The man they call Sirant

sirant said:
When you hit your goal how many years will it have been since you were that weight? I think the last time I was 220 pounds was 12 or 13 years old... Damn... Maybe even younger.. I was 350 in high school and I was 15-17 then...... Ouch...

sirant
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Well, for a very brief time in 1988, I hit 180, which was the lowest I had been since 24 yrs. old. I was riding a bike about 25 miles a day, but doing little or no weight training, and really had no idea what I was doing. Then I went to graduate school for 2 years, and by the time I got my degree in 1990, I was up to 240 again.

This time, I don't want to get to 180, because that would mean losing all my muscle. But even at 195, it will be the first time that low in almost 20 years. And I think I will be healthier then than I was when I was at 180, because I'll be much stronger, and more educated, too.
 
Wow, Sirant! Looks like we both had some great experiences running recently. I jogged for 3/4 mile last night before stopping to walk for a little bit and jogging and then sprinting some more! It's great seeing our power increase isn't it?

It's also wonderful that you are getting your little girl actively involved as well!
Keep up the great work!
 
I like the ring of that....

But you are probably right about international man of mystery. How about "Mysterious Man of the World"?

Feeling a bit beaten up at the moment. Wow. Calves on fire baby!!!

I went for another run this afternoon with my wife, leaving the little one behind this time. My wife has been convinced for sometime that being thin meant she was automatically in shape and did not need to exercise. And to show me how well she could run she sort of challenged me and said she could easily pull off a 5-7km run with no preparation and leave me behind. Sooooo, I brought her along running today. We only did 2 laps of my regular jogging ground instead of 3. I would have gone three, but she quickly realized it wasn't as easy as she thought. Instead, she gained a deeper insight into just how hard I have been working. At 260 pounds I am running longer and more easily than a younger 100 pound woman. Yay!! She now see's that skinny don't necessarily mean fit.

Next weekend we will run both days again, but we will take it slow and work up to my goal together. Today was just 3km, but its a great start! We also did a very complete and relaxing yoga stretch after the run in the sunshine under the palm trees. Really a great day all told and my wife was thrilled to find another activity we can do together. I REALLY cant bring myself to watch sad real life drama and love stories(which she loves....), and running IS a healthier pastime, so I will go with this instead.... ;) That's my story and I am sticking with it!!

Now however, my legs are rebelling a bit. They didn't mind walking, even all the way home from work. A few aches and pains here and there and the odd cramp, but no biggie. Tonight I feel as though I have been shot through both calves.... Not enough to keep me from walking and moving, but certainly a new pain. Luckily in China they have spent literally 1000's of years perfecting muscle rubs and medicinal oils. I have some oil from Hong Kong under the "Po Sum On" Brand (and yes, it is meant to sound like pour some on). I love this stuff! Rub it into the sore or aching muscle before bed, feel incredible the next morning. My wife worked on my poor old moms arthritic, swollen painful old feet for 2 weeks while she was here. Foot massage and woodlock oil. Now my mom claims her feet are doing great and feeling much better! She is gearing up to start a new daily walking regime herself! Go Mom!!!!

I use this stuff all the time. If you have a China town of any sort where you are I am sure you can find some too. They use it for everything here as it relieves muscle pain, mosquito bites, abrasions and cuts, plugged sinuses, headaches, etc etc etc. And it is all natural. As a nice muscle rub for a low low price you cant go wrong. I am sure it will help me enormously in my 7-10km running goal. Its called woodlock oil and probably comes under tons of different names. For all those weight loss and fitness aches and pains I KNOW I am not the only one having, I give it 3 thumbs up!

sirant
 
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Pour Some "Po Sum On" on me!

Ok, maybe not going to make Def Leppards greatest hits album, but I like it. I have only one thing to say this morning, The Stuff Works! Dy-no-Mite Baby!!!!

My calves now feel great with just a little minor soreness in one spot and all that stiffness if gone. Bring on the walking today! I am still a little in shock that I am running and looking forward to running on a regular schedule. Guys my size aren't supposed to run, or so I thought. Just goes to show what a little hard work and determination can do. 3 months ago I would have argued till I was blue in the face that I would have to be at my goal before I even considered running. Hah! In your face sirant of 3 months ago!! Time to start upping the stakes!

