My Story

[Trops]

I've never been thin, but I've never considered myself fat, either. I always considered myself overweight, but not a big deal. I'm 5' 7", so not that tall, and I've always been muscular. Strong, but not cut at all. If you want help moving, I'm your guy. Anyway, I just turned forty and although I don't think of it as old, I think that I'm no longer young. I guess I'm just coming to grips with things. I am also now heavier then I've ever been. I've said that a lot in the last few years. 245 was what the scale read four days ago when I started this. I remember saying that I've never been this heavy at 235 and at 225.

My plan is this. I have to get under 200 lbs. I also have to be able to run a 10k, and I'm setting my goal at under 60 min. When I get under 200 lbs, I might have to reevaluate my goal, but I'm not trying to become a chiseled model or anything (my face would kill that). I'm just trying to be healthy.

I keep active, but I just can not do any exercise that requires me to run for any length of time. I tried walking, but I can do that for hours and never get any results. I used to do jump rope, and I saw good results with that in the past, but that was when I was in my twenties.

Here are my obstacles: First, I love food. I love to cook and eat just about anything. I love to drink. I don't drink to excess, but I like to have a wine or scotch or beer just about every day. I work a rotating shift. This means that I can't get into any regular schedule. I work midnight to 8am for 6 days, then two days off, then 4pm to midnight for 6 days, then 2 days off, then 8am to 4pm for 6 days then 2 days off. I also have a wife and two kids that are on a "normal" schedule, so I try to regulate my sleeping to theirs as much as possible. But then I find a hard time finding time to exercise. Lastly, I can't stand measuring portions and so on. I have to find a eating plan that can work for me without putting everything on a scale.

Here are some of my strengths: First, I am strong, so weight lifting is a good exercise for me. I sometimes can do some kind of workout at work on a scheduled break.

Here is what I've done so far: I've only gone four days now, so I'm not promising anything. I've made a promise to myself to eat breakfast every day. For the times that I'm on the midnight shift, I'll eat breakfast at the normal time even though I will be going to sleep a few hours later. I've done some kind of workout each day. I've been doing the workout later in the evening, but I think I'm going to change that to no play time till I've done a workout. For food control, I've been pretty good. Instead of snacking at night I've been getting a cup of cereal and snacking on that.

Well, that is my story so far. I hope that this forum helps me. I hope that it helps others, but right now I need to get going on this plan. I need something that I can stick with forever. Let's see...

 

[christenhere]

Glad you see that you are putting a stop to those growing numbers! Now is as good of a time as any. The hardest part is deciding that you want to do something about it and it seems that you have already accomplished that!

If you think that you are overeating I would recommend just eating healthier foods that aren't as high in calories but eating several small meals a day helps you feel more full.

As for exercising... Just try to find at least 30 minutes a day. I have bad knees and can not run either but have found that the eliptical machine at the gym gets my heart rate up, swimming is great, and even brisk walking if you aren't ready to take those tough workouts on yet.

Good luck with everything I am sure you can do it!

 

[Trops]

Thanks for the well wishes. I have been switching to healthy foods, or pretty much cutting out all the unhealthy ones. I find my problem being that the unhealthy foods seem so convenient at the time. It's a lot easier to make a ham sandwich then a salad. bet even when I do make the "right" choice, I still seem to go too far. Like right now. I think I've done pretty good today. Cereal and coffee for breakfast. Chicken sausage, spinach and feta cheese egg white omelet for lunch. Now it's 5 pm and I'm starving, I grab a cottage cheese and chow down and I look and the container says that I just ate 4 servings. My "snack" was a 360 calorie snack. I'm planning on a spinach and pepper salad for dinner after I go running, but then I know that I'll still be hungry. I'll see. I'll do my diary then.

 

[uyis11]

Trops-
I love to drink as well and I used to have beer or wine every day. Finally, I came to the realization that I had to change that if I wanted to change my body, so I've come up with a plan to only allow myself to drink on Friday or Saturday and its worked out great so far. I don't even keep alcohol in the house anymore (I would probably drink it if I did), but I only drink at a bar or in a restaurant on the weekends now. I almost consider it my reward for completing another successful week.

You truly have a challenge ahead of you with your rotating schedule. Managing a consistent workout/eating schedule was difficult enough for me and every day is exactly the same for me.

I wouldn't bother actually measuring portions, but I'll tell you what has helped me understand portion control. I started eating these frozen dinners (lean cuisine or the like) and seeing the calories on the box and seeing the amount of food has given me a better idea of what amount I need to eat of other foods.

Lastly, I believe running is a very bad exercise for most people. It wears me out quickly, is hard on my knees, and causes shin splints and odd soreness that prevents me from working out the next day. I think ellipticals or bikes are probably the best exercise for the body.

It's great you are working on getting a plan that will work together. The hardest part is finding a routine that you can be consistent with. Once you find that routine and actually come up with a viable plan of action, I think the rest falls into place.