Weight Loss Success Stories... please share!

[luzoradrianne@yahoo.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDx-PUeW ... annel_page

[Big Chris]

Nice Piece it is great to see a face that goes with the posts.Keep it up Good Job

[luzoradrianne@yahoo.com]

Thanks Chris! I'm a stay-at-home mom of 2 boys with an evening job and decided to make exercise a BIG priority to help me have the energy to be constantly on-the-go.....now I just need more time to devote to the internet and read great stuff like in this forum...
Thanks for the kudos!

[lars]

Hello Everybody

Here's my weight-loss experience; I'm not sure it really fits here since
it has more to do with a change of diet than with regular rowing.

I'm male, 32 years old, 175cm tall and used to weigh 82kg.
Within the last 6 months I've lost appr. 7kg.

Within those 6 months I haven't exercised as much as I should have, only 1 month of
rowing following the weight loss program available on concept2.co.uk

Apart from that, zero exercise, walking maybe 3 miles per day and 10min on my bike.

Here's how I changed my diet with zero loss of enjoyment and lost weight:

Short version:
I eat loads of vegetables and fruits (700 grams per day), a medium amount of
carbohydrates (300g/d) and protein (200g/d).
I don't take supplements, eat hardly any processed foods and nearly totally
avoid snacks, softdrinks, fruit juices and other sugars.
On the weekends however, I sometimes overindulge in wine or eat a rich meal
at a proper restaurant.
So far I've experienced no side effects and felt no tiredness due to lack
of energy intake or insufficent supply of micronutrients.



Long version:
On a weekday I start with 2 cups of coffee, 1 banana and 1 apple.
At work I eat nothing until lunch time, then I have 1 meal and nothing else
until I leave the office.
At home I have 1 warm meal for dinner. After dinner I don't eat anything
anymore and also don't drink anything else than water.

On weekends I drink some wine, maybe eat at a restaurant (not fast food) and
eat 2 warm meals per day. Sometimes I eat some junk food, but very little.

Our company has a huge cantine that feeds around 3'000 people / day.
The cantine offers 2 "regular" menus and 1 vegetarian.
The menus share following characteristics:
- they're made up of 3 parts: carbohydrates, "vegetables" and protein+fat
- the carbohydrates are coated with fat to make them slippery
- the vegetables come to the *** DELETE - SPAM *** deep-frozen where they are cooked to death
- the protein comes as mostly processed meat, fish or egg, very often deep-fried

This processed food lacks freshness, taste and micronutrients. But it is very
energy dense. Like all processed foods it contains a lot of sugar and salt to
conserve it and make it taste at least a bit like the food it's supposed to be
in the first place.

I used to eat a regular cantine lunch meal and dinner at home plus some snacks.
This way I slowly increased my weight to 82kg. This had to change.

After reading Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food" I decided to change my diet.

Fortunately the cantine also has a so-called "Salad Bar" where you can assemble your
own meal from all the fresh vegetable and fruit, carbs, proteins and fats they offer.
The price of the meal is calculated according to its weight.
My daily meal from the salad bar weighs around 800g. It consist of
600g of salad and other vegetables, 100g of fat and protein, 100g of carbohydrates.

A regular menu costs around USD 8.--, my regular meal from the salad bar is USD 20.--.

Most people eat small salad bar portions, I can't, I will get very hungry again at 3 p.m.
Therefore my portions are very large, but the energy lasts until 5 or 6 p.m. and
in the meantime I don't feel too full or even tired.

At home I eat another 200 grams of carbs, 100 grams of protein and 100 grams of vegetable.
Sometimes more, sometimes less, sometimes a pizza and sometimes I exaggerate on the weekend.
But I avoid nearly all kinds of processed foods, pastries, and sugar (sucrose/fructose) in any form.

Basically I follow Michael Pollan's recomendation of: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
After six months I have to say that it works like a charm.

