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2005/09/15, 08:25 AM
I know this topic is probably going to piss some people off, but my hope is that it motivates most of the people that read it.
Just so everyone knows, in March of 2004 I was approaching 350lbs. My friend was getting married in April, and I wanted to try to get in shape. Well, it's pretty hard to look good in one month when you look so bad. I started trying anyhow.
My roommate had to stop drinking soda, so I decided that me giving it up also would help him a little more. I haven't had a soda in 15 months. I pretty much just drink water, an occasional beer, and juices.
The bigger motivation came when my father had sextuple bypass surgery. He had 75-90% clogging in the arteries. Plus, he has diabetes. I am definitely my father's son, so I got kinda scared.
Anyhow, I started out doing cardio 4 or 5 times a week, and I usually did it until I was about ready to pass out. Not that I'm condoning doing it that hard. A couple of months into it, my weight was dropping like a rock. Oh yeah, I didn't really look all that great in my tux for the wedding. :)
I added weight training into my schedule, and dropped most of the cardio. I would say this is where everything started coming together. I was doing weights 3 times a week, and cardio twice a week. By December of 2004, I was down to about 305lbs.
My New Year's resolution involved losing more weight, as it commonly does for alot of people. I wanted to get ripped!
I had plateaued around the 295lb. mark, and I was looking for more ways to work out more efficiently. That's when I joined this website. I started by gathering knowledge from here, subscribed to Men's Health magazine (in my opinion, an excellent publication), and combed over the internet and bookstores.
My next step was following a freetrainers.com workout routine. I started lifting 5 times a week, working different body parts every day. I started eating a little better also. Man, what a difference!! Not only did my weight drop, but my muscle mass increased dramatically! I know bench press isn't the end-all, be-all of determining useful strength, but just as an example, my bench has gone from 165 to 280 during this time period. All my exercises have gone up. Running was definitely my weakness (and it still is, for the record), but now, I can run a half-mile before I have to start walking. Before, I couldn't even do a quarter-mile. I'm still working on that one.
Also, I used to wear 50 or 52 inch waist pants. Now I wear 36 inch waist. I used to wear XXXL shirts, sometimes XXL depending on brand. Now I comfortably wear XLs.
I don't miss any of the foods or drinks I have given up. I have learned how to cook a little. Chicken is my favorite. :)
The main point of this post is that I have been overweight for at least 15 years, and I've always talked about losing the weight, but I've never been committed enough to do it. Once I decided to actually live up to my words, it has actually been fairly easy to achieve. It has been fairly slow, but it has also been sure progress. It's pretty much just about keeping yourself motivated. My reason is living. I mean, if you are out of shape, you're gonna die early, and that's all there is to it. I want to get as many years as I can.
I got on the scale this morning, and it showed 244.5lbs. That's less than I weighed my senior year in high school. That's what made me make this post.
My confidence level is through the roof. This has worked wonders for my life. I want to thank everyone on this site who has ever answered a question that I have posted on here. I know I haven't posted that much, but every answer was very important to me.
Thanks y'all! :cool:
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