The man they call Sirant

Hi Sirant. I'm so glad you're getting things back together. The greed thing -- that happened when my father died 12 years ago, too. It's very sad to see.

I totally can relate to your experience about people telling you how nice it is that you're "able" to lose weight. LOL, I'd like to drag them on one of my workout sessions and let them see how "easy" it is!

I don't blame you at all for blocking them. You can only help people who want to help themselves.
 
Word.....

TomO said:
Hi Sirant. I'm so glad you're getting things back together. The greed thing -- that happened when my father died 12 years ago, too. It's very sad to see.

I totally can relate to your experience about people telling you how nice it is that you're "able" to lose weight. LOL, I'd like to drag them on one of my workout sessions and let them see how "easy" it is!

I don't blame you at all for blocking them. You can only help people who want to help themselves.
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Yeah, I always thought that sort of greed issue only happened in movies or to other petty little people. Sucks when you find your family isn't immune.

Able to lose weight...... Dumbasses. I have had sooooo many offers from people wanting to join me for runs or even just walking. I tried to start a walking club here in town..... I wish someone, ANYONE would have come with me even just once to see how "lucky" it is to sweat yer ass off in the scorching heat.....

And even though I shouldn't feel bad about blocking those people, I do. I know how much it sucked to be in my 20's and over 300 pounds.... If I could help anyone to not suffer the way I did, I would. But there comes a point when I am spending more time online going over the same old things with them, when I could be out doing exercises myself.... Mysery loves company I guess. Time for me to stop being the company.

sirant
 
Oh my god! yes! yes! yes!
Ive been saying this kinda stuff since the beginning. It pisses me off that people think that im something special for being able to magicly loose weight - and of course its totally luck! because you cant actually loose weight any other way!
In fact one of my best friends is no longer my best friend anymore because i just couldnt tolerate it anymore.


Its funny how you change, and i dont just mean the weight loss
 
What to do, what to do??? They just wont listen….

It's a funny world. Someone like me makes some real changes in their life, learns some DAMN HARD lessons and finally, after DECADES of trying, finds that little piece of success that makes him and others take notice. I must say it is a pretty incredible feeling. To think of how I used to sit in my office, growing fatter everyday as I ate greasy-mc-shit burgers for breakfast and justified it by convincing myself I would exercise later, or that morning calories were not so bad as evening ones, and on and on from there. Pathetic really, but true. But now I find myself running home instead of taking a taxi (because even walking to the bus stop and standing in crowded hot busses was torture in the past). Even on days when it is 40 degrees Celsius I still find myself getting outside with the intentions of walking instead of running, then a slight breeze hits me, and the legs start moving. I no longer pant and wheeze in the heat and even though I sweat like a pig while running, the reality is I would be sweating just as much walking since there would be less airflow and it would be a longer time in that same heat.

I find myself these days stretching every morning and finding quiet times at work to do the Yoga Sun Salutation and other positions right next to my desk. I don't care anymore what my coworkers think, since most of them are proud to see the man I am becoming and respect the work I have put into it. I also do Yoga after every run to properly stretch my muscles, which makes SUCH a HUGE difference the next day. Days I forget are days I know I will suffer tomorrow. Once again people and children passing by stop and literally stare at the big man sweating like a rainstorm putting his body into what seems like overly uncomfortable positions. But now I don't feel self-conscious in the slightest. Let them stare at me doing something good. I would much prefer that to being one of those loosers people stare in public for hitting their kids or dogs or screaming like an idiot at people at the slightest provocation. Stare and gawk all you like. Sirant has come out of his shell and the world is welcome to enjoy me and hopefully learn from me.

