Long Haul seat question

[El Toro Rosso]

Since this has turned toward the health issues, I thought I'd share my story. I lost about a pound a week for over two years by not being on a diet. I just stopped doing stupid stuff that everyone knows is bad for you. I stopped ordering the 22 ounce steak and started ordering the 8 to 10 ounce steak. I stopped ordering the loaded baked potato and went with the plain baked potato. I cut out sodium to the extent that I could. I stopped drinking carbonated beverages, including those with artificial sweeteners. Basically, I went toward fresh foods, and I started looking at the sodium and the caloric content before eating. I also discovered that chocolate was a trigger for my acid reflux, so I stopped eating chocolate.

It took over a year before I felt good enough to begin exercising, and I started slowly by walking. I had a bad left ankle and a bad right knee, so I figured that the walking wouldn't be long term - but I had to try.

I was surprised that I was able to work up from maybe 5 minutes of walking to 5 miles of walking within just a couple of months. I then decided to try our stationary bicycle. I'd bought it a long time ago (a commercial gym quality bike due to my need for a very high weight rating), but I'd abandoned it because of my knee issues.

I adjusted the seat, and cut the level down from the highest level to level 11 (out of 16). I started with 10 minutes, and eventually worked up to 80 minutes.

I got tired of just riding the bike and walking, so I bought a Water Rower rowing machine to get more upper body work. The Rowing machine was very difficult to use at first, and I started out with the goal of 5 minutes of rowing. I eventually worked up to 40 minutes of rowing. I ride the bike every other day. I walk and row on the alternate days.

So ... I am not on a diet. I have just changed my lifestyle. I am in the third year of this transition and I've lost over 140 pounds. I am not on a diet because, when you are on a diet, you eventually go off your diet, and then you eventually fall back into the bad habits that put you squarely at a sedentary 340 pounds a few years earlier.

People ask if I have a goal, and I always say no. I believe that if I continue to follow this lifestyle, I ought to eventually reach the so-called normal weight range. At 340 I was morbidly obese, but under the body mass guidelines, I was still in the obese category at 203 pounds. Now I am just "overweight." My target normal weight range is around 170 at the high end.

If weight continues to drop at the rate of about a pound a week, I should be there before the end of this calendar year, and then I'll have to see how things continue after that. When people comment on the weight loss, I observe that on my present trajectory, I'm scheduled to disappear entirely in about 4 more years.

To anyone who is considering an attempt at weight loss, as a person who has "successfully lost many hundreds of pounds in their lifetime, but always gained it back after the diet," I can offer the advice that you should not go on a diet. Just change your lifestyle. Find out what is wrong with your eating and your physical habits, and then work slowly toward changing these things.

If it hurts to exercise, just do it a little bit. Try to figure out why it hurts. Make small changes to try to get away from the hurt. My left ankle and right knee are better than they've ever been, and I have exercise to thank for that.

Life is a lot better in the overweight category than it is in the morbidly obese category.

Edit: I should add that I was able to get rid of the gout medicine, the acid reflux medicine, and the blood pressure medicine, as well as the anti-inflammatory medicines. My blood pressure is low and my resting pulse rate is typically around 50, down from over 80 during my sedentary 340 pound days.

 

[1BigDog]

Just to clarify some stuff I had Lap Band surgery about 5 years ago and it worked for a while. I managed to drop close to 100 lbs but as I got older and my arthritis really kicked in the weight crept back on. Im a truck driver by profession but for the last year I have been in the dispatch office where I am pretty sedentary. Ill be back on the truck in a few weeks and be a bit more active. But you all have good points and I appreciate the comments. I do have a pretty well stocked gym in my garage and I may just have to kick my wife off of the equipment and start my own program. I do like the Long Haul seat so ill probably keep it around.

 

[El Toro Rosso]

I do have a pretty well stocked gym in my garage and I may just have to kick my wife off of the equipment and start my own program. I do like the Long Haul seat so ill probably keep it around.

This is similar to our situation. My wife has diligently stuck to using the exercise equipment since I brought it home several years ago. She adopted the rowing machine as soon as it came too.

We have to coordinate our use, and sometimes this is a pain. It's good to have at least two devices so that you don't have to "wait" for the other person to finish.

