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I snuck in a couple of days of OMAD into my challenge. From 10pm Friday to 10pm this evening I had two one hour meal periods. Saturday morning I was at 230.8lbs, Sunday morning I was at 230.2lbs and this evening I was at 232.6lbs. I am going to try the OMAD thing again next Friday through Sunday evening.


I have also added some stair climbing to my morning workout period.
 
So you are down about 15 pounds over all...outstanding! Hard work pays off. My training regiment has not been as strict as yours but I was training for some shooting classes that I knew would go better if my fitness level was higher. Not having to worry (as much) about the fitness aspect allowed me to focus on shooting and classes went very well. The work pays off. Awesome your are doing this!
 
This study is for all you guys who say weight loss is 95% diet and 5% Movement (you might be right):



The basic idea is that exercise above a low level has a diminishing return on energy expenditure. I guess it might be true that you can't outrun a caloric surplus.
 
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I am throwing in the towel at Day 54. This challenge has turned me in to a super grump. I am sure the over the top covid fears and evaporation of our firearm freedoms hasn't helped my mood, but this challenge is what has been my greatest source of daily misery. The water intake and frequent bathroom trips has been rediculous to deal with. I am glad I lost a few pounds but there hasn't been any other feel good benefits around this challenge, for me.

It was fun while lasted, not. I am looking forward to obliterating a 30 pack of beer at my cabin, this coming weekend. I might round up some candy too for the drive.

After Memorial Day wknd I will create renewed focus on my diet and hopefully keep the weight off that I lost. Exercise will be a very tiny part of my next effort.
 
This study is for all you guys who say weight loss is 95% diet and 5% Movement (you might be right):



The basic idea is that exercise above a low level has a diminishing return on energy expenditure. I guess it might be true that you can't outrun a caloric surplus.

Depends on your goals. If you just want to look good at the beach, you can do it with just diet and minimal exercise. If you want to be able to perform well athletically, you have to exercise alot, and you are burning so many calories, a beer and a burger isn't a big deal.
 
Depends on your goals. If you just want to look good at the beach, you can do it with just diet and minimal exercise. If you want to be able to perform well athletically, you have to exercise alot, and you are burning so many calories, a beer and a burger isn't a big deal.
I believe the study only looked at energy expenditures and did not address improving muscle mass or strength.
 
I am throwing in the towel at Day 54. This challenge has turned me in to a super grump. I am sure the over the top covid fears and evaporation of our firearm freedoms hasn't helped my mood, but this challenge is what has been my greatest source of daily misery. The water intake and frequent bathroom trips has been rediculous to deal with. I am glad I lost a few pounds but there hasn't been any other feel good benefits around this challenge, for me.

It was fun while lasted, not. I am looking forward to obliterating a 30 pack of beer at my cabin, this coming weekend. I might round up some candy too for the drive.

After Memorial Day wknd I will create renewed focus on my diet and hopefully keep the weight off that I lost. Exercise will be a very tiny part of my next effort.


A guy has gotta know his limits and there is nothing wrong with having them.
I applaud your efforts. In the long run i bet you will have gained some moderation in regards to all the things involved with the challenge. The best that we can hope for is that all the little changes eventually add up to a big change. People who think that the one giant change will solve all issues they are struggling with are the ones who move forward 2 steps to only slide back 10.
Good job and good effort.
 
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What specifically caused this?

I am throwing in the towel at Day 54. This challenge has turned me in to a super grump.
I suggest that after your "cheat" vacation, that you look at your diet.

Water can be less than a gallon if that is what you need/

Food choices matter too. I picked a diet where I can eat Bacon ;)

I have had good luck with Intermittent fasting. Which basically means no 3 meals or 5 meals+snacks etc. But keep it to 1 or 2. No snack in between. This has a lot to do with insulin.


On the positive side, you didn't fail, but like Edison, you found something that did not work for you.
 
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What specifically caused this?


I suggest that after your "cheat" vacation, that you look at your diet.

Water can be less than a gallon if that is what you need/

Food choices matter too. I picked a diet where I can eat Bacon ;)
My mood and attitude was going in the toilet. My weight had been pretty well stagnant since the end of April and it became an issue of lot's of pain (misery) and little gain (weight loss) during the last three weeks or so.

I know diet is going to be the answer to preventing weight gain. I will put more effort towards finding a forever diet soon. A forever diet for me will need to include foods that:


are easy to prepare
taste good (to me)
don't make me feel deprived
are inexpensive
include variety of food groups and macros.


I have zero desire to track calories, points, portion sizes, etc. The diet needs to be intuitive to follow. I'll be fine if the diet doesn't result in any further weight loss but I'd like to keep the weight off, that I have lost so far.

As for exercise, I am going limit that to a very small amount of strength training and a small amount of cardio a few days a week.

