2025 Health Changes

[John2189 536]

Just read all 4 pages. 
good job for all that is losing weight!  Im 5’5” and currently 240. A couple years ago I was pushing 270. I’ve been trying to watch what I eat, and have been drinking more water. 
of course being 71 and retired, I’ve lost a lot of strength  as the old saying goes “if you don’t use it, you lose it “. 
 

anyway keep it up!

Edited May 14 by John2189

[ebinmaine 72,379]

25 minutes ago, John2189 said:

Just read all 4 pages. 
good job for all that is losing weight!  Im 5’5” and currently 240. A couple years ago I was pushing 270. I’ve been trying to watch what I eat, and have been drinking more water. 
of course being 71 and retired, I’ve lost a lot of strength  as the old saying goes “if you don’t use it, you lose it “. 
 

anyway keep it up!

 

 

Nice job John! 

 

 

[ebinmaine 72,379]

Morning weigh in.  

 

250.9 lbs. 

 

272.6 - 250.9 = 21.7 lbs down.  

 

24 - 21.7 = 2.3

 

1 week to go on this initial goal. I have 2.3 lbs to lose in 7 days.  

 

For the last several weeks I've been losing weight slowly. Drop a few pounds. Stay level for a few days. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. 

 

For this last week I'm getting back into the longer fasting periods again AND dropping to low carb. 

The reduction of glucose in your body also causes a water loss from your cells. That water loss is obviously a net loss of weight pounds. 

 

Most folks have to train into fasting periods longer than 12 to 14 hours. I'm no exception. 

I've been extending them slowly. 

 

I've managed to get my hunger dialed way back again.

Yesterday I did a 20 hour fast (not counting morning coffee). I was hungry around hour number 16 but that quickly subsided by hour 17. 

 

The plan this weekend is to do 3 more longer fasting periods. Good protein meals in between. Very few carbs.  

 

 

[ebinmaine 72,379]

Just over 21 hour fast today. After a protein meal this evening I think I'll aim for a couple of 24-hour fasts Saturday and Sunday. See how I feel.

[ebinmaine 72,379]

249.6

I'm exactly 23 lbs down!

 

6 days to go. 1 pound to go. 

 

 

Here's something I find extremely interesting about going to a low carb setting after being medium to high carb for several weeks:

 Thursday I drank at least 2 quarts of water throughout the day which just by itself would be about 4 lb of intake.

Friday was another 2 1/2 quarts. 

So NOT COUNTING FOOD I've taken in about 9 lbs over two days. 

 

At the end of the 48 hours between Thursday morning and this morning, I was down exactly 3 lbs. 

 

That is due to losing glucose from my entire system which causes you to lose quite a bit of water weight because water is bound to the glucose molecules.

 

That doesn't mean I lost 12 lbs of glucose bonded water. Most of that would be used in daily bodily function. 

 

So here's the kicker!!

What you do with this loss needs to be carefully kept in check. 

Go back to the standard trash diet of high carb and you get all that back within a few days. 

OR... stay low to medium carb for a few more days and let your body use even more fat as energy. 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 72,379]

249.2

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 72,379]

FIRST GOAL MET!!

 

247.4 lbs 

 

272.6 - 247.4 = 25.2 lbs down!!

 

First goal was 24+ lbs lost by Memorial Day. 

Check ✔️ ✅️ that box ⏹️ off!!

 

 

Woohoo!!

[ebinmaine 72,379]

I went 48 hours in my fasting this time. Just had some deviled eggs 🥚

 

Now to figure out what my next steps are in the journey. Definitely gonna change things a little. Start focusing on building strength and endurance.  

[ebinmaine 72,379]

245.4 lbs after the fast. 

 

27.2 lbs lost. 

 

Time to switch gears into Maintenance Phase. 

 

Reduced effort on actual fat loss and increased effort on gaining muscle. 

 

More light resistance training. 

More walking,  bicycling & hiking. 

[Pullstart 66,594]

I’m so proud of you EB!  It’s a mind game to fast further than 24 hours.  That first day is quite hellish.  After that, your body takes over and eats some of its reserves.  
 

*edit* I’ve been fasting since early 2023.  It has been a life changer in itself!  No more “hangry” feelings in the head.
 

 My “feeling healthy thread here”

 

March 4 was my first day in a gym for weight lifting since my freshman year of high school, 25 years or so ago.  Other than travel limits we’ve been there every week day since.  My strength is improving.  April 9, while on a cruise ship, I ran a mile in 10 or so minutes.  I never thought it would be possible!  Since then, we run a mile every Wednesday before work outs.  Today, I broke my 7 minute goal with a 6:53.  The crazy thing is, 10-14 years ago, we did many 5k obstacle and mud runs.  After 1 mile, I always had major knee pains from meniscus injuries sustained in high school.  Snowboarding, skateboarding and stand up jet skis kind of wrecked me.  Now, I’ve done two 5k races in the last two weekends and have had no knee soreness whatsoever.  The repetition in the gym is doing more than tone me.  I’m gaining mobility and strength where I need it.  I also have visited the chiropractor a fraction of the time of “normal” pre-March 4.  My weights are going up.  My motions are becoming less awkward.  It’s working! 