I lost appr. 1kg/month of weight, I have no hunger pangs and I don't have the after-lunch crash
where I nearly fall asleep at the desk half an hour after lunch.
Best of all, my belly is back to normal and I don't have a pronounced double-chin anymore,
that alone was worth the diet change.

Congratulations and thanks to everybody who has endured reading to this point.

Before the diet change I wasn't entirely convinced it was worth losing weight.
Now, that I see the effect, I must say it's totally worth it.
You look better, feel livelier, clothes fit again, your self-esteem's boosted and
your love-life will probably also improve a lot

For more scientific information I also recommend watching these presentations:

Robert H. Lustig, Sugar: The Bitter Truth
uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16717

Dr. Robert Baron, Obesity: Ten Things You Thought You Knew
uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16713

Andrea Garber, Fad Diets: Do They Really Work?
uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16715



Hang in there, dear weight-losers, the rewards are fantastic!
Lars

[Big Chris]

You should check out the Paleo diet also. By Les Cordain.
I have been following this diet for about 2 months and feel much better and have stedy been losing with this diet.

Basically just follow what a caveman would eat (hunter/gatherer) Fruits, Veggies, Nuts Berries and lean meat. No grains, limited dairy and achol and room for cheat meals.

I find it easy to follow. Just google paleo diet for more info.

BTW I am wait to share my weight loss story until after Jan 4 the offcial start date of my life style modification plan (Not Diet)

[bama]

4 months 600k and 10lbs- from 178 to 168 doing mostly 5k to 10k a day mon-fri. trying to get in the lightweight class.

[gtcompscientist]

http://www.gtcrewalumni.org/alumni-spot ... ivehealthy

That's my story. In a nutshell I've been cranking out the meters for a few months and am currently training for the Global Marathon Challenge. And so far have lost over 60 pounds.

[rlddikeman]

My Concept2 workout buddies and my Facebook buddies thought that I should share...
In December 2009, I had enough of being over weight. We used to keep the erg out in the garage, but had to move it inside when the garage door broke. Since it was in my room, and near my computer which gets TV and internet streaming video, I decided to row now and then and watch tv/movies.
Then in January, my workplace started up a Weight Watchers at work group and I joined. It was easy enough to follow the weigh watchers plan and increase my points allowance by occasionally rowing. I even did my first Challenge, the Valentine's day row. I joined the Concept2 site on Facebook, and became friends with Sally, a woman who really became a great motivator for me. Sally suggested that we do the March Madness row. I was going to shoot for the 5,000 M a day, but I started to realize that the 10,000 meters wasn't too much harder and if I rowed every single day for the rest of the month, I could make it.
Not only did I do it, but I got hooked. All that rowing caused the pounds to fall off. I started doing other challenges and was able to row half-marathons. I even planned and completed a full Marathon for the 2010 World Rowing Challenge.
Now, I try to row at least 6 days a week, and have made a commitment to myself to stay on the 10,000M honor board this year. Recently, I completed 2 MM lifetime and I'm also working toward the 5 MM club this rowing year.
How much have I lost? Well, in December 2009, I refused to weigh myself, but based on the way clothes fit, I believe I was over 210 lbs. Here's a before picture

Dec 2009 - Before

Dec2009.jpg (11.38 KiB) Viewed 12139 times

Since starting Weight Watchers in late January, I have lost 53 lbs in 25 weeks and have about 12 lbs more to reach my goal. I am about 5 l bs away from being in the lightweight class. I know I can make my goals. More importantly, I feel better and healthier. Here's a "now" picture

July 2010 - now

Jul2010.jpg (24.46 KiB) Viewed 12139 times

Some days I row fast, but other days, it's all I can do to just get on the rower and start going. The only time I really have to row daily is early in the morning. Believe me, it can be VERY difficult to row at 3:30 in the morning! I just keep telling myself, I don't have to be fast. I just "do it"!

