The Longest Journey

I will refrain as much as possible from stepping onto the scale. Instead I will keep a weekly measure of my waist and stomach (the two places where I have the weight sitting).
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i started doing that a few weeks into this weighloss business lol! anyway to cut a long story short i have only lost about 7lbs in 3 months but have lost 4inches of my waist (will be official on saturday lol).
i think it is alot better to keep measurements even though i still weigh myself everyday ;)

hope i works for you!

x
 
So.... I am still trucking (metaphorically as I dont actually drive a truck). I havent seen too much difference in physical appearance or the way my clothes fit, but I do feel better. With the exception of this week I have felt great (this week is the exception because I havent had a lot of sleep). Most people say eating the same thing every day can become mind numbing and hard to do, not for me. I think I enjoy the routine more than having to worry about finding something to eat.

Breakfast is usually 1 cup of honey bunches of oats when I wake up and then an orange or strawberries, or both, when I get to work.

Lunch is a whole grain roasted turkey wrap with lettuce, onion, cheese (its a sick addiction) and light honey mustard. I cut the mayo out because it isnt worth the cals.

Dinner varies depending on if its a school night but usually its a helping of meat for protein and then any combination of vegetables. Last night I had a Gyro (sp?) which doesnt seem too unhealthy, but then again some things suprise me with how unhealthy they are, and I had half a pita with hummas.

The diet is definately something that I think will stick with me and my fiance. Our doctor said she is the healthiest pregnancy he has ever had, which definately feels good.
 
It's great to know you are still keeping up with your change. Everyone is different when it comes to which foods suit them. I have been eating the same breakfast now for 15 months. I've tweaked it a bit hear and there but essentially it's the same!

It is good to look into the calories and composition of food. I'm still finding surprises and I have been truly amazed at the difference there sometimes is between 2 things that seem to be roughly the same - but maybe has been cooked in a slightly different way - I guess that's partly because oils pack such a calorific but punch, but can be so small and hard spot.

That's wonderful news about your girlfriend!!
 
It's been a while since I have posted in here but things have changed and I love it. I have started playing racquetball at the gym with my mom which is good for two reasons.

1) She has finally found something fun that burns calories so she is more motivated to go to the gym and in turn encourages her to eat better so that her progress isnt lost

2) I no longer need to force myself to go to the gym because I have someone to go with.

It's a win win situation that works for both of us. I have also modified my eating to conform to my schedule. Instead of eating late at night when I get home from class, I take things like salad that I can eat on my break. I also have added in breakfast fruit bars to go along with my daily orange/strawberry snack. Usually I only drink water but I have found a juice that really hits the spot for me in the morning and I have an 8oz glass every morning (1 serving). Other than that I drink only water as usual (this is not part of a diet, I just love water and even before the lifestyle change drank primarily water).

I feel great!

I know I said I wouldnt weigh myself but in order to get an accurate body fat pecent and BMI/BMR I had to get an accurate weight. So, I had a trainer at the gym help me determine this. I have lost about 5lbs total and have a body fat % of about 15 which is a lot lower than I had initially thought. I was expecting maybe a 20% or something. I havent really gotten my body fat % since I played waterpolo in highschool and back then I was at 7%.

Anyway, things are going well and once the baby is born (due date is April 2nd 2008 or about 3 days from now) my girlfriend and I are both going to work hard on this. She eats healthy but isnt able to do too much in terms of exercise.

Its all good.
 
It's been a while since I posted in this journal. I started my weight loss around 180 and have now dropped just below 170 (169.89). I havent been eating as healthy as I should be but with the new born still keeping us up late at night we just dont have the energy to cook dinner. I still make my breakfast and lunch every day but dinner is hit or miss on the healthy. However, I DO keep track of my caloric intake which I may be able to attribute to the weight loss. I have also gotten into the gym more regularly (still not as much as I would like but its good for now). In about 3 weeks my fiance can start going back to the gym which will help a lot. Starting this weekend I will be going to a weekly spin class at my gym which should be able to help keep the heart rate up.

