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Awesome job Campy (and company)...
Male, 6Ft.
As of late June of last year I was over 250 lbs. I started putting weight on in grad school - 20 years ago (I'm old). 2 kids, a divorce, lots of drinking and a demanding extremely sedentary career (with expense account) later it was XXL t-shirts and 40 inch pants for me.
I'd been a cyclist much of my life but had been away from it for about 10 years until I met my seriosa 7 years ago. She's really into it and though I found myself riding a lot and even doing several century rides (100 miles) I never lost more than about 15 lbs.
I realized that at my age, exercise just wasn't going to get it done. This was becoming a problem as the seriosa has the physique of T2 Sarah Conner.
Her trainer had her on a modified version of the 17 day diet. After months of foot dragging, I finally read the damned book, and here is what I found:
You get a list of food.
You eat as much of the food on the list as you want.
You count and keep track of almost nothing.
Exercise is minimal.
It supposedly works fast.
It's low fat, lots of lean meats and veggies, restricted carbs that get reintroduced.
I'm a good cook and knew I could do a lot with the choices on the list(s).
My goal was to get to 210
I lost 12 lbs in the first 17 days.
I started exercising again - slowly at first..
I allowed myself some off-plan items - half and half for coffee, a bit more drinking than allowed.
I got to 210 at the beginning of September and thought 'why stop'?
I mostly stayed on the diet during a 3 week trip to Europe in September (Including 2 weeks in Italy - that was kind of hard) - though I drank my face off and ate drunk food at Oktoberfest...
I got to 200 in Late October.
Riding the bike was getting a *lot* easier.
I got to 190 by November
I took over an hour off my best time for a 100 mile ride I do every year in November.
Since then I've been able to really train on the bike. I'm signed up for all of the challenging rides here in Colorado that I thought I would never be able to do.
I do some weights and a BodyPump class each week.
My training log says I did 700 indoor/outdoor miles on the bike last month.
I had to get all new clothes - twice. I bought nice stuff this last go-round.
As of today, I weigh 186. One pound less than when I graduated from High School. I don't think of it as a diet any more - it's just a lifestyle now.
Not every diet works for everyone, but this one was perfect for me and has helped many friends. The book is about 10 bucks. Healthy food in general costs more than the dollar menu. The pic is me in November... According to a pal I was riding with - shortly before this shot we were cruising at over 40mph.
And yes, Campy, as you stated, pretty much everything is better when you are thin (and feel better about yourself).
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