Inspiring story

[Tamyka Bell]

I ran the Glasshouse Trail 80km yesterday. I ran the whole thing with a
man who is probably mid/late 30's. His tale is short but sweet:

Last January, this man weighed 122kg. He decided to take action. He took
up running. He ran a marathon last year (just one).

Yesterday at weigh in, he weighed just over 80kg. And he stepped up to
his first ultramarathon, and he ran that 80km with a smile on his face
the whole damn way.

Tam

[petulance]

Tamyka Bell wrote:
> I ran the Glasshouse Trail 80km yesterday. I ran the whole thing with a
> man who is probably mid/late 30's. His tale is short but sweet:
>
> Last January, this man weighed 122kg. He decided to take action. He took
> up running. He ran a marathon last year (just one).
>
> Yesterday at weigh in, he weighed just over 80kg. And he stepped up to
> his first ultramarathon, and he ran that 80km with a smile on his face
> the whole damn way.
>
> Tam


I would be smiling if I was his bespoke tailor ... think of all the
attire he would have had to buy!

;)

"yes sir, I would recommend a herring bone weave with super 150
cashmere wool for that suit. And would sir be requiring a winter suit
as well?"


On a serious note, good story. If only more people decided to do more
for their health.

[Donga]

I have a pal who twice has come in from 120 kg to do an Ironman. We all
plead with him to set some sensible goals, but he's just an extreme
guy. He loses an extreme amount of weight, does an extreme race, then
gorges himself again until he's fat as butter. No half measures.

Donga

[rooman]

yep, its nice to see the kilos drop off....went from 110kg in 04 to my
(still dropping) 89kg now, aiming for 85, would be thrilled if I can
make it to 80...

all because of cycling ( I still cant resist blueberry pancakes,
chocolate, ales and spuds tho...)

but no deep fry, no non-wholefoods, lots of water, veges, fruit, fish,
red meat in moderation, no smoked meats ( sniff...I loved bacon sooooo
much..sniff)

Stir fry veges, sushi, sake, oatmeal, and organic whatever
whenever....ahhhhh!

300klms plus a week on the bike, occassional road rash , some core
muscle cross training and (hopefully) with some (now) better planned
coaching aiming to build some better endurance and hill climbing joy...

can't run for nuts anymore ( well, dont, just don't like what it does
to my ankles, spine & knees really)...so no ultra marathons...and my
Asics Kayanos just sit there forlornly wondering what they have to do
to get a work out...sorry runners, you've retired!

love stories of those who do drop all the mega kilos and resume a life
of activity and healthy hope...good one ultra marathoner...glad its you
but!


--
rooman

[wayneo]

I was 92 Kgs 8 months ago and am now 72Kgs. I've lost a lot of weight
from cycling and running. I ran the Puffing Billy run a few weeks ago
which was a big accomplishment for me. I'm trying to get to the point
where I can run a marathon. I'm aiming to do the Melbourne half
marathon soon. I don't know how people can run 80Kms. It's just so
long. I'll be wrapped if I can run a marathon. As for riding I'm aiming
to be able to go on a 220 Km ride. Currently the longest I've gone for
is 150Kms.

[dej]

thats cool stuff
i was 125kg's in 2003
have hit 83 in jan but back up to 87 at the moment..
lost the bulk of it during 2003, probably about 30kgs in that year, and
going from 95 to 85 was a bit of a struggle..
lost it all by cycling, no real diet to speak of, only when stuck at a
certain weight for a while did i do anything about diet..
hoping to get to about 75, perhaps even 70..depends on the body fat %
(i wanna get less than 8%)
hopefully he sticks at it..todays report of 100,000 new diabetes cases
a year is a bit shocking..

[Stuart Lamble]

On 2006-05-15, dej > wrote:
> hoping to get to about 75, perhaps even 70..depends on the body fat %
> (i wanna get less than 8%)

8% is a very low body fat percentage ... are you sure that that's a good
target to set?

Me, I'm hovering just above the 23% BF mark. I'm aiming to get it down
to about 20%. Once I've hit that goal, I'll probably try to get it down
to around 15%, and keep it about that mark.

As I understand it, "essential" is 2-4%; "athletic" is 6-13%; "fit" is
about 14-17%; acceptable is up to about 25%; and obese is over 25%. But
I could be wrong. (This is in men. Women have higher levels.)

--
My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and
the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet".

