Diet & Exercise

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Sven Svensson

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Dec 5, 2021
1,552
1,966
Sonoma County, California
I’ve not checked in for a while. I’ve been on a diet and I’ve been hiking 5-8 miles a day in the big hills next to our neighborhood. But I hit a plateau a few weeks and could not break out of it. So I joined a health club, something my wife has pushed for years. That’s been taking up all my free time.

I decided to try swimming but I didn’t want to join the water fitness class and jump up-and-down with a bunch of old ladies for an hour to disco music. Understand, I’ve got nothing against old ladies as I’m married to one. Haha!

So I took up lane swimming with the retired olympians instead. I grew up on lakes in Minnesota and learned to swim but I didn’t really learn how to swim, if you catch my meaning. So at 60 years old I hired a coach and started taking swim lessons. I felt like a third grader.

My first lesson was a complete disaster and I looked like I was purposely trying to drown myself for an hour. I almost gave up. But she gave me some homework drills and slowly I caught on.

Now, in addition to my daily hike I swim 2k yards most nights. I swim at night because most native Californians think 68 degrees is too cold. The Minnesotan in me laughs. Most nights I have all 6 lanes to myself.

Well, I’ve now broken through my weight loss plateau and have dropped 110 lbs with 90 of that total being since February. I still have another 20-30 to go to hit my college weight.

I’m eating mostly salads, just once a day. My protein is mainly chicken, sometimes shrimp. Every so often I indulge on some flap steak which is near impossible to screw up.

It all gets chopped up, vacuum-sealed, then thrown into the freezer until needed. It’s not real exciting food but it’s been working. Throwing it in the Yoder or on the grill is great because of the added flavor and no oil.

I’m hoping to hit my goal by the end of the year and start smoking like a normal person. Here it is. My monthly routine. Chicken, shrimp, flap steak.
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Sven good for you to know when you really need and want to do what is best for you. like Keith said it is hard when it is so easy to just grab junk food and run with it.
Even though I work pretty hard and constant through out the day my Doc says I should do more for 30 - 60 minutes a day to get my heart rate up for that time 5/6 days a week. Even a good long walk like you do in the mountains

Nothing wrong with the food you are having , I think most of us at our age should do this more.

jump up-and-down with a bunch of old ladies for an hour to disco music.

Never know could be fun, You could be their boy toy. :emoji_laughing::emoji_laughing:

David
 
Wow Sven...what ambition and discipline you've shown. Kudos to you and its great to see you back. Been kinda wondering where you went but hoped it was for a good cause...which it has been. Best of luck and keep up the great work.

Robert
 
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Congratulations brother, that is something to brag about for sure, it's a great feeling isn't it?
Cut out the carbs, and you can eat more food than you could stuff in your face in a days time.
Eating low carb I eay at least 3X as much food than I ate per day and I'm still dropping weight, even after epidural injections, which normally make me gain 10-15 lbs.

I've lost 70+lbs since the 2nd week of December by eating low carb without much exercise. Which I really can't do with my Jack'd up back, neck and legs. 11 more lbs and I'll weigh as much as weighed back in the 1980s when I was an adventure athlete and hardcore outdoorsman. The only exercise I do now is walking laps in the pool 3 days per week, that and chewing all the he extra the food that I've been grinding on, mainly salads with nuts and added protein, meat, chicken, turkey , fish and pounds of bacon, cheese, and 2 dozen+ eggs a week. At this point I am starting to introduce carbs once or twice a week, including up to 12 ultra light beers a week, along with pizza, pasta and whole grain organic breads.
I still don't eat fruit and don't eat anything with sugar, with the exception of some lightly sauced BBQ and Mexican food, which I've missed me re than anything, and I'm still dropping weight, it's crazy !!!!!!
I couldn't have stuck to a diet like you're doing, I get way too hungry doing that shit.

I think diets that deprive you of eating normal amounts of food are unlimitedly setting you up for failure.

Good luck with your journey, it is a lifestyle change, not a diet.


Dan.
 
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Your swimming made me chuckle! A few years ago I decided take up swimming again, I used to be on the swim team several decades ago in school. My brain thought I could still race, but my body could not. I had a heck of a time trying to convince my brain I was a hundred pounds heavier than high school! Dang near drowned my self every time I swam laps. Good job on the weight loss!
 
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Congrats to you all. I do 45 min to an hour in the pool 5 times a week usually to music. Positive reinforcement is a good thing. Go for it!!!
 
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Congrats Sven!!
And Good to see ya!
That's a lot of you that went away!!!
I can't do it that way, because I can't do the exercise, so I gotta do it all by diet.
So I've been losing it slowly, and I'm at a 12 year low @ 226.

