# I did it! I buckled down and lost 78lbs. (Before & After)



## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

Thanks to the encouragement of many people on here, friends, and my own will, I lost 75lbs. and hit a new milestone today. I did my longest MTB effort to date, and only stopped because we were running out of daylight. I felt great afterwards! A buddy of mine and myself pulled 40 miles of great single track in one effort totalling just over 6,000ft. of climbing in the mix.

About 1 1/2 years ago, I got sick of my weight and wanted to get back to my weight when I was in college and in decent shape. I had a bad accident (snowboarding) and ended up off my feet for awhile. In that time I gained 78lbs. in roughly a year. That was 1998.

Fast forward to a year ago from this past Januarary to the start of my effort to get rid of it all. I decided I needed to get back into some of my favorite outdoor activites, and biking came up first for it's low impact aspect. Well, I was really into MTB's for my entire youth and teens years, and I still had an old Trek fthat I rode just before my accident. I tuned it up, and hopped back on. The memories and feelings came flooding back and I new I was hooked again. This time however it was much more difficult due to my health.

Today, a year and a half after my start to better my health, that 78lbs. is gone. I went from 250lbs. to 172lbs. and I feel better than ever. Below are the pic's, the first from Spring 2005 (on the right), the second about 1/2 through todays 40 miler (on the left).


















Thank you to everyone who inspired me with their stories and advice on this forum!

I'll be doing these longer distance rides (hopefully adding more distance each time) regularly to train for my first 100 miler (SM100).


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## MillerSHO (Sep 28, 2006)

God damn that is sweet.:thumbsup:


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## poppy (Jan 24, 2006)

This is great, well done :thumbsup:


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## Speedub.Nate (Dec 31, 2003)

Damn, dude!

I'll bet you had to buy a new pair of pants and everything!


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## MdniteDrftr (Jun 4, 2007)

Hey congrats!


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## IWalker (Jun 6, 2007)

Awesome! I need to post those pictures up somewhere to keep me motivated!


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

Speedub.Nate said:


> Damn, dude!
> 
> I'll bet you had to buy a new pair of pants and everything!


Ha! You aren't kidding. You wouldn't believe how expensive al new clothes can get. I went from a size 40 to a size 32 waist and from a XL shirt to a medium.


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## skunkty14 (Jan 7, 2005)

Congrats. Threads like this never get old to me, very inspiring. Good luck on your 100miler.

If you haven't already, I think lossing that much weight probably means you deserve a new bike. Or another bike. Or two more bikes. I'm just saying....


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## jgsatl (Sep 16, 2006)

holy crap. fantastic job!!


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## Swerny (Apr 1, 2004)

well done dude, congrats! 

I need to get back to 180 from my current 205.


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## SlipperyPete (Apr 20, 2006)

Nice work! :thumbsup: 

What exactly did you do to lose the weight? (besides biking)


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## madcap (May 26, 2007)

nice! I'm at 250 needing to go back to 200 or less. 

good work!


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

SlipperyPete said:


> Nice work! :thumbsup:
> 
> What exactly did you do to lose the weight? (besides biking)


Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Biking alone got me down to 230lbs. and then I hit a plateu. After several months, I decided the diet needed a drastic change. I love to cook, and I really enjoy heavy sauces. I also dranks tons of juice and milk (%2). Heck, I had to re-evaluate EVERYTHING.

My main diet comments:

Cut out as much sugar as possible, especially when not active. Try to use only polysachrides such as maltodextrin for sugar/complex carb sources during workout.

No more juice, no more %2 milk. Limited to 1 cup of %1 milk a day for calcium, etc.

3 servings of veggies a day, steamed or raw or healthy seasoning

portion, portion, portions! Gotta get the portion sizes down!

Took caloric intake down to about 1,500 calories a day.

Longer rides, at a minimal of 2 hours. Passing that 2 hour mark is where you really start to burn off fat if your nutrition is in line.

