Category Archives: Weight Loss

Frugal Weight Loss Update 210

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Weight Loss Update

Since my last update in the article: weight loss update on August 16th, I’m down 5 more pounds to 210.

After getting home from the financial conference called FinCon12, I weighted myself and low and behold, I was dead even at 210 pounds!  I knew when I weighted myself before the conference, I was at 211 pounds.  This is surprising since at the conference I went off of my diet a bit and enjoyed all the great free food that was provided by the conference!  My goal was to be 210 for the conference, and I’m thinking that while I was there I must have hit that goal (perhaps while on the flight, I didn’t eat much that day at all).

The weight loss milestone 210 is an important one for me…  It means that I’m now at Active Weight!  By “Active Weight“, I mean that instead of just going a few basic pushups and situps, I can incorporate more action based activities into my exercise routine (like lifting weights, jogging, tennis, etc).

Optimal Lifestyle Goal

My philosophy towards weight loss and health is a bit different than what is popular in the mainstream today.  Unlike other more intense programs, I don’t want to work out so hard that I feel like throwing up!  I also don’t want to be in intense pain (from sore muscles) for the next few days or even weeks.  To me feeling miserable isn’t my optimal lifestyle nor healthy!

My goal is to both “slowly” and “quickly” morph into optimal shape!  My “slowly“, I mean gain over the long haul, to not do a program for 90 days then take time off and do it again.  That’s too much yoyo-ing for me, and not stable.  What I want is something that I enjoy doing and actually look forward to doing, which optimizes my lifestyle.  Why do something that you don’t enjoy when there are enjoyable alternative that you can do instead?

By “quickly“, I mean that I don’t want to take half the day or even a few hours every day working out!  Ideally I want a program that I can do in about 20 to 30 minutes every other day (if that).

Superman's Cape

Exceptions to the “quickly” rule!

My first exception to the “quickly” rule is if the activity is something I enjoy doing and would even pay to do it!  I enjoy water sports, so wave-running (jet skis), water skiing, swimming, etc… is something that I don’t mind doing, even if it takes me a few hours!

The second exception to the “quickly” rule is if I’m getting paid for doing it.  I describe this phenomenon in this article: “Getting Paid To Lose Weight“.

Next Weight Loss Milestone sub-200!

My next “Big” milestone is to break though (actually more slip through) is the 200 pounds barrier!  Once I get under 200, I would consider myself to be pretty successful with my weight loss program, especially if I’m lifting weights, enjoying my activities, and doing some very quick cardio (maybe 30 minutes on some days).

Thanks for reading my progress!

Don

Frugal Weight Loss Update 215

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Since my last update on my weight loss update on June 29th, I’m down another 5 pounds to 215.

I wanted to be down more, but summer got in the way a bit and I’ve been relaxing on the diet restrictions (but just a little).

By the end of this month, I’m going through a quickening process where I’m in a desperate attempt to lose and additional 5 pounds, which would bring my weight to 210!  I think once I get into the range of 205 to 210, I’m going to start lifting weight to tone my muscles all while still sticking to my frugal weight loss plan!

So I’m down 35 pounds, while that’s nice, technically I’m still considered obese.  I think if you would meet me person to person, I don’t think you’d think I was obese.  Shoot this past weekend, I was doing both front and back flips off of a low diving board that doesn’t have a lot of spring to it.  I doubt that a person who is really obese could do such a feat (especially the back flips).  But an average is an average, so my goal is to get into the plain old “fat” range.  My hope is once I get into the fat range, I’ll looks as thin in the waistline as someone who hasn’t worked out with weights in the past.

What I especially like about this diet is that even though I’m eating more expensive foods, I’m eating less of them and they are much healthier.

Once I get to either 210 or 200 pounds, I’m going to do an analysis of my diet and reexamine my weight loss plans from that point on.  Most likely I’m make adjustments to my frugal weight loss plan, but in a health oriented beneficial way.  I might even create a website so that other can follow such a plan.  This is definitely a life plan for me from this point out.

Bests,

Don

Frugal Weight Loss Update 220

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Great news today!

I weighted myself and I’m down 30 lbs from where I started (March 15th, 2012)!

What is my secret? Did I spend a lot of money or do some incredibly intense workout program?

No, all I did switch to a low carb diet and spend up to 10 minutes every other morning doing a light exercise routine of a set or two (depending on how late I’m running on getting to work) of pushups and situps.  My exercise routine is so light that I hesitated in calling it exercise!

