MEN Only -- A.I.M Challenge: Labor Day Challenge OPEN
This is a Motivation/Challenge designed for Men. This is a continuation of the April Fool's Challenge and the July 4th Challenge for men started by pinksalmon.
Pick your personal goal: Weight Loss, Increased Fitness, or Fat Burn. Post it and commit to it. This forum is here to challenge you to meet your goal. The Purpose of the AIM Challenge is to provide:
1. Accountability: Weekly check in to update your progress. Weigh in each Wednesday Morning.
2. Information: We will share our experiences, what is working to get into shape, nutritional suggestions, fitness advice, and best practices for results.
3. Motivation: Encouragement to make and continue life changes that lead to burning fat, increased fitness, and overall health.
Challenges follow a quarterly time frame and are open to any men willing to commit. Do you want it? We are getting it DONE!
AFC Result: 277.5 lbs and 971,250 calories burned off
J4C Result: 172.6 lbs and 604,100 calories burned off
2008 combined total: 450.1 lbs and 1,575,350 calories burned off
Check out our previous challenges here:
http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/716 05.html
Want your current BMR? check out Phord's BMR page
Check out our results: AIM Challenge Results
Current weight is 248. At last the downward trend continues.
Hello!
Just found this thread and was wondering if it was too late to join or if I should wait for the next challenge.
Thanks =)
Kv
kv: Jump in man the water is deep! We will begin a new challenge immediately following Labor Day, but it is always the right time to start.
welcome kv!
Thanks guys!
Current weight: 283.5
Goal weight: Aprox 185
I've been watching calories for about a month now and have fluctuated between losing 7 lbs and 10 lbs in the four weeks since starting.
I work out at least four times a week with Russian Kettlebells and I am fortunate enough to have a gym local to me with a bunch of kettlebell instructors who hold daily classes.
One of the instructors is a nutritionist certified to teach 'The Warrior Diet', which I am currently reading and following. The principle of the diet is to stick to fresh fruits and veggies during the day, then have a big meal at night. There's a lot of scientific reasoning behind the eating pattern and most people who follow it really speak highly of it. Of course, there are lots of varying opinions on dieting habits but so far I like it. The diet also focuses on eating organic foods to detox the body of all the chemicals in processed foods and such.
Looking forward to tracking my progress here as well as catching up on how everyone else is doing.
Kv =)
wrm: good luck with your Sunday race. I only wish I could reach for a 1:35 goal. I did a 1/2 in May and broke my training PB by 8 min for a 1:42:29.2 finish. I have also been running 5 days a week in preperations for the full marathon in Oct. I have been trying to cover about 35-40 miles per week. 300 that's amazing. I can see why you find it hard to find time to cross train. I haven't been able to get into cross training. Really don't like it. To try and compensate, I make sure that I do plenty of stretching and on my long run days and days off I make sure I walk at least 5 miles. Walking really helps to keep everything from tightening up.
kv: welcome
Kv: That warrior diet is interesting. At its core it seems to advocate most of the same thing that all healthy diets advocate: lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, lean proteins, reduce and eliminate processed foods, increase fluids (especially water) and manage carbohydrates.
That being said, I think that I would have a difficult time with this program. My main problem, what led me to 260lbs at one point, was that I could not tell when I was full at that last meal. I think that the overeating part would do me in.
Nevertheless whatever your food strategy is, 1 meal, 3 meals, 5 meals, we have to remember the only way to lose weight is to establish a consistent calorie deficit. We must expend more than we eat. To this point ALL weight loss begins in the kitchen. All healthy weight loss involves a change in lifestyle and our relationship with food. Finally, the thing that I have to remember is that I can never out train my diet. It is always easier to overdo the calories than to get to the deficit situation.
Good luck with your marathon training--I'm impressed that you have already done a long run close to that length.
I am having some connectivity issues at home so I couldn't check in yesterday but here goes.
LW: 274.5
TW: 273.5
Not bad considering I have been sick the past few days and my workouts have suffered because of it, but I'll take it.
Wiliwigi: I am .. or was.. the same way. Mostly my problem is I'd eat whatever is in front of me.. at restaurants I would clean the plate and you know they server huge portions. I've been following the Warrior Diet for about a week and have noticed that the main meal at night really isn't that different from what I would normally do for dinner when counting calories.