As for a regular routine... I have been trying to come up with one that will help me shed some pounds and build a little bit of muscle. I dont want to be the Hulk but I do want to gain a little muscle. I have thought about cutting my cardio down and adding more resistance and lifting to the routine. I figure I might be able to run a mile (usually I run 40 minutes and bike 20) at a constant speed for as long as it takes and then spend the remaining cardio time swimming. I know swimming is great for toning and still keeps the heart rate up. After that I will move to lifting. Right now I am working on a lifting routine to make sure I work every muscle at least 2 times a week. We will see how this goes.

Anyway, it's been going pretty well considering the baby and everything else that consumes my time.
 
Finally getting back into the swing of things. The fiance is able to hit the gym again now that she is fully healed from giving birth. We are going to start out a bit slower for her since she hasnt been able to excercise much for a while. She is going to do some water resistence training and we are going to do some extensive bike riding. I want to keep things low impact for her until she is used to everything again.

It should be fun.

No weight loss to report this time but I havent gained anything either so I still feel accomplished.
 
We need new pics... and mommy and baby pics pleeeeeaaaasse!!!!

Hows it feel to be a daddy??

Well done on your brilliant achievements so far.
 
Ill get some pics up when I get home today or tomorrow. Being a dad is crazy! In a good way. I love my little boy so much. Nothing beats his smile when I walk in the room. He is two months old tomorrow (June 3rd, 2008) but according to what the doctors say he is ahead of schedule on a lot of things. He reacts to both his parents, he can fully support his head and he is eating like a pig. All very good things.

On a different note, we are still hitting the gym 3-4 times a week even though our schedules are very busy. Both of us are doing cardio and weights now (even though she hates me when I kick her butt in the weight room). Its definately a good thing.

I havent dropped much more weight yet but that isnt really my main goal. I am trying to trim and build some muscle. I started at around 180 give or take a few pounds and am now (as of this morning) 171 which is up 2lbs from last week. I am not worried though.

My meals are always changing as I notice things that are good and bad in what I eat. Recently I noted that I was eating more than I should at lunch/dinner because my breakfast was only a granola bar. I remedied that recently but adding yogurt and either an orange or banana. I feel a lot better in the morning and throught the day. We also started shopping at a place called "Fresh and Easy" which has a lot of organic veggies and meats with a cost low enough for us to afford (gotta love the high prices in CA). Another thing we started doing to save money and ensure we are eating better dinners is meal planning. We plan out our weekday meals so when we go shopping we have a set list of what we need and only buy a few things off the list. This week we spent 75 dollars on groceries that will most likely last us a week and a half or so.

Over all, I would say things are going smoothly. This past weekend we splurged a little and got some Mexican food which put both of us over our daily caloric intake but hopefully we countered some of that by hitting the gym hard the following day. It happens.

Ill try and get pictures up ASAP. Thanks for the support!
 
Great stuff. It's wonderful that you are embarking on a healthy happy life with your family... All the best!
 
This is a little embarrassing but I may as well get it on the site since it may help someone else. I have slipped. Not heavily but enough to see a physical difference in my own appearance. I lost my job a little bit ago and was planning a wedding. I told myself I would get in shape for the wedding so that the wedding pictures would be awesome... I didnt do that. In fact, I looked horrible (in my opinion). The problem? Stress and depression clouded my judgement. The embarrassing part for me is that I used to take pride in my self control. I lost it though. I started eating fastfood and looking back I know I rarely ate anything healthy. I remember at one point I counted my calories trying to get back into the healthy lifestyle I had and I was around 3000. Instead of taking that as a sign of a problem I decided to stop counting calories. Anyway, it was tough and eventually I had to take a step back from myself and say "whoa buddy, you are out of control." I am lucky enough to have a decent metabolism so I didnt gain a whole lot of weight but it definitely set me back. As of yesterday I am at 178 lbs and that is after about 10 lbs taken off.

I also wanted to share a site that I use called fatsecret.com. The site is basically a way to count calories and be accountable for what you eat. It also provides a Biggest Loser type weigh in system where you put in your weight and it shows you the results on a chart. Obviously this relies on the user being 100% honest but for me, it works. It is a simple way to hold myself accountable. There are a lot of sites like this one but I use it mainly because it has an Android (phone OS) and an iPhone (if you have one) application so it's easy to use the site while running around. I find it very hard for me to slip up using this.

In terms of my mental block that was messing me up... exercise. I am sure a lot of people say this but exercise really does help clear the mind.

