Back to this end-of-the-year thread and my last update of the year...

I'm being so half-ass right now until the 1st, mostly keeping it under control but no progress at all (had a terrible November overall [diet and exercise], still correcting the damage). We already have a new calender for 2019 for 5ks and the BIG challenge...a 5-day 100 mile walk of Manhattan in the middle of March. NYC tried to kill me last time (kidneys), I want revenge.

If I were doing a New Year's Resolution it would be...

- Finally get back to my wedding day fighting weight (and we did a lot of fighting in those days so it makes sense).
- Bench press my bodyweight, set of 3 to 5.
- Do 3 to 5 clean pullups in a row (harder than you think).
- Finish all home improvement projects (I can't seem to get past about 85%-90% on anything...mostly finishing touches like moldings and painting).
- Make a *real* attempt at my game (I believe I have the knowledge now...especially the math).
- Leave the 80's behind. I've gotten about all I can from them, it's time to move on...to the 90's, and do it right this time (cue up Soundgarden).
- Finish a 5k within 40 minutes (if just once in my life, then I'll back off before I blow a knee). I think a sub-30 minute time is asking too much of this 51 year-old body.
- Naturally raise my T to over 500 (from 418 in August), also get a breakdown of my T-levels.
- Get completely off blood pressure meds.

I've just been through the ringer with end-of-year appointments (dental cleaning/xrays, eye checkup). Yesterday I had some moles and stuff cut off including something on my nose (a sensitive body part to get needles and razors).

2019 will be the year to accomplish all your goals, right?

2019 will have to be a turnaround for me. My doctor said my BP is on the verge of requiring treatment if I don't do something. The coming year will be a challenge but I did it once.

That reminds me, I forget one (or two) items...to get completely off my BP meds.

Just yesterday after the dermatologist we went to CVS Pharmacy to find out if my BP meds are part of the current recall (been a bunch of these lately, not sure if local or national). Same med and maker that was mentioned on the news, but what I received wasn't in the recalled lot/batch. Still, I'd rather not have to deal with any medication.

You can do it gentlemen I have been on a plant based diet for 2 yrs.. I have fallen off of it ,but get right back on. Along with exercise 20 to 30 mins 3-5 times a week. My BP is back to normal.

I knew that if they kept snipping stuff off me that eventually something nasty would come back from the lab.

Got a call today...the bump they removed off my nose is called basal cell carcinoma. I think it's technically the C-word but it's not melanoma which I understand is the serious stuff. I'm totally proactive with my health so my dermatologist and I have stayed on top of it. I just wish it was somewhere else than on my face. They're setting me up with a specialist so I assume I'll be getting some nose treatment or something, but they didn't seem very concerned.

Has anyone tried the OMAD diet, one meal a day? I have followed all kinds of diet in my life and this is by far the best one I have tried because of the results and it makes so much sense. 2500 cal, moderate training 4 times a week, started the 3 January lost 10lb. It's a lot easier then I thought , a bit of a headache at the beginning but now I feel great, no muscle lost and lots of energy. I'm still playing with the ratio carbs/protein/fats

Marc..

2500kcal a day?

I'm still trying to understand what my average daily energy need is - it seems to me I'm gaining weight at above 2000. Maybe different due to the jobs we do?

Eating only once a day sounds interesting. I already only do one big meal a day, the rest is snacks, protein bars and similar stuff. Not sure I could manage the discipline, though on the other hand it would give me the ability to each pretty much whatever I want for that one meal.

Will will tell you, it sure feels good to eat that 2500 cal meal , no feeling guilty the next day. My first one was a huge amount of pasta with meatballs and wine, now I reduced the carbs until my pasta or pizza night

Not sure if this is legit but I would not be surprised
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNdUZ_oras&t=572s

Marc..

It sounds like horse*hit. Even if you can break your body's metabolism so you pass food without extracting nutrition from it, this is a *huge* waste of money and resources if the requirement is 2500Cal - you could feed two people (or one person and a *huge* colony of tapeworms) with a food budget of 5000Cal.

*Maybe* if you are doing 12hours of *hard* exercise per day you might close in on that kind of Calorie requirement, but most people, even those who are active don't work massively hard or for as long as that, but digesting that much food? Doesn't sound like fun.

Typical meal



Marc..

Yeah. But that isn't 5000 Cal is it.

No it's not, would need a lot more fat to reach 5000

Marc..

That picture doesn't even look like 2500kcal to me.

A typical "Italian Style" Pizza from a restaurant has about 1200-1500. Bunch of greens with some meat and eggs... hmm, can't imagine.

People don't realize the amount of calories they consume, specially what comes with your meal, salad dressing here, couple glass of wine there , topping, sour cream with that . That's why they can't loose weight

A 16oz grass fed angus ground beef 85%lean from Trader Joe is 800 cal, it can go up pretty fast,

Marc..

