in memory of a friend I lost this year I've decided to do a sponsored weight loss. I'm 6'1" and at my peak was nearly 21st, mountain biking and roller derby has got me down to just above 17st mark now. I'm fairly fit but have struggled with the extra motivation to shift the last lot of blubber.
I exercise every day and the roller derby especially is very physical and burns lots calories, so it's time to look at my dire food habits, which are going to test me the most.
As an incentive to crack it I thought I'd set up a weigh loss challenge for myself to lose the last 2.5 stone to get me to where I need to be. I'm of stocky build so I reckon me 14.5 - 15st and i'm trim again. My theory is if I start the challenge with sponsorship I'd be more likely to succeed?
I did lose the last stone in a month purely by stop eating chocolate and cola, but the last bit is going to take some serious planning and effort.
Am I being to unrealistic or shall I go for it??
PS the 5 months is because it's my birthday in mid may!
it [url= http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/02/reaching-life-goals-which-strategies-work.php ]might work[/url] for you.
Just eat less and exercise more. Keep a close track of your energy intake and output. Track your progress regularly.
I did just under 2 in the same time doing Weight watchers.
i went from 14st8 to 12st8lb in about 6 months by cutting out the snacks and riding a bit more.
cutting out the snacks was the biggest factor. being a bit hungry isnt a bad thing
Works a treat.
Perfectly doable, if you want it. At your weight level it won't really matter what strategy you go with so long as you stick to it, but cutting the easy carbs works for most when they stick to it. See iDave, Atkins etc. Portion control and no obvious crap food would work just as well though.
I guess it depends to some extent it depends on if you want to stay at 14.5-15 stone?
As an example my next door neighbour plans to start dieting tomorrow and lose 3 stone in 3 months. He'll probably do it, but I can guarantee that within a year he'll be back to the same weight that he's currently at, because he's set a task to be done, and then in 3 months time that task is done, and he can go back to eating and not feeling hungry.
Personally I think a better plan would be to aim to loose 1/4 - 1/2 lb a week until your the weight you want to be. The change in lifestyle to do this isn't much, so there's far more chance of maintaining it imo.
Good luck what ever you choose!
[url= http://www.marksdailyapple.com/welcome-to-marks-daily-apple/#axzz2GeNNjAAI ]Marks Daily Apple[/url] with or without some iDave amendments would be my preferred method.
I'm getting back on the healthy wagon as of tomor. I've somehow put on only 7lbs in 3 months (of no holds barred eating/drinking) but need to lose 2 stone to get properly back in shape.
Good luck fella.
I lost 2 stone in 5ish months by using [url= http://www.myfitnesspal.com ]MyFitnessPal[/url] to track what I ate and commuting to by bike as much as I could (usually twice a week).
It works for some people and not for others, but smartphone apps such as "MyFitnessPal" are worth a look. Lets you log all your food and exercise, and even gives you pretty graphs to ogle at your progress.
Good luck 🙂
Ditch mtb and buy a roadbike. I lost 5 stone in a year without trying on the diet. Quit drink and pastry and ride the road bike lots.
Get a HRM and look at HR zones for fat burning.
Jobs a good un
What GrahamS said lost about 2stone using MFP in similar time frame.
To answer you question I'd say its doable if you have the drive to do it. It's eye opening counting calories some things are very surprising!! Generally in a more than you think way 🙂
Good luck, it's not easy but massively gratifying to hit your goals.
I feel for you guys, but I've problems at the other side.
I've never been a heavy lad, 13st at the most and 6'2". But, I've not worked (as in my normal work of office and lots of work travel/expenses) this year and have been restoring a house and MTBing a few times a week, so down to 12st.
Just put on my DJ and not only is it about two sizes too big but it looks like a bloody hired one, rather than a made-to-measure! 😕
I could do with getting back to about 11 to 11 and a half stone. Dont know what I am now, probably over 12 and a half.
Riding bikes, not being ill and not eat cakes usually sorts it though.
My tip would be to pick an event around the time you hope to lose the weight by, doing well and enjoying it will be a different motivation for you on top of the ones you already have, and will add a little more focus to getting out on the bike.
edit, trailmasters wales is at the end of May.
That's about the same goal I've had for the last 5 years.
I usually fire up My Fitness Pal around March and lose around 2lb/week combining it with more biking
I did 13.5st down to 11.5st in 3 months so perfectly doable
OMG, Roller Derby!? WANT!
I'm 14.5st and intend to be down to 11st by the end of May for a couple of events that I'm doing. My method to achieve this - train 6 days/wk for a total of around 20 hours and eat a good balanced diet.
If I thought people would be interested in reading about how I was getting on with that I'd start a blog. Would anyone be interested in reading about it?
I've got a similar target.
Aiming to loose around 3.5-4stone in the next 12months, this will not be a change until I reach the target but hopefully for life.
Going to give it a few months and then set a goal for the autumn with an event. Should be enough time to get fit enough to at least complete it lol.
Another +1 for My Fitness Pal. Worked for me (combined with some - but not much - exercise). Wasn't anywhere near as painful as I expected it to be - very rarely felt deprived. Best of luck to the OP and anyone looking to lose some weight.
A great way to kickstart your diet is to consider some moderate fasting. Try eating nothing but fruit, every other day to start working towards nothing but fruit for several days to a week. But if you don't like fruit there is fasting diets on lots of types of foods. plenty of stuff online about fasting diets. you never see a fat Ethiopian.