Speaking of that, I plan on being extra hard working and calorie conscious this week. As much as I have been lazy in the past, I am buying the fitday program and I am going to really monitor all my calories in and out. I have been re-thinking and re-analyzing my 5 meals a day eating plan. Whereas I dont feel I have been overdoing it calorie wise, I wasn't really overly hungry before when I was eating 3 meals a day with a healthy snack in between meals. I know it is reccomended to eat protein everytime to make a snack a meal, but I am so active I have been feeling I would rather eat a few more calories during the regular meal times and cut the in between ones down. For example, I would much rather eat an apple and drink a 150 cal glass of soy milk than eat a salad or sandwich with a chicken breast. I find myself having to force myself to eat those big afternoon snack/meals.

Now if there has been one thing I learned in the past few months it is this. What works for some doesn't necessarily work for others. At 6"0' and 264 pounds I should be eating around 3000 calories a day for maintanence I believe, so I figure anywhere from 2500-3000 a day should keep me out of the starvation mode zone. And based on what I have seen, eating smaller and more frequent meals seems to be a good thing for hunger control and is not particularly important if I am not having issues of getting so hungry I binge.

I have finally been able to break down some of the calories in some of the foods I have been eating. A little shocking really. Those tiny little Baozi I like (steamed veggie buns) have been tough to find info on, but from what have seen they are around 150 each. I used to think 50 since they were just veggie buns. But 150?? Thats heaps! Time to cut those ones out. Or at least not 6 per sitting...... Oy! Time to make some more enlightened decisions.

I plugged in all my potential eating for today into fitday and so far it seems I am sitting at around 2000 calories for today. With my 9km of walking and tae bo tonight that should definitely be calorie deficit for the day. It also leaves me a little room to add a sensible snack or 2 if I so require, though I have already factored in several snacks anyways. I am not going to go nuts and try to eat exactly the perscribed number of calories for each day. Some I will go over and some under. But as much as over eating and under eating are not good in the big picture, neither is obsessing about either.

Yesterday was my daughters birthday for example. And everyone was very concerned about having a nice birthday cake in my presence since, due to my excellent results so far, I of course could not even smell it, let alone eat any..... As If Cliff!!! Bring it on!!! It was a chocolate coated (not icing, real chocolate!!) cherry cream cake and it was goooooooooood! And yes, I had a nice healthy chunk of that baby and loved it!! However, I feel not even the slightest bit of guilt! We decided this time to go with style and type of cake as opposed to buying the biggest cake possible. Thus instead of the gigantic cream cake that would sit in our fridge for days getting eaten a bit at a time, we got a very small, solid chocolate covered one that would be consumed in 1 night. Am I going to run 10 miles now or starve for 2 days to make up for it? Hell no! At my current activity levels and eating I am 100% sure I have done myself no damage at all!

And thats the way it should be. As I have said so many times before, I am tired of beating myself up. Weight loss should be about changing your life by being smart not by being deprived. And you don't need to get exactly XXXX number of calories a day and do XX minutes of this or that activity to be successfull. You just have to be smarter than you were before....

Now me no dumb like hammer..... And thank god for that!

sirant
 
Works for me!

mindovermatter said:
I am going to buy the fitday program today and play around with it.

The free fitday is great but it does take a little bit of time to fill out. For $20 I don't think I can go wrong. Heck I've spent $20 w/tip on pizza delivery.:eek:

I still like the "International Man of " over "Mysterious Man of".

How about Sirant -"International Man of Benevolence"? (the only downside is it might not strike fear into your wrestling opponents.)
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My name need not strike fear into my opponents. I will let the layers of rippling muscle do that! Once they stop being camera shy and come out from hiding behind all that fat!!

The name they actually used to call me was "Man Mountain Ant"

Man, all this wrestling talk sure makes me want to go do it again. I would not want to go pro at this point and lead that gruelling lifestyle, but I would soooo like to once again enter the squared cirlce and show a little "Intestinal Fortitude" as they say.... ;)

Something I scare my wife with from time to time.... "Honey, maybe we should move back to Canada so I can start wrestling again......."

She is not amused..... ;)

sirant
 
sirant said:
My name need not strike fear into my opponents. I will let the layers of rippling muscle do that! Once they stop being camera shy and come out from hiding behind all that fat!!

The name they actually used to call me was "Man Mountain Ant"
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LOL. When I was a kid in summer camp, my nickname was "Muscle Back".
 
Damn, I wish it was April already!

If it were April I would already have the 2 pound a week challenge licked for this week. I am positively tickled pink (and green and purple and orange) to have achieved another short term goal today. I started at 135kilos (297 pounds) and got into the 120's in spendid fashion. Then of course I peetered out on a nasty plateau. But this week, I kicked that plateau and have been steadily dropping again. I am extremely happy to say that today upon hoping in the scale I have kicked the 120's and now sit at a very contented 119 kilos! (263 pounds) Wow! The teens!! No more 20's for me! My midway goal now is 110 kilos and my final goal weight is 100. 100 kilos seemed so far away before, but now it is 19 kilos away. Nineteen!!!! Thats nothing! Right around the corner! In the bag! As you can probably guess, I am quite happy. Lowest weight in many years and soooo happy about it!

