May 29, 2006 - Things are not always what they seem

A few months ago I joined the fitness forum and was ready to go. I was 250lbs, 28% bf, a smoker, and in terrible shape. I had a few weeks of working out but showed no progress, and lapsed back into bad habits. In fact, I felt worse than I did before. Gripped by a bit of depression over my state of affairs, and having bouts of dizziness, nausae, and fatigue.

All my results from the doctor was okay - same old same old, just lose some weight, stop smoking, better diet. Finally though, I went into a sleep clinic where they diagnosed me with severe sleep apnea. Although smoking and me being overweight didn't help, my condition is hereditary and I will always have to use a CPAP machine to help.

I guess my body was simply not able to recoup with a zero percentage deep sleep after a workout. In fact, my body was converting muscle to fat because it was thinking I was starved due to fatigue.

I'm back to my workout schedule this week, as well as quitting smoking yet again. Kinda sucks that I wasted almost a year to figure out what was wrong - but I feel now that I can move forward finally ;). Well, here is day one of my diary, and I hope it's long and fruitful like some of the other members here. Good luck.

Welcome back!! Now that you know where you stand ... things will get easier now. I'm in the same boat. In 2003 I had herniated disk operation and now I can finally get back into the swing of things. Keep up the motivation, and come to us when you need some extra :evil:

Great to see you're ready to make the changes now, TheSpartan. There is no time like the present!

I hope it helps you to know that I was at the same place you are last October. I was never actually diagnosed with apnea, but we suspected I had at least a minor case since my wife would actually hear me stop breathing several times throughout the night. Apparently that made here a little uneasy at times :). I am a few years older than you are, and I was several points higher in body fat percentage. After I joined these forums and began educating myself I started making relatively small changes to my routine (especially diet), and I'm happy with the success thusfar. I also quit smoking 2 days after joining. My point is that you can do it too! You will feel so much better in only a few weeks, and the apnea may lift to some degree in a month or two. It doesn't take much lost weight at 250 lbs to notice a big difference. You don't have as far to go as you may think! :) After the first few weeks it only gets easier.

Given the feelings of nausea, fatigue, and dizziness you experienced in your last attempt, I'd suggest making sure your nutritional plan is adequate prior to venturing into some heavy lifting routine or other workout plan. Don't cut carbs too much, especially at the beginning. It's common to experience these symptoms when one is carb depleted I think. There is no need to rush, you have the rest of your life to improve! :jumping:

Good luck to you and yours,
Heavy

Just as what's been happening to you, I've also been having struggles recently, but a new mindset can change everything. I'm starting my transformation today as well, so good luck to you! We're all in this together! :gl:

Day 2 - Reality

Thanks for all the support! I actually enjoy working out, it's just that before when I worked out I would feel worse rather than better.

Well, Tuesday was my second day and of course that's the toughest. You know, the one where you actually have to follow through on your commitments. So, one day of no nicotine, no alcohol, and a good diet.

My CPAP machine didn't really work too well. I had to give up on using it to get some sleep. Not so good there, but I'm still working on being 100% compliant.

Four meals is my diet... breakfast oatmeal, lunch tuna sandwhich, 4:30 was a lean steak burger, 8pm was a salad with meat. 2800 cals.

My workout was very light on purpose. I did a few sets of pull ups, chin ups, bosu-ball pushups, upper back rows, and lunges. Didn't want to overdue it since it's the first time in two months I've lifted.

So day one was successful. My weight on day 2 is 257lbs, I wear a size 42 (loose). Goal: Sept 1 - 240lbs size 38.

May 31, 2006 Rundown

Alcohol: none
Smoking: none (day 2)
Sleep: 9 hours (2 hours on CPAP)
Exersize: 25 minutes of biking to work/back
Meal 1: Cereal, 1% milk (400 cals)
Snack: Tim Hortons Coffee (200 cals)
Lunch: Tuna Sandwich, Strawberry's (600 cals)
Dinner: Hamburger, Salad (900 cals)
Snack: Pop & Popcorn (with movie) (400 cals)
Total: 2500 cals

From my trainer my daily caloric needs are 3300 with light exersize and 3600 with medium exersize. This means to loose 4lbs a month my calorie intake should be around 2700.