And I really don't mind helping people, though as I mentioned it does get a trifle annoying when people ask for your advice and expect you to help them, but they refuse to actually listen. Its like it is going in one ear and out the other. Nothing changes except they want you to keep reiterating the same answers to their same questions over and over again. But as with so many things, once you begin helping someone, it almost becomes "your" responsibility to keep those people on track. "Why aren't I losing weight like you are?"; "Why can you run 8km non-stop but I can only go 2km?"; "Why is Yoga and stretching so easy for you but impossible for me?"; "What can YOU do to make my weight loss easier?" etc. It no longer is me offering helpful advice, now I am the un-paid personal trainer whose responsibility it is to makes sure these people follow their diets, stretch properly and do the right kinds of exercise. Once again I really don't mind helping people, not one bit. But you get tired of the perpetual complaints and constant questions which you have answered 50 times already. Everyone wants your "miracle" success, but they don't want to follow your advice. They want results now.

And in some regards it is understandable. 5 months ago when I started in earnest, I thought the prosect of 2-3 pounds a week was terrible. With 80 pounds to go down, that was a lot of weeks. And it LOOKS like an enormous amount at the beginning. 40 weeks equals 10 months!!! But I want to be skinny and hot NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW!!!!!!

Sadly, as with so many things in life it just doesn't work that way. Personally I would like to be wealthy enough to quit my job and go back to university, and I want to do that RIGHT NOW too. But until some overly rich person decides on a lark to give me heaps of money, I am just going to have to work and save my pennies the long and hard way. That's really just life. Now, 5 months and 65 pounds lighter, the time I spent really working on hitting my goals seems like only a mere moment in time. All those painful days and aching nights, all those long endless walks and the gallons of sweat pouring off me, all those hurtful stares at the "fat man" cruising by….. All gone now. Now the pain is nothing, even when I do get some, now the endless walks are enjoyable runs, seeing things I never saw before, and the hurtful stares are now replaced with thumbs up and people staring because I look good, not unhealthy. 5 months from now I know I will be an altogether new man again. And I know I will look back at the prior 10 months and think to myself "I was such a fool for letting my fear of taking the time I needed stop me from getting here so many times before.

And now I see the cycle repeating again. Not in me this time, but in the people who come seeking my aid. Against all my advice, they push their 300+ pound frames to try to match my fitness levels now. Walking was how I started. Slowly at first and building up over the course of many months. Then once I felt strong enough, I tried running. Once again I eased into very slowly and deliberately. That, mixed with a MUCH healthier diet has of course led me to where I am at now. However these guys seem to think that by running 5km a day now like I do will make them skinny faster. I try SOOOOO HARD to point out to them that with the injuries they are suffering (and they are) and the lack of proper diet and preparation they will not become me in 2 months. But they won't listen. They must run everyday until they hurt. Then the next day they are too sore and uncomfortable and have to stop. I tell them about my very strict and controlled eating plan, but still they eat at McDonalds and worthless junk food (because they don't have time to eat right) and then are shocked because they aren’t losing 20 pounds a month. I tell them they need to make a SERIOUS change in their lifestyles in order to make a difference in their lives, but nothing changes and so they come back to me, demanding answers and considering me to be the lucky one. They seem to only want to absorb a small portion of what I tell them. They want to run everyday like I do, but they don't want to start with 3 months of good solid walking like I did. They want to eat healthy like I do, but they don't want to give up imported chocolate bars (by the dozens) and McDonalds. They want to be fit like I am, but don't want to put in the time and effort I did to make it happen.

Part of me really wants to help these people. I remember so vividly how unhappy and miserable my weight made me most of my life, even when I wore my "happy guy" mask on the outside. I remember the loneliness and feeling like a loser. I remember the aches, pains and suffering (yes suffering) I experienced every time I tried in the past and either did it wrong and failed or even as recently as last month, the pains I experience as I make the changes. I really can relate to these people and their suffering. I understand their lack of willpower and their desire to want the changes to happen NOW NOW NOW!!! And in my heart I really want to help. But after months of suggestions, sharing and even offering to physically help, they still only hear what they want to hear and block out the rest. Not one has taken up walking as a daily thing. They all try running till they hurt themselves and quit. Then they start asking me again and we start the whole dance over again. Like I said, part of me REALLY wants to help, but more and more part of me wants to tell these people who consider me lucky and are unwilling to accept the advice they so desperately and continuously bug me for, to "fuck right off".

Does that make me a bad person?
 
