FG Fitness Challenge

Yeah, sweets and crisps should completely go as well. I've substituted them with raisins now, but the trouble is there are never any left for the kid :D

I can't go completely without breakfast, but the sandwiches at work are just wheat fluff I can skip.
 
I guess I should get a scale. Since sometime around Christmas last year, I was just at the 99kg point. I haven’t been less than 105kg for the last 11-12 years now. I have work pants that at the start of my current job in July, been at their max flex point which was 106cm or there abouts. Recently I’ve noticed I’m somewhere in the middle of the flex point. My belt hardly does anything anymore and my jeans can be taken off without unbuttoning with said belt. So I guess I need to go shopping for new pants and a belt…

What’s my secret? Uh, well I’m on average walking 7,900 steps per day, otherwise moving from America to Germany has seemed to cause an effect on its own. It’s not like I’ve really reduced my drinking habits, eating, probably? But I still buy the cheapest of whatever’s out there. I don’t buy organic stuff….

With this new job has me with bolts needing 41mm wrenches and a lot more actual hand work instead of just electrical diagnosing and programming, so that’s I think good too.
 
I am in a similar situation to @public, only that in my case the pregnancy of my wife alone wreaked so much havoc on our (eating) routines that I gained a few kilos, when the plan was to lose some. I feel most comfortable around 84kg (at 1,87) and currently I am bordering on 90. Which is ironic since a year ago I was probably at the skinniest I was since puberty, closing in on 80kg.

But - I have myself pretty well dialed in normally, with 16/8 interval fasting six days a week and running 15 to 20 km a week, I should go back down to where I was. Also, the interval fasting combined with running takes away most opportunities and the largest desire to eat sweets, making it easy to cut those. Never had a need to cut the booze, on the other hand.

So now my job is to give myself, my eating, and my running structure again, and keep that up also when the kid arrives.
 
Definitely agree that a running / exercise scheme would help me as well, but since I haven't habitually exercised in years it's not something I'd default back to. As for beer, I've actually decreased the input significantly already when the kid was born (less time for beer o'clock and when she sleeps I'd happily go to bed too instead of staying up with an expensive can) but it seems that at 39 my metabolism is changing enough that I'll happily experiment with leaving it out near completely to see what happens. I think I had a dry 8-week period in university just to see what it was like, and I did lose a couple kilos then too.
 
I can´t or won´t even try to give anyone advice on anything since I know shit about any of this.

All of our stories are the same, yet so different. I wanted to change my ways so that I can do it. As a result I´ve not cut off bad habits completely. When I started this journey I ate very little, did things the completely wrong way. My biggest thing has always been chips and junk food. Early 2020 I did drink a lot and then some. I hardly drink anymore. I may have on or two every three to four weeks. And Instead of having a 350-400g bag of chips every day I now allow myself one 100-150g bag a on a friday This is something a food therapist also suggested to me and the better half. Giving yourself a little bit of leeway.


Currently the number sits at -40kg from when I realized things need to change in may 2019. The next sentence is a bit hard to say without it sounding like I´m blowing my own horn but still. I know the number is a bit off because of how I decide to work out and how often. I know for a fact that I have way more muscle mass in a number of places. And admittedly it feels good when folks point this out(I never do talk bout these with friends). I´ve accepted that I like working out and the feeling afterwards.
But that said, there is still plenty of fat in places where I don´t want it. And loose skin in other places.

Eventually I may be comfortable with myself.
 
Anesthesia said:
I can´t or won´t even try to give anyone advice on anything since I know shit about any of this.

All of our stories are the same, yet so different. I wanted to change my ways so that I can do it. As a result I´ve not cut off bad habits completely. When I started this journey I ate very little, did things the completely wrong way. My biggest thing has always been chips and junk food. Early 2020 I did drink a lot and then some. I hardly drink anymore. I may have on or two every three to four weeks. And Instead of having a 350-400g bag of chips every day I now allow myself one 100-150g bag a on a friday This is something a food therapist also suggested to me and the better half. Giving yourself a little bit of leeway.


Currently the number sits at -40kg from when I realized things need to change in may 2019. The next sentence is a bit hard to say without it sounding like I´m blowing my own horn but still. I know the number is a bit off because of how I decide to work out and how often. I know for a fact that I have way more muscle mass in a number of places. And admittedly it feels good when folks point this out(I never do talk bout these with friends). I´ve accepted that I like working out and the feeling afterwards.
But that said, there is still plenty of fat in places where I don´t want it. And loose skin in other places.

Eventually I may be comfortable with myself.
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In the end no matter what you want/need or why you do it, I feel like the most important part is that it feels right and especially doesn't feel like a punishment. Whether the things you do or the things you do or don't eat are worth it for you is different for everyone.
I quit eating/snacking the entire day and instead try to eat 3meals + 2 healthy(ish) snacks a day at a more or less regular interval and I do try to consume more proteins to make sure I'm only losing fat and not also muscles. But for dinner I eat whatever the f*ck I want, no matter how often I'm told to quit on carbohydrates and sugars to lose weight and get in shape faster.
I work out 3 times a week at the gym and try to go for a walk or keep busy on the other days and I'm liking it and even after less than a month I'm both seeing and feeling results. But if I want to eat fries or kebab in the weekend, I just do it. There's no use in trying to live as healthy as possible when you're not enjoying it. Especially when you're an emotional eater/snacker like me :mrgreen:.
 
kalf said:
But if I want to eat fries or kebab in the weekend, I just do it. There's no use in trying to live as healthy as possible when you're not enjoying it.
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Mostly this is my attitude too. And I know that giving myself a bit of rope won´t mean I´m hanging myself in it. There are results, yes they could come quicker if x or y but...
 