Excersive almost daily. Have to recover too, but try to get some cardio in every day, preferably in the morning, even if it is just a few mile run when I get up.

PLAN MEALS AHEAD! This is key. Gotta have appropriate food readily available when you are hungry. This is especially true when working a desk job like myself. Lots of lean cuisine and smart ones.

Snack on healthier foods and drink lots of water. Often thirst is mistaken for hunger. Eat foods high in fiber to help you feel full longer. Snack on fruits and veggies, like some carrots and hummus.

Ultimately, you just have to be ready to stick to it. You have to have the will and motivation. One day I woke up and it just hit me. That day my life was going to change and there was no way around it.

I can't begin to describe the profound impact it has had on my life. I feel incredible! The bike now feels like it glides under me, rather than me dragging it and myself along. It is just insane to feel the difference so quickly. You will never regret it if you can just get yourself started. Once you get into a comfortable routine, you get addicted to it and crave the good food and excersize. I feel absolutely horrible now after eating some of my old favorites (especially deep fried dishes).


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

skunkty14 said:


> If you haven't already, I think lossing that much weight probably means you deserve a new bike. Or another bike. Or two more bikes. I'm just saying....


I opted for a new I9 ultralite wheelset. I'm actually trying to sell off a few bikes and other parts to fund a new road bike and hopefully a Dos Niner at some point.


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## Guyechka (Jul 19, 2005)

That's absolutely fantastic! I need to go the whole way with my diet. I've done it before (a long time ago), and you're story is getting me excited to do it again. I need to be able to say, "What are we gonna ride tomorrow?" after short 40 miler!


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## skyphix (May 29, 2007)

Nice Job :thumbsup:

My goal is a 40 mile dirt ride by September, but I sure as hell wont be at my goal weight by then. Congratulations!


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## Nocturnus (Mar 28, 2005)

"You have to have the will and motivation." I start out with that and then it just goes away. Desk job here and work stocks the fridge with free soda. Working 2pm-12am doesn't help with tring to eat well either. I need to try better meal planning, and maybe cooking most of my meals one day and using my food saver. Eat dinner at work at a normal hour and not after 12am..


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## norm (Feb 20, 2005)

Thats great, so inspiring. I lost 30lbs once(trying to get there again:madman: ). You do feel totally different. Great story....:thumbsup:


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## dusthuffer (Nov 30, 2006)

been there and them some. way to go. tough but worth it.


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## 29Colossus (Jun 4, 2006)

Inspiring! It is really great that you did it! It's all in the discipline, and it is great to witness your immense discipline.

Congrats!

More inspiration for others!

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/
http://www.johnstonefitness.com/

Train! Train! Train!

:thumbsup:


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## rafdog (Jun 16, 2006)

What? No dexatrim or trimspa?? Great story, esp for those of us who battle weight issues (far too many I am sure). Pretty damn good advice on eating too. 

Almost made me toss my Bridgeport IPA...almost.


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## Kyoseki (Oct 26, 2004)

Damned fine job that man :thumbsup: 

I used to weigh somewhere in the 400s and I'm down to the high 200s now, but I keep stalling out and putting weight back on, hopefully I can do the same thing you did this time, again


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## RobHoss (Oct 11, 2006)

Quite inspiring that.

My problem is the diet, knowing what to cook, being able to afford all the healthy fresh food takes its tole.

The biggest issue for me though is the vending machines at work that call out my name 

Need to keep trying, i need ot change my life i dont want ot die young


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

Nocturnus said:


> "You have to have the will and motivation." I start out with that and then it just goes away. Desk job here and work stocks the fridge with free soda. Working 2pm-12am doesn't help with tring to eat well either. I need to try better meal planning, and maybe cooking most of my meals one day and using my food saver. Eat dinner at work at a normal hour and not after 12am..





RobHoss said:


> Quite inspiring that.
> 
> My problem is the diet, knowing what to cook, being able to afford all the healthy fresh food takes its tole.
> 
> ...