Sirant, just a note. I, too, love running in the rain. Of course, I would prefer a light drizzle, but running in the rain is awesome! No sun...nice and cool...it keeps you going (and pray that my mp3 player doesn't malfunction). When I first started I used to be superconsious, but now I've gotten over it (unless I see a really good looking gal, then I get really nervous :eek: )

I think the main thing these people are lacking is true motivation. Like I mentioned before, I knew all the rough concepts I had to do. Count calories, exercise, eat 4-5 times a day. I lacked the true motivation to do it and i never lost weight.

It doesn't make you a bad person, you tried helping them out in the first place. And being around all that negativity could have a pushed onto you. Personally, I don't know if I would have gone as far to have blocked them, but at least you gave them that starting hand, that potential. And you are right, there is hardly luck involved in weight loss, unless you suffer from some metabolic disease that doesn't allow your body to absorb nutrients (and you would be suffering from a lot of things wutg that kind of disorder)

Keep it up sirant and i'm glad most of the bad are behind you.

Good luck to you and you friends...everyone needs help. Hopefuly some stuff actually get into the thick noggins of your friends. The number one thing to realize is that shit isn't going to happen over night. Takes time, as you mention. People expect fast results, instant gratification. And unless you can afford liposuction, it ain't happening.
 
Interesting to note...

DeepGreen said:
People expect fast results, instant gratification. And unless you can afford liposuction, it ain't happening.
Click to expand...

A couple plastic surgeons came out of the wood work recently in light of some law suits going on back in America to do with liposuction. Many people expect that is the fast 'solution" to the problem. Then when the obese person doesn't see the difference they paid 3000-6000 bucks for the lawyers step in.....

But these 2 docs came right out and said it. Liposuction does not work on overly fat people. Body shaping sure, lose flabby bit removal, yes, but weight loss, no. They said the average weight lost is 6 to 10 pounds. And in an obese person thats not enough to even make a dent. Realistically lipo is only really effective for people who have already lost the 100 pounds and now want to get rid of some of the extra jiggly bits....

I was mighty impressed though that these 2 docs came right out and said it, when they openly admitted most of their colleagues would not and just get legal disclaimers signed beforehand to protect them from unsatisfied customers. Can we say Shady?? So at 3000 per 10 pounds I would be looking at 18,000 bucks to have lost what I did in the last 5 months.....

Ouch.

sirant
 
Yee gads....

Wow.....

What a month......

Shitty as all git' out on one hand, but VERY insightful on the other......

Combine a busy work schedule, holiday visitors, a death in the family, intensive family pressures and discomforts, mid-life crisis, general mayhem and madness and it makes for a month that really makes you reflect upon your past efforts.....

I am still not quite a point where I can express myself and reflect upon the past month, but I am still here. And though I am sure the scale gods have been less than pleased with my culinary and liquid choices of the recent past, I did not lose total control and sink back into the ways I was once so accustomed to. Beer once again became a friend, but I still maintained my regular eating plan. I still ran 5X a week, though it was harder. Some days I would bloat for some reason (I figure it must be stress related) and look like I had gained weight, only to have it disappear entirely in a couple days.. The scale ran out of battery power (digital), and thus I haven't hopped on a scale to measure the actual damage.

But in any case, with the pressures I have been under of recent weeks, I am literally shocked I still fit into my "skinnier" clothes and haven't lost grip as much as I expected. This particular struggle is still on going for me, as I am currently experiencing family pressures I suspect have thrown me for such a loop I will have to struggle to get back to "normalcy" Perhaps it will never come...

But at least on the bright side I have kept up with my daily routines and still maintained my track record of making my way home from work everyday by foot power. I may have strayed from the path from time to time, but at least the path was never far away.

I look forward to getting back on track and becoming much more active here again and finding the success that is waiting for us all. Been a rough month, and a birthday just passed, but I hope it gets easier.....

But if it doesn't I will just work harder.

sirant
 
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Hey uncle siraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant!!!!

