New here and hopfeully a NEW me.

[SixPackSomeDay]

OK, where to start...

I've struggled with my weight for years! I'll be turning 29 years old in March and I've been overweight for as long as I can remember. I've very tall, so I tend to carry my weight better than most and many if I ever do tell anyone my weight they can't believe it.

Over the past few years it's really gotten out of control for me. The past six months even worse!! There would be weeks at a time where I would eat nearly every meal from a drive-thru. It was nothing for me to order 40 boneless wings and polish them off at one sitting or a large pizza and still have room for more.

I tried several diets, all with no success. Not that the diets failed but more so that I failed the diets. I had the best results with Atkins and didn't mind doing it but, I finally got wise to the concept that eating the Atkins way is something I'd have to do the rest of my life to be successful and I wasn't sure I could maintain that.

About a month ago my cousin introduced me to the food documentary Food Inc. After watching, it (and the SuperSize me documentary) really got me thinking about a lot of different aspects of what I eat. I don't just mean what I eat, but I mean WHAT is in the food I eat, or where it came from or what processes went into eating that food. I was disgusted with myself.

So here I am, I've made a decision to eat not only better but smarter. My fiancee (who is in on this lifestyle change with me) also realizes how important this is for us. We're jumping head first into the concept of buying locally produced food, supporting local farmers, and eating organic, free range, etc.. We are also taking it a step further, we are also actively planning a garden for the 2010 growing season. That plan coupled with the fact that my family raises chickens (so we can get farm fresh eggs) pretty much at any time has helped set the foundation for what is a true lifestyle change for us.

But, of course that is only one part of the equation. The other part is exercise. This is actually the harder part of the two for me. Really, I have to get up early and go to the gym, or after a hard day at the office I have to go to the gym!?!? Yuck.. doesn't sound good to me. But, I have to do it. I'm also trying to do the small things that all add up in the end. Take the stairs rather than the elevator, park further away, be a bit more active around the house. I think this is another unforeseen benefits of the garden as well, it will force us to be active. I also have every intention to start walking nightly once this snow and sub zero weather has moved on. I even have a gym at the office that I recently signed up for so as time goes on I'm going to do my best to at least work an hour of time in there into my schedule.

So, that's kind of the back story and a little bit about where I'm headed. I know it will be a solid year of serious weight loss to get to where I want to be. Can I do it? You bet. Will it be hard? You bet. Will there be slip-ups? You bet. But I firmly believe the key to my success is to not put to weight into the little slip up's, focus on the long term goal, think about what I am eating, think about what I'm doing and remember that this is a lifestyle change, not a short term crash diet.

I look forward to interacting with all of you, sharing our successes, our failures, and ultimately obtaining our goals!

My goal is not a number, or a size, its feeling good about how I look, they way I feel, and what I'm putting into my body!

 

[denn0069]

Hey, this is my first post as well, I've "creeped" these forums for a while now and recently started changing how I eat and began going to the gym just a few weeks ago.

Really, I have to get up early and go to the gym, or after a hard day at the office I have to go to the gym!?!? Yuck..

At first I felt the same, and the first few times I went those thoughts persisted. Around half way through the second week though it was a lot easier to do, not to mention I feel like I have more energy now, it's easier getting out of bed in the morning and those long boring days of work aren't so long and boring anymore.
And I've met some awesome people at the gym, it's almost like going to hang out with friends now, of course you still have to get your exercise done, but hopefully you can find a good supportive gym like I did and people will be friendly.

Anyway just wanted to say that at first it may seem like extra unwanted work but overtime it becomes routine and fun. So far it has anyway, not that I've been going for a crazy amount of time but hopefully it continues on this track for me and for you.

Good luck,

 

[MACHETE]

We're on the same boat. On new years day I stopped drinking soda and basically everything that has sugar and started eating smaller meals than before. So no sweets for me. I now I have to figure out a plan for exercising and finding a good plan for my meals. I'm thinking about running at least 30 to 45 minutes a day and doing some light weights for the moment. I was thinking about joining MMA but I'm still undecided. I guess I'm doing ok but I know I can do better. Hopefully we achieve our goals and in the future we can post our new selves.

 

[L.Scott]

Since you dont like to work out which i dont think anyone does. here is a site that i found that will tell you what calories you burn with everything you do

hope this will help you in some way. good luck.

 

[dobner]

I talk to a lot of guys who specifically have weight loss problems at the gym where I workout. I still get in a good workout, because I have pretty good habits. The one thing that guys tend to do that makes it very difficult to succeed is to change too many things at once.

Gaining weight is usually a combination of many factors - lifestyle changes, relationships, eating changes, age, change in exercise programs, physiological changes, health, injuries and others.

Since you are already making changes, I really suggest that you stop making any more changes and make sure that you establish strong habits in the things that you have already changed. You are your habits. You are what you do repeatedly.

For instance, just committ to something that you know you will accomplish.

Make it to the gym x times per week - build your lean body mass.
Do cardio for y minutes per day - burn fat

If you start falling off the wagon on a basic plan daily, no big deal. Just make sure you get in your numbers per week.

Does that make sense?

Frank