Both of you have brought up a HUGE factor that is tough to overcome for many people. I am in the exact same boat, however I found a solution for myself. I was a soda whore, snack machine bandit, and late night muncher here at work. Not to mention fast food and crap ordered out from around work here. You just have to break the bad habits. I am handed Mtn. Dew for free fairly often at work, and they are tough to resist. When I quite eating and drinking all of the sodas and junk food, I went cold turkey. What really helped me do this was to leanr what it was I was ingesting and just how bad it really was. Before I could have cared less. This kept a healthy fear in the back of my mind about what these things will do to my body and how they will hinder my goal of losing weight. After awhile, something just clicks and you suddenly have lose the hard cravings and start to get turned off by simply reading the labels. Then after some time has passed, say a couple months or so, try that junk food or soda and I will be willing to bet it has little provided satisfaction and much less luster once you realize how it makes you feel and how little it satisfied you. It makes you feel like you were really just conditioned to like it in the first place.

As for meal planning, I just didn't have the time with all my work hours and traning to sit down and cook all my meals ahead of time. I did get a weight watcher cook book that had tons of killer healthy home made recipes in it that I now eat on a regular basis, but I still needed something to suplement my meals at work. I started testing out all the different healthy choices, smart ones and lean cuisines. I found the healthy choice one to be typically crappy. I was pleasantly surprised however with many of the smart ones and especially the lean cuisines. My fav's are the butternut squash ravioli, veggie lasagna, roasted garlic chix pizza, margahrita pizza, four cheese ravioli with veggies, baked chicken and plenty of others. Quick to shop for, easy to cart to work, ready in a snap to eat. I also stocked my desk with healthy snacks to keep me from walking to the vending room. I eat lots of veggies, soy crisp (tasty and you can eat plenty with little caloric intake or processed sugars), 100 calorie snack packs and my favorite fiber one bars (chocolate chip is soft and chewy..mmmm).


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

rafdog said:


> What? No dexatrim or trimspa?? Great story, esp for those of us who battle weight issues (far too many I am sure). Pretty damn good advice on eating too.
> 
> Almost made me toss my Bridgeport IPA...almost.


Yep, no bunk pills needed for "help"! :thumbsup:

You bring up one of the most difficult parts. Giving up the regular consumption of rich, dark beers. I'm a high gravity, the darker the better kind of guy. Now, well, I hate to admit it but I regularly drink Miller Lite instead. Pretty refreshing in the summer since it is damn close to water! lol. I still indulge in a nice beer or two on my splurge days, and since I save so much money left over from the penny wise Miller's, I usually go for the more expensive options I didn't want to pay for when I was regularly drinking finer ales.


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## utabintarbo (Jun 29, 2007)

I guess you will have to change your description: "large member" no longer applies. Maybe medium-sized member, like the rest of us.   

Good Job!


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

utabintarbo said:


> I guess you will have to change your description: "large member" no longer applies. Maybe medium-sized member, like the rest of us.
> 
> Good Job!


I believe we are interpretting that as two different types of "members"


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## utabintarbo (Jun 29, 2007)

mud'n'sweat said:


> I believe we are interpretting that as two different types of "members"


I have no idea what you are talking about. 

:smilewinkgrin:


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## connerr (Aug 1, 2004)

I went from 247 on Jan 1st to 223 now. I increased my ridding a little but the two things I think have made the most difference are working out two mornings a week in the gym and the biggest was eating 5 smaller meals instead of 3 larger ones, especially at dinner. I was real bad to eat two plate fulls at dinner and now I rarely feel the need. I know that's only 24 lbs but I went down more than 5 inches on my waist.

Now, about that dark beer.....


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

connerr said:


> I went from 247 on Jan 1st to 223 now. I increased my ridding a little but the two things I think have made the most difference are working out two mornings a week in the gym and the biggest was eating 5 smaller meals instead of 3 larger ones, especially at dinner. I was real bad to eat two plate fulls at dinner and now I rarely feel the need. I know that's only 24 lbs but I went down more than 5 inches on my waist.
> 
> Now, about that dark beer.....


