$600 Weight Loss Challenge: Day 49 of 70
April 29, 2010 Posted by Tyler CruzIt’s now day 49 out of 70 in my blogging weight loss challenge versus Paul Piotrowski.
I’d like to remind you that this competition between Paul Piotrowski and myself is not just any ordinary friendly weight loss challenge. If one of us doesn’t meet and maintain our weight loss quota on May 21st, 2010 at 10PM Pacific Time, we will have to pay the other person $600 out of our own fat pocket.
As a reminder, the competition states that I must lose 12 pounds within 10 weeks and Paul must lose 13 pounds within 10 weeks. This works out to 6% for each of our body weight, in order to make it fair.
As I write this very sentence, there are only 22 days, 23 hours, 7 minutes, and 29 seconds left in the challenge, which means that both Paul and I have to really focus and make things happen before it’s too late.
Paul’s Weight Loss Status
Late yesterday, Paul posted an update on his weight loss.
For the first 35 days of the challenge he basically made minor changes to his diet, and did nothing else. As a result, he basically lost no weight.
During the past 12 days, in order to really kick things up a notch, Paul went on a hardcore diet. I’m actually pretty impressed with how strict his diet was/is – he’s eating a ton of fruit and vegetables and is only drinking water. He also cut out all meat except seafood.
He actually took photos of a bunch of the foods he has been eating over the past 12 days which you can view in more detail on his post.
I personally like how the 5th photo is unlabelled and unidentified. Must have not tasted too good… 😀
Anyhow, as of yesterday morning, Paul has lost a total of 3.8 pounds… so he only lost 0.4 pounds during the past 9 days! However, yesterday he was at –5.4 which was a new weight loss record for him in this challenge so far.
With only 22 days left in the challenge, Paul still has to lose 9.2 pounds. That means that Paul needs to lose at least an average of 0.41 pounds every day for the next 22 days straight. I like my odds 🙂
What I’ve Been Doing
As usual, I’ve been sticking with my regular routine of doing my “daily lists”, going to badminton thrice a week, and doing Westwood Lake whenever I can push myself to do so. I’ve also been continuing to avoid unhealthy food such as fast food, pop, etc.
Since my last update, I also increased my daily walk by another minute. Yes, it’s only a minute more, but don’t underestimate incremental increases!
I’m actually considering replacing two of my badminton nights by going around Westwood Lake instead. The badminton club that I go to during those 2 days has really gone downhill during the past year, and I never get a workout when I go there anymore. The Sunday badminton club is still awesome though, kicking my ass every time. I may also try going to a new club on Wednesday nights, as I hear it’s made up of most of the same players of the Sunday night group.
Another New Westwood Lake Record!
Time flies, and I was surprised that I actually hadn’t done Westwood Lake in 8 days. So after eating my Mini-Wheats this morning I went to the lake with Lisa.
I really surprised and even frightened her today because she always beats me by a good margin, and I rarely see her beyond the 1.5KM mark. But for some reason today my body felt really good cardio-wise, and I managed to always keep her in sight all the way to the 4KM mark. At one point around the 2KM mark I even jogged for a stretch and actually felt not too bad… almost good!
However, she disappeared at the 4KM mark and I didn’t see her again until right before the 5KM mark. When she did see me again though, she couldn’t believe it as I had never closed the gap anywhere near that point before. She ended up beating me in the end, but overall I did really well today, walking at a very brisk pace and jogging several stretches.
In the end, I set yet another new personal best time! My last best time was actually during my previous run, making these back-to-back records which is great.
The crazy thing is that I actually had more gas in the tank during the last half a kilometre and could have actually jogged a good portion of it, but instead just walked briskly the rest of the way back. My thinking was that I didn’t want to beat my time by too much as it would only be that much harder to beat it again next time 🙂
I ended up finishing in 55:04. That’s over 2 minutes faster than my previous best time!
In fact, during my first time around Westwood Lake this year 5 weeks ago, my time was 1:10:12. Today’s time was over 15 minutes faster! Maybe there is actually something to this whole fitness thing after all…
I had enough energy to go around a second time, but as a reward for setting a new record I let myself relax instead.