[rlddikeman]

Here's a better before and after pic

before_after.jpg (164.4 KiB) Viewed 12058 times

[slwiser]

Great story and pictures of your success. Thanks for sharing.

Here's a better before and after pic

[nchasan]

I started out more than a year ago the heaviest I had ever been. My physician told me at my physical that I had "achieved the perfect shape.....ROUND". The sting of that rebuke and my cholesterol at borderline levels along with my belt line pushing 40" had me take a look. A friend introduced me to the ERG when she showed up in my office looking trim and fit. I had an unused ERG in my office gathering dust, and she showed me how to use it. I waited until everybody was gone for the day before I tried to ERG for the first time....I made it about 2 minutes before I pooped out. Gradually I became more comfortable and then set a goal to lose 40# by the time I was 50...it was about a year so I though that I had time. I was a little cautious about my diet, but since I eat well in general, I didn't change much. Between ERGing, a little weight lifting and a little running, I was making good headway and had ERGed close to 500,000 m when I blew up my knee at the track.

Good wine, depression, and slothfulness caused me to gain back the weight I had lost, and when I tipped the scales at 215, was struggling to make that last belt loop, and feeling good about draining that bottle of wine with dinner...I thought that it was time to get going again.

I got an Alter - G in my office so I was able to start running again at 85% of my body weight, which made me really want to be at 85% of my body weight!! SO ...back to running, lifting and ERGing.

Now I am about 6 weeks into my new program...except this time, in addition to the exercise, I am on a strict paleo diet - nothing white, and only one glass of wine or one beer if any at all. I am eating about 1000 kcal during the day, and trying to eat a small dinner. If I get hungry, which I do on hard exercise days, I eat fruit and nuts (walnuts or almonds).

My workout is typically a 2.5 mile run on a really hilly course. I end up running hard and walking. Yesterday I walked less and ran harder...so I felt good. Then I hit the gym and use free weight and the Kettle Bell to lift focusing on legs and arms. I also do several core and back exercises. Then at the end of the night before bed, I row 5000m. I always sprint the finish . Occasionally, if I run on the Alter - G, which I do when the weather is crappy (Seattle, so more crappy than not in the fall and this summer has sucked) - then I sprint 500 m or 2000m on the ERG after the run.

6 weeks in and I am down to 193 this morning. I intend to continue until I hit 160. My fighting weight. My plans are to add a 500m sprint after the weight training each day because the one day I did that, I felt shredded.

I fully understand that this is a calories in/calories out equation. I am trying to ensure a daily imbalance of at least 500kcal a day. I am thinking about supplements to enhance testosterone levels, the body bug to monitor caloric intake and output and adding a third workout to my day (a quick 2000m in the morning before work). Looking forward to getting the athlete in me out from underneath all that fat! I feel like I woke up after a long sleep.

[luzoradrianne@yahoo.com]

Hi Meredith, it's me again....just wanted to update you that in addition to you and others posting me as a weightloss success story, now I will be featured in the November edition of Women's First Magazine and I hope they talk about Concept 2 because rowing on concept 2 has been an integral part of not only my 110 lbs. weightloss but also my maintenance....

[roguecreature]

im trying my best. i started @ 260 early october. im now at 250 (first 10-20 always go the quickest)

then im in the long haul 175 target in about a years time! one meal, one work out, one day at a time.

[gregsmith01748]

Way to go Roguecreature. The first 10 go fast, but its hard to get started. Getting into a regular workout routine on the erg was the biggest factor for me. If you can build some good habits over the first month, you'll have a lot of momentum.

Keep us posted on how you're doing and let us know if you hit any snags. The folks on this forum have been very helpful to me over the past year.

[thorb]

SW:285 in January, 2010, current weight 216.
Keys to loss so far, better food choices. more of a lifestyle change then a diet. I track everything I eat and drink. I row, run and do as many activities as possible(I would row more if someone out there could send me a rowing machine for my home )