Sean_Vienna
Mon, July 4th, 2005, 05:30 PM
Hey guys, how ya doin’?
My name’s Sean & I’m making my first post after lurking around the site for some time now. I wish to congratulate everyone who is currently participating in this forum as even signing up is a step in the right direction. Most people never get past dreaming about their goals while you guys are out there getting closer each day, respect. Anyone lurking who wishes to improve mentally and physically…post, post your goals, post your current stats, post your photos, post your reasons for wanting to improve yourself. Putting yourself out here for people to see will give your motivation a real kick in the @ss.
Now, to myself…
Up until I was about 17, I was the underweight kid. I ate like a horse but never gained weight, great eh?...well not really. See, as I grew-up I became accustomed to this & as a result, I had junk food in my hands (and in my mouth constantly). I was very active; played soccer, hockey, tennis etc. Due to my level of activity and fast metabolism, nothing changed, I stayed as skinny as a rake. In my early teens I decided I wanted to get bigger and more muscular, more accurately, I wanted a body like a well toned soccer player. I concluded that I needed to eat more (right so far), exercise more (looking good), and that it didn’t matter what I ate because I was naturally skinny ( :p ). Only overweight people had to watch what they ate, didn’t they?
My not so smart decision to eat more of what I liked brought with it a huge wave of junk food consumption ranging from the not so healthy, to the ridiculously unhealthy (“death by chocolate” along with some “chocolate Swiss roll” right before bed being a personal favorite). Due to my lack of nutritional knowledge, time, cooking experience, money etc convenience was the way forward…but ultimately, backwards. After keeping this up for quite a substantial period, I was surprised by the fact that nothing was happening… I certainly didn’t look like a soccer player, I didn’t get fat, my body looked exactly the same. I now know that my constantly forgiving metabolism and my high activity levels were my saviors. At the time I didn’t understand why I wasn’t getting "bigger”. I was midway through my teens and becoming increasingly more insecure due to being so underweight.
Eventually I moved to a new country; where my soccer boots stayed, but my bad eating habits followed. As I grew, so did my belly, unnoticed.
While dressing myself in preparation for the Debs (Irish equivalent of the Prom), at one stage I was standing side-ways on to the mirror putting on my tie. I caught a glimpse of myself and noticed that the tie was forming the letter “C” over my stomach. Reality hit, big time. Not only was I now overweight, I realized that my confidence was also in short supply as a result (if you’ve ever seen a big belly on really skinny person than I’m sure you can understand). Me, fat, what?
This was the point at which I realized how unhealthy I had become, not just that I was overweight, I had terrible skin, I couldn't run for more then a couple of minutes, my days were constantly full of highs and lows (probably due to my high sugar intake), I was emotional, I had no concentration, I was stressed out continuously, and generally felt under-the-weather more often than not.
This realization was a catalyst for change. I dropped the junk, upped the exercise…lost the weight (long story short). That image, while depressing, was my motivation.
My father was recently diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and it is suspected he may have developed angina. He has back problems, is overweight, smokes and is relatively inactive. His eating habits have improved somewhat thanks to my mother but of course I still worry. I live in a different country to him after leaving to move into a place with my South Eastern European girlfriend. The whole experience with my father has changed my mind-set quite drastically and so health, nutrition, exercise etc has become a very important aspect of my life and I am continually exploring it. I got my hands on Tom Venuto’s "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" and have also read through a plethora of fitness related articles and forums since. Although eating in a fairly healthy manner for the last couple of years, in the last 6 months I have taken it upon myself to learn more on the subject. I recently started lifting weights at home and doing cardio 3 x per week; so-far in about 3 months I have dropped my body fat % down from a respectable 12% to around 7.3% according to my Accu-Measure calipers (not sure I trust that reading though) in preparation for an almighty bulk with minimal fat gain. I plan to get “bigger” as I’ve always wanted to.
The whole point of my rambling…..
To make the point that health is not a luxury, it is a must. The changes I have noticed over the course of the last year or so, especially in the last 6 months, are, to me, quite remarkable. Not so much physically but more in relation to improved energy, enhanced concentration, health improvements, increased motivation in all aspects of life and a new found respect for myself. I am now going 1 step further and attempting to build myself the body I’ve always wanted. Anyone treating their healthy eating as a “diet” is setting themselves up for disaster. Learn, like I am now, to convert the healthy nutritional choices you make into habits and keep learning on ways to better yourself everyday. There are no excuses good enough to sacrifice your health. I myself have little money, and so I cook my own food, I myself have very little time, but I learn to make some for the things that matter.
To anyone lurking, why don’t you introduce yourself? Tell everyone your goals, ask for advice, give advice, but above all, do something productive…get your @ss in gear!
