Weight-loss Challenge

[SteveC]

Bump, so I can find it later.

You could add it to your bookmarks   

[pipedreams]

Good idea. Bookmarks are a feature I haven’t used yet.

[ReamerPunch]

Funny to see this surface again. I am starting a keto diet for May, to get rid of a few more kilos. Those damn pistachios, they're pure evil.

[Jothra]

Funny to see this surface again. I am starting a keto diet for May, to get rid of a few more kilos. Those damn pistachios, they're pure evil.

Plus, if you buy the wrong ones, you get the world's reddest lips, face, and hands.

[Syncop8r]

Plus, if you buy the wrong ones, you get the world's reddest lips, face, and hands.

A pistache?

[Jothra]

[Huntsman]

Well done Geared Forwards - Great that this challenge is still going

Also amazing work RP - Just read your final stats (from weeks ago) - Incredible
Note to self: Must follow suit and get on this challenge       

[ReamerPunch]

 

[ReamerPunch]

I've been looking into the keto diet for May. I'd like to lose a few more kilos, and I really do not want to go through a month of salads.
So, I'll do some keto and intermittent fasting.

Food-wise, I've found some gems, when consumed in moderation of course.
Cheese. Less than 1g of carbs per 100g.
Smoked ham. 1.5g of carbs per 100g.
Tomatoes, green peppers, cucumber: barely any carbs.
Greek yogurt: 4.2g of carbs per 100g.

Onion: Will have to limit it to 1/3 of an onion a day. Or eliminate it completely if it hinders weight-loss progress.

Peanut butter: I'll check their carb levels and maybe get some just so I have something sweet with high fat but low carbs.
Olive oil and salt: Will have to buy more.
Eggs: 1g of carbs per egg. Will include them in my diet.

Pepsi max: 0,06g of carbs per 250ml. No nutritional benefits, but no carbs.
Water: Bottoms up.

Also, I'll be fasting for 24h once every week, maybe twice, we'll see.

As for exercise, I am doing 30 minutes of weights twice a day, And sets of 50 push-ups, 200 flutter kicks, and 50 tricep dips every three hours or so when I am home.

That's the plan so far. I might order the keto kit to check what's going on, but as long as the belly starts going away, it's enough.


If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I do not really have a carb limit, but I should be well under 20g a day, and I'll be exercising most days, as well as fasting every now and then.

[GearedForwards]

Well done Geared Forwards - Great that this challenge is still going

Also amazing work RP - Just read your final stats (from weeks ago) - Incredible
Note to self: Must follow suit and get on this challenge       

Thanks 

Posting here was great for motivation and accountability, I recommend it and wouldn't mind posting again alongside anyone that wanted to do it for support 

[GearedForwards]

I've been looking into the keto diet for May. I'd like to lose a few more kilos, and I really do not want to go through a month of salads.
So, I'll do some keto and intermittent fasting.

Food-wise, I've found some gems, when consumed in moderation of course.
Cheese. Less than 1g of carbs per 100g.
Smoked ham. 1.5g of carbs per 100g.
Tomatoes, green peppers, cucumber: barely any carbs.
Greek yogurt: 4.2g of carbs per 100g.

Onion: Will have to limit it to 1/3 of an onion a day. Or eliminate it completely if it hinders weight-loss progress.

Peanut butter: I'll check their carb levels and maybe get some just so I have something sweet with high fat but low carbs.
Olive oil and salt: Will have to buy more.
Eggs: 1g of carbs per egg. Will include them in my diet.

Pepsi max: 0,06g of carbs per 250ml. No nutritional benefits, but no carbs.
Water: Bottoms up.

Also, I'll be fasting for 24h once every week, maybe twice, we'll see.

As for exercise, I am doing 30 minutes of weights twice a day, And sets of 50 push-ups, 200 flutter kicks, and 50 tricep dips every three hours or so when I am home.

That's the plan so far. I might order the keto kit to check what's going on, but as long as the belly starts going away, it's enough.


