From Fat to Fit 2025 - I Really Mean It This Time! (3 Viewers)

[Judge Smails]

What’s your SuperBowl party eating strategy? Is it F it, it’s the ultimate cheat day and I have no limits? Are you being conscious of the menu? Bringing certain dishes? I’m doing smoked wings for sure. May bring my chili. Will eat salad/veggies to get some roughage. Light beer. No sweets (never a thing for me with SB). So not going to do without, but not a big setback either.

 

[Corporation]

What’s your SuperBowl party eating strategy? Is it F it, it’s the ultimate cheat day and I have no limits? Are you being conscious of the menu? Bringing certain dishes? I’m doing smoked wings for sure. May bring my chili. Will eat salad/veggies to get some roughage. Light beer. No sweets (never a thing for me with SB). So not going to do without, but not a big setback either.

Cheat day I've been looking forward to this. I haven't had a blow out in quite awhile because I knew this was coming. Now, I won't really blow it out like I would have in the past, but I imagine between 3K and 4K calories are coming. Our Sunday School class has a "Souper" Bowl party where we crown a winner. Soup won't be bad, but there will be a ton of apps and desserts I plan on making myself available to.

 

[Senor Schmutzig]

Taking this part from my heart attack thread. It's time to get crackin'.

I'm 54 years old, 6'2", 240 lb. I walk 4 miles daily and have been doing that for the pats 5+ years. My diet is good, not great. I eat all of the right things (fruits, veggies, fiber, lean meats, etc.), but I also eat plenty of bad ones (red meat, carbs, sweets, etc). I don't smoke and drink moderately ie. 4-5 drinks/week.

There isn't much better motivation than going through a STEMI (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) to clean things up. Losing weight, lowering cholesterol/triglycerides, reducing A1C, etc. All the things are on the path going forward.

After inserting the stents, the cardiologist and I chatted a bit after the surgery. I told him that I walked 4+ miles daily, and he said that it could have happened earlier if I hadn't been doing that. He also mentioned eating better. I asked him if I had to cut out the smoked brisket and ribs. LOL. He told me that I should eat more lean meat and fish. I haven't met a fish that I particularly enjoy*, so that's going to be a bit of a challenge....

Alright, let's begin...

EDIT to add that we are having convection oven-baked blackened tilapia tonight with steamed carrots and sauteed zucchini/onion. May as well try to start adding fish to the diet early on....

AFTER DINNER EDIT - It wasn't horrible.

 

[MAC_32]

Tremendous improvement this week, hope this is not just a light bulb moment, but the start of something sustainable.

Body battery recharged to 100 on 5 of the last 7 days- this tells me I'm recovering well.
This is likely attributable to netting 8+ hours of sleep in 5 of the last 6 days.
Can't compare running output vs January cause that was in snow, but I can compare vs 2024- I have gotten paces down below 8:30 min miles while keeping my aHR ~140, something I haven't done consistently in at least 10 months.
Strength is coming along, but more importantly getting back into it has not resulted in aches and pains after 6 weeks of it, despite the increased running volume (on mostly snow).
Lastly, clothes are fitting better. Shirts and suit jackers no longer feel like they're going to rip if I move too suddenly and I've lost a notch on the belt.

Gonna loosen up a bit this weekend, while remaining active, but not much on the social calendar again until March. Let's see if I can keep this momentum and downgrade one more notch on the belt.

 

[Nugget]

Taking this part from my heart attack thread. It's time to get crackin'.

I'm 54 years old, 6'2", 240 lb. I walk 4 miles daily and have been doing that for the pats 5+ years. My diet is good, not great. I eat all of the right things (fruits, veggies, fiber, lean meats, etc.), but I also eat plenty of bad ones (red meat, carbs, sweets, etc). I don't smoke and drink moderately ie. 4-5 drinks/week.

There isn't much better motivation than going through a STEMI (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) to clean things up. Losing weight, lowering cholesterol/triglycerides, reducing A1C, etc. All the things are on the path going forward.

