Proforce's weight loss diary

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Proforce1

New member
Hello everyone. I just joined the board this past week and here's my attempt at making a diary. First the basic stats: I'm male, 33, 6' 3", 285 lbs. Yeah, that last one bugged me out. I've never been that heavy in my life. Years ago I flirted with 280, but never actually broke it.

I've been on diets before and did really well on them, but each time it wasn't for me. My first weight loss attempt came because my best friend was diagnosed with kidney failure and I was found to be a cross-match so I could donate. But with the gut I had, it wasn't safe to. I managed to drop from 270 to 225 for the surgery, but they found a matching cadaver kidney before they set up the one for me to give him. Since I no longer needed to be at that weight, it started to come back.

I've tried losing weight since, but each time was part of a team with someone who needed the weight loss more than I did. Still, I managed to keep myself generally around the 250 range until 2007. That's when my mother was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It hit my entire family like a Mack truck. Watching and caring for her as her body wasted away led me to care less and less about my own. And when she passed away on Jan. 24th of this year, I really didn't care at all, drowning myself in food.

This past Easter the family got together at my sister's house for dinner. Wondering how heavy I was I stepped on it. 285. I couldn't believe it. That's when it really hit me. I need to lose weight, this time for myself, or I could be looking at serious health problems soon.

I want to lose 65 pounds, drop to 220. That's when I'll re-evaluate myself. Do I have more pounds to lose? Is this where I want to switch from a calorie deficit to lose weight to a slight surplus in order to gain muscle mass? But first, I have to get there.

I know I have a lot to overcome, but I have three main things working against me. First and foremost is my depression. When it gets bad I grab the nearest sugary food just so I can feel better. I am in therapy for it and it's starting to help, but it's gonna be as long a road as my weight loss.

Second is the fact that I'm not an eater of fruits or vegetables. My first choice of meals will always have the same three things: meat, cheese, bread. This has to change, but I'm not sure how. Since I got away with not eating them as a kid, I've kind of trained my body to react...unfavorably toward the tastes. In short, I'll puke. Somehow I have to retrain my body around that, but it's not going to be easy.

And finally, with just me and my dad in the apt. now, we are not cookers. We are much more likely to order takeout than pull something from the fridge and make it. Mom was the cooker in the family. I am going shopping this weekend to get some real food in the house, including fruit and vegetables. I just have to make sure to remember to eat them.

The way I want to lose weight goes a little something like this:
1. Keep my calories to between 2200 and 2300 a day
2. Weigh myself once a week, on Monday morning before working out
3. Do calisthentcs(old word there!) on Mon, Wed, Fri mornings - situps, pushups, jumping jacks, jogging in place.
4. Walk briskly/stair climb on Tue, Thu, Sat mornings.
5. Rest my body on Sunday.
6. Write in this diary every day I can.

This should do to get the weight off, adding more reps and sets/lengthening my walks as I get more fit. Any advice, support, encouragement, or kicks in the butt will be very much appreciated. It all starts on Monday. Wish me luck. I will need it.
 
meat cheese and bread are not bad things... in factthey're pretty darned good - supplement wiht vegetables and fruits... experiment with different preparation methods...

Why start monday? why wait? Lifestyle changes should commence immediately..

and you don't need luck - you need consistency - you will get to where you want to be -just take it one day ata time..

and welcome to your diary

Do spend some quality time with the stickied threads - you will get a wealth of really good information to help you
 
Wow Maleficent, seems like you took my request for a kick in the butt literally huh? I appreciate it though, don't get me wrong. I just chose Monday to start because I was going away for the weekend. And it was somewhat of a psychological thing for me to have a day to look forward to and say "It starts that day. No more excuses, no more delays. This is it, so be ready for it."

So here I am, thinking about tomorrow and what it will mean. This will be the first time I've gotten anything resembling exercise in probably about ten years. One day at a time, I have the right idea, the right intentions. Now all that's left is the follow through.

It's a bit scary, I'll admit that. I don't want to see how weak I've become, how out of shape. But what's scarier is the prospect of seeing 300 on that scale. I'm not going to give up. That's why I'm here after all.

