancarlos]

Just another reason to limit your cocktail intake before a run.

[mister d]

Drove by there coming back from breakwater a few hours later but really wish I could have seen either incident.

[Brontoburglar]

Drove by there coming back from breakwater a few hours later but really wish I could have seen either incident.

I was hoping for a peloton update here

[mister d]

Oh man, it’s been a light two weeks between work and constant softball. Travel funeral #2 in 10 days tomorrow so hopefully back regularly on the hog starting Wednesday.

[Brontoburglar]

my hashtag peloton life is not good either. too much time outside. had a hashtag 10 week streak going until a golf trip to San Diego two weeks ago

[mister d]

Yeah. So far I’m super good at continuing a streak and very bad at restarting once one stops if I know I won’t be able to keep it going.

[rass]

Any of you guys on strava. Need follows other than my daughter or her friends who are all a lot younger and faster than me.

Not sure if this will work:

[+] spoiler

image.png (36.17 KiB) Viewed 7443 times

[rass]

Well, ok that worked.

[EdRomero]

Just followed you to slow down the average pace of your followers

[govmentchedda]

Instant follow. Assuming I'm public, and therefore an easy person to follow as well.

[rass]

I followed you both back.

Instant follow. Assuming I'm public, and therefore an easy person to follow as well.

WTF, am I reading that correctly and we've done the same exact distance this week down to two decimal places?

[Sabo]

Congrats, you’re the first person I’ve followed, rass.

ETA: Damn, you run a lot.

[govmentchedda]

I followed you both back.

Instant follow. Assuming I'm public, and therefore an easy person to follow as well.

WTF, am I reading that correctly and we've done the same exact distance this week down to two decimal places?

I've got me at 19.2 and you at 21.4.

[rass]

Congrats, you’re the first person I’ve followed, rass.

ETA: Damn, you run a lot.

nice, and I try

[govmentchedda]

I followed you both back.

Instant follow. Assuming I'm public, and therefore an easy person to follow as well.

WTF, am I reading that correctly and we've done the same exact distance this week down to two decimal places?

I've got me at 19.2 and you at 21.4.

Weird. On the webpage it has you at 19.2, but the app says 21.4. Did you bike or swim 2.2 that the app may be counting?

[rass]

Oh, I took Tuesday as a rest day and walked about two miles at lunch, no run. That might do it.

[DaveInSeattle]

I followed you, but I'm not a runner....cyclist only.

[EdRomero]

So I think I'm following three swampers now, even the guy who only bikes

[garyclark]

I apologize in advance because this is DEFINITELY over-sharing, but this is the first time I've written all of this down, like, ever ...


Ever since my mid-20s, I've been overweight. Nothing extreme, but always a substantial spare tire. Because of my build - 6 feet tall (on a good day), wide frame, thick legs and butt - I can carry more extra weight than most and not show it as much. I also have a very hard time sticking with most things. I have stopped and started dozens of weight loss attempts over the years.

Even with the weight, I was athletic enough to run 5Ks and 10Ks in my 20s, and bike 20 miles roundtrip to work (on flat ground mind you) through my 30s. But I've never loved walking around at the beach without a shirt on. It's partly genetics (the only member of my family who is in good physical condition does manual labor all day), partly that I love food and drink and, most of all, that I love socializing ... with lots of food and drink.

In the summer of 2019, I left a super stressful job. I was at my heaviest weight ever. I had put on about 20 pounds in four years. And it showed. I kind of stabilized at that weight for 9 months. Leaving the stress and getting into slightly better habits helped not add more weight.

And then COVID hit in 2020. I didn't realize it at the time, but I definitely used food and drink to cope. I cooked extravagantly, I baked, and I took my mixologist game from good to great. By the time lockdown generally ended in early 2022, I had added an additional 20 pounds. And not only did it show, but I felt it when I walked up a flight of stairs at a normal pace.

I'm not sure how or why exactly. Part of it was that I wasn't traveling for work and could get into a rhythm. But I managed to get into a routine that worked for me. Basically it was counting calories on MyFitnessPal to maintain a daily caloric deficit. And I walked/jogged at least five miles a day every day, usually more. Eventually, I started skipping breakfast to do the semi-intermittent fasting thing and going to the gym in addition to the walking. And over the course of 6 months, I dropped 42 pounds by Thanksgiving of that year. I even went to the beach on a rare 75 degree sunny day in November, and walked around without my shirt on to celebrate.