Here’s an update on my charts:
Westwood Lake Time
| Date | Time | Distance | Comments |
| My 2009 Best Time | 57:55 | 12 KM | Jogged much more in the middle area |
| March 13, 2010 | 1:10:12 | 6 KM | Feet and calves absolutely painful. Very dark out. |
| March 18, 2010 | 1:00:00 | 6 KM | Stretched and used “ML” shoes |
| March 23, 2010 | 1:01:25 | 6 KM | I tried, but in pain and out of breath |
| March 27, 2010 | 1:01:28 | 6 KM | Gave good effort again but too slow |
| April 12, 2010 | 58:45 | 6 KM | Great time, close to new record, only 50 seconds off |
| April 17, 2010 | 57:22 | 6 KM | New Record! Really pushed hard final stretch |
| April 28, 2010 | 55:04 | 6 KM | New Record! Felt really good and bunch of jogging |
(Note: Times are for first 6KM only)
Weight Loss Status
| Date | Weight | Total Pounds Lost | Pounds To Go | Days Left |
| March 11, 2010 | 204 | +3 | 15 | 70 |
| March 19, 2010 | 203 | +2 | 14 | 62 |
| April 5, 2010 | 199 | -2 | 10 | 46 |
| April 20, 2010 | 196 | -5 | 7 | 31 |
| April 29, 2010 | 195 | -6 | 6 | 22 |
I only lost 1 pound during the past 9 days which isn’t the best, but it is progress so I’m satisfied with it. It also means that I have lost 9 pounds during the past 5 weeks which isn’t too shabby if I say so myself.
However, I still have to lose 6 more pounds during the next 22 days (and keep it off) or I’m out $600. So that’s 9.2 more for Paul, and 6 more for me. Let’s hope Paul doesn’t make it so that he has to pay me $600!
Congrats on your record, it sounds like you are getting fitter all the time.
Do you know if those are actual pictures of what Paul ate? If it is then it’s easy to see why he’s not losing weight. Why do people make out losing weight to be so hard, it’s about MODERATION! There’s enough on most of those plates to feed 2-3 people.
Those are the actual photos. I don’t think the quantity really matters… moreso the calories… and vegetables have very few calories of course. However, he does seem to use a lot of heavy dressing 🙂
Wow! Your body adjusts to your calorie intake within a couple of days and without forced activity compensates, you need moderation to lose weight. Of course it comes down to basic maths (more out than in) but what goes out is affected by the chemcal reactions within your body and he’s not doing himself any favours by eating mountains of the same stuff 🙂
Sorry Tyler, but bloody hell I sound like a wannabe know-it-all when I comment on your blog. In life there are only really 3 things I feel qualified to have an informed opinion on. Software development, human biology and martial arts. I’m shitter than shit at PPC affiliate marketing…
Yeah he does load up the dressing way too much. So by eating so much veggies it is backfiring a bit because of the calories & fat that the dressing adds. Then again, for all I know he could be using fat-free dressing, but I doubt it.
Vegetables are TOTALLY different in calories than Refined Carbs, Meat etc.
For example, one POUND of broccoli is only 150 calories. A cup of cucumber slices is only 16 calories.
Probably the biggest meal you see there is the pics is the veggie/salmon stirfy, which I admit I made too much of but all of that is veggies and about 7oz of salmon. There is no rice there, no noodles, nothing with empty calories.
You can’t use the same portion sizes visually when dealing with vegetables. You have to eat WAY more veggies to maintain enough nutrients and calories for your body to survive.
For example:
7oz Steak = 220 Calories
7oz Brocolli = 70 Calories
7oz Cucumber = 28 Calories
Therefore, I would have to to eat 3x as much broccoli (21 oz) to make up the same amount of calories as a 7oz steak, and almost 8x as much cucumber (55oz) to make up the same amount.
If I ate the same portion sizes of veggies as most people eat refined carbs and meat, I would Starve! Starvation is not a good way to lose weight.
Also, in a lot of the pictures where you see the salads for example, those bowls are much smaller than they look in the pictures. They look the same size as the plates because I zoomed in with the camera, but proportionally they are smaller.