It seems I should be able to hit that no problem as long as I stay away from beer. Ah well, some sacrifices must be made.

Dude, good luck with everything. I'll certainly be checking in with your journal!

June 1, 2006 Rundown

Okay, a not so good day for me here. Smoking and drinking urges were pretty bad, so I ended up pigging out a bit more than I should have. But I never gave into smoking or drinking and 90 minutes of road hockey was brutal; so it wasn't a complete right off. And I also got a near full nights sleep on the cpap machine, the first time ever!

Alcohol: none (day 5 of no drinking)
Smoking: none (day 3 of no drinking)
Sleep: 7 hours (6 hours on CPAP)
Exersize: 90 minutes road hockey (OUCH)
Meal 1: Oatmeal (400 cals)
Snack: Chocolate Bar (300 cals)
Lunch: Tuna Sandwich (500 cals)
Dinner: Chicken Breast & Potatoes (500 cals)
Snacks: Popcorn, Pop, Chocolate Bar, Stawberry Tart (1500 cals)
Total: 3200 cals

Well, I'm back after all this time off. Well, it wasn't too much time off. Figured I'd get into the routine for a month or two before posting again. Today's weigh in was 254lbs. May 1st I was 262lbs.

Basically, I gave up on the gym. I guess some people are able to go to the gym, and slackers like me need their own gym at home. Because really, there is no escape from it.

The last week I've went from no diet plan as per say (I kept bad food out of the fridge, but still gave into cravings) to a very strict diet plan. There are all kinds of strange things going on, such as no more wild weight fluctuations.

Anyways, I'll see you all around. I'm definately in on the June 100 challenge.

247 today. So I'm doing nicely on my 1-2lbs a week.

247 today. So I'm doing nicely on my 1-2lbs a week.

Hows the smoking and drinking coming along? Hope you re-discover your affinity for the gym sometime soon...I dont know how I would do without it, but I used to be like you and dread putting in "my time" there.

Keep on keepin' on! :tucool:

Hows the smoking and drinking coming along? Hope you re-discover your affinity for the gym sometime soon...I dont know how I would do without it, but I used to be like you and dread putting in "my time" there.

Keep on keepin' on! :tucool:


Hit and miss on the smoking / drinking. Still working on it, but not at 100% compliance yet :whistle:

I bought a good bench, some power blocks, a bosu ball, and an elliptical. So I hate the gym but like working out at home. No excuse not to work out.

Just thought I'd post my log I've been keeping track of. The closer I get to my goal, the more impatient I'm becoming :-)

01/03/2007 - 274.6 lbs
11/04/2007 - 267.2 lbs
19/04/2007 - 262.2 lbs
26/04/2007 - 261.0 lbs
22/05/2007 - 257.0 lbs
25/05/2007 - 253.4 lbs
08/06/2007 - 250.8 lbs
20/06/2007 - 247.8 lbs
26/06/2007 - 246.2 lbs

Lower body workout includes over 7 hours of hard biking a week (legs are getting much bigger than upper body). Legs are sore all the time, but hey, it's how I get around.

Upper body workout 3 days a week includes
DB chest press (include, flat)
Skull crushers
DB bench rows
arm curls
bench dips
DB bench flies
combo crunches / leg extension
bosu ball pushups

Meals pretty much standard. I don't calculate calories
Breakfast: oatmeal & raisins
Lunch: some sort of meat and a salad, low sodium V8
Get home: some sort of meat and salad
Snack: big salad, maybe a peanut butter sandwhich every now and then

I can say I'm churning through money on prepared salads and those nice cooked chickens :-).

