capnmike
Assistant Coach
My prediction came true…2022 brought 106 runs, 667 miles…weight is actually in the same range as this time last year, so I’m counting that as a win.
Healthy Habits
- Thread starter ChicagoGuy
- Start date
This past year was probably the best I ever kept a New Year's resolution. I ended up with just over 92 miles of unique hikes completed, with several of them done multiple times, lost over 10 pounds, and a routine exercise habit was established the second half of the year. While I did not do any singular hike of 6-8 hours, I'm satisfied with what I did during our family vacation in Breckenridge and my trips through Shenandoah. For 2023, I aim to surpass 100 miles of unique hikes, lose another 10+ pounds, and reduce alcohol consumption. I'm going to try a Dry (Weekday) January and see where that takes me. Is anyone else thinking of healthy habit-related goals for the year?
Stakem
Tômester
When you say trips through Shenandoah… what does this mean? Thats like 30 minutes from me.
My #1 short term goal for 2023 is to set a state record in my powerlifting federation in March. Right now, its looking like the deadlift will be it but with a little more progress ill get the squat and 3 lift total records as well.
My long term healthy habit/goal for 2023 will be to keep my alcohol consumption in check with the hopes of having weekday drinking be a rarity and weekend drinking reduced to maybe just 1 evening.
Setting a weightloss goal is something ive been dabbling with since my initial 40lb loss almost a decade ago. But weight cutting really contradicts my bigger goals/ambitions of powerlifting. Right now im trying to get down to 240lbs from the 255 my body loves to sit at for this next power lifting competition. How January goes weight-wise will heavily impact whether getting down to 240 is doable for March without drastically cutting strength too.
JoeLikesBeer
Crusty Forest Dad
I’m outside Philly. Occasionally my office will pick up jobs in southern and western VA, so when happens, I work my schedule so that I can spend at least a half day plus in the park.
Stakem
Tômester
lol whoops, wrong Shenandoah
Stakem
Tômester
Got my wife a used elliptical machine for Christmas that looks and feels basically brand new for $1000 cheaper than if we bought it new.
This was not a case of me being an asshole and telling her, hey bitch you need to lose some weight! She was legit excited as she wanted one for awhile but refused to pay for how much they are.
I felt a little guilty for waiting this long to get her one in that I dont hesitate to purchase the lifting equipment I want and she has nothing here fitness-wise that she enjoys. Her thing is walking and since we moved into our forever home in the middle of the woods she is scared shitless to go for a walk.
Anyhoo, I finally got it all set up for her yesterday and I dont know the first thing about it. I got on it and went for like 2 minutes with no incline or resistance before saying NOPE and jumping off it. Took my daughter for her softball pitching lesson and while we were away she did it for 25 mins and sent me a pic of herself soaking wet sweated.
When I got home I told her how shocked I was that she did it for that long and she confessed to wanting to quit 5 mins in then fought to make it halfway and then said fuck it and saw it all the way through. I think thats like an abbreviated version of how this fitness thing goes for everyone. The initial start is the hardest… you gotta fight mentally as much if not more than physically to get to the finish where you can feel proud and accomplished.
This was not a case of me being an asshole and telling her, hey bitch you need to lose some weight! She was legit excited as she wanted one for awhile but refused to pay for how much they are.
I felt a little guilty for waiting this long to get her one in that I dont hesitate to purchase the lifting equipment I want and she has nothing here fitness-wise that she enjoys. Her thing is walking and since we moved into our forever home in the middle of the woods she is scared shitless to go for a walk.
Anyhoo, I finally got it all set up for her yesterday and I dont know the first thing about it. I got on it and went for like 2 minutes with no incline or resistance before saying NOPE and jumping off it. Took my daughter for her softball pitching lesson and while we were away she did it for 25 mins and sent me a pic of herself soaking wet sweated.
When I got home I told her how shocked I was that she did it for that long and she confessed to wanting to quit 5 mins in then fought to make it halfway and then said fuck it and saw it all the way through. I think thats like an abbreviated version of how this fitness thing goes for everyone. The initial start is the hardest… you gotta fight mentally as much if not more than physically to get to the finish where you can feel proud and accomplished.
theLostWizard
🧙♂️
A day late but joining some friends for dry Jan. Will probably try and liquidate a good portion of the cellar as well.