In fact, tomorrow, since I am not babysitting, I am going to treat myself. And I am going to treat myself well!! Even though the heat and food make it challenging to lose weight in China, the rewards more than make up for it. Let me give you an example.... The Sauna.

Now, saunas here are NOTHING like back home. They are more of a luxury resort than a place to go steam yourself. The place I go to is , and is just 1/2 a block away from my office. If you want to see some pictures, look at their website. Now it is all in Chinese, but if you click any on the pictures on that main page it will take you to a pictures page. Click any of the small boxes in the table and it will show you different pictures of different areas. But here is a basic run down of services....

The sauna - When I go to the sauna, I feel like Julius Caesar himself. First are row upon row of luxurious, large showers with all sorts of fancy schmancy hair and skin crud, shavers, toothbrushes, etc. Then is the towel room where you can get a towel rub which will exfoliate you in dramatic fashion, head to toe (and EVERYWHERE in between) but not for the shy... You can sit in the giant hot tub, with jets, high power water nozzles and massage beds, or choose on of the other 6 jacuzzis (2 ice cold, 1 cold with a waterfall, 1 cool, 1 hot and 1 therapeudic tea pool). Or you can cook in the giant steam room or dry sauna. The dry sauna actually has an ice pool in it, so when you are getting too well done you can jump in and cool down for round 2. Of course while doing all this soaking and relaxing they will bring you fresh fruit and drinks while you watch one of the many tv's stationed around the large room. As we do not wear any clothing at all (a sticky point for many western male friends of mine) this area is off limits to women, who have their own area. Then once you have soaked, steamed and cooked enough, they give you fresh clean shorts and shirt (in my size even!!!) and off you go into the communal area. Here you meet up with your wife or children. On this side you have the sitting area where everyone has their own personal tv and once again fruit and beverage service while you get foot, shoulder or head massage, ear wax cleaning, manicures, pedicures, and all sorts of other great services. Once done that you can move on to the many activities. You can watch movies in the theatre, have a drink in the lounge, eat in the awesome world class restaurant, have a tea service in the tea house, get a haircut or shave in the salon, play games or chat in the internet bar, sing a little karaoke, play snooker or ping pong, use the gym or go for a full body massage or beauty treatment. There are also facilities for kids such as playgrounds and activity centers. And if the mood takes you, included in te price you can stay in a private and clean little room for the night. The sauna is open 24 hours a day, so time is no concern. I personally go right after work at 5:30 and the place is empty....

So as you can see, this place is a little slice of heaven. Especially for someone as motivated and hard working in exercise as I have been. I don't think I could live without it. But now let me tell you the best part.... The price! I know some jaws just dropped, but its true baby, its true. Instead of telling you the price in Chinese dollars I will convert it to US dollars for convenience. The sauna price is $12US, which gets you access to everything except of course the massage fees, restaurant food, beauty shop stuff and a few other little things that are charged seperately. 12 bucks....
Then, a foot massage is 7 dollars and a shouder rub is 6 dollars. And that is an hour each. If you like you can give the masseuse a tip up to a maximum of 4 dollars. For a full body massage you would be looking at 20 dollars for 90 minutes. In other words, cheap! And on top of that, if you happen to spend more than 10 dollars on massage, food, tips or whatever else, the sauna fee of $12 is waived. So check this out.... To go have a sauna is $12 right? But if I go have the sauna and foot massage(giving the maximum tip) it is actually CHEAPER by a dollar...... How crazy is that???

In any case, as you might have guessed, I love the sauna. Nothing has been more beneficial to my continued weight loss success. I am able to give so much more effort each week knowing that I can go soak and steam it all away twice a week as well. And not only that, but the gym is designed with safety in mind so I can go weight train safely without a spotter and hit the treadmills while watching Wrestling on TV via Hong Kong satelite. Best of all, when I completely sweat through the towels and clothes they gave me to wear, they rush downstairs and get me fresh ones after the workout. And I dont even have to clean my own stinky sweaty clothes!!!! Wooo Hooo!!!

Back in Canada a service like this would be an extreme luxury at best, something I have never in my life been able to afford. Here there are saunas, spas and recreational type facilities everywhere, literally! So competition is stiff and the prices are low. I may never be able to move back to Canada now as I don't know how I would get by without my sauna.....