If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I do not really have a carb limit, but I should be well under 20g a day, and I'll be exercising most days, as well as fasting every now and then.

I admire the dedication, since you asked for suggestions:

I would not try and fast like that, 24 hours isn't going to really help much since you'll just run down your sugar reserves. You'd be better off intermittently fasting or doing a multi-day fast every so often (which can help with cell regeneration and all kind of crazy benefits, it's pretty shocking). I started out doing a 12/12 fast feed, but quickly moved onto 14/10 fast feed. I think this has greatly helped support my progress, but more importantly it's by extension ingraining better food habits in me, so snacking at wild times isn't what it was.

How much are you currently exercising? Your proposed plan seems like an extreme shift and not very sustainable, with a decent chance of injury too. You have most of it listed in sets/reps but your weights are listed in minutes, are you planning to gain mass or endurance? I would try and avoid measuring weights in minutes, since it might lead to rushing/bad form. Maybe consider alternating days of weights+some calisthetics with days of heavier calisthetics. Just going for a short walk or wlaking up and down the stairs a couple times every hour or two will be easier and more sustainable in the medium-long term then regular bouts of working out throughout the day.

Whatever you settle on I hope you find even more success, I'm rooting for you 

[ReamerPunch]

How about 48h fasting once a week?

That's been my exercise plan for a couple of months now. Not every single day, because of work, which so far has worked well for muscle healing. My abs are rock solid but under belly fat. My calves, quads, biceps, triceps and deltoids are nicely defined, and will be even more defined once I start burning fat with keto. I'll add more calisthenics eventually.
Weights in particular have helped with biceps and deltoids. My form is good, no injuries or discomfort so far, and I do not rush.
I might alternate days of weights and calisthenics. I was mainly going for muscle mass/definition, but endurance would be nice. So far I've gained about 6kg of muscle mass, maybe 7kg, since the end of January.

[GearedForwards]

How about 48h fasting once a week?

That's been my exercise plan for a couple of months now. Not every single day, because of work, which so far has worked well for muscle healing. My abs are rock solid but under belly fat. My calves, quads, biceps, triceps and deltoids are nicely defined, and will be even more defined once I start burning fat with keto. I'll add more calisthenics eventually.
Weights in particular have helped with biceps and deltoids. My form is good, no injuries or discomfort so far, and I do not rush.
I might alternate days of weights and calisthenics. I was mainly going for muscle mass/definition, but endurance would be nice. So far I've gained about 6kg of muscle mass, maybe 7kg, since the end of January.

If you'd rather do longer fasts then I'd say at least do it every other weak, for around 72+ hours. When you fast your body goes through different stages, the first 24-28 hours suck pretty bad experience wise, but after that it isn't bad at all. Once you get a couple of days in your body will really start to clean house. My personal experience with fasting is primarily intermittent, I did a 3.5 day fast a month-ish ago to help get over a stomach bug (worked well) but my girlfriend really likes fasting and has gone around a week/week+ quite a few times in the last year. I lifted during my fast (I prefer to lift heavy) and felt pretty okay, but I wouldn't have felt comfortable with something more physically active like the HIIT video I follow.
Great results!

So with your work schedule what does your workouts look like then?

For endurance (and I think definition judging by my own progress, which isn't the same as when I lifted when I was not my current size), mixing in resistance bands with heavy weights is a good balance.

[ReamerPunch]

Not sure I'll make it a full week, but I'll try to fast for 72 hours and we'll see.

On work days I only do one half hour of weights, and one or two sets of my calisthenics. Occasionally I skip something if I am very tired or have little time but that has happened very few times.

[ReamerPunch]

Here's a question.
Do I have to eat a minimum amount of carbs?

I keep seeing the 20-50g carb daily intake, to sustain ketosis. So, if I eat less than 20g of carbs, it won't work?
Because if I really have to be in that margin, I can have a lot more than what I am having now.

