My Workout Journey

I'm not one to really talk about things like this but wanted somewhere to keep a personal journal and something that can kick start me anytime I decide to slip up. I'm not looking for encouragement and don't like the self promotion "here's me" type of stuff. This isn't easy to type but I hope it's therapeutic. I'm going to pull no punches and I'll share the ups, downs, and anything in between within the walls of this post.

Little background: I'm 31 years old, almost 32 with a wife and a 2 1/2 year old little girl. Was always a bit overweight as a kid - had to take lots of steroids as a kid that helped contribute to that. Also, had tons of lung problems as a small child and between both lungs I have they function about like I have a little better than one good one. So that has always been against me a little bit. I was 300+ pounds coming out of High School and then decided to do something about it. Was in college and only had a car payment to worry about so went to the gym and kicked myself into shape.

I think I done fairly good........went from about 305 to 235:







Then I got a little complacent and quit working out so hard. I stayed in pretty good shape but wasn't killing myself like I was at one time. I managed to break my right ankle, twice (3rd and 4th total time broken) the same summer. After the first break I was back in the gym late summer and getting back in shape again then bang I done it again. I hurt (boo hoo) and pushing my ankle absolutely killed me. It locked up - ached - and I was just giving up.

I got complacent and started gaining a bunch of weight back. Bad eating habits and no exercise after I got a real job and got married set me back. No excuses - I'm disgusted with myself for how far it went sideways.

I'm now nearly 32 like I mentioned before and now have had a 5th and 6th broken right ankle since then as well as a broken left ankle 2 years ago. I have to face reality. I am now a mind numbing 380 pounds. Somehow because I've tried to do light exercise here and there and play pickup ball and do "some" general exercising from time to time I have maintained only a 46 inch waist. You can look at me and I look fat of course - and I feel fat. I don't like where I'm at in my life and it's unfair for my wife and daughter but I'm also selling myself short in this whole stupid situation.

You can think how in the he## can you get to 380? Very poor diet - eating way too much fast food - little self control and the feeling you can't do anything about it. Well, without having to pick up a self help book or see a psychiatrist I know that's complete and total bull%(# and the only one at the end of the day I have to blame is myself and I CAN do something about it.

We recently moved from our 2 bedroom home into a new 5 bedroom house and I decided to turn one of the guest bedrooms into a home gym. Lately my biggest "excuse" is that I don't have time to go to the gym between two jobs, taking and picking up my little girl from the babysitter, and home life in general. I have moved into a location where the nearest gym from the house is 30 minutes away - that much is true. So, I'm bringing the gym to me. I can at least do that much..........and have no excuses anymore.

I have ordered a Smooth 8.0 CE Elliptical Machine which should be here by this coming weekend. I always done well on ellipticals and they are much easier on my ankles than running or traditional treadmills. My ankles would be grateful I'm sure if I would lose the weight I desire - it's hard for them to carry around my fat ass. They are shot - but that's not an excuse to not exercise. This past fall I went to the gym for about 2 months before I moved and lost about 20 pounds - that I have since put 15 back on - but I could tell a big difference after I got through those first couple of weeks of excruciating pain in my ankles they started to strengthen back up. Anyway, after we moved I quit going to the gym due to inconvenience but should have found some way to not stop.

I don't want this to be a yo-yo diet deal. I'm seriously changing the way I eat, live, my outlook on life. I've been very EMBARRASSED to speak about this to anyone. Sure, you can see I'm overweight and I know it - I may not be the brightest bulb in the house but I know I have to change the way I live for myself and my family. I got into good shape before and can look at those photos above and know that I can get there again. It will be much harder now that I'm 8 years older, have much more responsibilities, etc. but it will be worth it in the end and I will appreciate it much more than I ever did before.

