Sean McGrath: low-carb regimes like Atkins are not as crazy as some would have us all believe.
I had great results with Atkins — in 2002. By 2005, I again looked like this.
Over the last 10 months, I’ve lost over 1.5 stone myself, on a much smaller frame. Today I hit a milestone: I’m once again under 180, which just squeaks under the “obese” category for BMI, though I truly believe that my body fat is likely in the 15-16% range, which qualifies as fitness. The spare tire is gone, the love handles are gone, I’m even starting to see some definition in my chest.
I do watch carbs, especially in the evening. But more importantly, I weigh myself every day. And I do try to get in a minimum of ten minutes of exercise a day on my Wii fit, plus at least once a week on the treadmill.
I’m traveling next week (sadly, I can’t get to Amsterdam) so I expect my weight to fluctuate a bit, but after that my goals are a bit more modest: stabilize my weight below 180 and then see a physician and get another assessment done at the gym.
Having been up and down the scales myself (currently on the up end right now, alas), I have to say a hearty congrats on you getting where you’re at. It’s lots of small things that do it, and for me, mood is a big part of it. Travel also seems to be the enemy. Also, congrats on the book shipping!
Duncan: I don’t know when the next opportunity will be, but I’m sure that there will be one, but I’d love to have you take an “after” picture of me to contrast with the “before” one that I pointed to above.
I’ve never been an exerciser before, but in the last year my wife got me started with her “Team Fitness” class, where we show up twice a week and do fun stuff like toss medicine balls back and forth, jump up and down onto boxes, do various pull-up and push-up variations, free-weights, etc.
It’s not so much that the exercise is more entertaining than the classics (although it is). The big motivator is that we meet with the same 5 people every class. It’s been fun to watch as collectively everyone’s gone up in energy level and fitness. We also help each other keep coming back. If someone’s out for a week due to illness or travel, they are more likely to come back to the group, than they might be to keep up a treadmill habit.
Just one perspective, but for the time investment I think it’s the best thing I’ve done for my health. Not just because it’s fun or gets me stronger, but mostly because now I have a fitness habit, and habits are extremely hard to change.
From my comment on Sam Ruby’s blog: I’ve never been an exerciser before, but in the last year my wife got me started with her “Team Fitness” class, where we show up twice a week and do fun stuff like toss medicine balls back and forth, jump up and...