But for now, I am going to use that motivation and relaxation to the best possible advantage and see my next goal come ASAP. Next month is the 2 pound a week April Challenge and I can't wait. 119 kilos now represents the best I have felt about myself ever to date. What will next month bring?

sirant
 
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I love your journal, Sirant. Yes, it's great you made your goal -- congratulations! But thanks also for providing us with such a detailed and erudite account of life in China. It's as if we are all there with you. A real pleasure to read.
 
Great!

TomO said:
I love your journal, Sirant. Yes, it's great you made your goal -- congratulations! But thanks also for providing us with such a detailed and erudite account of life in China. It's as if we are all there with you. A real pleasure to read.
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I am glad you like it Tom, and truth be told, I love sharing these experiences with you just as much as you like reading them. I don't have many foreign friends to share these experiences with here for a few reasons. First and formost is most of the foreigners I know here are slugs. They ran away to China to get away from working hard. They love the low cost of living and easy lifestyle. I am the only foreigner I know who works 40 hours a week!!! To most 10-15 hours a week is full time... I also have no foreign exercise buddies here, and believe it or not, no friends to hang out with at the sauna! Part of this is because it is hot here, leading most foreigners not to exercise and eating is cheap so most are out of shape big time. Nobody wants to get nekkid in public, even just at the sauna around other men! So pretty much aside from my family, you guys are it as far as my extended support group! But I couldnt be happier! What a fantastic group of people you all are!

Though honestly I wish you were all here to join me on the magnificent walks, enjoy the amazing cultural differences and experience the same things I am first hand.

But for now, I will keep letting you know how its going on this end of the world. I am glad you enjoy the stories and haven't gotten bored of "yet another" sirant post.... :)

sirant
 
beautiful surroundings

It is so beautiful there. I went to Kuala Lumpur and remember most all the variety of greens and fresh ginger to cook with as well as the massive gorgeous papayas and other fruit.

Could you send us a few more photos?
 
More photos...... Hmmmm

Well, truth be told, I am a bit of a shutterbug. Since I got my first digital camera years ago I have been pretty much unstoppable. On my picasa site I have probably well over 1000 pics now that everyone is more than welcome to go see. Or, if you really want more of an insight into my life over here, check out my webpage for not only for the pics, but tons of videos I have made over the past few years travelling around Asia and my home town here, not to mention my very own music videos and other fun/cute videos I made over here... Too much to see! have a look at my 2 Daily walk galleries and you will see why I love walking here so much!

You can also find some other cool things like a live China cam showing whats going on outside my window most days and my Blog, Fatness 2 Fitness. Once in any of the galleries listed on my webpage you can click my public gallery and see all the pictures. I recommend looking at "Yangshou - The Chinese Adventure Begins", as it has some great pictures of one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and is the reason I came to China in the first place. But by all means Happychubette and anyone else interested please have a look!

Everything can all be found on the site at:



remember to click Public Gallery on the Picassa site to see even more photos. And check out the movies.... Those Chinese babies are the cutest!

I hope you like it!

sirant
 
By Jove! I think I've Got It!

A little positivity for the masses!

Wow.

Things are coming together after that month long plateau, I must say. I am down 6 pounds since my absolute lightest before and I am thrilled! During my plateau I went up and down like mad, from 267, my lightest, back up to 275 and everywhere in between. It was awful and frustrating and demoralizing to say the least. But now, after making a few subtle changes I am apparently back on track with a passion. Now down to 261 pounds!!! 2 pounds away from changing that 26* into a 25*! Wow.... The 250's again.... been more than 3 years.....

So, I bet everyone is thinking, what did you do to beat that plateau??

Heres the thing.

First off in January and February I did some travelling. I went to Thailand twice and I lived it up. I didn't go crazy, but I did have fruity cocktails on the beach, yummy thai beer, delicious thai curries and dishes and even a lobster for the first time ever! After losing 27 pounds in 2 months at that point I was celebrating! That was probably a big part of the plateau in itself. But I didnt go overboard. I would have 1-2 cocktails, and thats it. A couple of beers in a sitting max. And even though I tried so many wonderful thai foods, I kept my portion sizes small. Even the lobster we had BBQ'ed with garlic instead of soaked in garlic butter! I also exercised daily on my vacations, and found that really isnt that tough to do. In fact, doing a nice aerobics workout on the beach in the morning is one of the nicer things a person could do anyways. Then walking on the beach in the evening for an hour is another great way to keep that belly at bay.