And then I decided to give myself a little break for the holidays, which turned into a longer break for the new year, and before you know it, I had put back on 30 of those pounds. Earlier this summer I dropped 8 pounds getting back into my old routine.

My wonderful European trip (to celebrate my 50th birthday) this summer only cost me a pound or two because of all the walking. I told myself that trip would be the marker after which I had to start getting back into shape. AND since the Monday after I returned, I'm doing the same thing I did in 2022, with one important addition. So far, I've had zero alcoholic beverages.

I love drinking. And I can drink a lot and "handle my liquor" (thanks, Irish ancestry). But I do lose my inhibitions. No, I haven't gotten drunk enough in decades to want to fight someone or puke violently or embarrass myself much more than normal. But I lose my inhibitions around eating. I eat poorly, I eat a lot, and I eat it at the worst time. The combination of drinking and eating a lot late also gives me terrible acid reflux and sleep apnea.

So I know I need to change. I'm a little less than two weeks in. I know the "no drinking" thing isn't going to last forever. And I'm going to have to navigate that. But I want to see where I am at the end of a month before making any decisions.

[govmentchedda]

I have a lot in common with this. Definitely the carrying more weight than optimal, the not always the most proud of my physique without a shirt on at the beach, the hard time sticking with things, the relative athleticism, the stressful job (left a shitty partnership with a really old friend in the fall of 2019), the using MyFitnessPal daily, the intermittent fasting attempt (didn't really work for me), the overindulging during COVID, the love drinking, and especially the loss of my eating inhibitions when drinking.

What's worked for me, (and really I just fell ass-backwards into it), is joining my running group. It's not for everyone, but I really found a home there. I'm probably the second oldest of the 60-odd semi-regulars, and something about putting in hard miles with fast fuckers has really motivated me. I got out of my comfort zone and It helps that the leaders are unbelievably welcoming, and do tons of really cool shit (tons of unsanctioned races, photographed by hip young pros, give back to those less fortunate as part of races, and a whole lot of activations for mental health May).

If you follow me on Instagram, most of my stories these days revolve around that group. The other thing that it has done for me is take away a lot of my desire for drinking. I'm 47 and I just can't metabolize it like I used to, and I really want to try and keep up.

[EdRomero]

What's worked for me, (and really I just fell ass-backwards into it), is joining my running group. It's not for everyone, but I really found a home there. I'm probably the second oldest of the 60-odd semi-regulars, and something about putting in hard miles with fast fuckers has really motivated me. I got out of my comfort zone and It helps that the leaders are unbelievably welcoming, and do tons of really cool shit (tons of unsanctioned races, photographed by hip young pros, give back to those less fortunate as part of races, and a whole lot of activations for mental health May).

That's pretty much my identical story. For years, I hated the idea of anything social, especially exercise, but I joined on a whim and got hooked. The running community is incredibly supportive, but many like to drink a lot after running too, so I have no advice on the Eat right part.

[sancarlos]

Good job, Chedda and Romero! Personally, I’m 65 and haven’t run since my thirties, so that ain’t gonna happen for me - good luck Garyclark. I’m somewhat happy physically at the moment, as I’ve dropped from 200ish to 190 and kept it there for a month now. I’d like to lose more but realistically that ain’t gonna happen. What I try to do is limit my carbs and sugar, and walk like a demon. I average about 11,000 steps per day. I drink too much and break my food limits whenever I eat outside the house, but what the hell. I can rationalize that - one does need to enjoy life, too!

[garyclark]

This is the type of math I like ... 0 alcohol + >5 miles a day walking/light jogging = -10.5 pounds (n=32 days). I've also been entering my daily calories into MyFitnessPal. The mere fact that I have to enter food there has stopped me on a number of occasions from unhealthy snacking, which just goes to show you how lazy I can be.