How's Shenzhen goin? Hmmm looks like u not posting much too. Your daughter is so pretty! U might need to start screening her calls at home soon lol :rotflmao:
 
Where does the time go??

Here I am, back on the scene as it were, after 3 or 4 months away from the group and taking a break from my "online life" in general. Can't give a reasonable reason or excuse as to why I have been away so long, but I must say, it certainly has affected my weight loss and ability to keep on track. After a rather heavy bought of depression, confusion and emotional type "stuff" I was able to keep to a decent exercise routine and eating realtively well, beer became a little too close a friend. As a result I gained 15 pounds from my lightest and have not kicked those pounds back off again.

I not not overly disheartened or dissapointed. Everyone is allowed to have a "down time" I think the important part is realizing it and moving forward. Once again I have decided to kick the beer out all together and see if that extra 15 pounds melts away once its beery friend doesn't come visiting anymore. I am however still able to run 5km 3X a week without a problem, flexible enough to make people groan in sympathetic pain as I fold up into nifty little yoga poses and strong enough to do 60 pushups everyday. I think at this point this is a nothing more than a "beer belly" which needs to hit the road and not come back.

I am also trying a new eating plan. The salads and stew everyday were good, and I enjoy them to this day, but maybe a little variety is better. I am going to a very traditional Chinese eating plan, which involves more rice and veggies than meat and everything else. Of course maintaining a proper balance is important, but historically Asian cultures have been the thinnest and fittest, without exception, and they eat more rice in a day than most "dieters" would eat in a month. Now that doesnt mean I plan to go rice crazy or anything, but I am going to try stepping away from the 3 exact same meals a day to a more varied but also controlled Chinese diet (keeping in mind that Chinese fod in China is NOWHERE NEAR what Chinese food is like in North America).

But in any case, it is time to get control over the beer belly, the emotions and the weight. I came within 20 pounds of my goal a few months ago, and I have renewed faith I will get back there and beyond sooner than I hope.

Wish me luck everyone, though really, I will be relying on myself first, and luck will just be an added bonus!

sirant
 
yaayy sirant is back!

And yeah asians are historicly small, but remember quantity as well as quality :)
 
Well howdy Ladies!

Yep, it's true, Sirant is back and going harder than ever!

Nice to see you two are still kicking around, and I must say wishes "Hubba Hubba!" (are you old enough to remember that one? Maybe Mal is...;))

Well, I have a new "sexy" goal for the next 2 months which is helping me to motivate myself this time.

My mom and sis are making the big trek over to China this year for a visit, and since we are in the neighborhood, we are shuffling off to Phuket Thailand to do some serious "beachin" (and I ain't talking about whales!) I went a couple times earlier this year, but this next trip is going to be struttin time!

My mom (oddly enough) sent me a pair of what she calls "Sexy Surfer" shorts, which are the smallest size I have ever worn as an adult. They are a mere size 38, something I would never have considered in the past. However, upon trying them on, I can actually do them up!!! However, there is quite a bit of "overhang" form the neighbor to the north, being that nasty spare tire around the middle. But, the simple fact I can do them up gives me great hope that I will be able to wear them proudly this Feb on the beach and make my wife proud and the other girls jealous. Hell, I will be happy to make the lady boys, monkeys, men and anyone looking jealous too... ;) I can see why my mother and wife consider these sexy shorts, as they really tend to make things "jump out at ya" (you can figure out the rest on your own.....

So now its time to batten down the hatches, man the big guns and bring this war against belly into the spotlight! No more sitting back and waiting for tomorrow (which really never comes), its time for action baby!

So ya, pumped up and ready to rock. The Thailand countdown is on! 75 days to go, almost 11 weeks..... if I can knock off 1-2 pounds a week I will be thrilled, but I am going for the gusto! 3-4 is always possible and I have done it before! So far this week (weighed in on Sunday and now Thurs) I am down a whopping 5 pounds! I have cut out the snacking and beer'ing altogether and I think I can sneak in a few more 5 pound weeks before Christmas! Luckily here Christmas is not a huge deal (actually I'm working Christmas day!), so there are no big parties, xmas baking and temptations a plenty! My christmas present to myself this year will be kicking my own ass harder than ever before and making some personal dreams come true!!