My only problem now, which I had a while ago as well, is that I am having trouble getting enough calories. I was able to fix that before with protein shakes so I may have to go pick up some powder. Anyway... pictures soon to come as well as maybe improvement pictures.
 
It's been a while since I have posted on this thread (last updates in 2009) but my journey has improved a bit. Looking at the above post, I hit a huge roadblock back then. I am happy to say I havent hit the same types of road blocks but I have been set back here and there. Mainly, work and kids plus juggling both my wife and I in school. That being said, I was 178 last time I posted and I am now 165. Its fluctuated over the years since I have posted where I was even back to 185 (and not because of muscle) but I have always found a way to get back into my "comfort zone" which is about 165-175.

Today I took a huge step and signed up with Urban Body Gym after a friend of mine became a personal trainer there. He has been doing this for about 3 years and used to struggle with his weight. He is going to help me work on getting into the right mindset vs. being in the right number group weightwise. Ill see how it goes but I have 2 months pre-paid so I know I will at least get a feel for the gym. Im not a fan of 24/Hour Fitness or LA Fitness so I am hoping this "classic" style gym is more the right tempo and mindset for me.

Well, hopefully I will update this again soon.
 
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Welcome back! Sounds like you have had quite the journey. I myself want to surf again, but it's tough when life gets in the way and you feel like giving up. You're lucky to have a friend who is willing to help you workout and to motivate you to keep going. I wish I had someone to help me, but sadly I have to rely on myself.

Will be looking forward to your future post, don't give up!
 
Seems like our goals are the same. What sparked me to get into gear again is my wife wanting to learn to surf. I used to surf a lot growing up but it kind of faded out once I had to go into the real world. Now that our kids are older (and i realized yesterday I had my second child in between my post yesterday and the one from 2009) we have more free time to do things like surf. However, I need to not get out of breath so easily if I am going to try and instruct my wife and possibly son. But know this, you are not alone. This forum is actually a great motivation tool for me I just need to not take huge breaks from visiting this site. The inspiration I get is from these before/after pics of people who have already been on the journey.
 
It's been a couple weeks since I have posted. Everything is going well for the most part. We have days where we arent eating as healthy as we should but now, rather than sit on our butts, we are walking the dog, doing pushups/squats/planks/etc during commercial breaks on the TV and generally just moving around more. Its a conscious effort right now which makes it hard but once it is more automated i think we will be fine. I havent weighed myself in a while but thats usually good for me. My trainer has been kicking my butt at the gym and the high intensity workouts leave me feeling good. I still hate the feel of the gym but Urban Body has members (who i didnt know until joining) that have given me plenty of encouragement. The owner is also very encouraging and its nice that he talks to people. A mom and pops feel. I threw up 1 time when i was with the trainer last which was an improvement over the puking after damn near every lift. Im modifying my diet based on work too. Some things look good on paper but when applied to a dynamic work day they just dont work.

Overall I feel good though. A buddy of mine in the Navy is getting into shape while he is at sea. Its created an unspoken competition between us to see who will feel better (not look better) when he gets back. I aim to win but realize the disadvantage im at when he has sea days (12 plus hours to do whatever he wants).
 
Ive been working out regularly for the first time in a while. My wife and I bought a couple Kettlebells (1 20lb, 1 25lb) off ebay. I am really digging the kettlebell lifts a lot. It feels like a combination of good cardio and effective lifting. My trainer and I did a full hour of kettlebell lifts this morning so we can fine tune my motions (some muscles are still weak so I need to focus on form more than reps). Normally I train or hit the gym on days I dont work but today I tried something new; I hit the gym before work. This might not sound like a taxing thing for most but I work 7AM to about 7-9PM. Because of this schedule I had to wake up at 4AM to eat, got to the gym at 5am and worked out until 6am. Honestly, I like it despite the thought of waking up again at 4am. I feel awake, alert and I did not need coffee today. I think this could be the way I do things from now on during my work week.

In terms of progress, this was the 3rd training session I've had but the first where I did not throw up. This was a big milestone for me and it was my first goal. I am down 7lbs about 1inch on my waist (down from 33 to 32 inches) and apparently there is a noticeable difference in the fat stores on my body. I was complemented by the gym owner that he can see the changes in my physical appearance. This type of feedback keeps me going throughout the week. I am feeling good. Hopefully this continues.
 
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