It starts today.....

[arununni]

Hi everyone

I'm a 28 year old, father of a lovely daughter of 19 months. I used to be fit around 10 years ago....quite fit. I used to row & run 6 days a week. I then went off to University, trained as an Chartered Accountant and got a job. A sedentary life ensued with pizzas, ice creams and fried food for good measure!
The result, here I am 86 kg (190lbs) in a frame of 169cm (5 feet 7 inches), waist 95 cm (38 inches).

I've had my experiments with the gym in the recent past....have renewed my membership for the last two years, but not used the gym for more than 30 days in the year.

At the risk of sounding melodramatic...one day, I started thinking about my daughter's future...her first day at school, what it will be like seeing her grow up, getting married and so on...as one thought led to another, I figured that if I continue living the way I do, I may not be around to even see her graduate. The risk of diabetes, blood pressure etc. from being overweight is quite high - add to it my family history of diabetes! I've FINALLY (unlike the previous failed attempts) decided that enough is enough. I need to change the very way I live to enable me to spend a happy and worry-free life with my wife and child.

I've placed my fitness regime in the able hands of my gym instructor. He had a frank conversation with me, where he told me that my BMI (30.3), Fat percentage (35%) and Visceral fat percentage (15%) were all dangerously close to the danger zone and that I needed to do something fast. He also told me that my BMR is 1734 (which I understand is relatively better than the remaining statistics).

I've set myself a short term target of losing 7 kgs (i.e going below 80 kgs) and a long term (12 months) target of 72-73kgs. My instructor has made a schedule for me primarily involving strength training, with a little cardio (20 mins). He claims this is the best way for me to lose fat without losing muscle...whatever! I don't really care about the details - he is a professional and he knows his job, I just sign on the dotted line

I hope I am able to look back at this post in a year's time and say I've come a long way. I am truly inspired by some of the stories on this forum. I look to all of you for inspiration along the way to my goal.

Cheers
Arun

 

[CRAZYMAIZY]

Hello Arun

There is absolutely nothing dramatic about thinking about our kids, our lives and what motivates us, nothing whatsoever, its kind of like a survival technique. You should be really proud of yourself.

Getting back to fitness and a great weight not only keeps us sane on a daily basis, more fit etc etc but does reduce other risks as you say, no harm looking after ourselves.

Best of luck and a big welcome, coming here daily, entering in my diary has helped me immensely so far. Wishing you well.xxxxxxxxx

 

[arununni]

Thanks Crazymaizy for the ecouragement. I wish you success on your path to fitness.

Cheers
Arun

 

[Omega]

Good luck in your quest for fitness and good health.

Whilst your gym instructor will be giving you expert gym advice - the other half of the equation is the food that we eat.

I suggest you get yourself a free account on and get used to entering everything that you eat and drink on the "food" tab.

This will show what calories your body is taking in. Since there is an "activities" tab you can also log the exercise that you do and see the calorie balance. The difference between the calories in and out.

Since fitday gives a breakdown of nutrients it will enable you to hone your diet such that it becomes more healthy. It also flags up areas that could do with improvement. Our bodies benefit from running on the right kind of fuel.

If you havent already done so - start a diary and visit the diaries of one or two other people in order to see what they are doing - you will build friends and a support network by doing this. Many people find it very motivating to join in one or more challenges.