Did I spend a lot of money since my diet is more protein based?

No, Eggs was a primary stable and they are incredible cheap. Eating eggs for breakfast enabled me to reduce my breakfast cost by at least 75% versus the way I use to eat. Lunch and dinner was more expensive though, so it was a wash with respect to the cost overall.

Do I miss desserts and other carbs?

Yes, but I deviate from a totally low carb diet by occasionally getting dessert when we go out to eats on the weekends and sometimes I’ll even eat a slice of bread at those restaurants, on the weekend during the same sitting.  For the dessert, I split it with a family member and actually, it’s really their dessert and I’m just eating a third of it.  After I get down to my target weight range, I’ll continue to increase my carb intake, making sure that I continue to eat healthy.  By healthy, I mean skipping the pre-process sugars and flours found in too many sweet snacks these days!

What is my goal at this new weight?

Not much really, just to stay the course.  After I lose another 10 pounds, I’m planning on introducing a light weight workout routine.  Such a weight lifting program will be more for vanity than health though.  Although there is some bone density benefits in doing so, and possible a delay of aging (or so I’ve read).  Personally, I just like looking good when I workout with weight and also it might be a good model for my son and daughter to follow.

Bests,

MR

Accelerating Weight Loss Cheaply With Light Exercise

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So what exactly do I mean “Accelerating Weight Loss Cheaply With Light Exercise?  And why didn’t I start out with such an exercise program to begin with?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been able to loss more than 10 pounds!  Considering how out of shape I was, that’s the magical number than means I have some wiggle room to be more aggressive with my weight loss program.

My theory is that by losing some weight before I start working out means that I would be less prone to injury or feeling sick from working out.  I think too many people jump right into a rigorous exercise program at the start of a weight loss effort and get discourage because they make themselves sick because they lack that wiggle room that I mentioned.  The last thing I want to do is defeat my weight loss program practically before I start.

 

The advantage of losing some weight before exercising are as follows:

  • By weighting less your body is still used to the extra weight, so your body is stronger than it was when you were heavier.
  • You have more energy because your body doesn’t have to work as hard to accomplish the same things as before when you weight more.
  • Hopefully the harmful impact to your body will be reduced since you are slightly lighter.  This is the wiggle room that I mentioned above.
  • You can visually see and feel that you are smaller and feel more mobile and agile when you move.

My Cheap, Light Exercise Program!

So to start my “Light Exercise” program, I’m going to increase both my anaerobic and aerobic activities.  Now having a two targeted approach to weight loss might not sound cheap, but don’t be deceived, it’s not a complex nor as expensive as it sounds  since I don’t plan on working out more than two or three hours a week at home!

Anaerobic Portion:

For this portion of my workout routine, I plan on taking 15 minutes in the morning (or afternoon), every other day to do the following “Light” workout routine:

  • 2 sets of pushups, doing 10 repetitions each.
  • 2 sets of situps (or crunches) again, doing 10 repetitions each.
  • 2 set of leg bends, for 10 repetitions each.

Now I plan to do the three types of exercise above in a casual circuit like style.  so the combination of (pushups, situps, and leg bends) will be done as a continuous superset with a couple minutes break between the 2 supersets.

The supersets are primarily for time reasons, not necessarily some secret weight loss secret.

After I lose 10 more additional pounds for a total of 20 pounds of total loss from the beginning of my weight loss program, I’ll increase my sets to 3 each per exercise, and also increase the number of reps in each set above to 15 then 20.  The reasoning for this is that if I’m an additional 10 pounds lighter, I should have more energy and strength that I do now at my current level of fitness.

Aerobic Portion:

With this part of the “Light Exercise” routing, I’m just planning on mowing my lawn at a brisk pace once (or twice a week), and then walking the dog a few times a week for 10 to 15 minute walk intervals.  Nothing to strenuous on this portion of my exercise program, but still it’s a start!

Weight Loss Cheaply:

All aspects of my weight loss is that fact that I can do it cheaply.  I’m not going to join an expensive gym, nor am I buying a type of new exercise equipment.  Now I’m mentioned a similar approach in the past in the article called: Frugal Weight Loss and Body Shaping, and basically I’m following that principal because I know that it works for me.

The big difference between today and my prior article  is that I’m slowing the weight loss pace down more than I did last time.

I’m excited to add this new element to my informal weight loss program!

Cheers,

MR