24lbs. is great! Now, just put the dark beer aside for a bit, and add on some more riding and another morning or two in the gym, and that weight will drop like crazy. Pull it off for a couple months and you'll be amazed at how quickly the weight will come off.

BTW- 5 inches on the waist is a big change, and more telling than that actual weight drop!


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## rm25x (Apr 2, 2005)

Congrats! I just started cycling again, bought the wife a bike too, so we can ride together for motivation. When we started 3 weeks ago, 3 miles was all we could do. We are already up to 10 miles no problem. (paved bike paths around town) I am 6'3 270 lbs, and want to loose 75 lbs. I have changed my diet big time like you did as well. At work, we go for walks on my breaks and lunches as well. So far, 10 lbs down. I know those were the easy 10, its going to be tough to kill the last 65 lbs. Its good to see so many people having good results though.


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## Zion Rasta (Jan 7, 2004)

*Wow!!!!!!!!!!!*



mud'n'sweat said:


> Thanks to the encouragement of many people on here, friends, and my own will, I lost 75lbs. and hit a new milestone today. I did my longest MTB effort to date, and only stopped because we were running out of daylight. I felt great afterwards! A buddy of mine and myself pulled 40 miles of great single track in one effort totalling just over 6,000ft. of climbing in the mix.
> 
> About 1 1/2 years ago, I got sick of my weight and wanted to get back to my weight when I was in college and in decent shape. I had a bad accident (snowboarding) and ended up off my feet for awhile. In that time I gained 78lbs. in roughly a year. That was 1998.
> 
> ...


So what are your specs? How tall are you?

That is a great accomplishment. My goal is to try to loose weight during the winter. If I am at 180 in March, I will ready to go.

I was 225 in 2001. I was 185 my freshman year in college in 1991. I was 165 in 1989 at 6'.
Now I am 34 6' 2" and 185 but a lot more muscle mass. I hit a plateu at 185.

Some more diet trick to keep loosing unneeded pounds are:

1. No meals after 6:30pm - no matter how hungry you are - trust me!!
2. Dump any diet anything - Aspartame is addictive and it makes you hungry
3. No diet cokes or sodas. Water Water
See, fast food tastes like **** with water so you end up eating healthy if you make your own rule of water only. (Beer is ok, once in a while). You will be surprised what you eat when you are drinking diet coke.
4. Train yourself to eat enough to just not feel hungry. Don't ever get full.
5. Cardio, Cardio, Cardio - If you are married and you ride, you do not need a huge chest and biceps. You need to trim but do not look at what the "big" guys are doing. Bench pressing 250lbs is usless in cycling.... Push ups, pull ups and sit ups, squats


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## disco_stu (Apr 8, 2006)

congrats dude thats a fantastic before and after and shows what you can do if you put your mind to it. Well done, and enjoy the new lifestyle.


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## rm25x (Apr 2, 2005)

Zion Rasta said:


> Some more diet trick to keep loosing unneeded pounds are:
> 
> 1. No meals after 6:30pm - no matter how hungry you are - trust me!!
> 2. Dump any diet anything - Aspartame is addictive and it makes you hungry
> ...


Thanks for the tips! :thumbsup:


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

Zion Rasta said:


> So what are your specs? How tall are you?


6'0" 168-170lbs.

Heaviest was at 250lbs.

I'm almost half the man I use to be. Been holding strong since May, and loving my new lifestyle. I don't see gaining all that weight back as a concern since I feel fully comfy in my new lifestyle and much happier.


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## Whafe (May 27, 2004)

Great stuff MnS, must say have always enjoyed your posts, my bad, had not come across the beginning of your mission. Awesome to hear real stories like this...

I travel alot to the USA for work, it is one of the most difficult countires in the world to eat well in... And feel I am able to pass this comment on. I travel to more than 20 countries annually for work....