To John Stone…respect ( :bow: ).
(sorry for the long post)
My name’s Sean & I’m making my first post after lurking around the site for some time now. I wish to congratulate everyone who is currently participating in this forum as even signing up is a step in the right direction. Most people never get past dreaming about their goals while you guys are out there getting closer each day, respect. Anyone lurking who wishes to improve mentally and physically…post, post your goals, post your current stats, post your photos, post your reasons for wanting to improve yourself. Putting yourself out here for people to see will give your motivation a real kick in the @ss.
Now, to myself…
Up until I was about 17, I was the underweight kid. I ate like a horse but never gained weight, great eh?...well not really. See, as I grew-up I became accustomed to this & as a result, I had junk food in my hands (and in my mouth constantly). I was very active; played soccer, hockey, tennis etc. Due to my level of activity and fast metabolism, nothing changed, I stayed as skinny as a rake. In my early teens I decided I wanted to get bigger and more muscular, more accurately, I wanted a body like a well toned soccer player. I concluded that I needed to eat more (right so far), exercise more (looking good), and that it didn’t matter what I ate because I was naturally skinny ( :p ). Only overweight people had to watch what they ate, didn’t they?
My not so smart decision to eat more of what I liked brought with it a huge wave of junk food consumption ranging from the not so healthy, to the ridiculously unhealthy (“death by chocolate” along with some “chocolate Swiss roll” right before bed being a personal favorite). Due to my lack of nutritional knowledge, time, cooking experience, money etc convenience was the way forward…but ultimately, backwards. After keeping this up for quite a substantial period, I was surprised by the fact that nothing was happening… I certainly didn’t look like a soccer player, I didn’t get fat, my body looked exactly the same. I now know that my constantly forgiving metabolism and my high activity levels were my saviors. At the time I didn’t understand why I wasn’t getting "bigger”. I was midway through my teens and becoming increasingly more insecure due to being so underweight.
Eventually I moved to a new country; where my soccer boots stayed, but my bad eating habits followed. As I grew, so did my belly, unnoticed.
While dressing myself in preparation for the Debs (Irish equivalent of the Prom), at one stage I was standing side-ways on to the mirror putting on my tie. I caught a glimpse of myself and noticed that the tie was forming the letter “C” over my stomach. Reality hit, big time. Not only was I now overweight, I realized that my confidence was also in short supply as a result (if you’ve ever seen a big belly on really skinny person than I’m sure you can understand). Me, fat, what?
This was the point at which I realized how unhealthy I had become, not just that I was overweight, I had terrible skin, I couldn't run for more then a couple of minutes, my days were constantly full of highs and lows (probably due to my high sugar intake), I was emotional, I had no concentration, I was stressed out continuously, and generally felt under-the-weather more often than not.
This realization was a catalyst for change. I dropped the junk, upped the exercise…lost the weight (long story short). That image, while depressing, was my motivation.
My father was recently diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and it is suspected he may have developed angina. He has back problems, is overweight, smokes and is relatively inactive. His eating habits have improved somewhat thanks to my mother but of course I still worry. I live in a different country to him after leaving to move into a place with my South Eastern European girlfriend. The whole experience with my father has changed my mind-set quite drastically and so health, nutrition, exercise etc has become a very important aspect of my life and I am continually exploring it. I got my hands on Tom Venuto’s "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" and have also read through a plethora of fitness related articles and forums since. Although eating in a fairly healthy manner for the last couple of years, in the last 6 months I have taken it upon myself to learn more on the subject. I recently started lifting weights at home and doing cardio 3 x per week; so-far in about 3 months I have dropped my body fat % down from a respectable 12% to around 7.3% according to my Accu-Measure calipers (not sure I trust that reading though) in preparation for an almighty bulk with minimal fat gain. I plan to get “bigger” as I’ve always wanted to.
The whole point of my rambling…..
To make the point that health is not a luxury, it is a must. The changes I have noticed over the course of the last year or so, especially in the last 6 months, are, to me, quite remarkable. Not so much physically but more in relation to improved energy, enhanced concentration, health improvements, increased motivation in all aspects of life and a new found respect for myself. I am now going 1 step further and attempting to build myself the body I’ve always wanted. Anyone treating their healthy eating as a “diet” is setting themselves up for disaster. Learn, like I am now, to convert the healthy nutritional choices you make into habits and keep learning on ways to better yourself everyday. There are no excuses good enough to sacrifice your health. I myself have little money, and so I cook my own food, I myself have very little time, but I learn to make some for the things that matter.
To anyone lurking, why don’t you introduce yourself? Tell everyone your goals, ask for advice, give advice, but above all, do something productive…get your @ss in gear!
To John Stone…respect ( :bow: ).
(sorry for the long post)