BigFrank
Forbidden Chicharron
Didn't make the under 240, I missed it by a hair.
I was able to hold off any christmas gain this year by not eating holiday junk food. Pair that with us going to Disney for christmas every year were average 10 miles walking a day. I was able to eat buffets with prime rib and african BBQ, shitty pizza, and margaritas and come back the same weight as I was before Christmas break.
Now I'm back at it in the gym. Using 240 as my starting point and hoping to cruise down to under 230 in the next 6-8 weeks.
Using this as the basic diet protocol.
- No Snacking
- One protein and one carb per meal
- No "ands"
- No fast food
- No liquid calories
GhostOfGaspar
Husband of Dime-Piece
Thought I'd share publicly so that if nothing else, I'd have a record to look back on.
Started this year out at 207lbs. I found an old post that said in January 2018 I was at 226lbs, so that was nice to see, I suppose. My target weight for about a decade has been 180lbs, which is the weight I was at when I was about 29-30 years old. I'll be 40 next month.
In addition to a pretty extreme reduction/elimination of alcohol consumption, I'm going to keep sticking to my diet of about 1/2 meals being vegetarian. When I was diagnosed with gout about 16 months back, I weighed in at 223lbs, and I think the dietary changes, along with increased general mobility from not being in excruciating pain about 20% of the time, has really helped. A few habits I need to changed and dial in, like snacking on the couch at night (though usually something like pretzels or popcorn), but I'm optimistic.
Started this year out at 207lbs. I found an old post that said in January 2018 I was at 226lbs, so that was nice to see, I suppose. My target weight for about a decade has been 180lbs, which is the weight I was at when I was about 29-30 years old. I'll be 40 next month.
In addition to a pretty extreme reduction/elimination of alcohol consumption, I'm going to keep sticking to my diet of about 1/2 meals being vegetarian. When I was diagnosed with gout about 16 months back, I weighed in at 223lbs, and I think the dietary changes, along with increased general mobility from not being in excruciating pain about 20% of the time, has really helped. A few habits I need to changed and dial in, like snacking on the couch at night (though usually something like pretzels or popcorn), but I'm optimistic.
capnmike
Assistant Coach
1. When I was focusing on losing weight, I pretty much only allowed myself fresh cut veggies as snacks. Back to "mindful" ZFG here. Still try to reach for fruit or something instead of a snack from the pantry, but I'm not super limiting myself here, other than trying to be mindful on the number of snacks and portions.
2. One improvement I've made in cooking at home is always making a veggie side and filling up my bowl with the veggies before going for the main.
3. Sorry if I'm half asleep still - what does this mean?
4. This was easier before teenage sports schedule (being out and about during dinner time...I haven't gotten on board with say packing "dinner" for those games yet).
5. Again, during weight loss focus, I was all in on this, but...I feel cellar guilt and still participate in BIFs and buy Rev releases and BCBS, so....yeah.
The Orangetheory transformation challenge starts on 1/16, so I'll see which of these I can tune up the most. I'll also get a weigh-in on their machine, so I can compare to last year (I'm right around the same as well....which I'm taking as a win, given the above notes, lol).
Stakem
Tômester
Not 100% sure his take on it but I believe this to be something to the extent of, ok here is my meal AND ill have a little dessert afterwards or a plate of “seconds.”
Alan Thralls approach to weightloss is so simplistic that its almost too good to be true…but it really works. I have other hints and queues that I follow during weightloss mode but they all fit into his description in a much more simplistic way.
Video does good explanations.
"No And" goes with the one protein, one carbohydrate rule. Say you go to a BBQ joint. What you would order is brisket and mac and cheese. Not brisket, mac and cheese, and baked beans, and potato salad, and banana pudding.
This leads into #4 a bit. Allen says if you have to get fast food, only get one item and not the meal. Most people are like "Well I have to eat out today. Let me get a double cheeseburger, large fry, a frosty, and a large coke." Instead you can just get a single cheese burger. I've really started to implement this. I use to order a double cheeseburger meal large size every time. Now I'll just get a single cheese burger, sometimes a small fry, and a diet soda. You are cutting 700-1k calories just with that change.