I now know where to find stuff in the USA, the culture of the place, is HUGE potions, loads of soda etc etc etc etc

I work in the world of Vegetables, it frightens me the stats on weight in the USA....

Any way, dont want to try and chanhe the Stoke in this thread, it is awesome reading...

So Congratulations again...........:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

Whafe, you are spot on. I had to start measuring things out and re-learn proper portion sizes. It blew my mind how over blown things are in this country once I came to that realization.

Well, Sunday is my first hundie (SM100). I suppose it's go time. Either I'm ready or I'm not. It's going to be rough, but I'm looking forward to it.


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## rm25x (Apr 2, 2005)

Whafe said:


> Great stuff MnS, must say have always enjoyed your posts, my bad, had not come across the beginning of your mission. Awesome to hear real stories like this...
> 
> I travel alot to the USA for work, it is one of the most difficult countires in the world to eat well in... And feel I am able to pass this comment on. I travel to more than 20 countries annually for work....
> 
> ...


Yeah... your not kidding. Land of the "Super size me!"

mud'n'sweat- Good luck! :thumbsup:


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

Well, I finished my first hundie yesterday. Time was 13:25 at the SM100. Climbing elevation gain somewhere around 12k-14k (often debated). The trail was taking some prisoners pretty often, and both of my buddies I started with ended up with some bad injuries and one was sent off the hospital for a severely seperated shoulder. That was the msot mentally challenging thing I have ever done. Ended up finding another friend I've been training with, and another guy from NoVa to push the rest of the race with. I set this as my biggest goal, and I pulled it off. I was tearing up a bit on the final descent to the finish, and had to hold it back as the trail was fast and I still had the strength to tear down the several miles of flowing single track to finish as strong as possible.


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## spider991 (Sep 1, 2007)

wow, very inspirational, great diet tips as well. im a fatty now, but not for long. Everytime i read this i get fired up and hop on my bike. thanks alot.


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## johnli6 (Mar 23, 2007)

Good work:thumbsup:


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## trojandrew (Aug 17, 2007)

congratulations man! i'm 6'2" 230 (maybe higher, haven't weighed myself in a while ) and my goal weight is 190, i'm buying my bike in Dec and can't wait to get in shape (literally, i'm starting to run). thanks for inspiring the rest of us clydesdales to trim down (in my case, to my pre-marriage weight  ).


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## mstaszew (Jul 18, 2007)

Damn, that's great work. 

I've just gotten back into the saddle after 5 years of inactivity  I used to ride alot and really missed it. I need to drop at least 50 lbs to get back to the weight that I was when I rode every day, but the beer... that sweet nectar which calls my name. That's the hard part. Giving up the beer seems impossible. I have a small home brewery setup in my garage complete with kegorator to hold 10 gallons of my high octane IPAs for pete's sake! I don't know where Guinness fits into the carb rating of beer, but it's one of the better ones with respect to calories. 

Good job. That is inspirational.


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

mstaszew said:


> Damn, that's great work.
> 
> I've just gotten back into the saddle after 5 years of inactivity  I used to ride alot and really missed it. I need to drop at least 50 lbs to get back to the weight that I was when I rode every day, but the beer... that sweet nectar which calls my name. That's the hard part. Giving up the beer seems impossible. I have a small home brewery setup in my garage complete with kegorator to hold 10 gallons of my high octane IPAs for pete's sake! I don't know where Guinness fits into the carb rating of beer, but it's one of the better ones with respect to calories.
> 
> Good job. That is inspirational.


The beer part is tough, but I started brewing up some "light" recipes I was able to find from a lot of accomplished brewers. Even still, brewed tiny batches and used them as occaisional treats. Once you get to your goal though, you can learn to take in all the sweet nectars, just in collaboration with moderation and excersize, with some blow out party days, like post race!


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## Melt (May 24, 2004)

trying to get back down to 185 myself .... not that i look bad at 205 since im 6' 6" but i can definitley feel being a slower rider. cibgrats


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

trojandrew said:


> thanks for inspiring the rest of us clydesdales to trim down (in my case, to my pre-marriage weight  ).


