I signed on to be a motivator and have not had any motivatees as of yet.



Would love to help.

Hey Jeff, while your at it mention the fact that we have 88 members and only a handfull will post in the forums.



Yes, I intend to beat this dead horse until I get some results from these members inflicted with lockjaw of the keyboard.

My Monday morning weigh in did not exite me in the least. I was hoping for a reasonable 1.5 to 2 pound loss for the week. I only had one real "cheat" meal all week, and I logged 16.5 miles for the week and two tennis matches. I showed a .6 pound loss for the week. 266.2 down from 266.8 last week and a total of 6.2 pounds since I started. I am pretty bummed about my lack of progress but I have got to keep at it and stay the course.



Anyone else care to report?

There are over 80 members of our group and there are only a handfull of people posting in the discussions. Whats up with that?



In the Hows it going...keep everyone updated thread, there are only 5 different members who have posted. Out of over 80. Whats up with that?



Don't be one of those resoluters who gives up after the first three weeks of January. Come here and get the support you need from the rest of us who are trying to make a change.



No posters...Whats up with that?

I looked at that one last year but opted for Mercedes in Birmingham. I had always shyed away from Mercedes because of the hills, but I came through her all right. Got a really cool finishers medal. A big silver Benz emblem.

6' 3" and 185 pounds and training for a half marathon...I would think you need to eat a clean meal of say 750 to 800 calories and maybe you wont be so hungry.

In following the belly off outline, mine will look different. I'm currently on journey number 2.



Name: Patrick Baugh

Age: 40

Home: Linden, Alabama

Occupation: ATV dealer

Height: 6' 0"

Time Required to Reach Goal: Still working on it.

Weight Before: 294

Weight After: 214

Current Weight: 267



The Gain:

I was always fat from the time I was born. I loved sports and made the most of what God gave me but have never been naturally athletic. I had a couple of good years in high school where I played Football, Baseball, Tennis and Golf. After high school I never payed much attention to my weight. I was a pack a day smoker and a weekend drunk. Played a lot of golf and drank a lot of beer and smoked a lot...well, you get it. My weight eventually got to a point where I had to notice it. Then my father, who had suffered with Alzeihemers passed away. I was 35 and could remember him first showing signs at 55. I remember thinking that I could only have 20 good years left and I HAD to change.



The Change:

My Doctor put me on Xenical and Speed and in no time the weight started falling off. I began running on something similar to the couch to 5k plan. I got down around 220 in about 6 months. 5ks were followed by 10ks, then a half marathon, then a whole marathon, then another half. After about 3 and a half years of this I also got into triathlon and loved it.



The Lifestyle:

Now even though I was anywhere from the low 220s to the low 230s and in excellent shape, that is fat for a triathlete. I wanted desperately to reach my long time goal of under 200 pounds. I wanted to look like a triathlete. In early 07 while training for a half marathon, I joined Nutrisystem and started training like crazy for the spring and summer tri season. I got down to 214 and completed an Olympic Distance Tri. I was in the best shape of my entire life. Then the wheels ran off.



The Change:

My wife and I started a new company and I found myself on the road 5 days a week. I used this as a convenient excuse for abandoning my exercise progam and began eating myself to death, AGAIN! Before I knew it I had ballooned back up to almost 275 pounds. After 5 years of running regularly and two years of swimming, biking and running, I was once again on the path to early death.



The Change:

I made up my mind that I would get back to my former self and this time achieve my goal. I re-ordered the Nutrisystem and bought some Alli from Wal-Mart. To further increase my chances of success, I started listening to the Fat 2 Fit podcast. Almost immediately I knew the Nutrisystem and the Alli, which had worked before, were not going to work this time. In the meantime Jeff and Russ are in my ear every morning at the gym telling me to eat like the size person I want to become and it will happen. That is so true and so much easier than counting calories, taking pills or eating pre-packaged food. My eating is not perfect, but it is not burgers, pizzas and ice cream. It is now something I can stick with and not feel deprived. I've lost about 6 pounds in 3 weeks and I can live with a sensible 2 pound a week average. Soon it will probably drop to a pound a week and that is okay also. My running is coming back slowly but I am consistent and that is what will eventually get me where I want to be.



The Reward:

Looking forward to achieving and maintaining my goal weight of under 200 and being able to compete in a triathlon where I do not qualify for the Clydesdale division.