Work gets in the way of exercise too. My job is very stressful at times, and during these times of higher stress, it is difficult to stick to good habits. By weighing every day, and making a serious effort to stay "clean," I have managed so far to keep on a good trajectory. As soon as I think I'm "off the diet," I'm screwed. I guarantee that. It can't be a diet. It has to be a new way of life.

Hang in there, and remember that every small victory is a victory. Even if you don't lose any weight, that's better than gaining more weight. If I'd not made the changes in my habits, I think I could easily be approaching 400 pounds today.

 

[cr0ft]

Just to clarify some stuff I had Lap Band surgery about 5 years ago and it worked for a while. I managed to drop close to 100 lbs but as I got older and my arthritis really kicked in the weight crept back on.

That's the problem with lap band or any other surgery; if the patient thinks that that alone will do squat, he's going to eventually regain all the weight. It has to be a lifestyle change, and it is just as hard to do with lap band surgery as without - you just get a push at the start that you use to learn to eat right. Relying on the surgery alone leads to eating ever larger portions, which leads to the stomach stretching out, which eventually leads back to where you started. Except you had surgery which in itself has a 2% mortality rating to learn that. :/

Gotta skip as many carbs and sugars as possible, and dial back on the amounts of everything else, and add exercise, and then make that the new normal, otherwise it's not going to work out.

 

[cr0ft]

I was surprised that I was able to work up from maybe 5 minutes of walking to 5 miles of walking within just a couple of months. I then decided to try our stationary bicycle. I'd bought it a long time ago (a commercial gym quality bike due to my need for a very high weight rating), but I'd abandoned it because of my knee issues.

I adjusted the seat, and cut the level down from the highest level to level 11 (out of 16). I started with 10 minutes, and eventually worked up to 80 minutes.

The human body is made to be used, not just left to go to seed. It is indeed amazing how relatively quickly one can increase the amount of exercise and how easily what first seemed hard becomes easy, moving the goal posts out to longer times. The first time I tried a cross trainer I could do 3 minutes and then my legs where done; from there to 30 minutes didn't take more than a few weeks.

Hang in there, and remember that every small victory is a victory. Even if you don't lose any weight, that's better than gaining more weight. If I'd not made the changes in my habits, I think I could easily be approaching 400 pounds today.

Another thing about exercise is that studies show that even people who are obese can lower their risk of death to levels only slightly above the levels of a normal weight person if they exercise, ie "fat but fit". Of course "fit" is a debatable term for someone 300+ lb but if the cardiovascular system is in decent order that helps immensely even if the weight stays on. Though of course the best way to go is to lose that, too.

 

[1BigDog]

The lap band is not a permanent thing. I can have it removed any time I choose, unlike a gastric bypass. The band works great when I eat the proper foods, especially the clean food plan that I am now back on. It does what it is supposed to do and restrict the intake. That being said, if I decide to eat 35 fried shrimp it slides right through like a waterfall. Go figure that one out. As far as my cardiovascular system goes I have no high blood pressure, not even elevated. I dont smoke and maybe have an occasional drink. But I do love my carbs. My only real issue is my arthritis. So....I have my work cut out for me......

 

[Elvis]

I just picked up the solo long haul seat with the long haul passenger section along with the back rest. Im a big guy, coming in at 350 lbs. I am finding that the seat now pushes me forward a bit, making it a bit harder to get my feet up on the floorboards. Part of that issue is the fact that I have a nice titanium right knee and the left one will be replaced next January. Im wondering if any of you big guys have had the same issue, being pushed forward. I really like this seat. Its real comfy but there are not too many options out there for the Tourer.

Ok, so I know that the weight thing is part of the problem but thats being addressed so I can have that left knee surgery so you can take that off your "suggestion" list.......

I bought one of these from a member here, I too am 350lbs and was being pushed forward as well. My solo seat had a place for a backrest so I had my local seat guy take my pan and remover that mounting hole, refoam and cover my seat.

So when out bought the touring seat I had the same thing done to it and it is much better and more comfortable.

I think I bought that seat from Rainman, can't remember. Anyway I posted a picture of it here. I will look for it

Found it:

http://www.r3owners.net/threads/hey-rainman-seat-is-fine.15159/

 

[El Toro Rosso]

The lap band is not a permanent thing. I can have it removed any time I choose, unlike a gastric bypass. The band works great when I eat the proper foods, especially the clean food plan that I am now back on. It does what it is supposed to do and restrict the intake. That being said, if I decide to eat 35 fried shrimp it slides right through like a waterfall. Go figure that one out. As far as my cardiovascular system goes I have no high blood pressure, not even elevated. I dont smoke and maybe have an occasional drink. But I do love my carbs. My only real issue is my arthritis. So....I have my work cut out for me......