I'm glad I could carry the torch, as it was others who did the same for me on here (low cell and others). This forum has been a true inspiration to many, and I'm happy to be a part of it all.

Well, recovery from the first hundie went well and fast, except the nerve damage in my hands/palms, but they say it happens and will go away faster each time.

I am already burning up the miles again. Did a 22 miler thursday and put in a nice 38 miles Friday... all single track, Yum! I'm now planning on doing three of the NUE 100 races next year.. Cohutta 100, W101 and SM100 again. I'll now focus on cutting the times down and getting more competitive.

I am also now psyched to go out and try for my first 12 hour solo race. There are no opportunities left for the year, but I'll get a couple 6 hour enduros, some more sport xc races and hopefully some fun during cross season.


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## Bolicious (Sep 14, 2007)

That is great... congrats!


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## carrot_top (Aug 22, 2007)

:thumbsup:what a great, inspiring story:thumbsup: 

im in a similar situation as you used to be in...last summer i just got sick of my weight...i hated being the chubby one at my school....i was only 14 and weighed about 220 at around 5'8-5'9....so at the begining of last summer i blew the dust off the old mountain bike my parents got for me for christmas 3 years ago and started riding...didnt do too much at first...usually 30 min rides around the neighborhood had me winded and sweating like crazy...but i kept on riding...i made a promise, every day i would ride for atleast 30 minutes...and for the last couple of months, ive been keeping this promise....sometimes even in bad weather if i had to....since then ive lost 10 pounds...i can ride for hours now without getting too tired, and ive built more muscle as well...although ive been hitting a plateu at 210 pounds....i can tell my diet it definately the reason for it...ive been trying to eat heathier...however, one day i would eat heathly food, and the next gourge myself of fat and carb heavy junk food...ive been trying better though...ive cut out eating waffles (which is basically like my beer), and every time we go to restaurants i would try to eat healthier stuff....like where i used to get a bacon cheeseburger, i now get turkey sandwiches or grilled chicken....ive also replaced those mid-afternoon snacks of toast or candy with quaker and kashi bars...

and i can tell you, you feel so much better after eating healtier...

i think i was at my lowest weight this year after a 5 hour ride at markham i did yesterday...i weighed 206lbs...although most of the weight lost was waterweight, so a couple of bottles of water later, i was back to 210....

but my goal is to get my weight down into the sub-200 range...after that, ill make the goal at 190...and so on, until i reach a point where i cant really loose anymore weight...i know it will be a few years before i get to that point...but im only 15, and got my whole life ahead of me to do that...


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## grungePoodle (Jul 3, 2007)

You look fantastic!!! And I know you feel great. Good for you!


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## mud'n'sweat (Feb 16, 2006)

Thanks! Sorry I missed the replies from so long ago.


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## jeffscott (May 10, 2006)

mud'n'sweat said:


> Yep, no bunk pills needed for "help"! :thumbsup:
> 
> You bring up one of the most difficult parts. Giving up the regular consumption of rich, dark beers. I'm a high gravity, the darker the better kind of guy. Now, well, I hate to admit it but I regularly drink Miller Lite instead. Pretty refreshing in the summer since it is damn close to water! lol. I still indulge in a nice beer or two on my splurge days, and since I save so much money left over from the penny wise Miller's, I usually go for the more expensive options I didn't want to pay for when I was regularly drinking finer ales.


Congratulations

How do you plan to approach the maintaince phase of your life style.

For example to you plan to increase you calorie's so that you are in calorie balance, or decrease your activities so that you are in calorie balance.


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## DrNickels (Jan 7, 2008)

Congrats on the weight loss man!