The best part is that the "no alcohol" feels somewhat sustainable. I'm going to want to drink again. But I don't really miss it that much. I've come to realize how much of it was behavioral. I still love a tumbler with ice and a strong-tasting beverage in it at the end of a long day. It just turns out the alcohol isn't necessary. The challenge is how to introduce it back into my life. I worry that it's easier for me just to reject it completely than to limit it as much as I think I should. But if that's the case, maybe I need to really monitor it.

But we're off to a good start. Going to try to see if I can keep this up for another month. The challenge is that this month I travel every week. Super hard to: stay on a good sleep/exercise schedule, eat right in airports and restaurants, and not drink in social drinking situations. So wish me luck!

[govmentchedda]

Congratulations!

[rass]

That's great! I had success with meal logging in MyFitnessPal, too (really helped during the spring/summer of Covid when there was nothing to do but eat and drink), but have had a difficult time restarting the habit after I let it drop at some point.

[garyclark]

That's great! I had success with meal logging in MyFitnessPal, too (really helped during the spring/summer of Covid when there was nothing to do but eat and drink), but have had a difficult time restarting the habit after I let it drop at some point.

Yeah. This is all so much about habits.

My new mantra is: "You are what you repeat."

[garyclark]

Congratulations!

Thanks!

[A_B]

That's great! I had success with meal logging in MyFitnessPal, too (really helped during the spring/summer of Covid when there was nothing to do but eat and drink), but have had a difficult time restarting the habit after I let it drop at some point.

Yeah. This is all so much about habits.

My new mantra is: "You are what you repeat."

You are what you repeat.

[Steve of phpBB]

This is the type of math I like ... 0 alcohol + >5 miles a day walking/light jogging = -10.5 pounds (n=32 days). I've also been entering my daily calories into MyFitnessPal. The mere fact that I have to enter food there has stopped me on a number of occasions from unhealthy snacking, which just goes to show you how lazy I can be.

The best part is that the "no alcohol" feels somewhat sustainable. I'm going to want to drink again. But I don't really miss it that much. I've come to realize how much of it was behavioral. I still love a tumbler with ice and a strong-tasting beverage in it at the end of a long day. It just turns out the alcohol isn't necessary. The challenge is how to introduce it back into my life. I worry that it's easier for me just to reject it completely than to limit it as much as I think I should. But if that's the case, maybe I need to really monitor it.

But we're off to a good start. Going to try to see if I can keep this up for another month. The challenge is that this month I travel every week. Super hard to: stay on a good sleep/exercise schedule, eat right in airports and restaurants, and not drink in social drinking situations. So wish me luck!

This is so great. Congratulations!

[garyclark]

This is so great. Congratulations!

Thanks!

[Steve of phpBB]

It took almost until October, but I finally was able to do the mountain bike ride near my cabin. You climb 400 feet in a mile, then take a curvy swoopy trail down, then go on another 400-foot climb in about a mile and a half.

None of this is very impressive from an objective standpoint. Except that I'm fat and old. And unlike road biking, mountain biking involves lots of short steep climbs and lots of rocks and roots to get over. And I'm riding at around 7000 feet elevation, which I didn't think mattered anymore since I've lived here so long, but I really noticed a difference when I was hiking around Malibu last month. But I made it up the first climb without stopping at all, and only had to stop once to catch my breath on the second climb.

So yay me. There's only two or three things left on my to-do list for the season, and I'm really hoping to get them done in the next two weeks.

Nice day for it, too.

[Giff]

That's great, Steve!

[govmentchedda]

Nice!

[rass]

Good job! And smart, no trucks up there.

[HaulCitgo]

Also in admiration. I'm not fat but I don't do shit so impressive just not as much as wlulax

[garyclark]

That's pretty great, Steve. And you were rewarded with beautiful scenery. Love that.

[bfj]

I haven’t posted in a while. So 2 years ago I started this “mad dash to not die early”. Still holding between 80-90 lbs. lost. I still don’t exercise and have no good reason why, but all my health numbers are making my doctors giddy so.

[Steve of phpBB]

I haven’t posted in a while. So 2 years ago I started this “mad dash to not die early”. Still holding between 80-90 lbs. lost. I still don’t exercise and have no good reason why, but all my health numbers are making my doctors giddy so.

That's fantastic.

[govmentchedda]

Nice work, bfj!

[sancarlos]

Good work, B Slim J!