In just a few hours the next phase of my life begins. I may not need luck, but having it doesn't hurt. I'll be posting an update tomorrow.

Oh, and Maleficent, do you turn into a black dragon or anything? An apple if you get the reference. (What? You thought I was gonna give a cookie?)
 
Well, day one is over. And things...look a little promising.

When I weighed myself this morning I was 280.2, so that means my high of 285 was likely the result of holiday dinner. Still, it was a wakeup call for me, and I am still over 280. The exercising was pretty good. I got a sweat going and I got my heart rate up into the low 130s. Not quite where I want it to be, but not bad for the first day.

I watched what I ate and I'm currently at about 1900 calories on the day. A little lower than I want, but I'll even it out soon enough. Strange thing is I wasn't all that hungry today. Maybe I was just too focused on work.

All-in-all, I call today a success with room for improvement..
 
Today...was a fair disaster. First of all I was so sore from working out yesterday that I couldn't get myself out of bed when my alarm went off. Combine that with stress about my job meeting this morning and the weather and I didn't even think about exercising till I was already at work. I also skipped a meal and slipped back into my old eating habits, though I did stay under my calorie limit so it wasn't a complete disaster.

Hit a rough patch already. But, I'm not about to give up. Time to bear down and knuckle up.
 
:seeya:Hi there! Sorry about the hard time your family has gone through. It is so hard to watch the ones we love suffer.

I am glad you are determined to change your life! Not a moment too soon, either - your weight is dangerous. You really, really need to take control. You will find (and become!) much inspiration on this site! There are many others who have started off at where you are at, and heavier - and they are achieving success by sticking with their plans! YOU WILL DO IT, TOO!

I found it easier to kind of watch my five pound increments, rather than focusing on having to lose X amount. Even my goal is somewhat fluid, as I shrink and get closer. Now I am greedy for more weight loss, and who knows what size I will choose to be?

Just do it the right way. Choose healthy foods, but remember that you can work a splurge in, now and then. Exercise consistently. Drink water (no regular pop or fancy shmancy coffees with whipped cream!)

Cheers to you, and I wish you the very best on your journey.

ABBA
 
Thanks for the support ABBAgirl. After today I need it. I thought yesterday was bad. I wake up this morning ready to workout, but as I'm starting my stretches my sneakker broke. The sole just snapped in two. Fortunately I was buying new sneakers anyway but I still couldn't work out in them because they hurt! Add in the fact that I was late for work getting those sneakers so I missed my chance at breakfast and had to work through lunch and the day was just going downhill. And somehow I managed to eat at dinner most of my calories for the day! Ugh, I feel horrible. I'm so down and depressed right now. I'm disgusted with myself. I wanna give up and I just started.

...

Fortunately I don't know how to give up. Tomorrow's just another chance to get back on track. I will exercise, I will lose weight, I will reach my goals. End of story.
 
Well, I haven't posted in here for a few days not because I don't have news but because I was away. A quick note before bed to anyone who's interested: I pretty much behaved myself this weekend, staying in my calorie range consistently and getting some good walking in on Saturday. I'm actually looking forward to my weigh-in tomorrow and see if I lost a little more weight. Maybe I'll get back under that 280 mark and stay there. I'm even looking forward to the exercise that's coming. Wow. This is rather...unlike me. But that's a good thing in this instance.
 
All right!

I've broken the 280 mark! The first 5 are gone! Wow, this is a really good feeling. I'm sticking to my guns, staying on track, and I can actually see the results! Maleficent was right. I don't need luck because I have all that I need to do it.
 
First, I want to commend you for losing all that weight in the beginning for the sake of helping a friend. Second, I can relate to you about eating you feelings away. Third, you sound just like me about hitting the scales and realizing what has happened to you. I'm 5'3 and 200 lbs. I never thought this day would come, but alas it has and now it's time that we deal with it.