Keep up the good work professor, just how much weight have you lost? It’s NOT just about calorific value…but don’t let me stop you in your awesome weight loss efforts. 😉
Whatever you gotta tell yourself tons-o-fun 😉 I agree with Paul, that all looks like way too much food. You can tell yourself whatever you want about how many carrots it would take to be 400 calories or whatever, but that doesn’t make the meals you ended up with any better.
Looking at those meals I strongly doubt you’re actually counting calories. The biggest pitfall of someone trying to drastically change their diet is to start with something healthy (a small salad) then instead of stopping at healthy they just keep adding crap (croutons, bread, dressing, etc) until it’s acceptable to them, all the while ignoring the fact that they essentially just created a McDonald’s combo.
Remind me again what happens if you both lose? (As that is the most likely scenario at this point)
Hey, I’m just being realistic 🙂
I’m pretty sure I’ll make it… I wouldn’t mind putting down a side bet of $25 with you if you want 🙂
Haha, sure, you’re on for $25 🙂 My thinking is you’re gonna hit a plateau pretty soon which is to my advantage.
Okay, so it’s official then. That’s $25 more incentive and motivation for me. Keep an eye out for my next post… 😉
You’re so confident Tyler, 6 pounds in 22 days is not easy but it’s not impossible too. You have to put x2 effort. Instead of eating a big quantity of vegetable, why not you split it to a few meals? Just my 2 cents.
All the best Tyler!
Pictures are nice, but when trying to lose weight it’s not a good idea to cover all your veggies in cream dressing, and of course quantity matters. I know they are vegetables, but they still require time and effort for your body to process. It you eat 3 pounds of carrots, it takes longer to go through that than a normal small serving. And get rid of the cheese as well for the next little while.
And the little things make a huge difference when you add them up!
Skimming is a bad thing.
Yeah, I answered this on my Blog already. The cream dressing was all we had in the house when I first started. Since then I’ve switched to a lighter dressing.
3lbs of carrots is only 360 calories, but there’s NO WAY I could eat 3lbs of carrots.
The cheese I agree with…it’s not the best thing when trying to lose weight, however I’ve already cut out so many other “bad” things, I’m keeping cheese in my diet for now because I like the flavor. I do need to cut down on it though, I agree.
Avoid cheese if you need to lose weight. You are only doing your diet half assed if you are still leaving in fat heavy cheese and dressing.
Hi Tyler,
I’m a fitness coach, and I have an advice for you.
Instead of running 1 hour, just run 30 min intervanl running : Run slow for 40 seconds, then sprint for 20 seconds, then run slow 40 seconds, etc…
You will burn far more calories.
An other tip : 15 min of jumping rope = 1 hour of jogging…
Good luck!
Jumping rope won’t do any good if your uncoordinated like I am, I gave it a try the other day when I was at the gym, just because I saw a rope lying around. Fairly embarrassing.
I still maintain that getting some weight training in there is gonna make a huge difference for you, give it a try!
I can’t do any high intensity workouts because of my heart condition – I have a mitral valve prolapse.
Congrats on the progress. Be careful not to replace badminton with your run. You have to make sure you continue to do things that are fun and enjoyable. That is the key, otherwise you will stop doing them after the challenge is over.
Bryan
Well that’s the thing. The one badminton club I go to is hardly fun anymore as the skill level there has greatly diminished…
Maybe you just need to recruit more friends to go out to badminton with you. Or maybe you could ask the good Sunday competition why they don’t come other days.
This contest gives me lots of great tips to lose weight in little time, not to mention that it gives a sense of excitement as to who would win.
You make me wanna diet too Tyler, I’m getting fatter these days as I was busy with my studies and day job. Seems that I’m going to diet soon, or I may find a friend and make deal with him like your and Paul. It’s something really can push us to diet.
6 pounds to go, keep it up Tyler!
Regards,
Lee
I’m rooting for you Tyler, but maybe Paul is covering his salad with nonfat, unsweetened plain yogurt? If not, he should be, because it has a taste similar to sour cream but only has about 90 calories per six ounces.
Keep up the good work Tyler. Are you going to cut anything else out of your diet?