After inserting the stents, the cardiologist and I chatted a bit after the surgery. I told him that I walked 4+ miles daily, and he said that it could have happened earlier if I hadn't been doing that. He also mentioned eating better. I asked him if I had to cut out the smoked brisket and ribs. LOL. He told me that I should eat more lean meat and fish. I haven't met a fish that I particularly enjoy*, so that's going to be a bit of a challenge....

Alright, let's begin...

EDIT to add that we are having convection oven-baked blackened tilapia tonight with steamed carrots and sauteed zucchini/onion. May as well try to start adding fish to the diet early on....

Thanks for sharing your story. I've been reading up on heart healthy diets based on your post. Headed to the store shortly and my list has me spending more time in produce and seafood.

 

[belljr]

Definitely plateu

 

[Judge Smails]

206 today. Down 14. Gonna get to 200 and then blast through it.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Just spent three days on the road for work, including two dinners out and a Sixers game in a box. I ate ok all week — fortunately didn’t make any horrible decisions. Back at it today. Don’t believe my weigh-in this morning which said I’ve only gained 0.5 lbs in the past 1 1/2 weeks….

 

[Mister CIA]

Had a couple of rough weeks with my weight. Seemingly overnight I was tipping the scale at 192 (and definitely not all lean gains). I declared my Sunday weigh-in as official, at 190, and just by simply keeping calorie intake in the 1500-1800/day range and hitting the gym on schedule and unofficially I'm at 185 five days later.

Still successfully avoiding cardio workouts! ... that's the important takeaway here. Thought things might have to get crazy for a bit.

 

[lsutigers]

Had a couple of rough weeks with my weight. Seemingly overnight I was tipping the scale at 192 (and definitely not all lean gains). I declared my Sunday weigh-in as official, at 190, and just by simply keeping calorie intake in the 1500-1800/day range and hitting the gym on schedule and unofficially I'm at 185 five days later.

Still successfully avoiding cardio workouts! ... that's the important takeaway here. Thought things might have to get crazy for a bit.

Nice! I'm on a similar trajectory of around 180-185lbs, 1800 calories (mid carb/low fat/high protein), some circuit weight training and trying to avoid cardio.

 

[Corporation]

Weird pattern recently with pretty big ticks up and down. This weight will almost certainly increase tomorrow as the drop seems a little too large. Super Bowl Sunday will be a cheat day, but will try not to completely off the rails. One-derland is in sight! Once I get below 195, I'm going to increase my calories but increase my activity much more. It will take some tinkering to get right. I've got the last Bo Jackson bike ride in May so I will want to be better prepared than I was last year.

Date	Weight	Chg From Start	Weekly Loss	Calories
Dec 7	234.1	-	-	Way too many
Jan 1	223.1	11.0	-	1260
Jan 8	218.7	15.4	4.4	Week avg 1546
Jan 15	217.1	17.0	1.7	Week avg 1606
Jan 22	214.1	20.0	3.0	Week avg 1551
Jan 29	211.4	22.7	2.7	Week avg 1482
Feb 5	209.9	24.2	1.5	Week avg 1411
Feb 6	208.1	26.0	-	1290
Feb 7	206.5	27.6	-	-

 

[Corporation]

Tremendous improvement this week, hope this is not just a light bulb moment, but the start of something sustainable.

Body battery recharged to 100 on 5 of the last 7 days- this tells me I'm recovering well.
This is likely attributable to netting 8+ hours of sleep in 5 of the last 6 days.
Can't compare running output vs January cause that was in snow, but I can compare vs 2024- I have gotten paces down below 8:30 min miles while keeping my aHR ~140, something I haven't done consistently in at least 10 months.
Strength is coming along, but more importantly getting back into it has not resulted in aches and pains after 6 weeks of it, despite the increased running volume (on mostly snow).
Lastly, clothes are fitting better. Shirts and suit jackers no longer feel like they're going to rip if I move too suddenly and I've lost a notch on the belt.

Gonna loosen up a bit this weekend, while remaining active, but not much on the social calendar again until March. Let's see if I can keep this momentum and downgrade one more notch on the belt.

Awesome progress! Sleep is such an underrated aspect to our health. It is something (among many things) I need to improve.

