Revelation: I "Lost a 7-year-old"

[Alaiyo]

I went with my partner J to visit some friends last weekend for an evening of board games. They are both very supportive, friendly, and fit. When they heard that J and I had started running, they suggested we run the 10K to their house instead of driving - which I hope was meant as a joke, although one of them ran a marathon two years ago.... We drove anyways.

Being able to run at all, even for a few seconds, is a triumph for me. Over the past 6 months, I lost 43 pounds (~20 kg). I only just started running (week 2 podcast, although it is my 3rd week since starting). Our hostess made much of my weight loss so far, and I felt good about what I have accomplished, even though I still have another 40-60 lbs (18-27 kg) to lose before I will really be at a healthy long-term weight. These days I am starting to reap the benefits of better health, and am able to do things I couldn't consider before, including running.

At the end of the evening, their adorable 7-year-old daughter came over to give me a very enthusiastic hug. She wanted to be held, so I picked her up and held her on my hip. After a few minutes, my friends were concerned that she was too heavy to carry for long. They said she weighed 43 pounds.

I tried bending my knees a bit and walking around, and it was indeed very hard.

"No wonder I couldn't run before! (I could barely walk actually, and needed a cane at one point.) I can't believe I was carrying so much weight around!" said I, a little in awe of the change I have undergone so far.

"Wow. It's true. You've lost a 7-year-old," joked my friend.

[Malcy Graduate]

Isn't that incredibe? I'd never thought about it like that. My image of my weight loss is compared to a sack of potatoes that I struggle to lift into my car. (I've only lost 15kg so still have a bit to go) But a 7 year old - what a comparator. Keep up the good work!

[Alaiyo Graduate in reply to Malcy]

Congratulations on losing "only" 15kg. That is a LOT, truly, and you should be proud of yourself.

[Greg_M Graduate]

What a fantastic way to visualise it. I am always amazed at the weight loss some of you guys achieve but that is an astonishing perspective.

[Alaiyo Graduate in reply to Greg_M]

Thank you! I get amazed too by what people here have achieved. I am inspired to keep going.

[Joysmum Graduate]

It's great to visualise your losses based in real life things. I like mentally piling up the bags of building materials in B&Q and trying to imagine how it felt when I carried around that much.

I'm on Week 6, 60lbs lighter and have gone from barely being able to do a waddling shuffle for 60secs to having run non-stop for 25 mins last week. Who'd have thunk it!

[Alaiyo Graduate in reply to Joysmum]

I love your building materials comparison! Fantastic news about running 25 minutes, and losing 60 pounds (surely not in 6 weeks, though?).

[witchynic]

cooool! x

[gypsydepp Graduate]

That's a brilliant way of looking at it....I thought the blog was going to be about goinh for a run and forgetting to take the 7-year-old home and leaving it in the park!

Yours is a much better story.

Keep going with the weight loss ( which program are you following for that?) and c25k and keep us posted x

[Alaiyo Graduate in reply to gypsydepp]

Thanks for the encouragement. The real story for me was realizing how big a change it truly was. It has been so gradual, I pretty much had not noticed.

As for the weight loss, here is what I am doing:

1) For exercise (not including C25K), I do a very short strength-training routine 6 days a week when I get up. March in place, dance, whatever for 1-2 min to warm up. Then 8 minutes of different exercises like pushups, situps, bicep curls, leg lifts with no rest. I target different opposing muscle groups each day, and "rest" one group while working the opposing group. Then I stretch for 5 minutes or so. It is usually intense and sometimes anaerobic. For a reference that uses minimal equipment, you can read "8 Minutes in the Morning" by Jorge Cruise.

2) My diet almost completely eliminates sugar, and is pretty low carb as well. I aim for under 15g sugar/day (including lactose, fructose, glucose, etc.) and also aim for 50-70g of total carbohydrates/day, of which 25-30g are fiber. I aim for 75-100g protein each day as well. The diet is NOT necessarily ketogenic (like Atkins), although it surely gets close. The main point of it is insulin control. It is a modified version of "The Belly Fat Cure" by Jorge Cruise. Actually, I have a lot fewer carbs than his diet allows for, because I wasn't losing weight just following his plan - I had to come up with my own.

A typical day:

Breakfast: 1 egg + 3 egg white omelet with sauteed mushrooms and low-fat cheddar, 6 blackberries, 1 slice of homemade flax banana bread with 2T flax per slice and sucralose instead of sugar, and coffee with unsweetened almond milk, stevia, and soluble fiber (inulin). Plus some really good quality supplements: multivitamin, vitamin B complex, acidophilus, and fish oil.

Lunch: 3/4 ancient grain tortilla, baked chicken breast, low-fat cheddar, celery sticks.

Dinner: Large mixed greens or spinach salad with sliced chicken breast, chopped bell peppers, cucumber, slices, green olives, feta and a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper rather as "dressing".

Snack(s): Sugar-free, fat-free pudding cup or 1/8c almonds

My weight loss has slowed down a lot, so I am hoping that the running will help boost it again. And I recently joined a doctor's program who is encouraging me to add more vegetables into my diet (4-6 cups per day! I struggle, but am trying.) The diet isn't for everyone, but after 6 months, my recent blood work showed that I have good levels of everything, no major deficiencies, low blood pressure and all that. So if someone wants more info (with their doctor's approval), send me a message, or check out the books.

[RhonaL]

Inspirational - Thanks

[handstand Graduate]

Wow!

[blueboots Graduate]

That's a brilliant way to visualise your achievement. Well done

[NatG]

Amazing, well done

[carcassonne Graduate]

That's a great way to see how much you've done. I hope you're proud of yourself, you should be, and it's very inspirational!

[Alaiyo Graduate in reply to carcassonne]

Thank you! I am really glad to hear if my experience helps anyone else along their own journey. I have certainly had a lot of help from others who inspire me.