Besides the Elliptical that is coming I also ordered the Ironmaster Adjustable Weight Dummbell Set. Two dummbells that go from 5-75 pounds each should do me fine for awhile. Those photos above - when I went from 300+ to 235 - all I done was elliptical exercises, dummbell exercises, and eating better. So, I know that's all I really need in order to get myself back on the right track. I don't expect this to be a quick process but a process that will slowly transform me from what I am now back to what I want to be once again.

I'm not going to piss and moan about why things have happened the way they have. I just want to do something positive about it. I don't need fad diets, weird meal plans, Nutrisystem, The Biggest Loser, stomach surgery, etc. I NEED to just bust my ass - sweat hard - and take it one day at a time.

So, to keep me on track I'll post within - the good and the bad. And I'll post photos each week of me "hopefully" dropping some substantial weight in the near future. I've got every reason in the world to eat right and exercise - I have a beautiful 2 1/2 year old little girl that don't need her daddy to drop dead of a heart attack because he couldn't stay away from a greasy cheeseburger.

So good or bad - I'll post within here. I am not looking for sympathy or anything. In fact, I probably should have had a few people exercise some tough love with me over the past couple of years and made me snap out of this insanity. I've decided enough is enough and it's time for a change.

I'll post within what I'm eating - feeling - etc. Not trying to get a Subway endorsement or a book deal out of it or anything. If I do what I set out to accomplish then just being healthier for myself and my family will be enough. BUT I did want some accountability. It's easy for me to tell myself that I can do this but when I put it out there - all of it out there - for everyone to see then I feel like I've got more riding on it. I don't want to fall on my face.

Like I said above - its embarrassing to admit this - especially on a public forum. But it's needed and it's time I take some responsibility instead of looking for excuses on why I'm out of shape and severely overweight.

Since I won't get the home gym until next week I won't start posting any photos until then. I "am" going to start on the nutrition portion of things again tomorrow though. Most days will consist of an apple and oatmeal (no sugar added) for breakfast, some fruit for a mid morning snack, a Slim Fast Type of shake at lunch, some other type of fruit/yogurt snack in the afternoon, and a decently healthy dinner. My wife is going to try and get more things that are healthier to eat and we are limiting "fast food" type of meals to one time a week if that. She's looking to lose some weight too and be healthier.

Admitting this is probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do believe it or not. Being overweight and eating too much is just like any other addiction that can spiral out of control. I'm no better than any other addict that can't put down their drug of choice. My drug just happens to be Big Mac's and Twinkies.

You can follow along - or not - on this journey as I begin. Since I'm considered "morbidly obese" I know I can lose the weight quickly out of the gate if I stick with it. So, I'm going to lay out my goals and see if I can meet them to at least give me something to shoot for:

Today, February 26, 2012 my weight is 385.

Goals.......

April 1 - 365
May 1 - 345
June 1 - 325
July 1 - 315
August 1 - 305
September 1 - 295

Now that I've put myself under the gun and put it all out here for everyone to see let's see if I can back up all of the stuff I just said.

Thanks to anyone who actually read this entire novel!

 

Good luck man.

 

good luck, if you truly want to get it off you will

 

Good luck. Document everything. Even if it's a setback day. Accountability is key.

 

Good luck! You admit you have issues and are taking steps to address them. That's a great start. Hang tough. Never give up. Always fight through adversity, and you will be successful. I will leave you with something from General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson's book of maxims: YOU MAY BE WHATEVER YOU RESOLVE TO BE. This simple truth has helped to sustain me through much adversity. If I can help in any way, feel free to contact me. It would be an honor.

 

You've set a really aggressive weight loss goal, and at times you're going to hit some walls. Don't worry about a setback here and there, but you need to make the changes for a total life change.

If you want to know the math, you need to burn/reduce 2,333 calories a day to meet your weight loss goals.

 

What should we do, collectively, if you begin to falter in these goals?

I very much appreciate what you're doing, and that you have the balls to do so "in public" so to speak.

So, what can we do to jump start you in the event that you lose focus or effort? Like you, the rah-rah shit only goes so far with me, too, so I ask.