Pretty good day yesterday.

1 hour of biking
no weights... recovery day

food:
1/3rd cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup of milk, tsp of sugar
2 chicken breasts, 2 chicken drumsticks, 2 chicken thighs
2 cups of romaine lettuce, 1 tomato
1 low sodium v8, 1 xtra large coffee d/d
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat paste
1/3 cup of pasta sauce
1 scoop of protien powder and water

I'm guessing that's around 2800 cals or so. Weighed in at a new low today, 247.6lbs. I'm still sore upper body wise, but gonna force the last workout session when I get home.

Oh yeah, and I get to throw out all my size 44 clothes. Kinda nice, but I'm like 1/2 an inch from my size 40. It's kinda bothersome that I lose 30 lbs almost and only go from a size 44 to 42... so when I hit 40 I'm going to go buy some cloths. Not too many though :jumping:

It wasn't a great weekend for me. I had a whole pizza and most of a lemon marange pie. Damn... broke down entirely. Kinda depressing on Sunday when I woke up at 250. But I decided to kick my ass a bit on the weights / biking, and today's a new low of 246.2.

Maybe that weekend of crap was good for me. Yesterday I had another good lifting day, and today I weighed in at a new low of 244.8. Feels good to be under 245. These next 40 lbs should be a lot more fun since I should start seeing some payoffs.

Short term goal is 235... less than 10lbs away. I figure 4-6 weeks for that, no problem.

I'm feeling pretty good today. Had about 11 hours sleep last night. It's suprising how much sleep my body seems to need the last three months. My diet yesterday included:

1 egg sandwhich
1 turkey sandwich
2 sirlion burgers
1 can of V8
4L of water
1 glass of orange juice
2 cups of milk
1.6L of diet/caffiene free soda
30 minutes of bike riding

Today isn't so good already
5 timbits (planted on my desk by coworkers)
1 cup of cooked oatmeal
1 extra large coffee

Anyways, I'm trying to not give myself specific dates on when to lose weight, I just want to be consistent in eating habits / excersize.

Slacking on lifting, but I'm down to 238.8 today. That's 9.4lbs from June 20 to July 20.

I briefly hit 235 last week and have bounced up a bit. I'm trying this no smoking / drinking thing again. I usually gain weight when doing that. I did bump up to 240 after the first couple days, but I've managed with some very quick dietting to actually bring my weight down to 239... which I almost never do.

This is normally where I hit a wall. 235 is the lightest I've been for a long long time. In fact, I can't remember when I was under 240. I've been in the 235-240 range the last month and have had a very tough time taking off any more weight.

Next four weeks I'm really going to push for 230. My workouts are getting a bit more intense now, since I think I've lost too much muscle the last 4 months except in my legs. Unfortunately my equipment isn't the best for variety, but hopefully that isn't holding me back too much.

August 23

Yesterday was a good day. Day 4 of no smoking / drinking and got through it pretty well. I had maybe one bad stretch of 30 mins after dinner of trying to convince myself to smoke/drink/eat. I played online poker instead and lost $22 :-).

yesterdays diet consisted of:
2x Extra Large timmies coffee
1x Bagel with cream cheese
1x 12" cold cut sub
16oz steak
large spinach and tomato salad
1x 250ml of orange juice
4x can of diet A&W pop
2L of water

exercise consisted of:
90 mins of moderate paced walking
30 mins of lifting - upper body

So, after 4 days of quitting my weight managed to go down 3 days in a a row. I'm went from
235.0 on saturday (didn't quit yet)
240.2 on monday (2nd day of quitting)
239.0 on tuesday
238.8 on wednesday
238.4 on thurdsay

I feel pretty confident that my diet has been okay (not the best, but within cal range of 800 deficit per day) and the weight that I put on was simply water retention from the stop in beer/smokes. I figure I should hit 235 by the end of next week easy, perhaps much lower.
Pics coming soon.