Duck Vader
New member
Not sure where to start with this, so I guess I can go back to my high school years since that is when my weight problems really began, and I have been struggling ever since.
I was your average kid. I played baseball, football, karate, etc. I was really fit until the start of my high school career. I started to eat bad and no longer did a lot of things. By the end of my Freshman year I was 260lbs.
By the summer of my senior year I was 320lbs and I had enough. I busted my butt that summer with a lot of cardio and got down to about 265lbs. I felt pretty good. I was still "big" but I was a lot more fit than I was in a long time.
After high school I got into weight lifting pretty seriously. I found a local gym and started to train for powerlifting. I got up to about 290lbs, but I had a lot of muscle for my size. Most people guessed my weight to be about 250lbs.
Unfortunately I broke my shoulder at the race track (family owns race horses and one landed on me and really messed up my shoulder), and was told I could not weight lift seriously again for awhile by the doctor.
I fell back into my old habits. I never ate bad food again, but I became really sedentary and ate a lot. (I have not had soda or fast/fried food in over 4 years now.)
Fast forward to 2007. I weighed in at almost 360lbs, couldn't do a single push-up, or even jog 50 yards without trouble.
I got married that summer and looking at my wedding pictures made me do something different.
I quit my office job to work in a hot factory lifting stone all day. By the spring of 2008 I was back down to 285lbs and I started to add in cardio again to my lifestyle. I got down to about 280lbs and then joined a gym since my shoulder was healed and got back into weight lifting even harder than before.
I did that until about 4 months ago. I got up to about 295lbs again, but it was again a lot of muscle. I maxed out on my lifts my last day there and bench pressed 350lbs, squatted 450lbs, deadlifted 475lbs, and overhead pressed 250lbs. That is by no means great, but considering when I started in the fall of 2008 I couldn't bench 285lbs or squat 300lbs, that is really quite impressive.
But 4 months ago I got laid off of work, and have since found another job, but not one nearly as physical, and the pay is not enough for me to keep my gym membership, so I have not been to the gym since I got laid off.
Before I stopped going to the gym, I had a buddy of mine from the gym, who is also the lead trainer, do a body-fat caliper test on me.
We figured out that if I stay at my current muscle mass, if I got down to around 250lbs, that would put me at about 12-13% body-fat.
As of today I am about 298lbs on average. My goal by my next b-day is to be under 250lbs if possible. That is in January.
Since I was working so hard and going to the gym, I was consuming about 5500-6000 calories a day and still losing fat.
Now though I have to cut my calories, and since I am used to eating so much, it has been hard. I did good for about a month, then started back into my habits. I am trying to stay under 3000 cal a day if I can. I started cooking once a week about a month ago, and making my meals for the week all on one day.
I start each day with a slimfast when I get up to get my nutrients, then have a medium size meal a few hours later. I will have a small snack before work, which is usually some form of fruit. I eat my dinner at work which is usually a sandwich and some raw veggies. When I get home I drink a slimfast again and go to bed about 2 hours later. (I work 10pm-6am) I also drink a protein shake and take multi-vitamins after I do my muscle building workout.
About a week ago I started to workout at home with some old DVD's I found of that older Power 90 program from a few years back. I don't know where they came from, but I am giving them a try. I have a set of 45lb dumbbells that I am training with.
I got a physical last month, and I am in great shape except my fat. I have a blood pressure of 129/80, low cholesterol, resting heart rate of 61 bpm, etc. I have never smoked or drank any alcohol. I have also never done any drugs. I don't even take Tylenol unless I really have to.
Depending on how this goes over the next month will determine what else I add to my life-style change. I am going back to college this fall after a few years off now that my wife has graduated college and I no longer have to support us both. I will continue to work full-time and go to school full-time since we are in debt and I want to get out of it before I graduate.
Sorry for the lengthy intro.
Anyway...
Hi everyone! I hope I can use this site to keep me motivated and track my progress. I am on some other sites as well, but I can use all the help I can get.
