Update + a few words of encouragement :-)

Hey all :)

It's been a while since I last visited.

I have finally taken a few photos of myself (along with my latest trophy catches of course) Sure, I might look a little more buffed / blown up, if I had just gotten done with my weight training > but I have SOOOOO far to go with all that, that I'd kind of feel goofy to even try to flex and pose right now anyway :)

Anyway, just a recap;

In Oct. 09, I weighed 272 lbs (but had as many or more health related issues as most 300-400+ lb guys my age)
My blood pressure averaged 150/110.
And I had the most horrendous, life altering stomach and digestion issues one could even start to imagine !
In a nutshell, my whole life SUCKED !

So, after a week of particularly bad stomach issues (I guess you could say, I had hit rock bottom) it finally came to me that my choices were this simple, 1) I could jump off of a really tall building, or 2) I could change every single thing about about the way I ate, exercised, and basically just, my entire lifestyle.

Sure glad I chose the latter.

Anyway, by Aug. 10', I was down to 192 lbs, for a loss of 80 lbs, which was all good, but my body fat % was still about 23% (skinny fat).

That's when I started weight training. Shortly thereafter, I bought a full suspension mountain bike that I just LOVE 100X's better than that hideous stationary thing sitting in my living room !

Apr 11; (and here's where I'm starting to feel really proud of myself) my weight was up to 212, a full 20 lbs gained ! However, drum-roll please...... my body fat was down to 17%, for a full 6% loss at the same time !!!!! Whooo Hooo !

So anyway, this brings us to today. I'm currently on a fat cutting cycle, and intend to get down to 199 lbs, in the next few weeks or a month > at which point, my body fat % should be about 14-15% ! Probably lower than it's ever been in my adult life !
Honestly, I don't really even want to go any lower until I can stack on some more muscle mass. > Not trying to be skinny ! I'm trying to be BUFFED ! ;)

My 3 1/2 year goal, is to get up to 225 lbs, at 9% BF. That would be by my 50th b-day. And I think that would be pretty darn good for an old guy, with my health history.

Oh, almost forgot, my stomach problems have basically vanished, and my blood pressure now averages 105/58.

Okay... okay.... Photos :)

Before:




During: (of course I still have a LONNNGGG ways to go for 225 @ 9% but....






Finally, I have 1 pretty important word of encouragement.....

I don't hear this mentioned very often, but this has certainly been the case with me....
Losing all that weight was a pretty darn big accomplishment, and I felt really good about myself because of it. However, I was freaking starving all the time ! Sure, I had moments when I felt like, "Wow ! It was sure a lot easier to climb that hill..... or to stand up... or to tie my shoes"
However, I think that my body was still in kind of a state of shock ! For one thing, it was constantly telling me, "Your starving" ! EAT ! EAT ! I also had plenty times when I didn't have much energy, with my metabolism trying to slow down to conserve energy (and fat).

I definitely had X's when because of this stuff, I questioned the whole thing with > Is this all worth it ???

Well, here I am going on 1 year since I lost all that weight, and having gained a substantial amount of muscle + some time for my body to adjust to it's new healthier self, I feel even WAAAAY better than I did after having just lost all that weight. WAY stronger, no doubt, but also much more energetic !
In fact, lately I have been having some inner struggles with trying not to ride the bike so hard (too much cardio) which could interfere with my muscle gains.

Imagine that.... having to use self control so I don't do too much cardio ;) LOL

All I can say is, It's absolutely worth it you guys !

Peace,
Fish Chris
 
Do you miss it? You know, all that cholesterol? HAHAHAHA

Anyway, good job. That's a big accomplishment, so I hope you feel really proud of yourself. It's always encouraging to see another fatty lose a bunch of weight. It always reminds me that I too can do it, you know? Keep it up, man.

Also, when I first looked at your last picture, I didn't realize you were wearing camo pants - I thought you had just pissed yourself. :willy_nilly:
 
Much thanks guys :)

Sunflower, it'a always nice to get compliments, but it's even cooler when it comes from a pretty young girl :)

Anyway, I'll check back in from time to time with progress reports.
As I have said over on the body building forums > I have spent most of the last 20 months, just trying to pull myself back up to what I would consider the baseline of decent health. It's only now that I feel like I can finally start to get serious with stacking on some real muscle, and eventually cutting down to 9%-10% BF. Don't think I'd even want to get shredded down to 5% or anything crazy like that. If I can ever get to 225@9%, I'd be more likely to start shooting for 240@9%, rather than 225@5%

Thanks again,
And my highest hopes for everyone here ! :)

Peace,
Fish
 
Much thanks guys :)

Sunflower, it'a always nice to get compliments, but it's even cooler when it comes from a pretty young girl :)

Anyway, I'll check back in from time to time with progress reports.
As I have said over on the body building forums > I have spent most of the last 20 months, just trying to pull myself back up to what I would consider the baseline of decent health. It's only now that I feel like I can finally start to get serious with stacking on some real muscle, and eventually cutting down to 9%-10% BF. Don't think I'd even want to get shredded down to 5% or anything crazy like that. If I can ever get to 225@9%, I'd be more likely to start shooting for 240@9%, rather than 225@5%

Thanks again,
And my highest hopes for everyone here ! :)

Peace,
Fish

Unreal man! Youre looking awesome! I actually remember you from a long time ago! Glad to see you have stuck with it......and gone WAY beyond for some tremendous results.

Well done!
 
Thank you Andy.

Ya' know it's kind of ironic, one of my biggest secrets (which isn't really a secret if I always tell everyone, I guess) is that I am pretty darn obsessive / compulsive (along with serious AADD).... > Which is typically looked at as a psychological disorder, but in this case (or with catching a stupid amount of huge fish.... or taking some really great photographs, etc) I've actually used this to my advantage.

Weight loss / body building, or pretty much every other endeavor one could imagine, becomes "easy" if that particular subject is locked right in the front of your brain, 24/7.

Sometimes I just wish that 20 years ago, I would have gotten locked onto the idea that I was going to make a bazillion dollars !!! :) LOL
But in reality, I don't even know why my brain latches on to those few certain things that it does.

In any case, their are probably a lot worse things to be addicted to than health and fitness :)

For better, or for worse, this is the story of my life.

Peace,
Fish
 
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