Another contributing factor to the plateau was my mom!!! Damn her!!!! Just kidding mom!!!! (Who may well be reading this!!!) :) MY lovely little mom came to the city I am living in here for the first time for 2 weeks shortly after returning from Thailand. I was on holidays at the time. So of course my very regular eating and exercise schedule was thrown out of whack because of course I wanted to show my mother a great time here and show her some of the finer things this city has to offer. We had a great visit, but it was challenging for me. I didn't go to the gym as much, my meal schedules and portions were off and I was eating in restaurants far more than usual. That said however, I did force myself to go outside and workout on the free exercise equipment every evening, no matter how late. And I would seperate myself from the family once a day to go out for a heavy duty power walk. And of course, as this is China, 90% of our sightseeing also required heavy duty walking, so even Mom got a good workout!

So all those factors taken into account, I am actually a little suprised I didn't go way overboard and gain much more weight! It fluctuated, but stayed around 270 pounds. Not great, but not bad considering. The big discouragment came when I didn't continue losing weight after all that was done... I stayed at 270 and that was it.

So that was just over a week ago that the scale was being so cruel to me. Now 9 pounds are gone!! What happened?!?! Where did they go?

Well, let me tell you what I think.

As far as exercise, I am back on schedule again very happily. I am walking everyday during the week approx 10km and most of those straight up power walking. 2 evenings a week I do a great yoga/strengthening workout and 30 minutes on the spin bike (interval but not HIIT). 2 nights a week I do a 45 minute tae bo workout and 2 nights I do HIIT on the spin bike for 12 minutes and another 30 minutes of varied core work and a body weight/dumbell routine from Muscle and Fitness magazines video series for 30 minutes. On the weekends now I run for 45 minutes and do yoga in the park with my family. On the seventh day (today!) I rest by taking myself to the sauna for a shoulder and foot massage and soak in the hot tubs / steam room.

But that is not what did it for me I am sure. What did it for me was fitday.com. I am 100% convinced of that. Ever since I started this journey, decades ago, I have been one of those "eat less and it will all work out in the end calorie wise" kind of people. And gee wiz, haven't I been overweight for the past 3 decades?? Coincidence?? I think not. So last week, on some great advice from the people in the group, I started using fitday's free tools. I have been keeping track of everything I have been eating and have been able to identify some pretty shocking numbers that have been driving my weight up. So I used that tool to not only monitor, but to plan my daily food. I tried eating 6 times a day as reccomended by others here, but I found myself forcing myself to eat when not hungry and it seemed too easy to go over my calories for the day that way. I do incorporate protein into my snacks now, but I simpy cant do 6 full meals a day, no matter how small. So I stopped that and concentrated on overall calorie intake. It wasn't a big deal, since to be honest, hunger and binge eating has not been a problem anyways, so I don't feel I need to force myself to eat to stave of starvation or hunger. And so far so good. I identified a bunch of bad foods and really began planning my daily eating, from early morning till bedtime, and look at me now!

9 pounds since the plateau and I have never been more fired up and positive about life in general! My first goal of getting back to my wrestling weight is well under way and will likely be reached very early next month! If things continue I will have no problems reaching my goals, including the 2 pound a week challenge next month, my 1/2 way goal of 110Kg (118kg now) and my overall goal off 100Kg(220lbs) by the end of summer. Since I have only been losing weight from my heaviest weight of 135kg(297pounds) since December, I think that is do-able. 17kg down, 18kg to go!

I did a hell of a lot of hard work and trial and error to get to this point. I started slow with walking 20 minutes a day, 3X a week. Then I started adding resistance training and aerobics, now I am a machine. And as much as it was my blood, sweat and tears that paid for this journey, WLF was also far too big a contributing factor to be overlooked. The support, advice and guidance from everyone in WLF has not only made my goals a posibility, it is making them a reality!

If WLF were a single person or entity I would hug it and spin it around the room in thanks for its efforts! But since it is not, I want to do what I figure is the next best thing. I may not be a famous recording artist, or in fact that great a singer/ukulele player in general, but I am now writing a motivational song for everyone here in thanks for helping me so much more than anyone ever could have in the past. I will let everyone know when it is ready, but in the meantime, I will keep actively working and doing my best to provide some pretty damn great looking "after" pictures in the not too distant future!

Today sure is a great day!!!

sirant
 
Running of the Bee's......

Here's a little interesting story.

I have very recently started running and have really taken to it. This is the same guy who for the past 20 years told people I was not designed to run and it was simply not possible. Well, so much for that theory. I am doing it and I am liking. it. Not only that, but my wife has also recently been fired up watching my daily efforts and has decided to start working out herself, including running with me on the weekends. We have a fantastic park across the street which is filled to capacity with lychee and mango tree's, which are all freshly blooming. It smells like heaven running through there with all the beautiful and fragrant flowers. Amazing place to have an afternoon run right through the trees.

