Getting Started

Take a sledgehammer and wrap an old sweater around it. This is your "shovelglove." Every week day morning, set a timer for 14 minutes. Use the shovelglove to perform shoveling, butter churning, and wood chopping motions until the timer goes off. Stop. Rest on weekends and holidays. Baffled? Intrigued? Charmed? Discuss here.
Post Reply
phillamb168
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:49 pm
Location: New York, NY

Getting Started

Post by phillamb168 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 4:13 pm

Hi all,

I first purchased my sledge (12 pounds, fiberglass handle) back in the summer after finding out about the workout from lifehacker. I had been paying a rather large fee to not go to a gym in TriBeCa - a gym where everybody was already in shape, with me being the sole exception. Not exactly a good motivator. Anyway, I let the membership expire, and with my second wedding (her parents are in France, and can't fly over here, so we're having another one outside of Paris) coming up on April 18th, I want to put myself into better shape.

I've been more-or-less following the No-S diet (can't remember if sweet fruits - oranges, etc - count as "sweet" or not), but it hasn't been working for me - not much of a loss in terms of weight or BMI, even though I live in NYC and walk -everywhere-.

My vital statistics:

25, 5'8", 29% Body fat, 250 pounds.

Goal, April 18:

20% body fat(?), 210 pounds.

I realize this seems like a pretty big goal, but I'd like to try it.

Here's a question, though: when I was in college, during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years I lost about 30 pounds from cycling. I'd bike about 10 miles a day, pretty decent clip, about 40-50 minutes total, monday-friday. Thing is, I ate -horribly-: a pint of ben & jerry's ice cream every night, no breakfast, and deep dish pizza, etc for lunch and dinner. Is it possible that my metabolism is different from most peoples'? That it doesn't matter what I eat, so long as I get a LOT of exercise? As I said, I've been following the no-S diet for a while now, to no avail.

I'm hoping that incorporating my shovelglove for 14 minutes in the morning plus whatever I can eek out in the evening will help, but I'd love to hear more input from other people. Anybody else experienced this sort of weird metabolic thing?

ezuk
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 10:55 am

Re: Getting Started

Post by ezuk » Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:57 pm

phillamb168 wrote: Anybody else experienced this sort of weird metabolic thing?
First of all, welcome, and good luck!

Second: I actually have anecdotal evidence from the food side of things (rather than exercise).

Back in 2004/5, I did Herbalife for a few months (I think around 10 months, maybe a year).

It was pretty extreme: I used to eat one meal a day (usually lunch), and the rest was shakes and snacks. The meal was pretty crappy, usually. Nothing very nutritious.

I did no exercise at all (_nothing_). I did walk a bit, but just from home to work and back. Maybe it was bicycle (10 mins each way).

Anyways, long story short, I went from 171 lbs to around 127 at my lowest. That's almost a third of my body weight.

I'm not saying it was healthy. Rather, what I'm saying is that I think when you stick with something kind-of-extreme (such as cycling a lot or doing Herbalife) for a few months, you're bound to see some results.

Needless to say, I gained a lot of that weight back. It took me a couple of years, but I did. So I don't think "getting results" is the real challenge. It's maintaining them for years and years that counts.

Herbalife was definitely not something I could stick with for years and years.

phillamb168
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:49 pm
Location: New York, NY

Re: Getting Started

Post by phillamb168 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:01 pm

ezuk wrote: I did no exercise at all (_nothing_). I did walk a bit, but just from home to work and back. Maybe it was bicycle (10 mins each way).

Anyways, long story short, I went from 171 lbs to around 127 at my lowest. That's almost a third of my body weight.
Well, what I meant was that I've changed my diet quite a bit - no more ice cream, mostly fruits & veg, maybe a glass of wine every now and then, and less than 8 oz of meat a day. But I haven't lost anything, and this change in diet occurred about five months ago. Remember that I stay relatively active - probably walking two miles a day or so, just because I live in the city. I'm just confused as to why I'm not seeing -anything-.

ezuk
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 10:55 am

Re: Getting Started

Post by ezuk » Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:19 pm

phillamb168 wrote: Well, what I meant was that I've changed my diet quite a bit - no more ice cream, mostly fruits & veg, maybe a glass of wine every now and then, and less than 8 oz of meat a day. But I haven't lost anything, and this change in diet occurred about five months ago. Remember that I stay relatively active - probably walking two miles a day or so, just because I live in the city. I'm just confused as to why I'm not seeing -anything-.
This is getting to be more about nutrition than exercise, but I can tell you what I've noticed for myself.

For the past few months, I have been keeping a food log. I have also been weighing myself every morning, and graphing the results.

Every now and then, I analyze the log and see what I've been eating on days (and weeks) during/after which I lost weight, and what caused me to gain.

This is good, because it's very specific. It's not a generic method -- it's really personalized.

What I've found out, for myself, is that the time matters more than the type of food. If I eat too late in the evening, I almost always gain or maintain.

If I stop eating early enough in the day, I lose.

