jkugelman
November 7th, 2007, 11:26 PM
I've been overweight all my life. I was never horribly obese at any point, but at my best I was chubby and at my worst I was just plain fat and out of shape. The one thing I've always been glad for is that I don't dislike exercise or playing sports. But whatever level of activity I had never sufficed, because as is made quite clear here, diet far outweighs exercise in terms of importance.
I've also always been glad to know that when I set my mind to something I really go all out. That's the way I'm made, I can't half ass something. That's probably one reason I've taken such a shine to John and this community--I'm exactly like him! He went balls to the wall, both with quitting smoking and with his fitness, and that's just so incredibly inspiring.
In college I got tired of being overweight and decided to do something about it. I decided to try this incredible new (at the time) Atkins diet. (Uh oh!) It was great. I stayed at "induction" level the whole time, keeping my daily carbs below 20g every day for the duration of the diet. Besides that I ate whatever I wanted. Tons of hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, cheese, whatever! All in all I lost about 40-50 lbs in 4-5 months. I also decided to run between buildings on campus whenever I was going somewhere, and I bought a bike and biked to and from campus. So I got maybe 15-25 minutes of cardio on most days.
I thought I was doing great. Hmmm... Now I know better. As soon as I got close to my target weight of 170 lbs I began to cheat. Well now I didn't want to weigh myself any more because I knew the numbers wouldn't be great. Eventually, without even realizing it, I was right back where I'd started. Significantly north of 200 lbs. I don't even know when that happened to be honest.
A couple of years pass. Now it's about 1 year ago. I decide I want to lose the weight again. This time I have a *brilliant* plan. Admitting that I have no ability whatsoever to control my intake when there's food in front of me, I come up with a "one meal a day" diet. I'll eat a big lunch every day, no breakfast, no dinner, no snacking. Just lunch. There's no way I can eat 2000+ calories in a single meal, I figure!
This plan actually worked. I went from 230 lbs to 190 lbs over a couple of months. I went for Chinese buffet every day for months. I was pretty happy. I eventually stopped doing this silly "diet" and just tried not to let myself really go.
Well let me cut to the chase. After a few months of maintaining my weight at ~195 lbs, something clicked. I decided to buckle down, man up, and stop putzing around. No more fad diets, no more crazy weight loss schemes, no more random half-assed, unplanned exercise. I wanted to get in shape, and do it RIGHT.
This is where JSF comes in, and this is why I am so thankful. John provided the inspiration for getting fit and healthy, and this community gave me the information I needed to do it RIGHT. For the past six months I've been devouring the information in these forums and doing my damndest to follow all of the advice given to the best of my ability.
I've been lifting weights 3-6 days a week. Heavy weights. RIGHT means emphasis on big compound lifts rather than isolation exercises, so I've been all over the squat, deadlift, bench, pullups, dips, and rows. Thanks to zenpharaoh and mastover I know that RIGHT means working the legs and back at least as much if not more than the chest and arms, so I've been doing that. I'm one of a handful of guys at my gym that actually does squats. It's nice to belong to that "club". :lol:
I've been doing cardio of all different types several days a week. Running, biking, swimming, calisthenics. I go to classes at my gym, and since they're mainly LISS-type cardio I do HIIT on my own.
I've been eating RIGHT. Lots of protein and a good dose of healthy fats. Complex carbs only. Lots of green veggies. I eat out a lot, so the only food I have at home is protein powder, natural peanut butter, and oatmeal. What can I say? I'm a single guy, I'm not big on cooking. :whistle:
Six months ago I was a fat and out-of-shape 195 lbs. Now I am sitting at 170 lbs and was just measured at 9.4% body fat. My chest actually sticks out further than my stomach now, like God intended. I can run long distances without falling to pieces, I can actually do *multiple* pull-ups now, and I am not embarassed to take off my shirt any more.
Thank you, JSF. Thank you everybody who posts here and contributes to this amazingly warm and friendly community. I can't thank you enough for showing me how to get healthy the RIGHT way, how to avoid being "skinny fat" or having huge arms and stick legs, and most of all how to set myself up with a lifestyle that will truly last my whole life.