I would say "wish me luck!" but I think luck is for gamblers. I am not gambling anymore, I am taking control again. Instead please offer me another swift boot in the arse to send me along my way! I will truly appreciate the effort!

sirant
 
Oh my,

maleficent said:
christ on a cracker -what the hell did I do to you to earn that insult?
yes, I am older than dirt but good god!!
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Not an insult at all.......

It isn't THAT old is it? Jeez, I remember it too.... What's that say about me....?

Though sometimes I sure do feel older than dirt..... I figured that was just part of "being"...

:)

sirant
 
sirant said:
Yep, it's true, Sirant is back and going harder than ever!

Nice to see you two are still kicking around, and I must say wishes "Hubba Hubba!" (are you old enough to remember that one? Maybe Mal is...;))
Click to expand...
Im not that much younger than Mal i hate to say - im just better at editing photos :D
Besides, they remade flintones only 10-15 years back if i recall and used that phrase a lot in it.

Good luck in Thailand - Pick the most uncooked gross looking thing and hope for a stomach bug - great way to loose a ton of weight fast!

maleficent said:
christ on a cracker -what the hell did I do to you to earn that insult?
yes, I am older than dirt but good god!!
Click to expand...
Unles you're older than half a centry quit the whining, you're not even halfway through your life :D
Besides, nobody has expectations of grandtude type things from older people so you can get away with sooo much more! :D
 
I love the doctor!!!!

You may be thinking, "what an odd thing to say."

And pretty much you are correct! However.....

One of the policies for most full time employees in China, especially foreigners, is they must undergo a complete and VERY detailed physical check up every year. It takes half a day and they use every second. Last year I went and had 2 very sophisticated physicals done
(at 2 different hospitals), with very unsatisfactory results. High blood pressure, High Colestrol, VERY fatty liver, pre-diabetic and about 100 pounds overweight...... Not cool at all.

And suprisingly enough, at that point the bad news still wasn't enough to force me to get my ass in gear. Luckily enough, that all changed.

Recently I went back for the annual in depth check up and it was my best doctors visit ever! My wife came with me to act as a translator (my chinese is good, but specific medical lingo still eludes me) and she almost cried on seeing the results. Not because she was upset, but because she was so incredibly happy.

I am no longer pre-diabetic at all. My blood pressure is MUCH lower and almost normal, cholesterol the same. Fatty liver, almost entirely gone, well within safe limits (less than the average population here, which I found somewhat shocking), weight down 70 pounds and according to the final doctor, a new man, adding at least 10-20 years to my life.

Taking this weight loss journey has been the hardest thing I have ever done, bar none. I am the fittest I have ever been in my life, I have energy, strength and a new outlook which makes me want to push even further!

I remember MUCH too well how going to the doctor in the past was something I HATED with a passion and gave me such anxiety and grief. Now I can wait to go back again next year....

Whats he going to tell me then? Will I have become Superman? Maybe not, but I already feel like it!

Up Up And Away!!!!!!

sirant
 
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wow thats fantastic news! awesome!

How far do you have to go loss wise? like before/now/goal ?


Pics?
 
Getting closer all the time....

wishes said:
wow thats fantastic news! awesome!

How far do you have to go loss wise? like before/now/goal ?


Pics?
Click to expand...

Well, no new pics yet, really haven't done much with the camera at all recently...

At current I think I am about 20-25 pounds above my ideal goal. Not really too sure how it will go from there, but getting closer day by day. I have kinda of sidestepped the hardcore weight loss at the moment for some upper body building. Chest shoulders and arms looking so good the wife is tickled pink! But as the upper areas grow, the scale doesnt drop. I am not too worried about it though. I am doing 2 hours of good workouts each day, so it will come in time.

Once I hit my goal I will rethink my plan and see if I need to lose more, or start the toning process.

Either way, its all looking up!

Start weight last January was 310, now 242, goal 220'ish.

sirant
 
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