As someone who’s married to a personal trainer, I can tell you that you’re going about this entirely the wrong way. (And Paul seems to be lost as well)
Where is your weight training?? 49 days to lose 6lbs?! No HIIT? (Ok, heart condition withstanding, how about stairs instead of the lake?)
Well, it sounds like that you both are doing great. Here comes a tip to loose weight like mad and for good: Just eat ONLY salads, vegetables, vegetables/bean soups, fruits galore and drink water or unsweetened tea. NO sugar, NO DIARY, NO MEAT and NO WHEAT NO BREAD and NO FISH for the next weeks and you will loose the remaining pounds like mad!!!! Try it. You just need to have some self discipline. You can eat as much as you want from the stuff I told you before!! Huge portions of salads or veggies or soup!!! You can eat the whole day the stuff and you will loose weight. I hope this helps. 🙂
Hi guys,
I’m surprised to hear that you only lost 1 pound in the last 9 days. That’s not really good. If you haven’t already. Try the grapefruit diet for breakfast,vwhich is one boiled egg, a cup of white grapefruit juice and 2 slices of bacon. This is suppose to cut the fat. Good Luck!!!
You are doing pretty good, keep it up, and the 600 will be yours!
Looking good Tyler! By the looks of it, you will be making your side of the weight loss, for the second year in a row 😀 w00t!
I picked up some useful tips from those pictures of Paul Piotrowski’s diet foods. I thought all non-veg was to be avoided while dieting but seafood seems to be ok. That’s great, as I love prawns and they’ll make a great substitute for the red meat I love.
Hope you win that $600, Tyler. 😀
Till then,
Jean
Right on Tyler! I have been pretty unsuccessful when it comes to my methods of weight loss. I think I need a motivational bet to get it going as well. Keep on truckin’!
This is a great idea! The idea of having to give $600 to a cause that you are absolutely against if you don’t follow through with your goals is also good idea. Do you ever watch Biggest Loser? Its pretty motivating!
Congrats on the new record. I hope that you will win. Ribs sound good right now. Keep your head up, because I think that you can do it!
Go Tyler!
Weightlifting wont make you lose weight, that’s wrong because it will make you hungry and tempt you into drinking protein stuff and all that. Plus, there are a lot of weightlifting powders with weird ingredients that are really bad for your heart.
Running is the best way to lose weight but you have to be healthy enough to run or you could be putting yourself at risk. Try walking at 120-135 step per minute for 30 minutes instead of running. Increase your steps per minute to increase the difficulty. Also, buy a heart monitor watch if you are afraid to have a heart attack and monitor your heartbeat while you excercise. Get your heart rate into the weight loss zone without killing yourself and if you see it getting freaky at least you have a nurse with you. 🙂
Wow, way to misinform the public. This couldn’t be further from the truth!
Building and maintaining muscle burns calories, and unlike cardio, this burn happens throughout the day – Not just when you’re working out.
Chicken, tuna, whey protein – There are plenty of protein sources out there that are good for you. And it’s not bad for your heart, I don’t know what you’re talking about. 🙁
Agreed, I have no idea why you think that about proteins, Sunfrog. A dietitian friend of mine tells me that chicken or fish, especially cooked in water medium, like poaching or boiling is nothing but 100% nutritious. There’s nothing wrong with consuming more proteins while on a weight-loss diet.
Till then,
Jean
Way to go tyler,
Healthy living is definitely a good way to go. Not only for your body, but your mind and spirit as well.
I also recommend vegetable smoothies. I noticed myself get leaner when I took them for a week.
nicely done, keep on going mate
It sounds like your ‘reward’ is self defeating. You had the energy to run more, yet you took the easy way out. If that is how you are going to approach this contest, I don’t think you will reach your goal.
I picked up some useful tips from those pictures of Paul Piotrowski’s diet foods.Healthy living is definitely a good way to go.Running is the best way to lose weight but you have to be healthy enough to run or you could be putting yourself at risk.
I know they are vegetables, but they still require time and effort for your body to process.
Those dishes actually look pretty tasty!
Any chance of you getting `next` and `previous` buttons for easier navigation on your posts? just a thought!
Hmm… not a bad idea. I wrote it down on possible things to do in the future 🙂
I’m trying this weight loss program. Thanks 🙂