<p>Great job on the food tracking Busy and really taking note of your logging AND your food choices! I also want to know how you are eating the pumpkin and tuna!</p>
<p>Went back to the gym tonight after an entire week of rest following my slip on the ice. Took a 45 minute spinning class, which felt fine. My groin muscle is much, much better but there are some movements were it still feels achy. Glad I didn’t push it and took the week off. I’m working with my trainer tomorrow. </p>
<p>Haven’t heard anyone mention Graeter’s ice cream since I lived in Cincinnati. It was the only good thing about living there. </p>
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<p>Hah. Reminds me of some miracle snake oil fat loss pill that is being advertised on NFL Sirius radio. Gives the spiel and then cautions that if you are losing weight too fast, just take it every other day. :)</p>
<p>I know there are exceptions, but I really don’t think losing weight too fast is a problem for very many people. And, look on the bright side… if someone loses weight too fast, they are almost certain to put it back on soon enough… </p>
<p>My biggest problem with tabloid fat loss media (like The Biggest Loser) is that people get completely unrealistic views of attainable fat loss. Over the long haul, I would say about 2 pounds a week is reasonable target for a guy with a lot of weight to lose. For women, I think it’s going to be rare to see more than a sustained 1 pound per week. Just not a big enough spread between weight stable and basal metabolic rate.</p>
<p>And just to emphasize it for lurkers… the real key to successful fat loss is preserving lean muscle mass. Resistance strength training during fat loss is a huge benefit in looking better and keeping the weight off. </p>
<p>Lol, but no, I’m saying take it everyday (the exercise), but take it into account when figuring out what a sensible daily caloric deficit for weight loss should be. The exercise - and as you note resistance training in particular- is important to maintain or even increase lean muscle mass as you lose which in of itself has health and metabolic benefits (but don’t neglect cardio exercise for both health and and calorie burning). The American Council of Sports Medicine recommends a daily caloric deficit of 500-1000 calories in a non-medically supervised weight loss program with a minimum of 150 minutes and preferably 225 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week in order to achieve a safe and sustainable weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week. Regular exercise is also recommended as part of a weight maintenance plan once weight goals are achieved. The ultimate goal is a lifestyle change that is sustainable over time and if you are losing too fast due to inadequate food intake, there is a real risk of yo-yoing because it is not sustainable. When you note that “if someone loses weight too fast, they are almost certain to put it back on soon enough”, that’s a problem, not a solution. Yo-yoing is not healthy, undermines confidence and erodes adherence to positive nutritional and exercise lifestyle changes. So, yeah, I would recommend taking into account exercise based caloric expenditures in devising a nutritional plan so that you are able to achieve and maintain weight loss over time</p>
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I know last year’s Biggest Loser winner pretty well - well, I don’t see her anymore (maybe once a year at a local function), but when she was in high school, she and D2 were very good friends and shared a lot of extracurricular activities together. So I follow her on Facebook. I’m really trying to be very optimistic about her weight loss, but I do sense she has put some weight back on since winning last year, from looking at her pictures. However, I do know she credits what they did on that show to her transformation. I think it gave her confidence to do things she would have never done. I believe she was asked about this year’s winner, given the controversy over this year’s winner looking anorexic, and she was very diplomatic in her response. However, even if she has put back on a bit of weight, she HAS run her first marathon (last fall - the Chicago Marathon), and has opened her own yoga studio, so the healthy lifestyle looks to have ‘taken’ with her, and she seems to have learned that it’s not about weight loss, but a healthy lifestyle. I can’t speak to other BL contestants, but I do know what I’ve observed with this one. </p>
<p>3 miles of speed work today, 2 x 800 and 8 x 400. Yesterday I did weights.</p>
<p>Nice speed work. Treadmill or track?</p>
<p>I have never watched a full BL which is odd given I am a fan of before and after stories in which someone changes his life. I wonder if BL has on balance had a good effect on people’s lives, including viewers. </p>