Going outside tonight to walk Hank in -1C temps, hardly a breeze and I was shivering in my thickest jacket...

Times like this make me wish I was fatter again... I used to be able to walk out to the end of my driveway and grab the trashcans without getting cold...
 
93Flareside said:
Going outside tonight to walk Hank in -1C temps, hardly a breeze and I was shivering in my thickest jacket...

Times like this make me wish I was fatter again... I used to be able to walk out to the end of my driveway and grab the trashcans without getting cold...
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Absolutely hate this. My fingers in particular are constantly cold nowadays.
 
So...I wasn't going to post this but decided to do so anyway because it is my first ever 10K.

I bought a Garmin last week because I wanted something more accurate than my phone. Today, the watch suggested that I run for 42 mins at a pace of 6:45/km. OK, cool, I can do that. However, the watch kept beeping at me saying that I was ahead which I took to mean to slow down. Ultimately, I slowed down to an average of 6:29/km to get it to stop beeping. So, I ran the 42:00 mins, wasn't tired, and the decided to keep running at the 6:29 pace until I reached 10K, still wasn't tired, but decided to go home anyway.

Haven't had a chance to re-run that route that I posted before with the Garmin yet.

first10.jpg
 
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Started working out again exactly a month ago, I'm already down 8kg but have gained 2kg in muscle mass, all of this while still eating kebab twice a week if I feel like it :ROFLMAO: . I'm really starting to see and feel the difference. I'm far from where I want to end up, but I'm starting to loose the chubby face and that's one of the things I hated the most. The belly is hardly visible under winter clothing anyway 😂.
I'm trying to do some 20min workouts at home too on top of the 3x gym every week, just because I can and want to and partly to focus on the parts that get less exercise at the gym.
I'm thinking about getting back at running again, probably a 2-5min walk followed by running as long as I feel comfortable and end with another 2-5min walk just to get an idea of my basic level to start a new schedule. But I'm also wary of exaggerating with working out. Partially to make sure I don't get injured, but I also don't want it to become too much of an escape from reality considering my current mental state and issues.
 
I just closed the bicycle season 2023 with a very short 4 km ride just to get over 500 km for the Strava Festive 500. That said, I cycled a bit more today, I just had very cold feet from stepping into icy water which flooded an underpass I wanted to take so I gave up and didn't take the last loop I planned on that ride. Can you tell I'm living in a very flat area? The average elevation gained was just shy of 4 metres per km... :LOL:

The "least productive" month was February at "just" 610 km, the most productive month was September at 1351.6 km, followed by June at 1237.8 km. As I wrote last year I raised the bar for longest ride in a day quite a bit higher - last year that was 208 km, this year it was first 212 and then 312 km...

2023-12-31 Veloviewer-Stats.png
 
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I'm thinking about attending the Rhön bike marathon since I'm planning on cycling down to my sister in Tübingen the week before and returning home by train. That bike marathon location is right on the way home, and a work colleague of mine will attend as well so we could return home together afterwards. I think I'd do the 116 km loop since obviously the Rhön has way more elevation than I'm used to. What about you, @eizbaer? Are you up for a challenge? ;)
 
Eye-Q said:
What about you, @eizbaer? Are you up for a challenge? ;)
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116km + 1400m sounds doable, yeah. Spontaneously, I'd say why not, but I'm not sure about our plans for the whitsun weekend. Also: get up at 4am, drive 3 hours, ride 4 hours, drive 3 hours - sound like a plan? :p Streets aren't closed for that, right?
 
Nope, it's a regular RTF. You can start anytime between 7:00h and 10:30h so you don't necessarily need to get up at 4:00h. ;)
 
I'm currently at the point where people who haven't seen me start saying things like "Have you lost some weight? You're looking good." So that's a good motivation to keep going. Went to the gym a lot less in December and January, simply didn't have the time for it. But I'm starting to find a new routine where I can find/make time to work out.
Also finally started running again this week. My goal was to be able to run 5km by the end of February, last time I tried to start running again a couple of years ago I had to quit after 1,5km. So I made myself a 3km route with the idea to run as far as I could and then walk the remaining part. Simply ran the 3km in one go, so yesterday I wanted to run that route again but felt really good so just kept going until 5km.
Screenshot.jpg

So that's my goal for this month reached in less than a week 😅 . So now I guess I can just start with a 5km-10km program instead of a 0-5km program.
I'll have to see how 5-10km goes, but I'm tempted to set the Antwerp 10miles (21st of April) as a new target.
 
kalf said:
So that's my goal for this month reached in less than a week 😅 . So now I guess I can just start with a 5km-10km program instead of a 0-5km program.
I'll have to see how 5-10km goes, but I'm tempted to set the Antwerp 10miles (21st of April) as a new target
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Good stuff!

Be careful with raising the volume of your running too quickly (per session), especially if you may still carry a bit of weight. Ligaments etc won’t adapt to the load as fast as your muscles and cardio will - so you may feel you’re able to run quite far only to end up with stupid joint/ligament issues or even injuries. Same goes for speed, tbh.

I honestly feel really lucky that in my 10+ years of more or less consistent running I’ve only ever had real issues once. Plantar fasciitis… took me nearly three months to get rid of that.
 
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