 

[Corporation]

Definitely plateu

Keep pushing, don't let it deter you. You've been doing good things, and if you continue your long term trend will be in the right direction. Did you see my note on having a cheat day to get your body out of starvation mode? Not really sure if science supports it, but it has seemed to work for me.

 

[Corporation]

Just spent three days on the road for work, including two dinners out and a Sixers game in a box. I ate ok all week — fortunately didn’t make any horrible decisions. Back at it today. Don’t believe my weigh-in this morning which said I’ve only gained 0.5 lbs in the past 1 1/2 weeks….

I fight with myself on these things a lot. "Can't believe the weigh in"! Well, believe it! It's a verified data point. There are things that go into it but I firmly believe you are so entrenched in doing the right things that even when you think it was just an "ok" week, you are really doing what you need to do to stay in that healthy maintenance.

 

[Corporation]

Had a couple of rough weeks with my weight. Seemingly overnight I was tipping the scale at 192 (and definitely not all lean gains). I declared my Sunday weigh-in as official, at 190, and just by simply keeping calorie intake in the 1500-1800/day range and hitting the gym on schedule and unofficially I'm at 185 five days later.

Still successfully avoiding cardio workouts! ... that's the important takeaway here. Thought things might have to get crazy for a bit.

Cardio is coming for ya!

 

[Corporation]

Had a couple of rough weeks with my weight. Seemingly overnight I was tipping the scale at 192 (and definitely not all lean gains). I declared my Sunday weigh-in as official, at 190, and just by simply keeping calorie intake in the 1500-1800/day range and hitting the gym on schedule and unofficially I'm at 185 five days later.

Still successfully avoiding cardio workouts! ... that's the important takeaway here. Thought things might have to get crazy for a bit.

Nice! I'm on a similar trajectory of around 180-185lbs, 1800 calories (mid carb/low fat/high protein), some circuit weight training and trying to avoid cardio.

When I hit my target weight of sub 195, I think this is the calorie range I'm going to look for as I increase my activity level. I prefer cardio to weights but want to get a good mix of both in.

 

[Mister CIA]

Had a couple of rough weeks with my weight. Seemingly overnight I was tipping the scale at 192 (and definitely not all lean gains). I declared my Sunday weigh-in as official, at 190, and just by simply keeping calorie intake in the 1500-1800/day range and hitting the gym on schedule and unofficially I'm at 185 five days later.

Still successfully avoiding cardio workouts! ... that's the important takeaway here. Thought things might have to get crazy for a bit.

Cardio is coming for ya!

Thing is, once I get into it, I'll probably overdo it.

Talk about first world problems.

 

[MAC_32]

Definitely plateu

Keep pushing, don't let it deter you. You've been doing good things, and if you continue your long term trend will be in the right direction. Did you see my note on having a cheat day to get your body out of starvation mode? Not really sure if science supports it, but it has seemed to work for me.

Right, a bad day or two or not necessarily a bad thing, unless they are the beginning of a stretch of bad days. I made poor health decisions (but had a lot of fun) last night and am paying the price today. No biggie- go to bed early tonight, squeeze a lift in between morning volunteering and afternoon errands, then squeeze a run in between afternoon errands and evening fundraiser. Only down side now is I planned for Sunday to be a rest day, but since that ended up being today I'm gonna drag myself out for an easy run at some point. Decisions have consequences though. Still so worth it

 

[belljr]

I have not had any bad days. Just stuck

 

[Major]

I have not had any bad days. Just stuck

If you're stuck, you must do one of two things - either increase your activity (cardio, weights, etc) or decrease your caloric intake. If you do both simultaneously the weight will drop at a faster pace.

 

[Mister CIA]

Another official weight recorded today, 182.8, or down 7.2 pounds this week. File this under "lost as fast as I gained it," or pretty darn close. Dining on only protein shakes early in the day in preparation for a Super Bowl spread.

Leg day #11 is complete. About to go for a long walk.

Keep pounding the rock.

 

[belljr]

I have not had any bad days. Just stuck

If you're stuck, you must do one of two things - either increase your activity (cardio, weights, etc) or decrease your caloric intake. If you do both simultaneously the weight will drop at a faster pace.