Patrick's Tips:

Breakfast- A must

Disassociate food with pleasure or celebration. When I have had the most success was when I ate for fuel and didn't view food as anything at all to do with "comfort".

Hey John, you are not all that far from me. What half are you doing in March?

Well, this past week I logged 14.6 miles between the treadmill and the outdoors. That was an increase of about a half a mile from last week. My long run of 4 miles went a little better yesterday, but it was still tough. Had to take one walk break and actually stopped at mile 2 to let my friend go number 1. 4 miles was about my shortest run only a few months ago and now I still can't believe it is my long run. Its coming back though. The extra 60 I'm toting feels like a huge sack of corn strapped to my back as I try to run. My weigh in this morning showed 266.8 which means I lost another 2.2 pounds for the week and a total of 5.6 pounds for the last 3 weeks. All I am really doing besides reviving my running is making sure of a good breakfast, and eating smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day. I generally allow myself one night a week to go overboard and last Thursday I had a big steak dinner with all the trimmings. Rather than feeling guilty, I allowed myself this and resumed my routine on Friday.



Anyone else have a progress report? I wish our group would post more on the discussion forums, but I am a bit of a forum addict.

Sometimes when I just don't feel like working out, I will tell myself that I am just going to do it for 10 minutes. After your body gets moving, it doesn't want to stop. Its the getting it moving that is sometimes a challenge. I can't tell you how many 1 hour runs started as "Im just gonna do this for ten minutes."



Hope that helps.

I have taken a product from GNC called triflex for years. It is glucosamine, chondrotin, and MSM. I believe it helps me stay pain free in my knees.

I run and play tennis. In the warmer months I will throw in a couple of bike rides a week. The last two years I spent the warmer months training for triathlon. two days swimming, two biking, and two running. Some days both. I think swimming is the best exercise on earth. I just have no where to swim until summer.

Congratulations on your weight loss and running success. When I started I could barely walk a mile. Soon I was jogging and walking. I ran my first 5k and was hooked on the whole wonderful running world. I did several more 5ks then 10ks then a half and then a whole marathon. After that it was a natural progression towards triathlon. I started riding a bike to break up the monotony of all the running, and I have always loved the water, so it just clicked. What Susan said is good advice. Bike fit is more important than people realize. It can make the difference of an enjoyable ride or an injury. I would add that when I got started, I lived on triathlete.com in the forum. Tons of useful information there from a community that is very friendly and supportive. You should check it out.

I started on Jan 7th. The first week, I ate really clean and only showed a .4 pound loss. Then on this weeks weigh in I had dropped 3 pounds. From 272.4 to a smooth 269. My running is slowly coming back, I did a 3 miler this morning outdoors (I hate the treadmill). I hope to soon work back up to 5 miles but I am not rushing it. I learned my first go round that you can easily hurt yourself by going too far, too soon.

Hello, I'm Patrick and a couple of shows ago the guys read my email. It was sureal hearing my own words in my earbuds as I chugged out 3 miles on the treadmill. It really made me push that morning and was a really good workout. What used to be a warm up for me has now become my LSD run. But I will get back, and the show so far has been a tremendous help. I had downloaded all the shows and listen as I work out. I am now all caught up and don't know what I will listen to until next week.



This is my second go round with a huge amount of weight to lose. 5 years ago I weighed almost 300 pounds. I went on a Dr supervised diet and lost 75 pounds. I didn't reach my goal of under 200 but I did become a runner and then triathlete. Last year was my second season of triathlon and I wanted to get really fit. I joined Nutrisystem and lost down to 214 training for an Olympic distance tri. I completed my race and then the wheels ran off. It was like I woke up one morning after Christmas and I was almost 275. YIKES!!! I believe with the help of F2F radio and this support group, I can become my old self again, only smarter!



When I started my first weight loss journey, I read everything I could get my hands on about weight loss. I became a self-proclaimed expert on the topic. Jeff's philosophy of eating like the size person you want to be keeps ringing in my ears. It is one of the simplest ideas ever, but one I had never heard of before. It keeps repeating itself in my head throughout the day. This kind of no nonsense approach to weight loss is honest and refreshing and I have no doubt it works. Keep up the good work guys, I will be listening!