Atkins was a struggle. Living "clean" is anything but. It's exciting, enjoyable, and enervating!
Thank you! :bow: :bow: :bow:
I've also always been glad to know that when I set my mind to something I really go all out. That's the way I'm made, I can't half ass something. That's probably one reason I've taken such a shine to John and this community--I'm exactly like him! He went balls to the wall, both with quitting smoking and with his fitness, and that's just so incredibly inspiring.
In college I got tired of being overweight and decided to do something about it. I decided to try this incredible new (at the time) Atkins diet. (Uh oh!) It was great. I stayed at "induction" level the whole time, keeping my daily carbs below 20g every day for the duration of the diet. Besides that I ate whatever I wanted. Tons of hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, cheese, whatever! All in all I lost about 40-50 lbs in 4-5 months. I also decided to run between buildings on campus whenever I was going somewhere, and I bought a bike and biked to and from campus. So I got maybe 15-25 minutes of cardio on most days.
I thought I was doing great. Hmmm... Now I know better. As soon as I got close to my target weight of 170 lbs I began to cheat. Well now I didn't want to weigh myself any more because I knew the numbers wouldn't be great. Eventually, without even realizing it, I was right back where I'd started. Significantly north of 200 lbs. I don't even know when that happened to be honest.
A couple of years pass. Now it's about 1 year ago. I decide I want to lose the weight again. This time I have a *brilliant* plan. Admitting that I have no ability whatsoever to control my intake when there's food in front of me, I come up with a "one meal a day" diet. I'll eat a big lunch every day, no breakfast, no dinner, no snacking. Just lunch. There's no way I can eat 2000+ calories in a single meal, I figure!
This plan actually worked. I went from 230 lbs to 190 lbs over a couple of months. I went for Chinese buffet every day for months. I was pretty happy. I eventually stopped doing this silly "diet" and just tried not to let myself really go.
Well let me cut to the chase. After a few months of maintaining my weight at ~195 lbs, something clicked. I decided to buckle down, man up, and stop putzing around. No more fad diets, no more crazy weight loss schemes, no more random half-assed, unplanned exercise. I wanted to get in shape, and do it RIGHT.
This is where JSF comes in, and this is why I am so thankful. John provided the inspiration for getting fit and healthy, and this community gave me the information I needed to do it RIGHT. For the past six months I've been devouring the information in these forums and doing my damndest to follow all of the advice given to the best of my ability.
I've been lifting weights 3-6 days a week. Heavy weights. RIGHT means emphasis on big compound lifts rather than isolation exercises, so I've been all over the squat, deadlift, bench, pullups, dips, and rows. Thanks to zenpharaoh and mastover I know that RIGHT means working the legs and back at least as much if not more than the chest and arms, so I've been doing that. I'm one of a handful of guys at my gym that actually does squats. It's nice to belong to that "club". :lol:
I've been doing cardio of all different types several days a week. Running, biking, swimming, calisthenics. I go to classes at my gym, and since they're mainly LISS-type cardio I do HIIT on my own.
I've been eating RIGHT. Lots of protein and a good dose of healthy fats. Complex carbs only. Lots of green veggies. I eat out a lot, so the only food I have at home is protein powder, natural peanut butter, and oatmeal. What can I say? I'm a single guy, I'm not big on cooking. :whistle:
Six months ago I was a fat and out-of-shape 195 lbs. Now I am sitting at 170 lbs and was just measured at 9.4% body fat. My chest actually sticks out further than my stomach now, like God intended. I can run long distances without falling to pieces, I can actually do *multiple* pull-ups now, and I am not embarassed to take off my shirt any more.
Thank you, JSF. Thank you everybody who posts here and contributes to this amazingly warm and friendly community. I can't thank you enough for showing me how to get healthy the RIGHT way, how to avoid being "skinny fat" or having huge arms and stick legs, and most of all how to set myself up with a lifestyle that will truly last my whole life.
Atkins was a struggle. Living "clean" is anything but. It's exciting, enjoyable, and enervating!
Thank you! :bow: :bow: :bow: