UltimateYota.com's Biggest Loser Contest.

[Good Times]

welp I'm going to attempt to prep for the full but they offer the half so if half way thru the training I feel like the hell w/ running 20+ miles I'll just do the half. I'm also going to be keeping a close eye on my body as this is the most abuse it'll take since my ankle surgery. Then again I should probably note that I've abused myself pretty badly with all of the grubbin I've been doing too haha.

I'll shoot you an email with my regiment so you can take a quick peek and think about it.

[TDiddy]

I never signed up for this, but thought I'd send an update anyway - I'm down 20 lbs from 185-165 and 7% BF from 22-15 with triathlon training and diet (special attention to diet since Feb. 1). I also managed to gain 7 lbs of muscle.

Good luck in your marathons guys - 8 miles has been my longest run, not sure how anyone can push it for 26.2!

[Good Times]

Bump!

It's been almost 6 months now since many of you decided to take on this difficult challenge. Have any of you been very successful or has it been a slow death?

Sadly I've been running like death is around the corner. I've yet to lose the big #'s Guess I'm still "building muscle" and not "burning the chub"!!

Tom, the 26.2 miles does seem like an impossibility still. My longest run to date has been 11.25 miles and surprising it wasn't as hard as I imagined. I will note that this is the first time I've felt good after a long run. Normally I'm swearing in my head about how stupid I am for running miles and miles without the end in sight. The following day after the long runs are painful especially in the morning though. Feels like a freight train just ran me over and then some. I fear that it'll be like this after each long run (longer than 6 miles or so). Mind over matter I tell ya (or so I'm trying to convince myself).

[YotaGirl]

Well, I pretty much fell off the wagon after the first month. However, at the end of June, Justin and I were up in Big Bear for a family retreat. After almost dying trying to get to the trailhead for a hike we were going on, I decided enough was enough. I put myself on a strict diet and I'm happy to report that I lost 21 pounds in my first month.

I plan to continue with the diet and add in some more exercise. Having lost this amount of weight is a big motivator to keep going with it.

[04 Rocko Taco]

I too fell away from this thread and off the wagon, I am down about 20 pounds from my original wieght, and seem to be maintaining fairly well here, I think my not so strict diet has taken me as far as it is going to on its own, and its time to start "burnin the chub" as Lance says.

[Cebby]

I hadn't signed up for this challenge either - mainly because I had a head start prior to the contest starting.

I'm a big fella, not Cheese tall, but big - 6'1"+, former football player and weight lifter. I think many of you see where this is going...

I started on Sept 9th, 2007 at a scale pounding 312 lb. That was the last time I ate pizza (well not completely, but the last time I had more than 2 pieces at a sitting). Sept was the first time I got up the courage to get on the scale - in March I was heavier - I started playing racquetball in two leagues in April, but never changed my eating habits until Sept. I might have been as much as 330-340. I really don't know - but I did start to lose with the exercise alone.

Starting in Sept, my diet has consisted of the following (and still does) - this is my own concoction, with ideas borrowed from a number of different failed diets I'd been on in the past.

Breakfast:
Bacon (3) or sausage patties (2) with American cheese on them, with two fried eggs on top.
OR
Fresh fruit

Lunch:
Romaine lettuce with the following in the salad (1 meat, 1 cheese, 1 fruit, 1 nut)
Grilled chicken, shrimp, beef or grilled chicken sausages - sliced
Sharp Cheddar, Jarlsberg Swiss, Blue, Gorgonzola, Cahill Porter, or other exotics
Dried figs, dried cherries, dried blue berries, etc
Pecans, Walnuts, Almonds
Ranch, Blue Cheese, Caesar (I like creamy dressings)

Dinner:
Any sort of Grilled Fish (Tuna, Swordfish, Salmon, Chicken, Beef, Shrimp, Scallops, etc.)
Grilled Vegetables (Asparagus, Portabella mushrooms, Corn) or Sauteed Veggies (Mushrooms, peppers, onions) or Steamed Veggies (Broccoli, Cauliflower)
OR
Seasoned Chicken wings

Sweets:
Fresh Fruit (Strawberries, Bleuberries, Raspberries, Black Berries)
Nuts (Pecans, Walnuts)
With Low-Fat Vanilla Yogurt over it

Snacks:
Nuts (Pecans, Walnuts, Cashews, Almonds, unsalted peanuts in the shell)
Cheese (all of the above)
Fruit
Raw Veggies

Beverages:
Water (lots)
Coffee (Decaf)
Beer (Miller Lite - only 2.9g of Carbs)

The first month was the hardest - I'm a guy who loved his carbs and fried foods. Potato Chips, Pasta, Egg Rolls, Lo Mein, Tortilla chips, Bread, etc. I gave it all up. Too much on the simple carbs is a bad thing.