I am 5'11 and 285 lbs. I was down to 275 after only two weeks on weight watchers and just doing spinning classes at the school gym, but I slipped on some ice about 2 weeks ago and tore some meniscus in my knee. No strenuous activity and no exercise for 2 months. It sucks. Luckily I don't need surgery though. It just sucks because I was doing so well and was getting ready to pull the trigger on a real mountain bike, but now my injury has me side tracked. So now I just try and stick to weight watchers, do sit ups, and some upper body lifting until I can get back to riding.

I think weight watchers is one of the best and healthiest/easiest ways to change your lifestyle. Don't use the word diet, because a diet is a temporary mindset. You need to think lifestyle change. Weight watchers is so easy with the points system. I love to cook and have 4 weight watchers cook books and cook meals a few nights of the week, and eat healthy choice, lean cuisine meals for lunch and oatmeal and fruit for breakfasts. If I want a snack I eat carrots or a low fat granola bar.

I wish I could exercise more though because the weight really melts off then.

I want to get down to 225 by this time next year.

Being in med school with clinicals, all day classes, and work it makes it extremely hard to eat healthy, but I am trying and these type of stories inspire me.

Congrats again man!


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## Dubtastic (Dec 4, 2005)

Good job! Definitely some motivation for me to drop some weight. Hardest part for me has been finding something decent to eat while I'm working and trying not to get bored so I don't start snacking. I lost a good amount of weight but gained it all back so I'm trying to get back on track.


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## motoenth (Mar 31, 2006)

I just found this thread after searching for 'Cohutta'. I'm glad it came up in the search results! It's an inspiring testimonial to what willpower can do!

About a year and a half ago, I got tired of being a professional couch potato. (I'm 6'3" and, at the time weighed about 220 - by no means fat but not trim either.) I absolutely hate going to the gym. My favorite sport growing up was waterskiing but it's not like you can step out your back door and go. I did some mountain biking in college in the late 80's and early 90's and thought I would try it again.

Anyway, I've been biking about once or twice a week ever since. My family and friends ask me every time they see me "what I've been doing to lose so much weight". I mountain bike!!

But it's not enough...

My problem now is the food. I've reached ~190 and still have a ring of fat around my midsection. At work, I have a refrigerator within arms reach. I'm doing surprisingly well staying off the soda. Next to the fridge are shelves of chips and snacks. THAT's what I've got a hard time with. As much of whatever I want. I use the excuse "Hey - they're multigrain SunChips! They can't be that bad!" yeah, right...

Anyway - this is an inspiring thread and I wanted to say so. 

Mud'n'Sweat - hope to meet you at the Cohutta 100....
And I hope I'm sub-180 by then!!!!


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## DrDon (Sep 25, 2004)

*I went from 270 to 215*



DrNickels said:


> Congrats on the weight loss man!
> 
> I am 5'11 and 285 lbs. I was down to 275 after only two weeks on weight watchers and just doing spinning classes at the school gym, but I slipped on some ice about 2 weeks ago and tore some meniscus in my knee. No strenuous activity and no exercise for 2 months. It sucks. Luckily I don't need surgery though. It just sucks because I was doing so well and was getting ready to pull the trigger on a real mountain bike, but now my injury has me side tracked. So now I just try and stick to weight watchers, do sit ups, and some upper body lifting until I can get back to riding.
> 
> ...


in med school. To use a old cliché, if I can do it so can you:thumbsup:


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## [email protected] (Mar 6, 2008)

bravo! really admire you. I am about 230 and never manage to pull myself together and fix it for good.


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## Black Earth (Jan 16, 2006)

dude you look great...keep on riding...:thumbsup:


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## tubadude (Jun 24, 2004)

Keep riding Douthat and you will lose even more!


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## Zion Rasta (Jan 7, 2004)

I am eating cookies right now!!!


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## Clyde S. Dale (Feb 18, 2004)

Just before Thanksgiving 2006, I reluctantly joined WW at my wife's insistance.
The scale burped out 349.8.
Today I am 250 and have been for the last two months.
As a previous poster said WW is easy for me and I travel like a fiend for work.
I am training for an Xterra in May which will be tough, but a goal I set.
For all loosing weight- good for you!


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