Still increasing exercise is a tough go with my back. Slowly adding

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Weight holding steady each day (+ or - 0.5 lbs). Doing lots of core strength exercises each week — building muscle and feeling stronger. For now I’m cool if my weight doesn’t budge as I add muscle — if it means that I’m (hopefully and mathematically losing fat too). In the long run I’d still like to lose 7-10 lbs also, but I’m truly in this for the long haul, which means that I can’t just focus on weight.

In parallel I’m also continuing to eat less ultra processed food. Not perfect at this yet, but getting a lot better. As an example, I’m not eating ice cream anymore (which for me was an every night occurrence). Have not completely cut out chips/cheetos but basically have scaled back to 1x per week. Eating more fruits and veggies.

Progress toward long term goals.

 

[Corporation]

Well, predicted correctly on the small tick ups. Today was a Super day because it was a cheat day! I also liked that I didn't cheat as bad as I could have, and I didn't really miss a lot of the stuff. I'm definitely prefer salty food over sweets. The chips and dip (lots of it) was probably the worst I had, although I had 2 pretty big homemade (really rich) chocolate chocolate chip cookies and 2 scoops of ice cream. I will likely go up the next 2 days, then hopefully start a nice decline.

Date	Weight	Chg From Start	Weekly Loss	Calories
Dec 7	234.1	-	-	Way too many
Jan 1	223.1	11.0	-	1260
Jan 8	218.7	15.4	4.4	Week avg 1546
Jan 15	217.1	17.0	1.7	Week avg 1606
Jan 22	214.1	20.0	3.0	Week avg 1551
Jan 29	211.4	22.7	2.7	Week avg 1482
Feb 5	209.9	24.2	1.5	Week avg 1411
Feb 6	208.1	26.0	-	1290
Feb 7	206.5	27.6	-	1350
Feb 8	206.6	27.5	-	1380
Feb 9	207.0	27.1	-	4000?

 

[Judge Smails]

Hung in there for SB. Wings and some carne asada for protein. Carrots and hummus. No other carbs or sweets. 2 light beers. Enjoyed but stayed the course.

 

[MAC_32]

Might've been the first super bowl Sunday I burned more than I consumed, and even if I didn't I definitely operated at a deficit today. Light social stretch coming, so gonna try to make big progress the next 3 weeks. Hope mother nature behaves...enough anyway

 

[Major]

I have not had any bad days. Just stuck

If you're stuck, you must do one of two things - either increase your activity (cardio, weights, etc) or decrease your caloric intake. If you do both simultaneously the weight will drop at a faster pace.

Still increasing exercise is a tough go with my back. Slowly adding

Can you handle long walks with your back? Doesn't have to be a strenuous workout but just getting your steps in is a great foundation for weight loss.

 

[Major]

Hung in there for SB. Wings and some carne asada for protein. Carrots and hummus. No other carbs or sweets. 2 light beers. Enjoyed but stayed the course.

Very respectable for a SB outing. Snacking on carrots and jalapeno hummus as a type this.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

SB Sunday was bad. Didn’t even track my calories — did great until 5:30pm lol. Then it all went downhill (guess that’s what it felt like to be P Mahomes….)

Back at it today!

 

[Judge Smails]

Committed to walking every round of golf. 6.5 miles at our club. Over 14K steps. Elevation changes. Love getting all the steps I need in a day done while I play. Noticed that every regular walker in our course is in great shape. It’s the guys who only ride in carts, drink before, during and after the round who look in bad shape.

Made chicken bowls tonight. Whole Foods has marinated boneless/skinless chicken thighs that are perfect for us. 4 thighs, put in the air fryer. Done in 15 minutes. Can get creative from there. Easy, healthy and inexpensive weekday meals

 

[belljr]

12/30 234
1/6 228.4
1/13 225.6
1/21 223.6
1/27 221.8
1/30 221.6
2/3 220.8
2/10 220.6

Diet been pretty awesome. I may have to start tracking calories closer. I might be way too low.