I politely disagree with maleficent. Life changes are big decisions and aren't to be taken lightly. Being hasty and jumping right into it without much thought or commitment can lead to failure. That doesn't mean everyone who radically jumps into it fails, but the majority does. However, I think what maleficent was implying was don't keep saying tomorrow.

Because I know how I am about counting calories, as I feel like they are holing me prisoner, I'm simply just eating better for a while and adjusting to it. Once I've gotten the hang of that then I will begin to count calories. So, for now its ... No more sodas. No more candy. And lots of water.
For me, this is easier then jumping right into something I feel is jail. I am making commitments, but small ones in small increments. As long as you can deal with the slow part then life is good. I know I can. hehe. It makes me feel like I am doing something but without feeling like I'm just dying for a milkshake.
Also, I'm avoiding as many stimulus's as I can. Anything that reminds me of my fav goodies. If I see a commercial that has something really tasty on it, I change the channel temporarily. That sort of thing.

Anyways, I hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the support ashy. Today started out like such a good day.... I exercised, got up a nice sweat and my heart rate, one of the better starts I've had. Then I got to work. Oh man the stress was crazy. Before I knew it I was back in my old eating habits just to try and deal with the stress. Ugh. I really have to stop doing that. I have to try and bring healthier snacks with me, fruits especially. That'll keep me from running to the vending machine and grabbing a Milky Way. I just need to find a place around me that sells decent fruit.
 
Wow. Haven't posted here in a few days, but it looks like I'm doing something right. Dropped another 1.6 lbs and now stand at an even 277. 8 pounds down, still 57 to go, but I think I'm doing really well.

Ugh, spent the whole weekend helping my friend clean house. Now that's a workout...my whole body is sore. I know today is an exercise day for me, but because of everything I did yesterday I'm afraid to hurt myself if I exercise right now. So for the next few weeks while me and my friends get together to clean everyone's places, I'll move my exercises to Tue, Thu, Sat. Given the circumstances, I think it makes more sense.

I know I've got a long way to go, but I'm certainly on my way.
 
A setback

I knew I hadn't been doing well last week, but at most I expected to see no loss of weight. Instead, I gained back what I'd lost the week before. I'm back up to 278.6 lbs. This sucks, in no uncertain terms. I'd expected to backslide at some point, but not this early on. Depression is a diet killer for me it seems. When I get depressed, sugar becomes my best friend.
:nopity:
Well, I'm not going to stand for this. I'm rededicating myself, and I'm determined to lose at least what I gained back for next week. Most of the sugary snacks are gone from my house, I'll be stopping by the supermarket/fruit stands today to replace them with healthier alternatives. And I'll be getting more involved with the other areas of this forum. I may be set back, but I'm not stopped.
 
At least you are being honest with yourself. You may've gained last week's weight back but you are still ahead and that's the key. Losing your weight is a consequence of healthy eating and exercise. Striving to do those last two things should be the goal. The weight loss will follow and it will be permanent.

Good luck going into a new week!
 
We are similar in age, overall body composition and goal weight so I figured I would post here.
Stick with it. You just need to get going and make everything a habit. Don't even give yourself the option of a backslide. Bring fruit & other healthy snacks to work. Give yourself no other option.
I still binge from time to time but there is a huge difference between eating an entire bag of Doritos and eating a handful of almonds.

Do not get discouraged by early failure, learn form it and move on. Learn to recognize your triggers and either avoid them or find something better to appease them.

You can do this.
Also- look at your caloric intake. For a guy of your size it may be too low. I am around 2500-2800 daily with regular exercise and am 6'4 225 or so.

Reeducate and move forward.
 
Thanks for the support guys. It means a lot to me. As for why my calorie intake is around 2300 as opposed to your 2500-2800 bigguy, my job involves sitting on my butt in front of a computer all day, and as a wannabe novelist it's more of the same at home. So excepting my morning exercises, I don't really get that much of a workout during the day. If I start walking more or working out more with weight training instead of the calisthenics I'm doing now, I'll likely have to increase my calorie intake to compensate. But 2300 does seem to be working well for me, provided I can stick to it.
 
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