The Warrior Diet is pretty specific on what to eat and in what order to eat them when it comes to the main meal. Each night I prepare a good sized salad with fresh green veggies cut up and added. Insead of using gobs of Ranch dressing, I bought an organic sun dried tomato and garlic vinigrette with extra virgin olive oil etc and use that as my dressing which is said to be healthy.
The salad gets the enzymes going and takes a good edge off hunger. The next portion is protein, with an emphasis on fish, eggs, beans, white meat, etc. They stress to use organic sources of protein when possible. You can mix this in with cooked veggies or make stews, etc. Lastly, if you are still hungry, you consome some healthy fats OR some healthy carbs, such as brown rice, organic pastas, etc. Although the diet doesn't say you need to count every calorie, I find that I still achieve a cloric deficit pretty easily while feeling satisfied but not stuffed.
It's certainly not for everyone but for some poeple it works very well. I figured I'd give it 30 days or so and see how I am doing. Along with the frequent kettlebell workouts so far things are going good. Lets hope it stays that way! :)
Welcome aboard kv! One trick I learned when eating out >30 years ago (1 st time I was on weight watchers) was to ask for a to go box to be delivered with your meal. Then split it in half and put the cover on it! Cuts half the calories, you still feel full and you have a second meal out of it! My wife and I also frequently split meals these days as well. Problem is I like spicy and she doesn't. I'll add hot sauce and red pepper to mine after split, but its hard to order spicy sezchuen (sp?) to split with her!
Finished W3 of c25k this morning! Felt so good I did another half of it on the way back to my son's house. Went a total of 3.22 mi in 45 minutes! A 14 min/mi pace that's down from over 16 min/mi from W1! And it didn't feel like a struggle! Will wog W4 officially tomorrow morning even if I can't get my son to go with me to the Suwanee Greenway.
Keep it up guys! We are making permanent lifestyle changes! Don't wait until yer an old fart like me to make the change!
Bobev: Thanks for the welcome and advice! We are trying to minimize how often we go out to eat, and I've definitely started to pay attention to the calorie totals at restaurants. It's pretty amazing how high the calorie totals can get with seemingly innocuous food. I've heard the advice of getting the to go box immediately but before I was paying much attention to diet I would just eat whatever and then realize I didn't have much to take home. Now I stick to salads or try to get something off the 'healthy choices' section where it at least lists the calories for the meal. I also look it up online if I know I am heading somewhere beforehand.
Scale seems to jump around a lot over the last couple weeks. I think it has a lot to do with the kettlebell training.. the instructors seem to find exercises to make new muscles sore each time. Today the scale says 280.5, which is about 3 lbs lower than what it said yesterday. I weigh daily just for fun and I know theres a lot more going on than just a number on a scale to gage my progress. It was nice to kick off a Friday with a new low, even though it'll probably correct itself somewhere in the middle over the weekend.
TGIF :)
So where I work, it's very common to have various food events. For instance, catered BBQ, pizza, homemade food people bring in, etc. Today is pizza day.. so theres like a dozen or more pizzas about 20 feet from my cube. :S
I ate some carrots instead. =) Still, to sit and smell the pizza as everyone walks by with their plates piled is pretty painful. I wont regret it an hour or so from now when everyone else is in a carb coma, but still. Bleh!
KV,
Be strong man! I know the feeling....I sucommed to the calling of the Donut tray this morning at a client. 321 Calories was not worth the 45 secs it took me to wolfe it down.
Looks like about 3 miles of unscheduled running to make up the difference (already walked 45 min at lunch to burn half of it!).
WW/WRM,
After spending time trying to convince you of the merits of cross train/weights...I re-evaluated my training and came to conclusion 3 days a week running was not enough and switching to 4 days running (starting tonight ... maybe that is why I subliminally wanted that Donut!) and cutting a day of Cross/Strength. Was just not going to get enough miles in before Oct 19th.
M - Cross/Strength
T - Short Run / Interval training (3 - 4 miles)
W - Intermediate Run w/ some Tempo mid run (build from 6 - 10 miles)
TH - Rest
Fr - Short / Easy run (3 - 4 miles)
Sat - Cross (No Weights)
Sun - Long Run (Build from 9 - 20 miles)
rk: I wish I could have kept the donut desire to a subliminial urge today. It was not to be and 45 seconds later....well you can figure out the rest. Undaunted however we push ahead! Everything is on the diet, as long as it fits in the daily limit and all the nutritional goals are met. The CC eat meter has me at a B+ for the week so far.
kv: Keep the focus. Despite the occasional donut call out. You should find it easier to say "NO" to the constant pressures of the office. Your off diet rewards should be decisions not diversions.
wrm: Enjoy every yard of you half on Sunday. Leave it all on the course man!