I walk during the day but definitely need to add more walking. The 6 inches of snow should be fun

Definitely stuck but still optimistic

 

[Judge Smails]

Walked 40 minutes yesterday plus golf lesson, hour cardio, lifted, core work, stretch and steamed.

2 eggs bites in air fryer for breakfast. Lettuce wrapped turkey burger for lunch. Pan seared/oven roasted pork tenderloin with broccolini and kale salad for dinner. A little Greek yogurt with fresh berries for later snack.

Dropped about a pound since SuperBowl. Mini plateau but going at it hard this week. Think a breakthrough is coming this week. Need to start getting closer to 200

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Went to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse last night during a work trip. That was a mistake. Shouldn’t have eaten dessert…..this is why I have to track calories and not make decisions in the moment……based on my emotions…..

Luckily I can make better decisions today and minimize the damage!!

 

[Corporation]

Well my old friend back attack showed up, this time at work. Contrary to popular belief, lying on the floor for about an hour in front of coworkers is not fun, and turns out to be somewhat embarrassing. Was able to have someone drive me home instead of an ambulance. Waiting on a doctor to set an appointment.

Weight was starting to come back after the cheat day on Super Bowl Sunday. Things are going to be skewed this week with the injury and very little movement today. Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[Mister CIA]

Leg day 12, check. Thought I posted this earlier. Not old.

 

[Major]

Went to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse last night during a work trip. That was a mistake. Shouldn’t have eaten dessert…..this is why I have to track calories and not make decisions in the moment……based on my emotions…..

Luckily I can make better decisions today and minimize the damage!!

Yeah man, some of those desserts at steakhouses can set you back an entire days worth of calories. And this is after all the buttery steak, apps, bread and wine. Definitely one of my favorite cheat meals though.

 

[belljr]

Finally broke through I think. Official weigh in tomorrow

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Sticking to the plan. Home for two weeks now, zero travel until March.

Going to be on a beach the last week of March — that is my near term motivation to keep going and stay focused on my goals!

Longer term, I have a calcium scan coming up….will see what it says…….

I’m up 0.7 lbs from my recent low, after a couple weeks of travel, sleep deprivation and bad decisions. But I’ve also continued to do strength training and HIT workouts. Felt really good playing basketball yesterday. Quick. Pain free.

Good luck to everyone in here. Stay focused on your goal(s). Don’t worry if you have one bad day — just don’t compound it!!

 

[Corporation]

Finally broke through I think. Official weigh in tomorrow

Congrats! Keep it up!

 

[Corporation]

Well other than my back going out ,the cheat day worked as planned. Down 29 lbs exactly from the high weight. Been feeling pretty good with the diet and my energy levels. Plugging towards One-derland!

Date	Weight	Chg From Start	Weekly Loss	Calories
Dec 7	234.1	-	-	Way too many
Jan 1	223.1	11.0	-	1260
Jan 8	218.7	15.4	4.4	Week avg 1546
Jan 15	217.1	17.0	1.7	Week avg 1606
Jan 22	214.1	20.0	3.0	Week avg 1551
Jan 29	211.4	22.7	2.7	Week avg 1482
Feb 5	209.9	24.2	1.5	Week avg 1411
Feb 6	208.1	26.0	-	1290
Feb 7	206.5	27.6	-	1350
Feb 8	206.6	27.5	-	1380
Feb 9	207.0	27.1	-	4000?
Feb 10	209.0	25.1	-	1300
Feb 11	208.5	25.6	-	1300
Feb 12	207.4	26.7	2.5	1340
Feb 13	207.7	26.4	-	1290
Feb 14	206.7	27.4	-	1350
Feb 15	205.5	28.6	-	1350
Feb 16	205.1	29.0	-	1400

 

[Mister CIA]

Leg day #13 is in the bag. Official weekly weight is 181.2, which is pretty good.

This might be the week cardio happens. I think it's needed to break through to a new level of fat loss.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Well other than my back going out ,the cheat day worked as planned. Down 29 lbs exactly from the high weight. Been feeling pretty good with the diet and my energy levels. Plugging towards One-derland!