<p>Trainer and swim. The water felt like sludge and I had an uneven performance. Glad I went for the friendships.</p>
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<p>That’s sounds reasonable.1000 calorie a day deficit may be unrealistic, especially for many women or anyone with just a little weight to lose. There’s just not a 1000 calorie spread between basal metabolic rate and weight-stable maintenance. I certainly couldn’t sustain 1000 calories below my weigh stable intake at this point. So, if the gap isn’t there, 1000 calories below weight stable puts you in serious starvation diet mode and the body won’t respond well. Muscle vanishes, metabolism slows and that leads to rapid weight regain down the road. I actually think the whole starvation diet approach is probably a major contributor to the yo-yo cycle. </p>
<p>Just as a rule of thumb, I wouldn’t suggest that women shoot for under 1200 calories a day or men shoot for under 1600 calories a day. I think below those levels is asking for trouble. And those levels could be too low for a lot of people. You don’t want to diet away muscle. It’s unavoidable when losing a lot of weight, but keeping as much muscle as possible should be a top priority of a successful weight loss plan.</p>
<p>Teri, thanks for sharing the story. Yes, it looks like the experience left a lasting impression, and even though she gained a few ponds back, as we all do once in a while, there’s a good chance that she is not going back to where she was pre-competition. Im a firm believer that the body always follows the mind. Right now my body wants to curl up in a plush chair, but my mind is set on running a few miles. Darn right the body will follow the instructions from the higher up. :)</p>
<p>ACSM also cites 1200 calories a day as barebones minimum. All of these numbers are generalized parameters. Each individual needs to tailor the numbers to their individual circumstances. What is right for one person is not right for another given their age, gender, height, activity level, current weight, target weight, basal metabolism etc.</p>
<p>I am in the last day of 3 Days of Hell (aka our annual sales meeting). It’s actually a wonderful event, but it is 3 days (starting Sun at 5pm) of non-stop meetings, multiple trips back and forth downtown, food, drink etc. I didn’t get to run yesterday until late afternoon and today will be the same. I am VERY sore from Saturday’s race. I think the steep downhills really did me in. My daughter is sore, too. We run on hills, but these hills were a whole new level.</p>
<p>I’m in a pretty big dispute on the Marathon Maniacs group page right now and I’m afraid my philosophy of running doesn’t match up with that group. This one Dad has his 12 and 13 year old sons running multiple marathons. They did a double this past weekend (50K (31 miles) followed on Sun by 26.2). He has set up a fan page for the boys on facebook. This is just WRONG! All the Maniacs are posting about how great it is and how much the boys love it! Well, yeah. They might love driving the family car, too! My son had excellent coaching and I have discussed the subject of mileage for young runners with experts such as Frank Shorter and Kenneth Cooper. These people are just SO wrong, and no one seems to agree with me. As my daughter said, “The people posting on the Maniacs page are either crazy or don’t know much at all about running- or both.” They are chasing numbers (of races, of imaginary spinning stars etc) and have no clue what something like this can do to the bones of a young kid. </p>
<p>Sorry for the rant, but I’m so disappointed that Maniacs doesn’t have a minimum age (many distance races do- this Dad has to cherry pick the races or talk race directors into making exceptions) and is encouraging this.</p>
<p>Along that line- and this applies to all of us who might choose to run a shorter distance than is currently in vogue. My daughter (priest) set a Lenten discipline to stop using the word “just” as in “I’m JUST running the half marathon” or “I’m JUST going for a walk today.” She got annoyed on Saturday (as did I) when all the Maniacs (this is a real organization, not just my term) chastised us for not running the full marathon. We didn’t WANT to run the full marathon. We had not trained for it, we didn’t have 5 plus hours to spend running this past weekend and we just flat wanted to run the half! Yet, we found ourselves saying “I’m JUST running the half.”</p>
<p>All of the experienced, well credentialed personal trainers and fitness professionals I know are aghast at what BL does with highly overweight deconditioned individuals and view it as unsafe and exploitative for the sake of ratings. I would be very interested to see longitudinal reports on where the participants are a year, 2 or 5 after their participation in the program.</p>
Like, like, like your post MOWC. From your philosophy to your Lenten “JUST” - wise words, wise thoughts. 