One thing I noticed this year I haven't noticed before is these little wooden boxes beginning to appear in parks all over town that look very similar to bee houses/hives. Lo and behold, they are. I guess the Chinese government, in order to promote pollination brings in literally 100's of these boxes filled with bees to go fly around the park. What a great way to naturally pollinate your fruit trees. All pretty cool, until we took an unexpected turn.

In Spain they have the running of the bulls, where essentially you start running, them they let out a bunch of rather pissed bulls behind you. Well, we found the running of the bee's, because on either side of the path were 100 or so bee houses with properly dressed bee keepers milling about. We decided instead of stopping in the middle to just plow on through. Neither of us got stung, but it was a very odd sensation to run full bore through a swarm of bee's. Luckily my wife has never seen Killer Bee specials on tv or horror movies, so she thought it was cool. Certainly a different experience and seeing as how we ran through 1/2 a kilometer of solid bee's and neither us nor the bee's were upset in the process, I will consider it a good omen for my new running hobby.

Oddly enough in the past I would have run like hell to get away from a single big bee, this weekend I ran for 2 days in a park where they were thick in the air and flowers. But I found myself more at peace than I have been in years. Maybe it was the smells in the air, maybe it was the calm and serenity of the trees, but the bee's were just a wonderful addition to another fun day. We ran 5Km this weekend and are looking forward to going further next weekend. I guess even at 260 pounds a person can run if they work themselves up to it.... I wonder whats next? Triathlon? Marathon? Skimpy bike shorts? ;)

sirant
 
Back in the saddle again.

Well, what a week. The weekend was great and I truly enjoyed the runs we did in the park with all the blooming flowers and bumble bees. Then Monday was dentist day...... Got a nasty old wisdom tooth finally pulled but that threw my eating and exercise schedule off kilter completely. (of course) The first day I could barely eat at all and spent most of my time sleeping. The second day was a bit better, though I am sure I was under my normal calories by a big jump. I did however do a little light exercise after the first 24 hours had passed by jumping on the spin bike and pedalling moderately for 30 minutes while watching TV. Yesterday I came in to work, expecting business as usual, but for some reason my stomach was acting up and I was sent back home again. I was able to eat however and had a normal food day. I also felt good enough that night to kick out some taebo which really helped me feel better. But I have missed 3 days of walking my normal 8-10km. Ah well. My weight fluctuated a bit, going up to 263!! (Goodbye April 2 pound a week challenge!!) But this morning everything is back in line and I am .4 of a pound away from this weeks goal. No problem for the weekly weighin!

What truly amazes me though is how my attitude towards my life in general has changed. Having major dental work done is part of life, cant really be avoided. But I felt so low during those 2 days. Not because of the pain or suffering, but because I wasn't doing the exercise I am starting to enjoy so much. I remember a couple months ago looking at my daily walks home after work and saying to myself "well, if it hurts too much today, I will just skip tomorrow and start again the next day." And based on how my lower back would be feeling after that 1 hour walk, I think I was justified in feeling that. But I pushed through it and continued. Now, I do the walk in 45 minutes and aside from a healthy sweat, I am no worse for wear. No pain at all in the lower back or shins. Now in fact I look forward to those walks everyday and feel ripped off when I can't do them. Taebo used to also be a nightmare because some of the combination moves were quite complex and difficult and by the end of the cardio program I was exhausted. But now, 2 weeks into it I am finding I am not stopping anymore trying to figure out what is going on and I am not so tired anymore by the time the stretch comes. The same could be said about the biggest loser workout, where for the first couple weeks I thought I was simply too out of shape to even try. But persistence does pay off. Not only did the BL workout and taebo get easier, but I enjoy those tough workouts more and more each time I do them. I can stretch further, I can kick higher and squat lower. Like running, all things I thought very recently I was never going to be able to do.

So now I sit exactly 20 pounds above my first goal of 240 pounds. Once I reach that goal my wife has promised to throw away all my fat clothes which look bad on me already, whether I like it or not and buy me a whole new wardrobe. She is thrilled because she wont have to go searching high and low to find clothes that will fit. By then she can find clothes for me on the rack. Personally I wanted to wait till I hit my final goal, but she wont have it. Who am I to complain?