Date	Weight	Chg From Start	Weekly Loss	Calories
Dec 7	234.1	-	-	Way too many
Jan 1	223.1	11.0	-	1260
Jan 8	218.7	15.4	4.4	Week avg 1546
Jan 15	217.1	17.0	1.7	Week avg 1606
Jan 22	214.1	20.0	3.0	Week avg 1551
Jan 29	211.4	22.7	2.7	Week avg 1482
Feb 5	209.9	24.2	1.5	Week avg 1411
Feb 6	208.1	26.0	-	1290
Feb 7	206.5	27.6	-	1350
Feb 8	206.6	27.5	-	1380
Feb 9	207.0	27.1	-	4000?
Feb 10	209.0	25.1	-	1300
Feb 11	208.5	25.6	-	1300
Feb 12	207.4	26.7	2.5	1340
Feb 13	207.7	26.4	-	1290
Feb 14	206.7	27.4	-	1350
Feb 15	205.5	28.6	-	1350
Feb 16	205.1	29.0	-	1400

How’s your back feeling?!

 

[Corporation]

Well other than my back going out ,the cheat day worked as planned. Down 29 lbs exactly from the high weight. Been feeling pretty good with the diet and my energy levels. Plugging towards One-derland!

How’s your back feeling?!

Well, just like when you take a car to the shop when it is making a funny noise and then it doesn't do it, my back felt better than it had in weeks They XRay'd it and said there was some degeneration in the discs, but to be expected for a 51 year old. They then did an MRI of both the upper and lower back. Should get results early next week. But it feels pretty good right now. They put me on an anti-inflammatory called Meloxicam.

 

[Corporation]

Leg day #13 is in the bag. Official weekly weight is 181.2, which is pretty good.

This might be the week cardio happens. I think it's needed to break through to a new level of fat loss.

Even when I hit my target weight (190 - 195) I always have a spare tire. I really need to focus in and try to eliminate that fat. I know I'll have to be less concerned with the calories I eat and more concerned with the food that makes up the calories.

 

[belljr]

12/30 234
1/6 228.4
1/13 225.6
1/21 223.6
1/27 221.8
1/30 221.6
2/3 220.8
2/10 220.6
2/17 218.4

Finally some loss. 15.6 in 8 weeks I guess is just about the 2 pound target so I shouldn't be too concerned but that was a long 3 weeks

 

[The Flying Turtle]

12/30 234
1/6 228.4
1/13 225.6
1/21 223.6
1/27 221.8
1/30 221.6
2/3 220.8
2/10 220.6
2/17 218.4

Finally some loss. 15.6 in 8 weeks I guess is just about the 2 pound target so I shouldn't be too concerned but that was a long 3 weeks

Way to stick with it

 

[Corporation]

12/30 234
1/6 228.4
1/13 225.6
1/21 223.6
1/27 221.8
1/30 221.6
2/3 220.8
2/10 220.6
2/17 218.4

Finally some loss. 15.6 in 8 weeks I guess is just about the 2 pound target so I shouldn't be too concerned but that was a long 3 weeks

Awesome progress!

 

[the moops]

Going to be on a beach the last week of March — that is my near term motivation to keep going and stay focused on my goals!

This is actually a wonderful motivation. You got this!

 

[belljr]

12/30 234
1/6 228.4
1/13 225.6
1/21 223.6
1/27 221.8
1/30 221.6
2/3 220.8
2/10 220.6
2/17 218.4

Finally some loss. 15.6 in 8 weeks I guess is just about the 2 pound target so I shouldn't be too concerned but that was a long 3 weeks

Just because I dropped today
217.6

20# in sight.

 

[Mister CIA]

12/30 234
1/6 228.4
1/13 225.6
1/21 223.6
1/27 221.8
1/30 221.6
2/3 220.8
2/10 220.6
2/17 218.4

Finally some loss. 15.6 in 8 weeks I guess is just about the 2 pound target so I shouldn't be too concerned but that was a long 3 weeks

Just because I dropped today
217.6

20# in sight.

Awesome.

I can usually sense when I might be down an extra pound or two, and boy do I make a beeline for the scale when it happens.