I need to get healthy so I can live a nice long healthy life with my wife.
I was your average kid. I played baseball, football, karate, etc. I was really fit until the start of my high school career. I started to eat bad and no longer did a lot of things. By the end of my Freshman year I was 260lbs.
By the summer of my senior year I was 320lbs and I had enough. I busted my butt that summer with a lot of cardio and got down to about 265lbs. I felt pretty good. I was still "big" but I was a lot more fit than I was in a long time.
After high school I got into weight lifting pretty seriously. I found a local gym and started to train for powerlifting. I got up to about 290lbs, but I had a lot of muscle for my size. Most people guessed my weight to be about 250lbs.
Unfortunately I broke my shoulder at the race track (family owns race horses and one landed on me and really messed up my shoulder), and was told I could not weight lift seriously again for awhile by the doctor.
I fell back into my old habits. I never ate bad food again, but I became really sedentary and ate a lot. (I have not had soda or fast/fried food in over 4 years now.)
Fast forward to 2007. I weighed in at almost 360lbs, couldn't do a single push-up, or even jog 50 yards without trouble.
I got married that summer and looking at my wedding pictures made me do something different.
I quit my office job to work in a hot factory lifting stone all day. By the spring of 2008 I was back down to 285lbs and I started to add in cardio again to my lifestyle. I got down to about 280lbs and then joined a gym since my shoulder was healed and got back into weight lifting even harder than before.
I did that until about 4 months ago. I got up to about 295lbs again, but it was again a lot of muscle. I maxed out on my lifts my last day there and bench pressed 350lbs, squatted 450lbs, deadlifted 475lbs, and overhead pressed 250lbs. That is by no means great, but considering when I started in the fall of 2008 I couldn't bench 285lbs or squat 300lbs, that is really quite impressive.
But 4 months ago I got laid off of work, and have since found another job, but not one nearly as physical, and the pay is not enough for me to keep my gym membership, so I have not been to the gym since I got laid off.
Before I stopped going to the gym, I had a buddy of mine from the gym, who is also the lead trainer, do a body-fat caliper test on me.
We figured out that if I stay at my current muscle mass, if I got down to around 250lbs, that would put me at about 12-13% body-fat.
As of today I am about 298lbs on average. My goal by my next b-day is to be under 250lbs if possible. That is in January.
Since I was working so hard and going to the gym, I was consuming about 5500-6000 calories a day and still losing fat.
Now though I have to cut my calories, and since I am used to eating so much, it has been hard. I did good for about a month, then started back into my habits. I am trying to stay under 3000 cal a day if I can. I started cooking once a week about a month ago, and making my meals for the week all on one day.
I start each day with a slimfast when I get up to get my nutrients, then have a medium size meal a few hours later. I will have a small snack before work, which is usually some form of fruit. I eat my dinner at work which is usually a sandwich and some raw veggies. When I get home I drink a slimfast again and go to bed about 2 hours later. (I work 10pm-6am) I also drink a protein shake and take multi-vitamins after I do my muscle building workout.
About a week ago I started to workout at home with some old DVD's I found of that older Power 90 program from a few years back. I don't know where they came from, but I am giving them a try. I have a set of 45lb dumbbells that I am training with.
I got a physical last month, and I am in great shape except my fat. I have a blood pressure of 129/80, low cholesterol, resting heart rate of 61 bpm, etc. I have never smoked or drank any alcohol. I have also never done any drugs. I don't even take Tylenol unless I really have to.
Depending on how this goes over the next month will determine what else I add to my life-style change. I am going back to college this fall after a few years off now that my wife has graduated college and I no longer have to support us both. I will continue to work full-time and go to school full-time since we are in debt and I want to get out of it before I graduate.
Sorry for the lengthy intro.
Anyway...
Hi everyone! I hope I can use this site to keep me motivated and track my progress. I am on some other sites as well, but I can use all the help I can get.
I need to get healthy so I can live a nice long healthy life with my wife.
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Everyone's super nice here I'm sure you can find lots of motivation and help. 