Another example: On almost 100% of the days where I start my morning with cereal (as opposed to an omelet), I either gain or maintain. Same for days when I eat hummus at any time of the day.

Conversely, I can eat a huge plate of pasta at lunch, and keep losing weight. Go figure. This is not a one-time conclusion, but is based on multiple days.

I also monitor my own coffee intake (write down when I drink coffee) and my sleep/wakeup times.

To me -- this is what works, and this is the best answer for all of these things I've been puzzling over. I have been steadily losing weight for the past few months (I actually posted my graph here, you can search for my name in the forums).

So, maybe it's not such a great answer, but I think sometimes we tend to oversimplify, and there is no substitute for plain old dedication and observation. :)

User avatar
gratefuldeb67
Posts: 6256
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:26 pm
Location: Great Neck, NY

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:33 pm

Phil, good luck. I hope you get to your goal.. I do caution you tho, as you have mentioned yourself, that your time frame is a bit of a stretch..
Why would you want to set yourself up for a quick gain back? That happens.
I strongly suggest that you keep your goal in sight, but realistically, with NoS at least, as opposed to a crash/starvation/extreme diet (which nobody sticks to long term.. look at the Biggest loser follow up stories a few years after the show was over... really sad :( )
I would say it's possibly realistic to expect 20 lbs down in that amount of time, and I'm basing that on the amount of weight Reinhard lost in his first two months. .
He then took a whole year to lose the other 20 lbs..
He's kept it off for over six years now..
I'd say he's a model example to follow.
And remember, the *only* person you really need to lose weight for is yourself. Doing it to look better or whatever than those other guys at the gym is a poor motivator.. This is because, if you shift the focus to others and comparisons of yourself to them, you never make peace with yourself.. There will always be someone thinner, richer, etc etc..
And when I say "you" I mean all of us here.
Sorry for the mini rant, but I know what I speak of cos I been there and done that, and I had enough..
That's why I thank God for NoS.. It's not a quick fix. It's real and it's sustainable for life.
I hope you have a wonderful Wedding and enjoy Paris!!
Peace,
Debs
ps.. Ezuk, Argh!! Herbalife!!! I did that too for a while. Trust me, it's the pills that did everything.. That is, till they became illegal for killing some kids who had heart attacks from taking them.
I kinda like the peace of mind that nobody has ever died from NoS :)
Not even on an S day! LOL
There is no Wisdom greater than Kindness

phillamb168
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:49 pm
Location: New York, NY

Post by phillamb168 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:35 pm

A follow-up question: is there data on the average amount of time spent on No-S (or equivalents) before seeing results? I feel like five months is a long time to not see anything.

ezuk
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 10:55 am

Post by ezuk » Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:38 pm

gratefuldeb67 wrote: ps.. Ezuk, Argh!! Herbalife!!! I did that too for a while. Trust me, it's the pills that did everything.. That is, till they became illegal for killing some kids who had heart attacks from taking them.
I kinda like the peace of mind that nobody has ever died from NoS :)
Not even on an S day! LOL
Totally, Debs... It just _felt_ unhealthy. That's mainly why I quit. I never really did the pills, only the shakes and bars -- but eventually I got this nagging feeling that I'm depleting my body of something important and would grow to regret it, so I quit.

User avatar
gratefuldeb67
Posts: 6256
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:26 pm
Location: Great Neck, NY

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:44 pm

Phil, just try it for a while and see how you do.
I'm fairly sure that if you truly stick to three meals per day and don't go overboard on S days, that you will see weight loss before five months.
People here have all had different experiences.
If you really want to see if NoS works or not, then take the "More or less" factor out of your equation, and make a NoS HabitCal and one for exercise on N days, whatever that is.. (ps.. if you weight train, you gain muscle and that's heavier so can screw up your numbers.. take measurements in this case to track progress)
I didn't see any results this last year till I got very very strict with myself.
This is because NoS is designed more to be like a "maintenance" way of eating.. There isn't a lot of leeway if you are fudging the rules.
It's very easy to eat a little too much and not really know it, unless you keep track of yourself. HabitCal is great.
Again, good luck!
8) Debs
There is no Wisdom greater than Kindness

User avatar
bluebunny27
Posts: 831
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:07 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada

;-)

Post by bluebunny27 » Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:13 pm

Losing that kind of weight in such a short amount of time is difficult but possible ... I am doing it right now. I weighed 280 pounds on nov. 1st 2008 and now 3 months later I weigh 245. Nearly 12 pounds a month, average.

I'm on the No S, Shovelgloving and also doing cardio regularly, this means training about 45 minutes to an hour nearly every day for the past 3 months.

I plan on keeping this up until nov. 1st 2009, and losing 90 pounds in all, during that year's worth of time. Many people have already noticed i have lost some weight so don't give up,. maybe you should have given yourself an extra month to help you achieve your goal of course.

Tip, don't weigh yourself too often, i only weigh mysel once every 2 weeks, so i am happy with results, when i see I weigh 6 pounds less after 2 weeks, instead of being annoyed on a daily basis if i gained half a pound that particular day;.