[Bean Long]

dej wrote:
> thats cool stuff
> i was 125kg's in 2003
> have hit 83 in jan but back up to 87 at the moment..
> lost the bulk of it during 2003, probably about 30kgs in that year, and
> going from 95 to 85 was a bit of a struggle..
> lost it all by cycling, no real diet to speak of, only when stuck at a
> certain weight for a while did i do anything about diet..
> hoping to get to about 75, perhaps even 70..depends on the body fat %
> (i wanna get less than 8%)
> hopefully he sticks at it..todays report of 100,000 new diabetes cases
> a year is a bit shocking..
>
Far out! You guys are amazing. Mind you, if I lost 20-30 kg I'd only
weigh what... just over 30 kg! Very inspiring but perhaps I should aim
at something other than weight loss! I'm currently concentrating on
speed, but a 32 min commute doesn't provide much practice time.

--
Bean

Remove "yourfinger" before replying

[Bleve]

dej wrote:
> thats cool stuff
> i was 125kg's in 2003

While we're at it :)

I was 110kg in 2001, got down to 86 for the '03 warny, hovering around
92 at the moment, but dropping for this year's warny. Target is 85kg.
My normal (no real effort, normal training & living) weight is about
92kg (183cm tall, ex rugby player :) )

[dtmeister]

Bleve > wrote:
>
> While we're at it :)
>
> I was 110kg in 2001, got down to 86 for the '03 warny, hovering around
> 92 at the moment, but dropping for this year's warny. Target is 85kg.
> My normal (no real effort, normal training & living) weight is about
> 92kg (183cm tall, ex rugby player :) )

I was 98kg in 2000. It kind of crept up on me as I'd never had to watch
my weight. In my pre fat days, my normal weight was 84kg (I'm 193cm, so
not a rugby player!). I lost it all without exercising, as I had read
the hackers diet and he made calorie loss through exercise sound as if
it wasn't really worth the effort. Pity, because most of the other
stuff he wrote cuts through the bulls!@# that you read in most diet
books.

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html

Now I'm 80kg, and happy at this weight. Just wish I'd exercised while
on the diet, it would have made is sooo much easier, and I'd have
gotten back into serious cycling earlier.

--
..dt

[ghostgum]

Bean Long Wrote:
>
> Far out! You guys are amazing. Mind you, if I lost 20-30 kg I'd only
> weigh what... just over 30 kg! Very inspiring but perhaps I should
> aim
> at something other than weight loss! I'm currently concentrating on
> speed, but a 32 min commute doesn't provide much practice time.
> My thought was more about trying to gain weight. As I've got older and
started riding regularly, I've gone from a seriously underweight BMI to
the underweight BMI. I've put on about 4kg in the last 20 years. More
mass equals more muscle. Built for endurance, not sprint.


--
ghostgum

[Tamyka Bell]

wayneo wrote:
>
> I was 92 Kgs 8 months ago and am now 72Kgs. I've lost a lot of weight
> from cycling and running. I ran the Puffing Billy run a few weeks ago
> which was a big accomplishment for me. I'm trying to get to the point
> where I can run a marathon. I'm aiming to do the Melbourne half
> marathon soon. I don't know how people can run 80Kms. It's just so
> long. I'll be wrapped if I can run a marathon. As for riding I'm aiming
> to be able to go on a 220 Km ride. Currently the longest I've gone for
> is 150Kms.

wayneo,

When you step up from the half marathon to the marathon, you'll realise
that doubling the distance is just a mental game, and you'll see how it
could be possible for someone to run 80km. And then one day you might do
it. Good luck.

Tam

[Spoken4]

Stuart Lamble wrote:

> On 2006-05-15, dej > wrote:
>> hoping to get to about 75, perhaps even 70..depends on the body fat %
>> (i wanna get less than 8%)
>
> 8% is a very low body fat percentage ... are you sure that that's a good
> target to set?
>
> Me, I'm hovering just above the 23% BF mark. I'm aiming to get it down
> to about 20%. Once I've hit that goal, I'll probably try to get it down
> to around 15%, and keep it about that mark.
>
> As I understand it, "essential" is 2-4%; "athletic" is 6-13%; "fit" is
> about 14-17%; acceptable is up to about 25%; and obese is over 25%. But
> I could be wrong. (This is in men. Women have higher levels.)
>
I was told to ignore weigh ins (although I still sneak a peak) but to go on
the fit of my clothes (belt in particular). I have lost about 6kg so far
this year but I am on the smallest notch on my belt now having dropped 3
notches and that is satisfying. I am trying to reach 90 kg (96 now) and
having read Bleve's achievement I think it might be possible (I am about
the same size)
Can I ask what sort of routine/diet did you follow Bleve?

[HughMann]

Tamyka Bell Wrote:
> I ran the Glasshouse Trail 80km yesterday. I ran the whole thing with a
> man who is probably mid/late 30's. His tale is short but sweet:
>
> Last January, this man weighed 122kg. He decided to take action. He
> took
> up running. He ran a marathon last year (just one).
>
> Yesterday at weigh in, he weighed just over 80kg. And he stepped up to
> his first ultramarathon, and he ran that 80km with a smile on his face
> the whole damn way.
>
> Tam
Yes. More ppl are getting motivated to take charge of their health.
The diabetes "epedemic" certainly puts a perspective on this exercise
stuff.

