The Workout/Weight Loss Thread

Accumulator said:
BigAl3- I'm guessing that you really *enjoy* the swimming, huh? Great that it works that way for you, and that you have the facility for it.
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yeah, i feel guilty/lazy if i go longer than 2 days without swimming. i think i pulled a muscle under my left shoulder blade and it's been very painful (to a point where i felt like going to the ER) the last few days, and i've been having to take more aspirins than i would like to which is about every 4 hours. i went to the gym today and sat in the jacuzzi for most of the time with the jets hitting and relaxing my muscles. it has helped a little....
 
Good ride with my son tonight, trading pulls at 21-22 mph, got the first 20 miles done in under an hour. Then his seat loosened at the stem and neither one of us had the proper tool to tighten it back up. He ended up standing most of the way home.
 
So last year I only rode 3200 miles yet ate like I rode my usual 5000 or so. My son entered a google+ fitness contest in January, lost 34 pounds and won 1st place, got $560 on a $25 buy in. So when the next round started in April, I joined too. Taking the befores was tough, really don't realize how much I'd let my self go until I looked at the pictures. Here it is a little over 90 days later...I won the contest, narrowly beating my son, who lost another 20 lbs and added noticeable muscle size and definition. The reason I edged him out is I'm 53 and they felt what I was able to do was more difficult I guess. Anyway, I now have $536 to buy bike stuff and more clothes! 


 





 


Totally revamped my diet. Went from several burgers a week to 5 during the entire contest. No more cooking rib-eye steaks once a week, switched to center cut pork chops or chicken. Lots of fish too. Had fun at restaurants finding really good, much lower calorie meals; there is a lot of really good food that is tasty, nutritious and low calorie. Cutting out pints of Blue Bell ice cream, microwave popcorn, candy bars, chips, etc also helped. 


 


I replaced my aluminum/carbon bike with a lighter, full carbon bike and rode just under 2300 miles during the contest. Also joined a gym about a month ago, get there a couple times a week, will be there more often when the weather doesn't allow me to ride. 


 


I feel a lot better, heartburn is 100% gone, my weight went from 205 to 168, resting pulse is now in the low 50s, at 20-21 mph solo on my bike, my heart rate is 130-135 and will drop to a tick over 100 within 60 seconds of stopping. I use a GPS on my bike and upload to Strava. I share a KOM (king of the mountain) time on an uphill segment with someone I know who is 20 years younger than me, averaged 20.7 up the hill. In April, I was lucky to average 17.5 mph for a full ride on mostly flat roads. 


 


If anyone is interested, the group is called Vastlee's Fitness Competition and its on google+. Its a private group so only group members will see any pictures you post. 
 
I started ddpyoga.com about 16 weeks ago and dropped almost 2o pounds and my blood pressure is now perfect as opposed to through the roof. Feel do much better.
 
Ah, glad to see this thread get resurrected!


 


Scottwax & BobD- Hey, that's some great progress!  Congrats to your son too, Scott, and I give you a lot of credit for posting the pics.
 
This is my new toy, bought it in early May, already put over 2000 miles on it. 


 





 


Did Hot Rocks in Rockwall yesterday, 58.4 miles in 2:57. Tough wind once the route went south and roller after roller. Got a late start, about 5 minutes after the other 59 mile route riders had left so first 3-4 miles I was picking my way through the slower riders doing the 43 mile and shorter routes. Once I got free of them, cranked it up (had a tailwind then) and started catching up to other 59 mile route riders and groups. Leapfrogged past the slower ones, latched onto a reasonably fast (21-24 mph) group. When we hit the first rest stop at 26 miles (only one I stopped at) the 20 person group kind of shrunk. Then we turned south. Wind and roller after roller. And seemed like everyone was cracking on the hills, Tried to pull the rest of them up the hills with me but they kept dropping back. Hooked up with a TT guy, his bike and wheels are more aero than mine so he was in front on the flats and downhills, I'd move ahead on climbs. Worked out well from the 35 to 50 or so mile mark, then for some reason, he dropped off when we turned north. Passed another rider, he latched onto the back so I did most of the work for the next 6-7 miles. When someone is behind you, it breaks up the vacuum that forms as you move through the air so you can actually go faster. Once we got into the home stretch and back on concrete roads, we traded pulls to the finish line, which this year was uphill and into the wind. 


 


Unlike when I did the same route (although they brought us to the finish line going the other way with the wind at our backs), I never had to get out of the big ring to get up a hill and I was averaging a good 3-4 mph faster uphill this time. But the last time, I left at the front so I got in with a very fast group and when we hit the first rest stop at 26 miles, our average speed was nearly 24 mph, this year it was 21.4. Averaged 20.1 miles in 2011 and 19.7 this year for the whole route But the smaller drop in average speed means I was faster over the tougher part of the course with the wind and hills. Plus I didn't really catch the group I hit the rest stop with until about 20 miles out and had to weave through slower riders for 3-4 miles instead of hammering right from the start. Next year, I'll be there earlier and on the starting line when the 59 mile group leaves. 


 


Here is my GPS tracked results: http://www.strava.com/activities/177783412?fb_source=708
 
Scottwax- That's pretty much your high-point effort for the season, isn't it?  Sounds like you did well!


 


I don't know from bikes, but that's an impressive looking machine.  I see Fuji is still in the game...my last bike (circa mid-'70s) was a Fuji Special Road Racer.
 
Awesome results guys. I've done the picture thing as well and it really is shocking. I really need to get my butt going here and knock about 20 lbs. Off.
 
House of Wax- Yeah, imagine carrying around a 20lbs. dumbell all the time; you'll notice that kind of loss in all sorts of ways.
 
Absolutely. Hard as hell to find time with work and taking care of the kiddos, but I gotta get going somehow soon.

Was so much easier to stay in shape before the wife and rugrats lol
 
House of Wax- I hear you!  No kids here (well...canine ones) but I have far too much on my plate to spend like.. an hour/day exercising.  Eh, I still almost spend that much in a manner of speaking, at least some days- I coach my wife's (weight/resistance training) workouts and that takes up almost as much time as my own workouts.


 


I have friends who bike the way Scottwax does, and/or who do *long* runs, and I couldn't put in the time even if I wanted to train that way. I had to come up with a very time-efficient regimen, and fortunately I did come up with something that works for me. 
 
If nothing else, I need to at least clean up my diet. There's NO excuse for that....just pure laziness and a love for food (especially for stuff not necessarily healthy lol)
 
House of Wax- Heh heh...yeah...but I don't see a burger (or several) as necessarily being a bad lunch.


 


I do the "all things in moderation" approach- I usually have a bfast at Denny's, and also Burger King and Arby's once/week each, but eat mighty "clean" the rest of the time and I pretty much avoid "empty calories".  Those are mighty big meals with lots of fat, but I seem to burn 'em off no problem and with no cholesterol/triglycerides issues.
 
Usually July is my #1 month for mileage but August is always close. Already at 225 miles this month, today's ride will put me at 4100 for the year. 
 
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