Water intake is going to be when I am thirsty or showing signs of dehydration (that rarely happens to me).

My most important goal for now and beyond is to get more sleep. I already had crappy sleep habits partly due to my work schedule but also because of my internet addiction. The challenge made the sleep issues worse. I believe this has been the biggest downside to the way I handled the 75Hard challenge.

In addition the one time of day or night I don't have a desire to roam the kitchen for food is when I am sleeping so if I can get more sleep that will help curb my calorie intake too.


Sounds easy right?
 
Depends on your goals. If you just want to look good at the beach, you can do it with just diet and minimal exercise. If you want to be able to perform well athletically, you have to exercise alot, and you are burning so many calories, a beer and a burger isn't a big deal.
Especially if you're a sumo wrestler.
 
Sorry to say but what you lost so far is only water. You're going to find when you add carbs it will all come back and then some.

To be perfectly blunt, what you are asking for is impossible. At a minimum, you need to control your portion sizes and focus on eating a balanced diet. If you have never done it, it will be work. There is no getting around that.

I have done this for years, both successfully and not so successfully. At my peak I was 320 and very strong, but also very very obese. 250 and not nearly so strong now. I see abs at 235, not that I'm super lean, just have large musculature in the core still.

Weight watchers is actually good, if you want to lose the weight you have to work at it. If you're looking for a quick and dirty way to lose it, a nutri systems type of pre packaged meal program will get you to understand what you should be eating. Do it for a month so that you get it, then you can adjust what you cook with proper groceries.

Guaranteed you are eating too much of the wrong foods. Alcohol converts to sugar immediately in the body. If you drink, you have to break the cycle of sugar dependency. It's a thing, and sugar is not your friend if you're me (or you apparently lol). It can take 3-6 weeks to do this.

I'm a recovering alcoholic by the way. When I quit drinking I lost 30 lbs. (from 290-260) the wrong way (starvation and cortisol) then gained it all back within 2 years. You have to make other changes, it will be hard and it will take effort.

What your posts seem to be craving is fat camp for grownups or a die hard meth habit. Neither is very feasible or healthy.

You are going down a path I went down for years. I'm not trying to be a d!ck, just trying to relay what worked for me. Think about it like this: you are addicted to something (bad food) that is bad for your health. You need to do what you can to break the addiction. Food is simply fuel, you cannot lose weight if you keep chasing the yummy.

My mother was morbidly obese her whole adult life and she died early from complications of diabetes, it was ugly and sad. She died from eating too many potato chips and tuna fish sandwiches every day for 39 years. The calories add up. Processed foods are the devil.
 
It really boils down to how you control the equation for you. Your body is a highly efficient energy transformer.

If your intake exceeds the amount required for your body to sustain, then that gets stored in the fat cells. Each person is different, so the calculations are different, you need to experiment to find what amount and what ratio of carb/protein/vegetables work for you.

In 2010, I was working out 6 days a week lifting weights and doing cardio... but I did that so that I could eat anything that I wanted. That was the year that I was diagnosed with Diabetes... I was 43 and could bench 280. My Dr. told me that I needed to increase my exercise and meet with a dietitian.

It took me a few years, but I stopped going to the gym and focused completely on my diet. It took me about 6 months but by experimenting with my intake, I dropped from 230 to 200. After a year of tweaking the portion and ratio, I plateaud at 190 and have been there for the past few years. My intake is tweaked so that my A1c is exactly where I need it to be. All this without any commitment to going to the gym.

I'm currently working on dropping another 20 pounds, so I'm using what I've learned about my intake and adding back the gym time as well as Intermittent Fasting. I've only started this last Friday and I'm down 4 pounds.

My advice, take what you've learned from the 75Hard and tweak it. Eat healthy, it doesn't have to be elaborate. Find what intake portion and ratio works for you. If beer or alcohol needs to be in your life, you'll figure out a balance. For me, that's generally Thursdays that I have a few drinks.

Good luck. Thank for sharing this journey. I've enjoyed reading it.
 
I have zero desire to track calories, points, portion sizes, etc. The diet needs to be intuitive to follow. I'll be fine if the diet doesn't result in any further weight loss but I'd like to keep the weight off, that I have lost so far.
Good on you for trying something and learning from it. I generally think of this as how life works. On your quote above, I get it, but allow me a suggestion. Consider counting calories, everyone, for about two weeks. That's all. It gave me a fantastic perspective of where my calories were coming from. (And recommend including tracking protein/fat/carbs as well, remember alcohol is it's own source of calories.) Weigh things too.

This way I know that my bowl of cereal is actually a serving and a half, when I have a slice of cheese or two it is actually 3 oz. and crackers have that many calories. This way I think about moderating my diet more and know I'm short on protein for a meal. Lots of other good suggestions above that I'm going to look at as well. Best wishes.
 

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