I guess I should start with my stats. I'm a 34 years old male, 6'2" tall, and I've been hovering around 300 lbs for a couple years now. I have been this tall for about 20 years, and always had a wide frame. Started off being a beanpole, and I've just been filling it in ever since. I will never forget the first time a kid made fun of me for being a little "pudgy" in the stomach area, I was about 17. I thought "well I'll show him, time to get into shape!!" I'm just getting sick of it. I want to be able to walk by a mirror and not avoid looking in it's general direction. I want to be able to have my picture taken again without worrying about sucking in every single part of my body and looking really weird. My parents have a swimming pool, and my wife and I take our kids there very often in the summer. It'd be nice to be able to get in the pool without a t-shirt on (as if that conceals anything anyway!).
I am a farmer, so my job is actually pretty physical. But it's the kind of work that has lead to me being as strong as an ox, and having a huge upper body, while not getting very much of an aerobic workout at all. My eating habits aren't great, but I don't really have a problem with overeating. For example; at big family meals, I'm never the guy who goes up for seconds, or even for desert. If I go out with my buddies, the skinny guys are always getting orders of 20 chicken wings, while I get the 10 piece order, etc. Soda is my one weakness, and will the hardest thing for me to overcome in my journey. Genetics are not on my side, my Mom's side are all overweight. My Uncle (age 60) weighs around 400 pounds, and I look just like him. He is a direct view into my future, and he's starting to have health problems.
I have 2 kids, ages 3 and 5. I really want to be healthy for them. I want to be around for them as they grow up, start their lives, maybe get married and eventually be around for my grandchildren. My greatest fear is that I'll die before they are able to be self sufficient adults, and yet another birthday draws near (will be 35 in March) and I still haven't changed my situation. My wife... well, there's another subject. My wife is hot. My wife (30) is absolutely beautiful, she seriously looks better than she did 11 years ago when we started dating. Back then, I'll just say she was bigger than she is now , and I was still in the 220-230 range. She lost weight rather easily before our wedding (August 2008), whereas I have started, failed, and gained even more weight several times in the last decade. It's getting to the point where it's fairly obvious that she's in a different "league" than I am, and I almost feel weird about it. Like people look at us and think "ugh, how the hell does that happen?"
I have been going back to the gym the last 2 weeks. I usually alternate upper and lower body weight lifting, do some core exercising, and then do 30-40 minutes on the elliptical (using various different programs). I make it a point to not get off the machine until it says I've burnt 600 calories (which I realize isn't accurate, but it can't be bad I guess). I'm trying to just focus on eating less junk food, try to limit to 1 can of soda per day, and make an honest effort to eat better food. I'm not sure what to do to improve on that, which is why I'm here seeking advice. If I weigh 300 pounds, and I guess I need to get to around 200 pounds to be considered optimal health? I would really like to shoot for that. I'm getting tired of people treating me like crap because of my size. I'm not sure why people think it's acceptable to make fun of somebody for being overweight, but apparently it is! Hopefully I can change that soon.
Sorry this is so long. I'm hoping to make the change this time.
Dave
I am a farmer, so my job is actually pretty physical. But it's the kind of work that has lead to me being as strong as an ox, and having a huge upper body, while not getting very much of an aerobic workout at all. My eating habits aren't great, but I don't really have a problem with overeating. For example; at big family meals, I'm never the guy who goes up for seconds, or even for desert. If I go out with my buddies, the skinny guys are always getting orders of 20 chicken wings, while I get the 10 piece order, etc. Soda is my one weakness, and will the hardest thing for me to overcome in my journey. Genetics are not on my side, my Mom's side are all overweight. My Uncle (age 60) weighs around 400 pounds, and I look just like him. He is a direct view into my future, and he's starting to have health problems.
I have 2 kids, ages 3 and 5. I really want to be healthy for them. I want to be around for them as they grow up, start their lives, maybe get married and eventually be around for my grandchildren. My greatest fear is that I'll die before they are able to be self sufficient adults, and yet another birthday draws near (will be 35 in March) and I still haven't changed my situation. My wife... well, there's another subject. My wife is hot. My wife (30) is absolutely beautiful, she seriously looks better than she did 11 years ago when we started dating. Back then, I'll just say she was bigger than she is now , and I was still in the 220-230 range. She lost weight rather easily before our wedding (August 2008), whereas I have started, failed, and gained even more weight several times in the last decade. It's getting to the point where it's fairly obvious that she's in a different "league" than I am, and I almost feel weird about it. Like people look at us and think "ugh, how the hell does that happen?"
I have been going back to the gym the last 2 weeks. I usually alternate upper and lower body weight lifting, do some core exercising, and then do 30-40 minutes on the elliptical (using various different programs). I make it a point to not get off the machine until it says I've burnt 600 calories (which I realize isn't accurate, but it can't be bad I guess). I'm trying to just focus on eating less junk food, try to limit to 1 can of soda per day, and make an honest effort to eat better food. I'm not sure what to do to improve on that, which is why I'm here seeking advice. If I weigh 300 pounds, and I guess I need to get to around 200 pounds to be considered optimal health? I would really like to shoot for that. I'm getting tired of people treating me like crap because of my size. I'm not sure why people think it's acceptable to make fun of somebody for being overweight, but apparently it is! Hopefully I can change that soon.
Sorry this is so long. I'm hoping to make the change this time.
Dave