I have a weight loss story too.
1970 = 70kg NS Callup
1980 = 80kg
1990 = 90kg
2000 = 100kg Discharge
2003 = 112kg
2004 = Buy first bike - ride- ride -ride
Today = 89kg

Dont know about body fat measures
BMI was 30.7 = Obesse

Aiming for 80kg or BMI 21.9 which puts me in the lower third of the
"normal" (19-25) range for 57 yo @ 191cm tall

Met a couple of "grey nomads" on top of Castle Hill other day. I rode
up, they drove campervan.. Asked me why I was riding and wanted to get
fit sort of alluding to me being a "racer boy". They both became very
thoughtful when I told them that I wanted to die a dignified death and
not a death from some totally avoidable Lifestyle disease. I think
that I may have some control over that but perhaps I will never know !

Cheers
Hugh

========================
Let me die a young man's death
Roger McGough 1937-

Let me die a young man's death
not a clean and inbetween
the sheets holywater death
not a famous-last-words
peaceful out of breath death

When I'm 73
and in constant good tumour
may I be mown down at dawn
by a bright red sports car
on my way home
from an allnight party

Or when I'm 91
with silver hair
and sitting in a barber's chair
may rival gangsters
with hamfisted tommyguns
burst in and give me a short back and insides

Or when I'm 104
and banned from the Cavern
may my mistress
catching me in bed with her daughter
and fearing for her son
cut me up into little pieces
and throw away every piece but one

Let me die a young man's death
not a free from sin tiptoe in
candle wax and waning death
not a curtains drawn by angels borne
'what a nice way to go' death


--
HughMann

[Theo Bekkers]

"Bean Long" wrote
> Far out! You guys are amazing. Mind you, if I lost 20-30 kg I'd
only
> weigh what... just over 30 kg! Very inspiring but perhaps I should
aim
> at something other than weight loss! I'm currently concentrating on
> speed, but a 32 min commute doesn't provide much practice time.

With a name like Bean Long we wouldn't really expect you to have a lot
of excess weight, would we. :-)

Theo

[Bean Long]

Theo Bekkers wrote:
> "Bean Long" wrote
>> Far out! You guys are amazing. Mind you, if I lost 20-30 kg I'd
> only
>> weigh what... just over 30 kg! Very inspiring but perhaps I should
> aim
>> at something other than weight loss! I'm currently concentrating on
>> speed, but a 32 min commute doesn't provide much practice time.
>
> With a name like Bean Long we wouldn't really expect you to have a lot
> of excess weight, would we. :-)
>
> Theo
>
>
Hahaha! Well, I'm more like a snow pea actually. The "Long" part of my
name is quite an oxymoron. 164 cm and currently 62 kg (was down at 57
during my student days when I was commuting at high speed). My youngest
son is off (below) the standard percentile charts for height and weight.
Apparently my oldest son is the freak. The old-wives tale that your
height at 2 yrs is 1/2 your adult height (which our paediatrician says
is a good rule of thumb) puts him over the 180 cm line!

--
Bean "this size since I was 15!!"

Remove "yourfinger" before replying

[Tamyka Bell]

Bleve wrote:
>
> Tamyka Bell wrote:
> > wayneo wrote:
> > >
> > > I was 92 Kgs 8 months ago and am now 72Kgs. I've lost a lot of weight
> > > from cycling and running. I ran the Puffing Billy run a few weeks ago
> > > which was a big accomplishment for me. I'm trying to get to the point
> > > where I can run a marathon. I'm aiming to do the Melbourne half
> > > marathon soon. I don't know how people can run 80Kms. It's just so
> > > long. I'll be wrapped if I can run a marathon. As for riding I'm aiming
> > > to be able to go on a 220 Km ride. Currently the longest I've gone for
> > > is 150Kms.
> >
> > wayneo,
> >
> > When you step up from the half marathon to the marathon, you'll realise
> > that doubling the distance is just a mental game,
>
> I'd have thought it was an energy management game, like the difference
> between 100km and 200km on a pushbike - if you can ride 100km, you can
> ride 200km, you just have to keep fueled up and your intensity low
> enough.

Energy management is mental. You have to fight your instincts -
instincts say run, brain should say to slow down and eat some now,
before it's too late...

> But, running is *much* harder on your body, maybe after 70km your
> ankles implode or something? :)

Nope! No ankle implosions occurred for any of Sunday's 13 competitors in
the 80km ;)

Tam