I didn't make it to 200 lbs by the first but got to 201.5 so pretty close. Diet and exercise plan is working slowly but surely. I am traveling a lot this month but my walk from the hotel to work is a mile each way so that forces me to get my exercise (and the heat/humidity in DC is BRUTAL right now so I am working up quite a sweat).
Down to 195 so lost another 6.5 lbs in September, still another 10 to go. Just joined the Planet Fitness near my house a couple of weeks back so I can work out a bit more. I really wish my hip and knee weren't a constant issue because I would like to get out and jog a bit again. I can still walk decent distances though but running causes too much pounding and pain...better than nothing I guess.
Nice job...keep at it! I'm bouncing around from 170 to 176. Down from my heaviest of 207 several years ago. Running 20-40 miles a week in addition to my bike and swim training for Ironman. Recently joined a 40+ men's basketball league. So much fun! At 44 I feel like I'm 20 again playing against these old guys. I'm used to playing with my colleagues at work who are 27ish. Pretty much just a jump shooter in that league. I never thought I'd be able to run this much because I had knee pain in my early 20's and had to take several days off every time I played hoops. In my late 30's I changed my diet, started going to bed at 8:30 and slowly started ramping up my training. Never felt better.
Down to 192,weight loss has really slowed down, every ounce seems to be getting tougher to shed. Still I have lost 21 lbs since early August. I am lucky because work gives me 3 hours a week to workout, I do 90 minutes before work on Monday & Friday, I telework on Wednesday so I am able to workout my normal time then and be on the clock when I am supposed to be. Right now I go to the gym M-W-F-Sa...mostly strength training, I need to add more cardio.
Try to make that cardio, HIIT cardio... High Impact Interval Training. If done properly and regularly, it enhances your metabolism and specifically turns your body into a fat-burning machine!
Back to it this weekend. I took 3 weeks off after Ironman. Yesterday: 1hr 45min bike 20min easy run off the bike Today: run 10min WU 4x7min @ 7:05 min/mile with 2min rest intervals 24min @ zone 2 Cardio felt good but my legs were toast on today's run. Had to walk most of the 2min rest intervals so they would stop burning.
Down to 187.2, didn't make my goal when I wanted but just a little over 2 lbs to go. Starting yoga in January, never done it before, hoping it helps with flexibility and maybe helps alleviate my hip issues I continue to have.
Trying to get faster on the bike. I'm going to try to get out on Saturdays more often and ride with the local cycle group. They get 100+ riders when the weather is good and I need help pushing me. My FTP (Functional Threshold Power) is barely improving and I think it's because I'm becoming too comfortable on the bike trainer.
@Bada0Bing I want to try Zone 2 training because I seem to recall you speak highly of it. Unfortunately, the only device I have to measure my heart rate is my Apple Watch which I don't believe is entirely accurate. Do you think it will be close enough to get me in the ballpark? I've found that calculating my zone 2 heart rate isn't as simple as I thought. I found this calculator: https://www.heartmonitors.com/blogs/news/38044801-heart-rate-training-zone-calculator and based on an age of 45 and a resting heart rate (from Apple Watch) of 72, it puts my zone 2 at 127-139bpm. Unfortunately, I have a hard time keeping my heart rate this low when I mountain bike. Do you have any tips or advice to help me train more effectively? I've ridden pretty consistently but don't seem to be making a lot of gains in endurance or power so I've recently started jogging, hiking, yoga, and some body weight cross training to try to work my muscles differently.
I knew this was going to be your issue as soon as I started reading your post: "I have a hard time keeping my heart rate this low when I mountain bike." Everyone has this problem at first. My heart rate used to creep up out of zone 2 after a while during an easy run. It took a lot of discipline, but I just slowed down until my HR dropped back into the zone. Even walking if I had to. There's really no other way, you just have to slow down and keep putting in time in zone 2. Your body will adapt. You have to be in zone 2 to build the necessary engine that keeps you in zone 2. Most people spend way too much time in zone 3, probably because it feels like they're working hard. My research has led me to believe you should spend as much time as possible in zone 2 and supplement that with a few hard workouts per week doing intervals in zone 4. An 80/20 split is the general guideline. Your calc of 127-139 seems reasonable. We're the same age and my zone 2 is 104-135 for running and 107-129 for cycling. I would expect yours to be higher than mine because your resting HR is higher. I subscribe to a triathlon platform that analyzes the data from all my workouts and calculates the appropriate HR zones and paces. It will be tough to maintain a consistent HR MTBing due to the nature of the sport, but your crosstraining ideas sound great. Especially easy jogging and hiking. Just go really easy and your body will build additional capillaries to supply more blood to your muscles. Then your HR will have an easier time staying low. I'm not sure about the Apple Watch. I have a garmin with an optical HR, so it reads my HR on my wrist. I've compared it to my HR strap on my chest and it is very consistent. It just takes a bit longer to respond to changes in my HR. Another rule of thumb is if you're having trouble having a conversation, you're pushing above zone 2. Another tip is to try to maintain zone 2 after a hard workout. Maybe after a hard ride, ride easy or hike for a bit. This is what I did. It made for some very slow cool downs, but I seemed to make progress every workout. I'm interested to hear about your progress.