[ReamerPunch]

Looks like I have more homehork to do.
I did the calculation based on 20g of carbs. So I now have to figure out a combination of foods that comes close to my limits.

[ReamerPunch]

Looks like I have more homehork to do.
I did the calculation based on 20g of carbs. So I now have to figure out a combination of foods that comes close to my limits.

Yeah, this is impossible.

If I reach those calories, I am nowhere near that protein and fat level. Not even half. In order to reach those, I would have to exceed the caloric limit by at least 200%.

No idea how people make this work in the margins they get. I guess I can stay around the caloric limit and hope for the best.

[ReamerPunch]

I've lost 2.5 kilos so far in May, so I guess it is working.

[Jothra]

Not sure I'll make it a full week, but I'll try to fast for 72 hours and we'll see.

I tell people I often don't eat breakfast, and I get all kinds of lectures. I tell them I'm "intermittent fasting" from evening until the following lunchtime, and I get all kinds of compliments about my dedication.

I've lost 2.5 kilos so far in May, so I guess it is working.

Well done! I'm only at 1kg, but I'm not making the same big lifestyle shifts you are.

This isn't meant to be a pointed or loaded question: are you finding you are enjoying the weight loss and fitness process? I'm at a point at which I am, and am curious if you are, too.

[Syncop8r]

I tell people I often don't eat breakfast

Or perhaps you do, you're just breaking your fast later in the day. 

[Jothra]

Or perhaps you do, you're just breaking your fast later in the day. 

This is objectively correct.

[powernoodle]

I'm down 56 lbs since March 2020 doing occasional intermittent fasting.  Most of those months I was not fasting at all, but when I do fast the weight falls off scary fast.  I do 20:4, OMAD and an occasional 48 hour fast.  I've sorta become an apostle of fasting, and just this week turned my fat neighbor onto it.  In my view, fasting and/or a whole food, plant-based diet are the premier means of sustainably losing weight and being healthy.  Calorie counting, or calories in/calories out, has an almost 100% failure rate in the long term.  Your metabolism slows down as you keep cutting calories, and then voila every blames you for falling off the wagon when its was never a sustainable model in the first place.

I recently had the pleasure of standing in front of a female doctor and her assistant in my boxer shorts, while they looked me over real close from top to bottom for skin cancer.  Even between my toes. While I am not a fitness model at age 59 by any means, at least I was not the grotesque hippo I was a year ago.  What started this whole journey for me was the covid virus, and my not-unreasonable fear of dying.  That's quite a motivator to keep food out of one's mouth.

I've got about 20 lbs to go, and hope to land on 165 lbs or so.

[ReamerPunch]

This isn't meant to be a pointed or loaded question: are you finding you are enjoying the weight loss and fitness process? I'm at a point at which I am, and am curious if you are, too.

My four month diet was not enjoyable. But every few days that I weighed myself, I would feel better because it was working. So I kept at it. And it kept getting better and better, because I was losing weight. I sweat less, I can run faster and for longer, I sleep better. Lots of benefits.

Then I started exercising and it was tough as well, but after a while I gained muscle mass. I got stronger. I could lift more, I could run even faster and for even longer.

Now, I am doing the keto diet to shed a few more kilos of fat. The process is still tough, but with this diet I can eat lots of different things, so it is not that bad.

So, while the process of losing weight is not particularly enjoyable, I sure do enjoy the results. Which motivates me to continue.

[Jothra]

My four month diet was not enjoyable. But every few days that I weighed myself, I would feel better because it was working. So I kept at it. And it kept getting better and better, because I was losing weight. I sweat less, I can run faster and for longer, I sleep better. Lots of benefits.

Then I started exercising and it was tough as well, but after a while I gained muscle mass. I got stronger. I could lift more, I could run even faster and for even longer.

Now, I am doing the keto diet to shed a few more kilos of fat. The process is still tough, but with this diet I can eat lots of different things, so it is not that bad.