All: I will update the spreadsheet tonight. This week like all the rest has been a little packed.
I think that I have become a little crazy. I have a 10 miler scheduled for tomorrow morning followed by a bathroom demolition in the afternoon. Does that count as cross training? And what about the buildout that follows?
Be safe in the heat and keep an eye out for those Severe Summer Storms that bring Lightening.
Just for fun I counted the boxes -- 22 large pizzas from Oggi's Pizza for about 40 people or so. Pretty crazy! I was never really tempted to eat a piece since at this point I believe you either follow the way of eating or you don't. Still, the smell and mental aspect of it was interesting.
Down another half poiund this morning, which is good as I wondered if I would go back up a little after the drop on Friday. I am at exactly 280.0. Here's to hoping I see the 270s by next week. :)
Im off to a 1 hour Russian Kettlebell class, then there is a pool party we are hosting with BBQ. Should be another fun day of resisting foods I would normally have endulged in!
Have a great weekend!
Original Post by wiliwigi:
I think that I have become a little crazy. I have a 10 miler scheduled for tomorrow morning followed by a bathroom demolition in the afternoon. Does that count as cross training? And what about the buildout that follows?
no, you haven't become a little crazy, you are a LOT crazy!!!
Good luck with both the 10 miler and the demo. It sounds like you have quite a weekend ahead of you!
Believe me, I thoroughly understand the merits of cross training and strength training (you're preaching to the choir). If I weren't running 5 or 6 days a week, I'd definitely be lifting 3 times a week. However, I'm not a gifted enough runner to earn a BQ on less than 50 mpw, so I have no choice but to put in the miles to make the necessary improvements.
What makes it tougher for me is that I can't stand running on a treadmill. Seriously, I'd rather run in snow and cold than get on a treadmill. But maybe I should consider doing my speedwork on a treadmill, rather than hope that I'm hitting my goal paces during these workouts. That would at least allow me another day where I would be in a gym, which enable me to do some lifting. Combined with the one other day/week that I don't run (provided I stay w/ a 6 day per week running schedule), I can get at least two days of strength training weekly. It's not what I would hope for, but two days/week are better than zero!
Meanwhile, I think that for marathon training, you need to be running 4 days/week; one day needs to be dedicated to the long run, two days should be easy runs, and one should incorporate some sort of tempo/fartlek runs. You've made the right choice by increasing the days that you run per week.
Guys, if your gym has one, try the C2 Rower with a setting of 3 or 4 (the settings represent a skulls drag, with 10 being a slow boat, it does not represent a strength setting). Google C2 Rower to get their cross training information and look at the runners section. A lot of good information. Checkout both the US and UK web sites. The UK site has more in-depth training material. I find it a great full body workout as well as increasing running endurance with fewer chances of injury. I've been doing the C25K training program on it on my non-running days and it has helped a lot. Of course with all the weight loss I will need a seat pad one of these days... butt hurts after 30 minutes on it!
I completed my official W4D1 C25K session this morning on the Suwanee Greenway trail. Its very level so my pace was up quite a bit compared to running the roads near my son's house. Felt good, not as hard as last weeks out of turn effort.
I am surprising myself that I'm actually doing it and enjoying running. Wudda never thunk it a few months ago. What with knee and back issues and other medical issues I thought I'd never be able to walk, let alone run! What a difference a few months and 20+ lbs makes! We can do it, we can make this a permanent lifestyle change! I really want to encourage you guys to make this permanent. It is really difficult to get back in shape when yer older (and an old fart like me), we just don't burn as many calories, and the years of abuse start to get back at us. I've been blessed at being able to recover as I have. So stick to it and as Abner says, we can do this!
wrm: I hear you about running on a treadmill. Last fall my wife and I decided that we would get a treadmill so we could run indoors when the weather was nasty outside. Having never used a treadmill it sounded like a good idea. Well all I can say is the weather has only been bad enough twice last year for me to use the darn thing. I know there are some who would prefer running on a treadmill than running outside and that great but I am not one of them. I did perfected the art of puddle jumping last spring. hehe.
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