I remember when I first joined here looking at some of the before and after photos of some of the memebers who have done so well already and really not being able to picture myself in their place. I felt so much pride and happiness seeing what they had done, but it still wasn't something I could associate with myself. But now the tide has turned. I am now halfway to my ultimate goal and it doesnt seem too far or too unreasonable now. I have made the changes, I have gotten stronger and I have gained a new found respect and love for myself. I have faith in me for a change instead of an underlying dissapointment and resentment. 80 pounds seemed like an impossibility. Then to come to grips with the fact that it would only come at 1-2 pounds pr week at best, was difficult to say the least. But now, 37 pounds are gone, I feel and look better, and I know it is happening. I now write down my goals everyday and have a list of my goals and accomplishments posted on my desk right next to my monitor so everyday I can reaffirm to myself where I am going and how I got there.

So long story short, after a brief dental hiatus, I am back in the saddle and riding hard! I can't wait for this initial leg of the journey to be over, but in the meantime I will enjoy the ride. I really can't stress enough how helpful WLF has been to me in this adventure and I hope and pray all of you are getting the same out of this group as I am.

sirant
 
I sympathize with you about your dental problems. I went through all that about a dozen years ago, and it was a royal pain in the keester. But glad you're in the saddle again. And we ARE getting as much out of WLF as you are, partly because we enjoy your posts so much!
 
Well thanks there little feller!

You always say such nice things Tom, I am not sure I am so deserving! I certainly feel I am the one who is getting the most benefit out of being part of WLF, but hey, if I can amuse and entertain the troops on the way, even better! I am kinda of a natural ham, sure helps with the teaching. My students all love me. But sometimes I wonder if the lovable, entertaining ham is really sirant or not. All my life I was the clown. Entertaining everyone as I went. I look back now and see it as a combination of 2 things. Of course I wanted to fit in. I wasn't a jock, or a drama stud or one of the "cool crowd" ever. In order to not be picked on and be allowed to gain some social reputation, I chose to be the clown. I was big and tough enough to have been the bully too, but I never went for that option. Pretty darn glad about that too. I became the clown because it was one of the few options available to the fat kids of the day. Another reason I am sure was a coping device. Being a 350 pound 15 year old sucked, and pretty much the other years before and after it too, at various weights. If I didn't make people laugh all the time, I would have not been able to laugh at myself I could even see back then I could have spiraled downward out of control. Laughter was a way to be accepted and to accept myself.

But what if I had been athletic and fit all my life?The captain of the football team, dashing young Broadway hopeful, guy who could "score" with a wink and a smile... Would I still be the lovable guy who wanted to make everyone laugh? Would I need or even care about acceptance of my peers? Could I have become one of "those guys" I have learned to hate and despise?

Of course there is no way to ever really know. We are shaped by our lives and though we of course have the power to change them, (as so many strong and amazing people here are) they do influence us profoundly. I probably should thank my lucky stars I didn't have a date for the prom, and I had less girlfriends than even the nerdy pimply kids and I did need to laugh at myself to stop myself from going insane. I will never know "what if?", and probably it is for the best.

I am an entertainer, through and through. Whether I am writing in order to give people something amusing to think about, clowning it up for my adult accountant students (who need laughs even more desperately than I did!) or having a blast seeing people smile at my silliness in the street, I am doing what I have done my whole life.

But now it is different. Not because I am getting skinnier, not because I am older, but because I found a truth that warms me to my cockels. (what is a cockel anyways?) I have a gift which is amazing and underrated. I can make people smile, and every time I do so it makes me get skinnier and fitter on the inside. All my life I have been a happy person dying to make the world smile, but I have felt unhappy about my physical self.

But everyone here, not least of all you Tom, are helping me to do something I have never done before. I am learning how to make myself smile. I am not laughing at myself anymore I am making myself laugh. I can do so much already, at 1/2 way to my goal, that I have never done before. I am becoming the man I always wanted to be. Funny, entertaining and damn good lookin too boot!

But once I do get gorgeous (yes ladies, pictures in skimpy clothing will come on that day... ;)) I am going to stay the same. I will entertain people with my words, I will pull out my ukulele and get a whole restaurant singing tiny bubbles on the drop of a hat, I will do magic for random kids and I will make everyone who needs it, smile. And if by writing down a few small pieces of my madness here, entertains or amuses the folks here at WLF, who are all working soooo hard themselves, smile, it is my great honor and privilege to do so.

sirant
 
appearance is second to who you are. dont go changing because of stereotypes!
congrats on cracking that plateau - you have motivated me and i am going to check through what i am eating in a bid to ditch those foods that are just empty calories. have a nice day :)
 
Another hurdle passed.....

Well, today is a good day all around.