So, my body has reacted well to the major change in diet - but exercise is also an important component of this. You need cardio too - mine is racquetball 2-4 times per week. I also coach baseball for my kids, so all summer I'm at the field running around and playing ball. I used to MTB a lot, but just haven't found the time this summer. Anything you can do to get a good sweat going will help.

So what did this all net me? I've dropped 70 lbs so far - I'd like to drop another 30-40. Much beyond that and I don't look healthy. (In college, my first year I went from 200 to 245 from eating, drinking, partying, etc. A good bit of this was muscle - I was at St. Vincent's in Latrobe, so we had the Steeler's weight room - I went from benching 225 to maxing out around 400. In 3 months over the summer, I dropped 60 lbs - not healthy, I know - but it was from running, cycling, lifting and eating reasonably well. At 185, I was weak and looked emaciated. Unfortunately, I put it right back on the next year, but I know I can do it. Not falling back into the bad habits is the ticket to keeping it off - this time for sure...

Good luck to everyone - I know first hand what you are going through.

[04 Rocko Taco]

Im not quite as big as you Mike, but I am between 6'1 and 6'3 (depending on what gas station I walking out of)(Thank you Ron White) and I maxed out about 280 pounds.... I dont lift wieghts, and fairly weak when it comes to workouts, I cant lift much it seems, I cant run long, I cant bike long, but then when it comes to DOING things... like helping friends move, or things of that nature, I am surprised at how well I do when compared to my friends who work out and are good at it.... SO I beleive that I have a mental block about working out.... I have to find a way around this... lol.

Any particular excersie regimen you follow Mike? I am more interested in leaning out and toning my muscles than building muscle, but both are nice....

[Cebby]

I haven't been lifting weights for adding mass for some time. Most of what I do now is to tone. The key to toning is low weight, high repetition.

The gym I go to has the "Hammer Strength" machines that you put free-weight plates on. My regimen is something like this:


Every gym day -
- Ride the recumbant bike for 20-30 minutes, ratcheting up the tension through the middle of the ride.
- 600 Crunches - (300 straight, 150 to each side - not all at once, I go 100 straight, 50 right, 50 left, 100 straight, 50 right, 50 left, etc.)

Day 1:
Shoulders (I don't know the technical terms for these workouts, I just know what works)
- Military Press - 5 sets of 20
- Straight Bar raise (arms straight with a weighted bar, raise shoulder height in front of you and return slowly) - 5 sets of 20
- Shoulder raise - machine that has pads that rest against your sides at rest, then you raise up to shoulder height out to your sides and return. 5 sets of 20

Day 2:
Back and Bi's
- Lat Pull Downs - 5 sets of 20
- Narrow grip rows - 5 sets of 20
- Wide grip rows - 5 sets of 20
- Dumbbell Rows - 5 sets of 20 each side
- Preacher Bench Curls - 5 sets of 20
- Dumbbell Curls - 5 sets of 20 each side

Day 3:
Chest and Tri's
- Bench Press - 5 sets of 20
- Incline Bench - 5 sets of 20
- Decline Bench - 5 sets of 20
- Dumbbell flys (flat and incline) - 5 sets of 20
- Tri pull downs - 5 sets of 20
- Tri kick outs (overhead) - 5 sets of 20
- Dumbbell tri kickouts (bent over) - 5 sets of 20

I think that's everything. I can get in and out of the gym in 60-90 minutes depending on the day and gym traffic. Some weeks I'm there every day, some weeks I get there twice - depends on my schedule.

Note: I don't do any leg weight training - I probably should (and will sometime soon), but I don't currently. The biking, running on the court and on the ball field is my leg workout.

[Tanto]

As a guy that has done plenty of cardio/strength exercises, here's a couple suggestions.

- Maximize muscle groups involved in a single exercise. Try bent over rows with the bar instead of the machine. Calories is a measure of energy and you spend much more with your body supporting the entire weight. There a lot of examples of high-intensity workouts at www.crossfit.com

- Explore new foods. Non-fat cottage cheese has 13 grams of protein and absolutely no fat, for example. Mix in some fresh fruits (canned fruits are preserved in a high-sugar solution) and you get the idea.

- Jump start the metabolism. Breakfast is the meal that wakes up your metabolism so you should never miss it. Eat noticeably less food at breakfast/lunch/dinner and have a very light snack between meals (about every 2 hours). Drink a shake of 100% Casein Protein right before you go to bed. The Casein Protein will be digested while you sleep and you'll wake up starving because your metabolism never slowed down.

I am more than willing to discuss anything via PM. I have the experience to back up what I'm talking about.