So, while the process of losing weight is not particularly enjoyable, I sure do enjoy the results. Which motivates me to continue.

Keep at it!

[ReamerPunch]

Of course there's a birthday cake at work. Unattended. 



But I resisted.
All those protein bars I got while looking for stuff for my MRE are really nice. I'd still rather have kit kats or twix or M&Ms, but the low carb bars are absolutely fine. I found three brands with seven or eight flavours between them, plus some low carb chocolates, so I have no cravings for sweet, naughty treats. Man, if it was not for the MRE challenge, I would have given up my diet a week ago. But I did not, and I've already lost 2.5 kilos.

[Jothra]

Of course there's a birthday cake at work. Unattended. 

(Image removed from quote.)

But I resisted.
All those protein bars I got while looking for stuff for my MRE are really nice. I'd still rather have kit kats or twix or M&Ms, but they're absolutely fine. I found three brands with seven or eight flavours between them, plus some low carb chocolates, so I have no cravings for sweet, naughty treats. Man, if it was not for the MRE challenge, I would have given up my diet a week ago. But I did not, and I've already lost 2.5 kilos.

And we all know MRE stands for "Meal: Really Excellent," so there's that!

[ReamerPunch]

I discovered that the seemingly great protein bars (not the tiny ones I have included in my MRE) I found contain sugar alcohols (maltitol, isomalt, glycerol, sorbitol) that could slow down weight-loss and even cause stomach issues including bloating, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.

https://www.ruled.me/keto-diet-plan-best-and-worst-sweeteners/

I have had no such symptoms, but then again, I have only had two of these bars in the last week. Still, I have bought a lot, and I'd rather not eat them now.

So, I will attempt to return them.
Seven bars to Woolworths, who say you cannot get refunds if you've changed your mind.
And another eight bars to Coles, who seem to have a 'no questions asked' sort of approach to returns.
So, we'll see how it goes. Fingers crossed.

[GearedForwards]

I discovered that the seemingly great protein bars (not the tiny ones I have included in my MRE) I found contain sugar alcohols (maltitol, isomalt, glycerol, sorbitol) that could slow down weight-loss and even cause stomach issues including bloating, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.

https://www.ruled.me/keto-diet-plan-best-and-worst-sweeteners/

I have had no such symptoms, but then again, I have only had two of these bars in the last week. Still, I have bought a lot, and I'd rather not eat them now.

So, I will attempt to return them.
Seven bars to Woolworths, who say you cannot get refunds if you've changed your mind.
And another eight bars to Coles, who seem to have a 'no questions asked' sort of approach to returns.
So, we'll see how it goes. Fingers crossed.

You have a Woolworths?!

AND YOU GOT HEALTHY FOOD FROM THEM?!

In the glory days Woolworths here was known for pick 'n' mix sweets and was purveyor of my Gundam collection 

[Jothra]

I discovered that the seemingly great protein bars (not the tiny ones I have included in my MRE) I found contain sugar alcohols (maltitol, isomalt, glycerol, sorbitol) that could slow down weight-loss and even cause stomach issues including bloating, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.

https://www.ruled.me/keto-diet-plan-best-and-worst-sweeteners/

I have had no such symptoms, but then again, I have only had two of these bars in the last week. Still, I have bought a lot, and I'd rather not eat them now.

So, I will attempt to return them.
Seven bars to Woolworths, who say you cannot get refunds if you've changed your mind.
And another eight bars to Coles, who seem to have a 'no questions asked' sort of approach to returns.
So, we'll see how it goes. Fingers crossed.

If you eat too much maltitol at once, you will get the space poops. The reviews of Haribo maltitol gummy bears are often quite funny.

[ReamerPunch]

If you eat too much maltitol at once, you will get the space poops. The reviews of Haribo maltitol gummy bears are often quite funny.

yup, so also I removed my tiny chocolate that has 9.1g of maltitol in 21g of chocolate