OMAD is just another form of intermittent fasting. You don’t have to condense your eating to one meal to get results, just stick to a small window. Even going with an 8 hour eating window is good. I change up what I do about every 4-6 weeks, at least a little, to keep my body from adapting. I do the IF every now and then as part of that.
A few things about it:
The hard part isn’t limiting your meal times, it’s eating ENOUGH during your mealtimes. It’s very easy to get to where you fall well short of your daily intake. I found myself anemic partly as a result of doing this. Not eating enough produces short term results, but it starves your body and will slow your metabolism. When you break out of this, your weight can shoot up since your metabolism takes time to catch up to your eating habits and it stays slow. If you experiment with this, you need to be sure to eat a balanced meal, watch your macros...that means actually TRACKING your meals, not just guessing. Also, it isn’t just about the number of calories...you need balance. Big difference between eating 1700 cals of carbs vs a healthy mix of 50% from healthy carbs (not sugar), 25% protein, 25% from healthy (not saturated) fats. If you can get the carbs down and protein up, it’s a good day, but this is a reasonable balance.
If you aren’t using a meal tracking app like Lose It or My Fitness Pal, you need to. You’ll be surprised.

IF onlyworks if you don’t spike your insulin during the day. That’s where the benefit really comes from. Your body does not burn fat i. the presence of insulin. So, you might try IF and do fine with the eating, but putting sugar in your coffee through the day, or eating fruit at lunch, can prevent anything from happening. Even some veggies can spike insulin, or even sugar substitutes.

You need to find a good starting point for your calorie intake. 2500 is maintenance level for about a 300 lb man. Find some calculators online, figure 1-2 lbs a week, take an average. Then subtract another 100 for leeway. Stick to tracking meals, nail your intake with healthy balance and see how it goes. Then adjust. At 280, I started at 1800 and it was too much, and that was with going to the gym for an hour of cardio 6 days a week.

Above all, learn new things to eat and adopt a lifestyle or things just go back the way they were. It’s diet AND exercise, not just one or the other. Keep at it, you learn a lot by experimenting!

Good to see you back, Raw.



Yup. We've been experimenting in the kitchen a lot lately, We tried something new just tonight, shrimp stir-fried rice in a wok. Except the rice is actually cauliflower she put through the food processor. I was impressed as hell with it! Nothing wrong with a little rice but this was fantastic! As was a recent homemade shrimp and artichoke heart pizza, the crust made of scooped-out roasted spaghetti squash. It was no Mellow Mushroom of course, but was still very good.

Also some simple ideas, like an addition to my regular spinach wrap breakfast (scrambled eggs on a spinach wrap, scissor cut spinach leaves [cut very fine], Havarti cheese, fig preserves). Adding a handful of pomegranate seeds really adds an interesting flavor, although gutting a pomegranate for the seeds is a bit time consuming.

This year has been good so far, no attempt at a boot camp mentality and no binge eating (yet), just staying the course consistently. Likely no NYC this March due to my wife's job situation (lots going on at her paper mill the next 3 months) but that's the breaks. We'll reschedule and in the meantime make a smaller road trip to explore on foot some other town or city. There's even some Louisiana towns we're considering checking out for a long weekend. So I'm still training on the treadmill to go somewhere and do a lot of backpack walking.

The thing that made me think and try the Omad diet is the reality of why did I need food in the morning (never really needed a breakfast in the morning anyway) I still had plenty of energy stored from my last meal and why do I need a lunch meal, I still had plenty energy left for a workout . The amount of time saved eating/preparing food is not negligible also.We will see, I will be sticking to that regime for a while and see what happens, don't want to loose muscle mass which so far I didn't.It's always a concern when dieting/loosing fat. It's been a while since I felt that way. BTW I'm 62 6'1" 203 now from 218 in Decembre , would like to get at 190, which will not be too long to reach, but I have a big head and at that weight I look skinny so I'm not sure, maybe 195lb

Marc..

You can still put on muscle, in particular the first year of training hard. Or so I’ve heard repeatedly, but from the way my summer until now have gone, it seems to be true. I seem to lose fat and gain muscle around the same rate nowadays, but I’ve decided to get back to the cardio to restart the actual weight loss to go with all of this. In general though, I’m pretty happy so I’m patient about it all. Eased up over Dec some to let some pain spots heal up, but hitting it hard again 4-5 days a week. The January gym noobs will be dropping out soon as they let the resolutions go. LOL

I have heard and witness that the amount of muscle that you have gained when your were young can be obtained again with training when older(up to a certain point) but not more

I take great care of my posture, that makes a huge difference on how you look too

Marc..

How old are you if not too indiscreet ?


Marc..