User avatar
gratefuldeb67
Posts: 6256
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:26 pm
Location: Great Neck, NY

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:38 pm

Wow Marc! That's awesome news!!
Congratulations!!!
Keep it up!
8) Debs
There is no Wisdom greater than Kindness

User avatar
reinhard
Site Admin
Posts: 5918
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:38 pm
Location: Cambridge, MA
Contact:

Post by reinhard » Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:50 pm

phillamb168,
s there data on the average amount of time spent on No-S (or equivalents) before seeing results? I feel like five months is a long time to not see anything.
I think on average no-s is pretty slow, though some people (like me!) have lost quickly. The crude rule of thumb I like to quote (from Brain Wansink) for setting expectations for sustainable weight loss is half a pound a week, but that's not based on no-s specific data. And it'll most like come in spurts and plateaus instead of a steady trickle.

Were you gaining before? If no-s arrested gain, that's something, at least. A pretty significant something, actually.

I'd say if you feel like you're eating moderately with no-s and you like the way you're eating, then keep at it more or less unmodified. Perhaps you might want to go from "more or less" to precise literal compliance (habitcal is helpful for keeping you focused on this). It could be that little nudge is all you need to start pushing into negative territory. What I wouldn't do is pile on restrictive, unmaintainable rules for the sake of rapid progress. If you feel like it really isn't quite enough, see the no s mods thread for (relatively) low risk ways to build on a vanilla no-s habit.

Certainly if you start shugging on top of that you should see movement. But I would be wary of setting overambitious goals. You do not want to injure yourself, and you do not want to burn out after a few weeks. Yes, it would be nice to be thin and fit for your wedding, but don't risk the far longer (let's hope) "till death do you part" stretch for that. I'd say forget the results goals altogether and focus on simple, behavioral compliance. Did you abide by the no-s rules this N-day? Did you do your 14 minutes? Etc.

marcdesbiens,
Losing that kind of weight in such a short amount of time is difficult but possible ... I am doing it right now. I weighed 280 pounds on nov. 1st 2008 and now 3 months later I weigh 245. Nearly 12 pounds a month, average.
That is VERY impressive! Congratulations and thanks for letting us know.

Reinhard

User avatar
bluebunny27
Posts: 831
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:07 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada

;-)

Post by bluebunny27 » Sat Jan 31, 2009 1:26 am

I am a bit taller than the original poster, 5'11" but I weighed more as well, so it evens up. We must have similar 'frames' ... :-)

it's quite hard to lose weight of course but the progress is slow and steady either way so don't give up after training hard for 2-3 days ! I imagine if he's not losing much weight, he's doing something wrong, either eating too much or not exercising long/hard enough .. or both ... Anyway I noticed big changes after only one month of training personally, stronger and not as often would I be out of breath going up stairs for example.

So far so good for me. Before starting this I planned a whole year in advance. I was planning on losing 35 pounds during the first 3 months, 30 pounds during the next 4 months and 25 pounds during the next 5 months ... Total, 90 pounds, 12 months/1 year. That would be ideal, but even if I only lost 70-75 pounds I'd be mighty too of course.

I am right on schedule after the first 3 months now and I plan to keep this going too, even after I'm done losing weight, maybe not as intense since I know I won't ever be really skinny, 170-175 pounds ... but just seeing a '1' as the first number on the scale would be great, since it hasn't happened to me in 10-12 years probably ... ;-)

I am watching what I eat, of course sometimes I slip up a bit but it's never a long/extreme slide, just one day where I cheat a lil' bit and then the next day I am right back on track again. Same with the exercise, I've only missed a few days without exercising since nov. 1st 2008 ... and when I started I could only work out for 10 minutes in all.

Now I work the sledgehammer in the morning and do some cardio exercises in the evenings while watching TV. 40-50-60 minutes total every day so it adds up in the long run.

Marc ;-)

User avatar
bluebunny27
Posts: 831
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:07 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada

;-)

Post by bluebunny27 » Sat Jan 31, 2009 1:52 am

Quick reply, maybe the original poster would lose more weight if he did cardio exercises as well, not just the SG routine. I'm not an expert, just talkin' about my own experience.

I've lost 35 pounds in the past 3 months but I am doing the cardio daily too, not just the SG. To lose weight more quickly, it's important to have your heart rate around 140bpm for at least 20 minutes straight, less if you're a beginner ... now I can do 50 minutes straight easy, compared to 10 in the beginning ... big improvement and nice weight loss too.

Try doing jumping jacks for 14 minutes straight ... you do those 30 seconds, you rest 30 seconds ... rinse and repeat 14 times ... that's how I started my cardio workout, with jumping jacks. If you can't do 30 seconds, start with 20 seconds, resting 40 seconds .. anyway that worked for me in the beginning. Then I added other cardio exercises, but I started with J-Jacks first.

You can do those in the basement or outside, if you have downstairs neighbours they might not appreciate this much ! :-)

.... Or try jogging outside if you prefer ... bring your watch, you run 30 seconds, you walk 30 ... rinse and repeat 14 times.

Post Reply