That is within achievement in my opinion. I need to lose 1.5 stone by May myself but I'm a sales rep and am on planes, trains and automobiles all day so it's not easy to get balanced food for diets so I keep things simple, consume less calories than I burn in a day. Easy to monitor, helps aid better food selections and often means I have my main meal at lunch time due to taking clients out which then leaves me fuelled nicely for some evening exercise.
Works for me but at my weight 14 stone / 5'10" I aim for a lb per week loss but true loss not just crash dieting.
Most importantly good luck !!
Just got a Turbo trainer, with the thought that if I do something everyday, is better than sitting doing nothing. i aim to loose 2 1/2 stone. Any more and I will probably look ill. Struggling a bit with this time of year. Turbo arrive only 6 days ago. Set a target for excercise. I am doing 6 days of bikes or turbo it and a rest day. I do have a penchant for chocolate and nibbles, but am trying to eat more fruit and will do more miles out and about on the bikes this year. The road bike I got in October definately made a difference to moving the weight, but that doesnt stop me from going MTB any less. Good luck, there's plenty of us that need an incentive like you have with your friend passing.
I found that it's a good idea to monitor body fat % as well as weight. Taking a photo every week is another motivating factor which I found helped a lot.
5.5 stone lost since march 1st.
idiet/primal rocks.
email me for a bit of proper advice from a bloke who has been in your situation.
Lost 40lbs in the first 18 weeks of this year, and kept it off, so 2.5 stone in 5 months is a realistic target
I've got a copy at home of the idiet too if you need it...I lost 2ish stone this year on it...found it very straightforward...put a bit on after busting an ankle so as of tomoro I'll be back on it
George, I'd b interested in yer blog, have similar plans myself. Blog is a good idea I reckon, as you have an audience to keep you on your toes!.
Cut out all sweets and puddings, cut down on beer to two a week and drink water instead, cut out almost all spuds, pasta and rice and halve the size of your portions. You will get used to it within a couple of days.
I'd focus more on getting fit for a long event (SDW in a day was what I went for and I lost about a stone even though I was pretty skinny to start with). If you do that you'll be doing lots of hours on the bike and that will sort out the weight loss without stressing over what you eat too much.
I went from 17st8 to 14st10 between Jan & May this year, managed to keep to 15st for the rest of the year, so it's doable ans as said above the right diet combined with a good training plan and it'll come off.
OP.
You could do a lot worse than take up Ton's generous offer of advice from someone who has achieved significant and [b]sustainable[/b] weight loss.
Good luck.
A happy, slimmer, new year to you all.
🙂
Tony, email me all advice please mate...
2 stone in 4 months using my fitness pal
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketdog/8293662848/ ][b]2 years, 1year & 1 week ago[/b][/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/rocketdog/ ]rOcKeTdOgUk[/url], on Flickr
How does my fitness pal work then, RD?
Download the app, set weight target, keep to it, weight flys off. Bit of an effort entering foods but I lost 6.5kg in a month, result!
I feel inspired! I need to drop 25-30lbs, so I've just downloaded Myfitnesspal. I do a fair bit of exercise, but eat and drink whatever I like. large portion sizes and too much wine are my downfall, so with a bit of will power this shouldn't be too hard? At the moment I've no idea how many calories I consume so I think I might be in for a bit of a shock having just tapped in my breakfast calories!
I'll let you know how I get on.
There's a few other stw members some signed up below there is a core still doing it 🙂
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8827-stw-myfitnesspal
Oh I am cayman07 on MFP
Genuinely impressed with what people have achieved - and feel shamed. Like sparky above, I also do a fair bit of exercise, but continue to eat & drink whatever I want. Not such a good idea in your mid 30s....
I am abstaining from booze for January (with Mrs Drifting) and am planning to check my food intake at the same time. I have no idea what makes a good (or bad) diet, so appreciate any pointers. Reading Tons experience, I think I will try the idiet (although I suspect Ton is being very modest about the amount of willpower needed)
My target? To lose 30lb. Starting today.
Im going for it again. After a divorse this year back up to 250lbs and joined the MFP STW group. Ton can you mail me your tips please ? Target is 50lbs by SITS
I lost nearly 2.5 stone between May and November last year and have maintained fairly easily since then. Mainly through using myfitnesspal religiously and cutting out things like crisps (big weakness for me...) and taking healthy things (eg. a filling low calorie soup and a small pitta) for lunch rather than the default sandwich. No rocket science involved with me TBH but did ride my bike a lot more which obviously helped! Good luck to anyone else giving it a go, it can be done!
I've never been overweight but I wanted to lose a little of the extra blubber I'd put on recently so I just opted to try the fasting thing. I initially did 2 days a week at about 500 calories then ate as normal the remaining days. After doing this for two weeks I lost 7 pounds! It was too much so now I fast for one day a week and have about 400 calories on that day.
I've maintained a good weight since and find fasting for one day a week pretty easy. Combined with average training - cycling etc and a generally good diet I feel better than I ever have in my life.
I lost about 2 stone in 4 months (14 down to 12), without any real difficulty. I have a job where I'm quite active, so burning calories wasn't a problem. I altered my diet and just kept an eye on how much I was eating, but didn't bother with any calorie counting as such. I stopped eating the following:
Fast food
Fried food
Chips
Snacks, crisps, etc
Chocolate
Biscuits, cakes, puddings, etc.
Instead I have plenty of veg with my meals, and eat as much fruit as I want. If I fancy a snack I'll some fruit or a low fat yogurt.
Your target is perfectly achievable as long as you set yourself a few basic rules and stick to them. Aim for steady weight loss over a period of time, rather than crash diet.