Keep up the good work, Sven!!

Bear
 
Good on you to get into shape! With the modern eating habits of today, it is not easy. The convenience of grabbing food on the go will just make you fat unless you do strenuous work all day long.
I’ve not had fast food forever. A part of me misses it but I’m afraid if I indulge it’s going to make me feel ill. I had a steak and potatoes meal at a restaurant for our anniversary and it messed me up. I can’t imagine what IN-N-OUT would do to me.
 
Sven good for you to know when you really need and want to do what is best for you. like Keith said it is hard when it is so easy to just grab junk food and run with it.
Even though I work pretty hard and constant through out the day my Doc says I should do more for 30 - 60 minutes a day to get my heart rate up for that time 5/6 days a week. Even a good long walk like you do in the mountains

Nothing wrong with the food you are having , I think most of us at our age should do this more.



Never know could be fun, You could be their boy toy. :emoji_laughing::emoji_laughing:

David
It’s funny because I was just telling a colleague today it’s remarkable how many old ladies are out exercising. I swear I see six women to every man. And the guys are all young. And some of those old ladies are amazing swimmers with much more endurance than me. It’s impressive.
 
Wow Sven...what ambition and discipline you've shown. Kudos to you and its great to see you back. Been kinda wondering where you went but hoped it was for a good cause...which it has been. Best of luck and keep up the great work.

Robert
I dropped off the radar for a bit. It’s not easy looking at all the great meals on this forum when all I get is a salad and some fruit. It certainly tests the willpower.
 
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Congratulations brother, that is something to brag about for sure, it's a great feeling isn't it?
Cut out the carbs, and you can eat more food than you could stuff in your face in a days time.
Eating low carb I eay at least 3X as much food than I ate per day and I'm still dropping weight, even after epidural injections, which normally make me gain 10-15 lbs.

I've lost 70+lbs since the 2nd week of December by eating low carb without much exercise. Which I really can't do with my Jack'd up back, neck and legs. 11 more lbs and I'll weigh as much as weighed back in the 1980s when I was an adventure athlete and hardcore outdoorsman. The only exercise I do now is walking laps in the pool 3 days per week, that and chewing all the he extra the food that I've been grinding on, mainly salads with nuts and added protein, meat, chicken, turkey , fish and pounds of bacon, cheese, and 2 dozen+ eggs a week. At this point I am starting to introduce carbs once or twice a week, including up to 12 ultra light beers a week, along with pizza, pasta and whole grain organic breads.
I still don't eat fruit and don't eat anything with sugar, with the exception of some lightly sauced BBQ and Mexican food, which I've missed me re than anything, and I'm still dropping weight, it's crazy !!!!!!
I couldn't have stuck to a diet like you're doing, I get way too hungry doing that shit.

I think diets that deprive you of eating normal amounts of food are unlimitedly setting you up for failure.

Good luck with your journey, it is a lifestyle change, not a diet.


Dan.
What I’ve learned on this journey is to keep
hunting for the thing that works for you, something you can stick with and enjoy, and don’t listen to all the advice. Once you find it, like you said, the weight starts coming off and that in itself is very motivating. And you’re right, it truly is a lifestyle change, along with all the new clothes I’m constantly buying.
 
Your swimming made me chuckle! A few years ago I decided take up swimming again, I used to be on the swim team several decades ago in school. My brain thought I could still race, but my body could not. I had a heck of a time trying to convince my brain I was a hundred pounds heavier than high school! Dang near drowned my self every time I swam laps. Good job on the weight loss!
I had no idea lap swimming would be so exhausting. It doesn’t just engage different muscle groups, it engages every muscle group. Some mornings after a hard swim I think even my hair hurts. I’m still working on endurance and the wise old ladies and guys keep telling me you just have to keep swimming and showing up. I’m trusting they’re right.
 
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Congrats Sven!!
And Good to see ya!
That's a lot of you that went away!!!
I can't do it that way, because I can't do the exercise, so I gotta do it all by diet.
So I've been losing it slowly, and I'm at a 12 year low @ 226.

Keep up the good work, Sven!!

Bear
Thanks Bear. You’ve had a lot of tough stuff thrown your way so weight loss under those circumstances is remarkable. And there’s nothing wrong with losing it slowly.
 
Great Work! I need to go on a similar plan but damn, that smoked meat is just incredible and hard to pass up!
I know exactly what you mean. I’m having to find joy in the fact I am now an expert at smoking chicken skinless/boneless breasts, fresh or frozen. I don’t need a temp probe and I can nail it by feel every time. However, I’d rather be an expert at brisket or bacon but for now, smoked chicken is my world.
 
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