Hello, I thought for starters I would answer the questions from the starter thread, and then I will introduce myself a little more thoroughly. I tried not to be long-winded, I promise! I'm just not used to this sort of thing
-- How much weight do you want to lose?
I really don't know - having never been a truly healthy weight myself, I have no idea what various weights will look like on me. I have an extra-large bone structure, so I wear my weight fairly well. I just thought I would set a goal of 250 and then when I get there, see where I need to go. Honestly though, while having an end-goal is nice for me, I'm the type of person that needs that monthly, weekly, or even daily goal in order to stay focused.
-- What is the timeframe for reaching your target weight?
Once again, time isn't necessarily a huge factor, though I would hope to attain my final goal at a rate of 2/3 lbs per week. At that rate, my timeframe is approx. 64 weeks(not bad I guess considering it took my whole life to get here)
-- How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)?
I was tempted to start a drastic diet, but, I really sat down and thought to myself, "Lots of people fall off of diets every day... how can I avoid that fate?" And the best answer I could come up with is that I wouldn't go on a diet - I would make a positive, healthy, lifestyle change - something permanent. at any rate.
-- Who or what can support you in reaching your goal?
I have a rather odd assortment of friends, ranging from a cycling enthusiast to a friend with weight problems similar to my own. I'm sure they will support me in reaching my goal, and of course I hope to find another form of support here on these forums.
-- How realistic is your goal?
I feel that my goal is very realistic - it will simply take a day in, day out commitment until my new and improved lifestyle has become habit and normal. It's really the sum of all the little choices along the way, I feel, that will make the difference in the end.
-- When will you start?
I started in January, technically, but I'll talk more about that below.
I'll go ahead and get these out of the way:
Stats:
Male
Starting weight: 405 lbs (when I started weighing anyway, in Feb.)
Current weight as of last week: 378 lbs.
Height: 6'1"
Age: 25
To start things off, I'll just say that as long as I can remember, I've been overweight. My mom has pictures of me when I was 4 or 5 or so and I'm a normal, healthy weight, but apparently somewhere in there things got out of hand.
Long story short, I'm currently about to finish a Master's degree in Computer Science and decided that at over 400 lbs, things were ridiculously out of hand. So, about the last week of January I decided I needed a change, but I didn't want to just drop to some ridiculous diet compared to what I had been eating, so I just got rid of the little extras (Mayo, copious dressings, etc.) and started working from that. I was also very used to eating two large meals a day, and I decided that needed to go as well.
Current Diet:
My current diet is pretty simple, I'm eating more fruits and vegetables than ever before, sticking to lean meats, fish, nuts, etc. and simply trying to keep Cals anywhere from 1800 - 2200 / day with 3 decent meals and 2 good snacks. I know when I weigh less it will likely be more important to nail down a solid calorie amount per day, but I find the flexibility helps for days when I feel extra-hungry or not. The cornerstone of my diet is really to keep things toned down without feeling like I'm depriving myself.
Exercise:
I started walking the country roads(paved) around my house about two months ago, and I felt pretty nice after the first walk, but the next day was practically hell. I couldn't get out of bed, apparently I had done something to my back (poor posture, just too much stress, I don't know - I'm not a doctor and never went to one about it) and it hurt enough that I couldn't stand or sit for about 4 hours that morning, I just called in to work and laid in bed until I could finally move around. I took it easy for a couple days and then went back out, and the back pain never reappeared.
The roads around my house are hilly - about 2 weeks ago I started jogging as long as I could, and walking when I felt like couldn't. This usually consisted of getting about halfway up a hill jogging and then walking to the top where I would jog again until the next hill. I kept doing this until I built up a distance of about 2.5 miles. Currently, I just go as long as I can until my calves are burning too much, then walk to let them recover - I'm up to about 0.75 mi on a jog (after a warm up bit). Though it was difficult at first, I now breathe fairly easily while jogging and my calves get tired long before I feel like I need to slow down for breath. (On a side note, I went up 3 flights of stairs a week ago without breathing hard and thought it was a miracle!
)
Last week I started doing some weight training based on a "newbie guide" I found online somewhere. I'm sure if anything is too amiss someone here will set me straight (I hope, I need all the help I can get!)
Basically the weight training is what I can do at home (I really want to lost more weight before I go to a gym) with a simple bench and dumbbells (5 - 20 lbs each, I'm sure I'll need more weight before long) I started last week using all the weight the dumbbells came with and it was very rough the first time(after the first time anyway, I was sore until the next time I lifted), it feels good now though. The routine I found is the following (I got the names from the site, forgive me if they're incorrect:
Dumbbell bench press
Dumbbell side lateral raise
One arm dumbbell row
Dumbbell extension behind head
Dumbbell Bicep curl
Dumbbell Lunges
Crunches (abs)
All done in 3 sets, 10 reps
It feels pretty good but in the second week I feel like I need more weight - but, being a beginner I have no idea if that's true or not... it just seems too easy, aside from the extension, that one is still a bit rough.