I looked into the various bariatric surgery options. Lap band and gastric bypass were the two I was considering. My personal physician suggested that I could go to a seminar being held by one of the local surgeons specializing in these procedures.

Instead I dug around a bit and, although I can't vouch for the data I uncovered since I did not do a formal academic study, I can say that it appeared to me that about 50% of the business of the surgeons who do this sort of work is repeat business. First the patient has one procedure, and then a few years later, the patient is back for a further lick. It appears that many of us have trouble with the lifestyle aspect of this stuff. One of the articles I read was focused on Chris Christie. Another on Al Roker. The definition of success for these surgeons is something like "if the patient loses half the weight they need to lose, the procedure has been a success." I guess that sort of ties to the idea I shared above that if you aren't losing weight, you're probably still gaining weight.

My other observation is that your experience, i.e. you appear to have good health aside from the obesity, is the same as my experience, right up to the point where I was in my late 50's. I was the poster boy for the idea that you could be obese and not have any other obvious health problems (except for the acid reflux which seemed more tied to job stress than to eating).

When I hit the late 50's, I stopped being able to cash those fat checks, and started down the hill with assorted other long term medicines.

At age 60, I finally had to face the fact that it would be necessary to either alter my lifestyle or be on a variety of meds, and fight assorted maladies for the rest of my days.

When people ask, I tell them that I can't take any credit for the lifestyle change. For years the food fought back slowly. In the end, the food started fighting back quickly, and I had to make changes, or give up and accept the consequences.

I can't tell you how many rewards there are for the weight loss. Being morbidly obese has many downsides that you don't even realize you're being subjected to. Every aspect of life eventually improves. The most dramatic changes for me did not really start to show up until I'd come down nearly 100 pounds and started exercising again. That was over a year after I'd started the eating habit changes.

So .... from my point of view, it seems like commitment is the number one issue. And then, after commitment comes patience. And then perseverance. And the whole thing is driven by the idea that there is NO DIET. You're just developing new long term habits.

Because of my health insurance plan, I am forced to participate in a health coaching activity. This started after I was already on my new regime. Every six weeks one of the health coaches calls me, compliments me on my progress and asks for my new goals. My response is always that I have no goals. They don't like this, and they probably write something down to reflect what they think my goals should be. But goals are just something that leads to disappointment when they're not achieved. Better to fight little battles, like staying away from sodium, forcing yourself to exercise even when you're "too tired," avoiding acid reflux triggers, and the like. Those are the goals. If I pursue these goals, the weight just keeps coming off, at a rate of about a pound or so a week.

It's not linear though. Sometimes I'll go 3 weeks with no loss, and then the next week 4 pounds will drop off and won't come back. The body does not respond instantly to anything. It takes a while for both the good and the bad to have their effect.

 

[1BigDog]

El Toro, you got a good handle on this. Our situations are very similar. I do know a lifestyle change is whats needed. Not an easy task. I have been seeing a dietician who specializes in eating clean and when I do follow her advice it works great. Thats what I am back doing right now. I also agree on the commitment part. Thats the deal breaker some time. Right now im committed so ill see how that goes. However, there are some days that I feel that I should be committed........ill leave the rest of that one alone....


Elvis, nice looking seat and bike. My problem is that I need a back rest. So ill have the one from Utopia with a set-back installed for now and if things improve then I can mount the Long Haul seat later on if need be.

 

[cr0ft]

I have had solid success with monitoring what I eat precisely, via software. But then again I'm a bit of a nerd so tracking my progress and calorie intake comes naturally. It's a bit fiddly at first to enter what you eat into the software in my phone, but it does give a really great insight into what exactly you eat and where the calories come from. Not necessarily for a diet, but as a way to fine-tune the lifestyle change, if you will. As long as one enters all the info unflinchingly it really helps to see what one might cut out. For instance, a few cookies can be the thing that puts you over the top to see no weight loss that day (the difference between loss, no loss and gain is frequently not that large.) Tracking exercise in the same app helps too, you see how much you use. But that's no substitute for a decision to actually effect that life style change.