Jack's weight loss blog

[kenchan]

Hia People

I came on here to see if there may be other people are motivated to make a change in their lives - I am glad I found this site - the more the merrier

I am about 6.1" 252 lbs and tonight I am seriously ticked off about my irregularities - I can jog for a week straight - 5-6 km per night then 1 day I left - slump, start chomping on food and another week I am back at it again.

I used to be about 292 lbs in 2004 when my ex decided to upgrade and find someone else - so after washing away 11 years of relationship with couple of tears (more like few weeks of it), I decided that I'll find girl that I want by changing some things about myself - not just looks but other aspects of life.

I got my wish - I went down to 187 lbs within 8 months running each night but then bounced up and down - I work in web development and sometimes around the clock (self-employed) so it's easy for me to skip exercise routine and say I'll do it next day.. and next day I say same thing because I am busy again.. until it turns into a week or 2 and I catch myself..

I started travelling overseas and a year ago met an amazing girl - and you guys know what happens - as soon as you meet someone special, things tend to slump - and I gained 30 lbs since last year when I met her. With love, acceptance, blah blah blah love doesn't care about weight, etc. - but in the end I don't feel good about myself - feel like I am missing something I had.

I feel often tired, slow and I need a change that will work - but most importantly - I need to lose what I gained - 25-30 lbs and I will do it by july 17th. And I want to keep it that way - so long term solution would be ideal but that is the less motivating part based on experience.

My goal is to keep doing lots of cardio, and figuring out a meal plan that works - something filling - if I starve myself - I end up overeating. I will come up with detailed plan relatively soon - once I figure out what I can do in terms of meals.

That's my biggest issue - how to eat so I am not feeling hungry without eating too much. I looked through some of your weight diaries and think what is happening here is seriously awesome!

I look forward to reading more on what some of you are doing in terms of meals and exercise so I can learn and come up with a plan for me. Anything you guys can think of that can help - please drop me a line - I am serious about this and I am here to learn and practise.

Thanks

Jack

 

[kenchan]

This weekend I helped out with moving heavy office furniture - that felt productive in more than one way - gained a loss (could just be temporary up & down wobble - time will tell)... now to keep it off and keep sliding..

Ok plan for next few days - increase ceasar's salad.. decrease carbs.. and see what else works..

 

[kenchan]

Ok July 17th is not here yet but I doubt I'll reach my goal..

I am 238.4 lbs now.. I'll still keep at it.. just have to be more realistic about the schedule.

I can honestly say I enjoy the way I am losing weight now.. Before it felt like a chore..

I figure why bother dieting and starving myself - and having all this bounce right back up after few weeks.

I chose to focus on muscle development and stamina when jogging..

So far I found some things that work for me (may not work for someone else):

1. Before a meal, I drink at least 2 glasses of water - I already know my stomach works to be filled and I can't fool it with some 30 gram protein bar - I'd be hungry right up again. Might as well fill it up and then focus on whether I am hungry to begin with and then eat after I am already filled up.

2. Frozen yoghurt - woa that stuff is amazing. I find that sometimes I have constipation problem - I eat frozen yoghurt daily. And when I do, it helps out quite a lot.

3. Some protein shake but ones that can be mixed with cold/warm water - dissolve easy. Feels like it gives a bit of energy.

4. Motivation - as long as I find reason to do what I like doing - I can do it well and stick to it. I've got several motivators:

• 
  Major Motivators:
  a)Trip to Asia in 3 days to meet my gf. Any sort of good life change can motivate if you aim it right.
  
  b)Turn some fat into muscle - feels good. Definitely feels better than trying to starve myself into being thin when I am big framed guy. That's a new approach I found to weight loss - instead of starving and thinning out - I want to convert my body to add muscle.
  
  c)Saving on fuel & getting better body (good trade-off) -- found a local grocery store that is just over 2km away. Nowadays I shop on foot.
  
  Minor Motivators:
  c)Favorite music
  
  d)Meeting people, occasional party.
  *** I often hear this "be yourself" idea but I think it's often taken out of context to mean "accept yourself now, sit on your a** and don't change anything about yourself" and I think that's totally bad ideology. Accepting oneself is one thing, but letting oneself fall through cracks because of sappy excuses while wanting a change in life is another (hey that's why I hope most of us are on this forum - to make a change).
  
  e)Using exercise to break up work projects -- taking a break & getting most of out the 1/2 to 1 hour..

Anyways.. I think I'll stop my rumble there

 

[kenchan]

Ok.. just came back from Japan & China.. it friggin rocked!

Anyways.. 232.2 lbs

Must have been all that walking (and pigging out to even it out)

 

[artmonster]

Coolies!

your schedule seems to put you in differnt environments constantly...I can see where it can be hard to break into a routine.

running eh?

I cant seem to run at all.....In 284 now, and it kills me...lol

so I have it in the plans to start running when I get closer to 225pounds.

Kudos to you for the willpower.

 

[kenchan]

Greetings artmonster! Thanks for your post.

Yeah, it's bit of a PITA to get a routine going. Recently I had small concussion as well so need to lay off any severe workouts for a bit.

As far as running - when I started "working out" in late 2004 all I did was hop in 1 spot - you know how they do it in boxing - one foot to the next. Just bit up and down while doing regular walk - lots of jumping - little distance covered. May have looked silly but do 100-200 steps and you get double the workout. I also tried fast walking & alternated between the two until weight came down enough to run.

I think you'll see big difference way before 225 lbs - since we are used to carrying more weight - once body loses about 20 lbs through workout - it feels like bigger engine upgrade into a smaller car. At least it felt like that for me - I jumped out of bed in the morning. I found my newest trend - (I think I already mentioned it) shopping on foot That works so far...

I hope you hold in there as well with your goals - good luck!