Hi, I'm Baenlynn.
26, Male, somewhere around 180cm (5'11") and 90 Kg (198lb).
For most of my life I was skinny as a rake until I suddenly gained 20 Kg in 6 months, two years ago. After years and years of trying to gain weight the lazy way (i.e. eating fast food every other day and moving as little as possible) I was overjoyed to have FINALLY gained weight where I needed it (even if it did sneak up on me all at once). Aside from whatever height I had left to gain I'd been roughly the same weight from 15 to 23.
But, when the floodgates opened, they never closed again and even though my weight gain in recent months has been nowhere near as rapid it has crept up slowly over the past year to go from 82 to just below 90 Kg now.
I have no desire to go back to struggling to be 65 Kg, but it's obvious enough I'm not headed down a healthy path. I was working with a friend today and she took my photo while testing out some new camera gear, I'm halfway to having a pair of chins, and the one I've got now isn't prominent enough to warrant company. I'd already decided before today I was going to get in shape and shed the excess but this was a rather sobering reminder of where I'm headed if things don't change.
My goal at this point is to find out stuff: How to calculate how much I'm taking in, how to work on specific areas, what exercises build muscle here, burn fat there. I'd like a level of fitness, diet, and a routine that dovetails with my lifestyle: i.e. something that I can maintain simply by having healthy diet and exercise habits.
I enjoy cycling but don't get out as often as I used to. I bought a bike a few years back when money was tighter and used it as my main form of transport, during that time I was riding 30 mins twice a day 3 to 4 days a week depending on when I had classes at uni.
The biggest problem areas for me are shrinking my thighs, getting my stomach back in and building more strength in my upper body.
Excercise generally consists of a 30-40 minute walk from my place to something I've got to go to: help out a friend, make an appointment, do the shopping etc. and/or a ride if I make myself get the bike out. I have a Total Gym, but am completely flummoxed on how to use it for what I want that generally I just hop on and do stuff without any real plan or direction every once in a while.
Diet-wise I've probably doubled my fruit/veg consumption in recent months, but even then I've still got a long way to go. Having struggled to gain weight a lot I've developed a lot of bad habits because there was little feedback from my body to keep them in check. Come to think of it the following list may seem like a nightmare to some but, it is what it is.
Breakfast:
1 salad wrap made with a 12" wheat flour tortilla: 1 small handfull of meat (chicken or lamb) and 1 small handfull of: lettuce, carrot, red onion, black olives, capsicum, spinach, beetroot and 1 slice of tasty cheese.
1 glass of apple juice.
Lunch:
another salad wrap
1 large glass of cola
Dinner:
One portion of a cooked meal Tonight it was butter chicken with papadams and brown rice. Other days it may be stir-fry lamb with pasta or just pasta with a few tablespoons of my secret pizza sauce (tomato soup with herbs and garlic).
Every friday I make a pizza from scratch using flour, eggs, oil and water for the base. Toppings are usually: my sauce, mushroom, olives, onion, capsicum, pineapple pieces, shaved ham (off the bone) and a lot of mozzarella.
Throughout the day I'll snack on milk and cookies (375 ml with 1 tsp of chocolate powder and 3-4biscuits) once or twice, another glass or two of cola a litre or so of plain water and maybe a fun-size packet of potato chips (plain).
That's everything, I think that's all the relevant bases covered. Any advice or insightful commentary on the above is welcome.
~ Baenlynn
26, Male, somewhere around 180cm (5'11") and 90 Kg (198lb).
For most of my life I was skinny as a rake until I suddenly gained 20 Kg in 6 months, two years ago. After years and years of trying to gain weight the lazy way (i.e. eating fast food every other day and moving as little as possible) I was overjoyed to have FINALLY gained weight where I needed it (even if it did sneak up on me all at once). Aside from whatever height I had left to gain I'd been roughly the same weight from 15 to 23.
But, when the floodgates opened, they never closed again and even though my weight gain in recent months has been nowhere near as rapid it has crept up slowly over the past year to go from 82 to just below 90 Kg now.
I have no desire to go back to struggling to be 65 Kg, but it's obvious enough I'm not headed down a healthy path. I was working with a friend today and she took my photo while testing out some new camera gear, I'm halfway to having a pair of chins, and the one I've got now isn't prominent enough to warrant company. I'd already decided before today I was going to get in shape and shed the excess but this was a rather sobering reminder of where I'm headed if things don't change.
My goal at this point is to find out stuff: How to calculate how much I'm taking in, how to work on specific areas, what exercises build muscle here, burn fat there. I'd like a level of fitness, diet, and a routine that dovetails with my lifestyle: i.e. something that I can maintain simply by having healthy diet and exercise habits.
I enjoy cycling but don't get out as often as I used to. I bought a bike a few years back when money was tighter and used it as my main form of transport, during that time I was riding 30 mins twice a day 3 to 4 days a week depending on when I had classes at uni.
The biggest problem areas for me are shrinking my thighs, getting my stomach back in and building more strength in my upper body.
Excercise generally consists of a 30-40 minute walk from my place to something I've got to go to: help out a friend, make an appointment, do the shopping etc. and/or a ride if I make myself get the bike out. I have a Total Gym, but am completely flummoxed on how to use it for what I want that generally I just hop on and do stuff without any real plan or direction every once in a while.
Diet-wise I've probably doubled my fruit/veg consumption in recent months, but even then I've still got a long way to go. Having struggled to gain weight a lot I've developed a lot of bad habits because there was little feedback from my body to keep them in check. Come to think of it the following list may seem like a nightmare to some but, it is what it is.
Breakfast:
1 salad wrap made with a 12" wheat flour tortilla: 1 small handfull of meat (chicken or lamb) and 1 small handfull of: lettuce, carrot, red onion, black olives, capsicum, spinach, beetroot and 1 slice of tasty cheese.
1 glass of apple juice.
Lunch:
another salad wrap
1 large glass of cola
Dinner:
One portion of a cooked meal Tonight it was butter chicken with papadams and brown rice. Other days it may be stir-fry lamb with pasta or just pasta with a few tablespoons of my secret pizza sauce (tomato soup with herbs and garlic).
Every friday I make a pizza from scratch using flour, eggs, oil and water for the base. Toppings are usually: my sauce, mushroom, olives, onion, capsicum, pineapple pieces, shaved ham (off the bone) and a lot of mozzarella.
Throughout the day I'll snack on milk and cookies (375 ml with 1 tsp of chocolate powder and 3-4biscuits) once or twice, another glass or two of cola a litre or so of plain water and maybe a fun-size packet of potato chips (plain).
That's everything, I think that's all the relevant bases covered. Any advice or insightful commentary on the above is welcome.
~ Baenlynn