You are right there is no “Just” only - “Just” do something (hey, maybe that’s where the Nike slogan came from, “Just do it”, SOMETHING!!!
<p>Lizardly, I did them outside, around a lake that has a relatively flat path. I was supposed to do all 800’s, but after the first two, I changed the plan :)</p>
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Here’s an update on some of the winners:</p>
<p>[Biggest</a> Loser Then and Now: Have Former Winners Kept the Weight Off?](<a href=“http://healthyeater.com/biggest-loser-then-now]Biggest”>Biggest Loser Winners Then and Now: Did They Gain Weight Back?)</p>
<p>It looks like the winners have for the most part kept it off, and many have made a new career out of it.</p>
<p>I wonder about the 2nd-nth place finishers - people who lost a lot of weight but don’t get the recognition or financial incentive to keep the weight off. How have those people done?</p>
<p>You go, MOfWC! Pushing such young kids to such extremes so zealously should be criminalized. Even the Soviets and the Eastern Germans did not engage in such practices with their young athletes back in the day! </p>
<p>BB- The problem is that these young boys love it (at this point) so everyone thinks it is OK! It isn’t! I know my son’s coach wouldn’t let him run a half-marathon until he was a senior in high school. They kept his mileage down as best they could. I never even considered having him run a marathon- in fact, Kona was his first full marathon! I feel like one of those grouchy geezers that always talks about “back in my day”…</p>
<p>I see theses posts in various media sources about how “I lost 60 lbs” and the difference is night and day. I’m down 98 and the difference is NOT night and day. Sure, people can tell I’ve lost a lot of weight, but I am by no means slim, trim and have 6-pack abs. Nor will I be when I hit my cardiologist recommended target in another 16 lbs (which is smack in the middle BMI range for my height). I will <em>never</em> be a single-digit size – I will be thrilled with a 14. </p>
<p>These before and after pics don’t reflect reality for a lot of us, and it can be discouraging to some to realize they’ve lost lots of weight but still have the tummy, double chin, etc. I keep telling myself this is all about my health, but geez, there sure are a lot of distorted body perceptions out there.</p>
<p>MOWC, I had a similar discussion about MMA youth competitions with my son who competes regionally and nationally in MMA and Brazilian Jujitsu He, his team mates, instructors and coaches are unanimous in decrying the lunacy of parents putting young kids under those physical and emotional stresses but yet there are a load of parents who are either living vicariously through their kids or who are just plain nuts. </p>
<p>I have to laugh at those on your marathon board who look down their noses at anyone running less than a full marathon. It is such a misinformed and ignorant viewpoint. For all the reasons you annunciated, you picked the distance that was right for you. I used to do a lot of 100 mile rides from May through September. Now I’ll do maybe 1 per season. My reasons are simple. I don’t want to spend 5-6 hours in the saddle on any given day. By the time you’re done with food, water and bathroom stops, it’s a 6-7 hour day. I love to ride, but it’s not my career lol. </p>
<p>MOWC, they are Maniacs…</p>
<p>I feel for the kids, too. Physically they aren’t ready, but even more mentally I bet it takes a toll. They should be playing with friends, unstructured play, as well as sports with their age mates. They shouldn’t be spending all their time with a bunch of old folks in long road races. And what if they want to do something that isn’t sports? Play an instrument? Ugh.</p>
<p>Just one woman’s opinion, but I think the marathon is for the 30+ runner. It is for someone with patience and the ability to delay gratification, as well as someone whose fast twitch speed is slipping away and needs new horizons. And thirty is about when we start to appreciate having a little time alone, away from job and little kids. I love endurance sports, participation is like a religious experience for me, but they aren’t for everyone, and certainly not kids. </p>
<p>I would still like to be out running marathons and ultras and doing long tris. My only comfort is that I am so slow now it takes me the same time to do a half!</p>