 

Edited May 21 by Pullstart

[peter lena 9,231]

@ebinmaine   regularly  experiment with any movement  change opportunity , push ups for  me are counter  height based , started that with  tree branch  push off,s , as stated , on my walks , regularly stop and  do an arm lift to my back shoulder hand  spread , other arm assist  , feel what's  going on , the parking lots have been a  good spot for  fence support , experimenting with  any changes . osteoarthritis  was from my father , you got what you  got , make up a combination that lets you  move with it , lots of related sights on the net , pictures / ideas . variations of  how its done , for your  issue . I can relate , pete   

[Tractorhead 9,209]

Great result Eric,

 

keep on👍

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 72,379]

For quite some time I've been wanting a way to monitor my BP and pulse on both a daily basis and in particular, while exercising. Such as hiking.

 

Trina bought the same blood pressure monitor that her traveling nurse uses. Wrist-mounted detector with velcro strap. Obviously medical grade. Yesterday afternoon after I was moving around quite a bit I took my blood pressure and it was 124/80. Likely would have been a fair amount lower if I had been resting as I should before taking a BP. That's a good strong 20 points or more lower than I've seen it in the past before I lost weight!

[ebinmaine 72,379]

FINALLY took the time to assemble the exercise rack I bought several months ago. 

 

 

 

This has a top bar about 7 feet up. I can reach closer to 8. 

Starting with feet on the floor/knees bent - I was able to do one pull up with my hands facing each other. 

[ebinmaine 72,379]

For the past 6 or 7 years my body has been doing a sort of partial shutdown on hot days. Depending on humidity level, my energy level, other variables, I would get to somewhere around 82° to 84°, and my energy was just completely Tanked.

 

Yesterday here in Southern Maine it was 89° and mediocre humidity during a few hours of my work day in the afternoon.

 

 

As it worked out I was in and out of air conditioned areas because of trucks and buildings but while outside I definitely noticed I feel a little better......

 

 

[Darb1964 1,113]

2 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

For the past 6 or 7 years my body has been doing a sort of partial shutdown on hot days. Depending on humidity level, my energy level, other variables, I would get to somewhere around 82° to 84°, and my energy was just completely Tanked.

 

Yesterday here in Southern Maine it was 89° and mediocre humidity during a few hours of my work day in the afternoon.

 

 

As it worked out I was in and out of air conditioned areas because of trucks and buildings but while outside I definitely noticed I feel a little better......

 

 

Humidity absolutely destroys me. Yesterday in the Berkshires of Massachusetts it was 84, not sure of the humidity but mid day I had to go to the air. First real warm day, last week we had the heat on.

[ebinmaine 72,379]

Some interesting information about my me chassis person.

 

For about a week now I've been trying to really get the protein stepped up.

My weight has been hovering in the same range since we got home from Memorial Day weekend.

 

 But.. I am noticing positive  changes in definition around my ankles and forearms.

I still don't have my protein intake up to where it should be if I was going to be resistance training regularly and obviously I need to keep exercising.

 

It's clear I'm headed in a different and better direction.

[ebinmaine 72,379]

For about a month and a half now I've just been trying to get used to existence as a 20 lb smaller human. You wouldn't think that makes much difference but it really does.

Strength and flexibility are better. Ease of movement is better.

One of my interesting challenges is reducing the amount of food that I was used to eating.

I'm still trying to put more focus on protein and decreasing processed foods. 

 

 

In other news, I've decided that this week begins the next phase of a shrinking, more healthy me.

More strict food intake reduction and more strict carb reduction and more strict fasting.

I also need to keep moving more and more.

I'll be walking up the hill here at home more often. That's a great exercise. From our house to the top and back is right around 2 miles. Also a fair amount of elevation gain so it's a great calorie burn, great cardio, and more importantly building muscle at the same time.

 

 

[gt14rider 944]

Great job Eric,    I've been gaining weight for 30 plus years.  It's been a up and down ride, lose 20lbs then gain 25, losted 50lbs gained 60 back   My weight got up to 360lbs November  24, dropped 20ish pounds, got to 344lbs by mid March,  gained some back, went to my doc at the VA, my a1c was in the 9s, put me on ozempic, low dose got it down to 5.4,.  Talked the pharmacist , trying another medication, appetite suppressant,  (don't like taking meds but I got to lose this weight) 

Anyway,  been plugging along and reading this post and I've been trying the fasting thing a little , 15- 20 hours. Seems to be working between the meds and fasting . As of this morning I've lost 81lbs  down to 264.4 .plan on another 20- 30lbs.  I go to the doctor on Monday, maybe cut back on some of my meds.

Any way thanks for this post,and your journey, it helped out. Now if I can just cure  my wheel horse addiction. Have a great day.

[ebinmaine 72,379]

@gt14rider

 

Great post!!