It got long I realize, so I'll be quiet now, but since I've got a ways to go I'm sure you'll be hearing from me
Any advice is appreciated!
-- How much weight do you want to lose?
I really don't know - having never been a truly healthy weight myself, I have no idea what various weights will look like on me. I have an extra-large bone structure, so I wear my weight fairly well. I just thought I would set a goal of 250 and then when I get there, see where I need to go. Honestly though, while having an end-goal is nice for me, I'm the type of person that needs that monthly, weekly, or even daily goal in order to stay focused.
-- What is the timeframe for reaching your target weight?
Once again, time isn't necessarily a huge factor, though I would hope to attain my final goal at a rate of 2/3 lbs per week. At that rate, my timeframe is approx. 64 weeks(not bad I guess considering it took my whole life to get here)
-- How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)?
I was tempted to start a drastic diet, but, I really sat down and thought to myself, "Lots of people fall off of diets every day... how can I avoid that fate?" And the best answer I could come up with is that I wouldn't go on a diet - I would make a positive, healthy, lifestyle change - something permanent. at any rate.
-- Who or what can support you in reaching your goal?
I have a rather odd assortment of friends, ranging from a cycling enthusiast to a friend with weight problems similar to my own. I'm sure they will support me in reaching my goal, and of course I hope to find another form of support here on these forums.
-- How realistic is your goal?
I feel that my goal is very realistic - it will simply take a day in, day out commitment until my new and improved lifestyle has become habit and normal. It's really the sum of all the little choices along the way, I feel, that will make the difference in the end.
-- When will you start?
I started in January, technically, but I'll talk more about that below.
I'll go ahead and get these out of the way:
Stats:
Male
Starting weight: 405 lbs (when I started weighing anyway, in Feb.)
Current weight as of last week: 378 lbs.
Height: 6'1"
Age: 25
To start things off, I'll just say that as long as I can remember, I've been overweight. My mom has pictures of me when I was 4 or 5 or so and I'm a normal, healthy weight, but apparently somewhere in there things got out of hand.
Long story short, I'm currently about to finish a Master's degree in Computer Science and decided that at over 400 lbs, things were ridiculously out of hand. So, about the last week of January I decided I needed a change, but I didn't want to just drop to some ridiculous diet compared to what I had been eating, so I just got rid of the little extras (Mayo, copious dressings, etc.) and started working from that. I was also very used to eating two large meals a day, and I decided that needed to go as well.
Current Diet:
My current diet is pretty simple, I'm eating more fruits and vegetables than ever before, sticking to lean meats, fish, nuts, etc. and simply trying to keep Cals anywhere from 1800 - 2200 / day with 3 decent meals and 2 good snacks. I know when I weigh less it will likely be more important to nail down a solid calorie amount per day, but I find the flexibility helps for days when I feel extra-hungry or not. The cornerstone of my diet is really to keep things toned down without feeling like I'm depriving myself.
Exercise:
I started walking the country roads(paved) around my house about two months ago, and I felt pretty nice after the first walk, but the next day was practically hell. I couldn't get out of bed, apparently I had done something to my back (poor posture, just too much stress, I don't know - I'm not a doctor and never went to one about it) and it hurt enough that I couldn't stand or sit for about 4 hours that morning, I just called in to work and laid in bed until I could finally move around. I took it easy for a couple days and then went back out, and the back pain never reappeared.
The roads around my house are hilly - about 2 weeks ago I started jogging as long as I could, and walking when I felt like couldn't. This usually consisted of getting about halfway up a hill jogging and then walking to the top where I would jog again until the next hill. I kept doing this until I built up a distance of about 2.5 miles. Currently, I just go as long as I can until my calves are burning too much, then walk to let them recover - I'm up to about 0.75 mi on a jog (after a warm up bit). Though it was difficult at first, I now breathe fairly easily while jogging and my calves get tired long before I feel like I need to slow down for breath. (On a side note, I went up 3 flights of stairs a week ago without breathing hard and thought it was a miracle!
)Last week I started doing some weight training based on a "newbie guide" I found online somewhere. I'm sure if anything is too amiss someone here will set me straight (I hope, I need all the help I can get!)
Basically the weight training is what I can do at home (I really want to lost more weight before I go to a gym) with a simple bench and dumbbells (5 - 20 lbs each, I'm sure I'll need more weight before long) I started last week using all the weight the dumbbells came with and it was very rough the first time(after the first time anyway, I was sore until the next time I lifted), it feels good now though. The routine I found is the following (I got the names from the site, forgive me if they're incorrect:
Dumbbell bench press
Dumbbell side lateral raise
One arm dumbbell row
Dumbbell extension behind head
Dumbbell Bicep curl
Dumbbell Lunges
Crunches (abs)
All done in 3 sets, 10 reps
It feels pretty good but in the second week I feel like I need more weight - but, being a beginner I have no idea if that's true or not... it just seems too easy, aside from the extension, that one is still a bit rough.
It got long I realize, so I'll be quiet now, but since I've got a ways to go I'm sure you'll be hearing from me
Any advice is appreciated!