Today was my weigh in for the 2 pound a week april challenge and I was a little worried. I started out the week at 261.8 and really hoped to at least get down to 260. Instead somehow I got myself to 259.0, 2.8 pounds lost. Unbelievable! This is indeed a great day for me! Not only because of the challenge, but for a more personal reason. I have always held in the back of my mind the hope that I would some day get back my wrestling physique. Now I was no steroid pumping super jock or anything like that. Far from it. But I was quite athletic in the 250 pound range. I was eating and working out all wrong back then, but still relatively fit for a big guy. Once I stopped wrestling and found the easy life in China, I gained 20,30,40 then almost 50 pounds awfully quick. Ouch!

Since then I have dreamed of just getting back to my old wrestling weight.

Well, seeing that scale this morning has made my day, because I know I am there, AND I know I am stronger and fitter now also! I could never do 50 pushups before, I could never run 3km and most importantly I had no concept of portion or calorie control. I think that now, even though I am at the same weight, I am in far FAR better physical shape. So what does that mean for the Man Mountain?? Well, it has empowered me to go further and reach my ultimate goals! A year ago I would have been thrilled to hit the 250's and just stop here, my work done, but now it is not enough. I look and feel pretty damn good now, but I cant even imagine how good I will feel once I go even further. The big goal now (not final) is to hit the mark on my ticker. 240 pounds.

I am already back to wrestling shape, and truth be told, before WWF went steroid crazy and demanded perfect sculpted bodies for their wrestlers, I would have been the perfect size and weight to be a star the way I am now. Anyone remember the wrestlers from the 70's and 80's?? They certainly didn't look like these muscle goons they have now. They were big guys, with bellies and bodies of real men, not greek gods. Those days are long gone sadly, but thats ok, I don't need to be a greek god, just a normal guy would be fine.

So today is a fantastic day! 2 goals met! 1: 2+ pounds for the April chellenge and 2: back into the 250's again after 3 years..... So whats that mean?

It means the big guy is going to the sauna tonight for a little soaking and massaging!!!!

Life is good!!!!

sirant
 
Wow. What a prolific profusion of prose. That was a lot to read but fantastic Sirant. Its just so amazing that you are in such new territory and DOING IT. Something you never dreamed possible is happening. Yours is definitely a diary I keep up with.
 
Either I am freakin amazing or I need to set higher goals...

Ok, so I started running a short time ago right? Yeah, well, being one of those "Humans were never meant for running!" or "Running just causes more pain and suffering in the future!" kind of guys in the past, I thought I would never run, unless being chased by something with bigger muscles and/or teeth.... But now I am doing it. Ok fine, feels good, I like it, all working out well.

2 weekends ago I did 2km on Saturday and 3km on Sunday with my wife. it was hard, but it went well. Knees and calves sore for a few days, but nothing that kept me from work or daily exercise. Good enough. The next weekend we went again, but this time we did 3km and 3.5km, so a slight increase. I figured if we kept ramping it up I could set a realistic goal of being able to do a 5km run by the end of April. Not too unrealistic I figured.

Well here it is, April 9th, and this weekend I have already hit my goals for the month for running. On Saturday I did 4.5km running around a 1km path in the local park, but honestly I found it quite boring to just do laps. My wife almost made it the full distance, but ran out of steam near the end, so I joined her for a stretch and called it a day. Then yesterday she decided not to come, so I thought, what the heck, let's go for it. I used google earth and mapped out a route I used to just walk every weekend. It worked out to 5.25km. it looks like this:

My First 5Km run

I am so excited and impressed with myself for pulling this one off! I thought it would be much more of a struggle. Not that it was easy mind you, and I have some pretty sore glutes today, let me tell ya.... But overall, I have hit so many goals this month already I feel unstoppable! Back into the 250's is a huge one for me! Also ALL my old clothes from a few years ago now fit me better than they did when I bought them!! I am literally having to give away my "fat" clothes now because they simply look too ridiculous on me! My wife is taken aback everytime she see's me wearing one of those great shirts she bought me 3 years ago that I have never been able to wear. And now not only am I running, but being able to run 5km in under 40 minutes.... Wow! Now if I can keep up with the 2 pound a week challenge here I will be a goal breaking machine this month!!!

Maybe that should be my next goal, to continue hitting all my goals. With a goal like that, how could I lose? ;) In any case, I am going to use this momentum to drive myself onward and upward! At the rate I am going now, I am really going to be a completely new man this summer, and I can't wait! As I say in my signature, Don't Dream It, BE IT!!!

If my lazy old butt can do it, anyone can! I hope this month is a great one for everyone else too!

sirant
 
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