These rules allow me to not change much about my life and still drop weight.
Stakem
Tômester
While we are on the topic, this pic popped up on my facebook feed new years day. It took every bit of restraint I could muster up to not comment on it.
Said person was serious in that they felt this was a well balanced meal to start off a new, healthier year of eating better. I suppose its possible what they were eating previously was absolute garbage but I know that not to be true as last year (or the year prior) they were allllllllll about hello fresh or whatever that mail order food thing was.
Anyway… its 2023 and people still think corn is a vegetable and having 1/3 of your plate be protein/veg and the other 2/3 starch is “balanced.”
Said person was serious in that they felt this was a well balanced meal to start off a new, healthier year of eating better. I suppose its possible what they were eating previously was absolute garbage but I know that not to be true as last year (or the year prior) they were allllllllll about hello fresh or whatever that mail order food thing was.
Anyway… its 2023 and people still think corn is a vegetable and having 1/3 of your plate be protein/veg and the other 2/3 starch is “balanced.”
As someone who doesn't really participate in this thread. Don't think you should gatekeep anyone's approach to start eating healthier. Like you said, who knows what this plate would have looked like previously. If the person believes they're taking their first step, seems like you should let them. Just because it's not a weighed out volume of broccoli and lean protein doesn't mean it's not progress for them.While we are on the topic, this pic popped up on my facebook feed new years day. It took every bit of restraint I could muster up to not comment on it.
Said person was serious in that they felt this was a well balanced meal to start off a new, healthier year of eating better. I suppose its possible what they were eating previously was absolute garbage but I know that not to be true as last year (or the year prior) they were allllllllll about hello fresh or whatever that mail order food thing was.
Anyway… its 2023 and people still think corn is a vegetable and having 1/3 of your plate be protein/veg and the other 2/3 starch is “balanced.”
While we are on the topic, this pic popped up on my facebook feed new years day. It took every bit of restraint I could muster up to not comment on it.
Said person was serious in that they felt this was a well balanced meal to start off a new, healthier year of eating better. I suppose its possible what they were eating previously was absolute garbage but I know that not to be true as last year (or the year prior) they were allllllllll about hello fresh or whatever that mail order food thing was.
Anyway… its 2023 and people still think corn is a vegetable and having 1/3 of your plate be protein/veg and the other 2/3 starch is “balanced.”
Most people eat absolute dog shit everyday. Just look at other people's grocery carts. But any change can be good change.
Having tried "clean" diets like RP and Vertical, I believe the only way to truly make lasting changes is to make very incremental, minor modifications to eating patterns. My wife lost 30lbs just switching from soda to 0 calorie water enhancers. Especially if someone is really heavy, find one thing to change, stick with it, and see how far it takes you.
The vast majority of people could drop 20% of their body weight just by cutting out liquid calories and going to the gym when they feel like it. I'd like to see that change before making harder changes to deeply ingrained patterns.
I will also say sometimes it's really not about the food. You might be fat because you fucking hate your job and your boss is a complete ass hat. That might be the first change that is really needed.
JoeLikesBeer
Crusty Forest Dad
Alan Thrall's approach is great, but anyone who takes his advice should also consider the fact that he is incredibly active and has been for years. I would even venture to say he is more active than most of his peers in the industry. He talks in some videos about one of the main reasons for his big weight change being that he was sick of having to eat so much to be that big. While I think he gives great advice on balancing diets and thinking logically about eating, we have to consider his starting point.
Some people would look at what he does, do the math on their diet, and just be incredibly discouraged because they can't achieve much of a calorie deficit with that alone unless they make themselves miserably hungry. I think it's important to consider that some people do need dramatic and slightly more complicated changes to make real progress.
I would argue the average person is going to have to modify significantly less than someone who has been in the gym for a long time. Every person I know that goes to the gym regularly eats relatively healthy and just struggles with binge or overeating moderately healthy foods.
The average american has a lot of high calorie, low density foods in their diet. Just refusing to drink liquids that have calories will get the majority of americans in a much healthier space.