 

You'll get it done. Obviously going to take awhile and your biggest enemy will be discouragement.

 

Alright, someone smarter than me help me with the math here. My plan is to have 2 apples/day at work (roughly 100 cal. each), a 100 calorie snack of some sort, and one meal replacement protein shake (150 calories). Then I'm trying to keep the evening meal to under 600 calories. Goal is 1200-1400 calories a day - try to keep it closer to 1200.

Hooked up to the heart rate monitors at the gym on the good ellipticals I typically burn, according to the readouts, 500 calories in a 45 minute workout which I plan to do 5 days a week. Saturday's I plan on hitting the elliptical for 1 1/2 hours. I'm going to do dumbbell exercises 4 days a week starting out. I'm figuring another 30 minutes of weights which I'm estimating will give me roughly another 200 calories burned.

I hope most days will resemble this:

Elliptical 45 = 500 cal
Weights 30 = 200 cal
Total calorie daily intake = 1200 - 700 burned exercising
= 500 calories/day

Know that's pretty ambitious but that's the plan anyhow. And that's EXACTLY how I lost weight the first time when I got in great shape.

 

I honestly don't know. You all will think of something........just putting it out there for me was a big deal because it at least makes me accountable for it. I don't plan on failing - and I expect a few setbacks but definitely plan on making it happen.

 

Some advice: don't starve yourself. I did this once. I went from 260 to 190 in just a few months. I got really sick- blacked out seversl times. In the end, I ended up gaining it all back. Slow and steady- slow enough to make lasting lifestyle changes- is the safest, most effective, and longest lasting way to attack the matter.

 

This may sound a bit hardcore but it won't starve me. The main thing I'm changing is that at work I won't be eating out at lunch and instead having the better alternative in a meal replacement shake. And then at night we are going to try to load up on vegetables and have some good protein most nights and not junk. Cutting out chips, candy, etc. when I get home from work. It'll take a little getting used to again but my willpower will be stronger than the temptation because I've actually set my mind in the right place to do it correctly this time. When you don't like what you see in the mirror and it can be changed - there's no reason not to change it.

 

Good deal. You sound determined. I wish you the best of luck. There's some really good folks here. Most any one of us will help you if at all possible. Just let us know. Now, go own this shit and take care of business!

 

1,200 calories is really low. You're making a life change, not a diet to fit into a wedding dress a month from now.

My advice would be to make a food journal for a week. From there you can see what parts of your eating habits you need to change.

Fast food, simple sugars, simple carbs, and soda would be the ones that you'd want to cut back on the most. You should aim for least 150 mins of working out a week.

 

I've already eliminated the sodas from the house - we were down to only diet drinks anyway but we are drinking filtered water mainly, have some orange juice, and skim milk. I don't drink coffee - never liked it - so no extra caffeine intake there. I'll basically use this as a food journal and post within daily results.

I plan on getting in well over 150 mins of workouts per week. From what I'm attempting to do it will average out to I'm guessing conservatively 60 minutes/day 5 days a week and 90 minutes on Saturday's. So looking at 390 minutes of exercise/week.

 

You talked with a doc about this? I don't really know anything about your lung issues, but taking on big changes in diet and exercise might be a bigger deal for you.

 

Yes, he just advised to not overdo it and if I needed to back off I should. He said I will know better than anyone how far I can push myself without going overboard. My doctor actually went from 375 pounds to 210 in the course of a year and a half just by diet and exercise. I used to take a bunch of supplements when I was working out heavily but am not going to go that route this time. I have the GNC Multipack vitamins and that's all I'm going to take as a supplement along with working out to begin with. If I get down some I may go back to the NO2 which I swore by back in the day but don't want to screw my system up worse from the get go.

 

Great advice

 

If you're 385, 1200 cals is way to low. You could seriously probably lose weight on 3k a day.

 

Good luck. The accountability factor is huge. I think you're on your way.