I need to change everything. I have been eating junk food over 5 years, skipped most of physical exercise and just sitting lazy on my fat ass. I was never athlete like John but i kept myself in decent shape until i turned 25 years old. Before that I was jogging regularly and so on. Then i started to spend more and more of my free time in front of TV and internet. Eating junk food at the same time started vicious cycle of binge eating and hardcore dieting.

I am not young any more. I'm over 30 and i consider this is my last chance to start making a difference. I found the material on this site very inspirational and therefore i am going to start my own journal. Being a big guy with BMI 40, i hope there's at least one person out there who has had a similar starting point and maybe some tips for me to start.

Tomorrow i will check what are exactly the measurements of my body, today i see my goals like this:

1.Complete new diet that has no junk food in it

2.Regular exercise plan

3.Cardio every day to keep my body burning fat

4.Weight lifting 3 times per week

5.Daily measurements of both weight and body

6.Weekly and monthly reports

My budget is tight so i can't afford to buy a digital camera for taking pictures. It is also possible that i need to lift weights at home only in the beginning but hopefully i can afford to buy a gym membership later in my project.

The general goal is that i want to lose 42 kg in 6 months. My weight is 139 kg and my height is 1,88 meters. I have to check the conversion from metric system later but i guess this is about 90 pound weight loss starting from 295 pounds.

I have had no weight lifting at all recently so practically all of my overweight is fat. Body fat is probably around 40% or so. What i want to do is first lose fat and then later get some muscle instead. The intensity of weight training will not be very hard in the beginning. Instead i am going to do a lot of cardio.

3.Cardio every day to keep my body burning fat

4.Weight lifting 3 times per week

5.Daily measurements of both weight and body

6.Weekly and monthly reports

The intensity of weight training will not be very hard in the beginning. Instead i am going to do a lot of cardio. Good job on getting started, that's the hardest part! :tu:

A few comments that you should feel free to ignore :)

Cardio every day is excessive. Your diet should place in a caloric deficit (burning more than you eat) automatically. How about cardio on non-lifting days? That's 4 days of cardio and 3 days of lifting. I've been doing that and it works pretty well.

Reports are a great idea. Keeping the whole world up-to-date should keep you motivated to make good progress.

Then intensity of your lifting needs to be high. The weight on the other hand, does not. Weight lifting will have you burning more fat than cardio. Cardio is important too, but diet + lifting gets you 95% of your fat-loss, in my opinion.

Good luck!

I finally managed to take all my body measurements. I am seriously overweight with BMI 40 and fat is packed in my mid section. And there's lots of it. Having 52 inch waist is like a ticking time bomb. Here is the raw data in both US and metric measurements:

US MEASUREMENTS

MY STATS May 16 2004
WEIGHT (pounds) 310,85
HEIGHT (ft/in)) 6'2"
BMI 39,89
WAIST 52,76
HIPS 50
FOREARMS 12,6
ARMS 15,75
THIGHS 30,31
CALVES 18,5
CHEST 49,61


METRIC MEASUREMENTS

MY STATS May 16 2004
WEIGHT (kg) 141
HEIGHT (cm) 188
BMI 39,89
WAIST (cm) 134
HIPS (cm) 127
FOREARMS (cm) 32
ARMS (cm) 40
THIGHS (cm) 77
CALVES (cm) 47
CHEST (cm) 126

I found out that if we are trying to look out for muscle from my current shape, then especially my arms and forearms are pathetic. So i want to focus on building some muscle on my arms and chest and upper back. On the other hand, i think doing lots of cardio is enough for the legs in this starting period of my project.

I know that it is impossible to lose fat from only one spot. That is why i want to do cardio so much instead of only having a hardcore diet and weight lifting exercises.

This is my exercise plan for the start:

Monday - lifting weights
Tuesday - cardio
Wednesday - lifting weights
Thursday - cardio
Friday - lifting weights
Saturday - cardio
Sunday - cardio

I want to do 30 minutes of easy cardio every day and also on weight lifting days. Lets say it is either walking or bicycle. In addition to this daily routine, 4 times per week i want to do full 60 minutes of cardio with heart rate 130-140. I have Polar so it's easy to check what intensity i am doing my cardio exercises.

Later when i have lost first 30 pounds of my weight i will try to increase heart rate around 140-150 when doing main cardio exercises.

In the beginning of this project i will do all weight lifting at home. I have a decent set of Dumbbell and Barbell weights. For abs and back i need to only use my own body weight and doing enough repetitions in each set.

Well that's it for now folks. I live Europe and now it's perfect time to do my Sunday cardio exercise. I take Polar with me and check that heart rate is suitable for the full 60 minutes of walking outside. Later today i will write a detailed diet and weight lifting plan.

Good job on getting started, that's the hardest part! :tu:

Thank you Dave, i am sure that everything will be just fine now that i found this place to share my journal. I have made a decision to update every day so that i won't skip exercising! :D


Cardio every day is excessive. Your diet should place in a caloric deficit (burning more than you eat) automatically. How about cardio on non-lifting days? That's 4 days of cardio and 3 days of lifting. I've been doing that and it works pretty well.

I agree on this one. Monday, Wednesday and Friday will be my lifting days. Then every other weekday i will do cardio. I am going to have a diet that has about same amount of calories that my body consumes if i did no exercises at all. With my current size and shape i am going to eat about 2,000-2,200 kcal every day. Then, with cardio and lifting weights, i am going to do the actual fat burning. In my next post i will tell how i put over 3,000 calories in one walking session today. It took 3 hours but it was worth it! :jumping:


Reports are a great idea. Keeping the whole world up-to-date should keep you motivated to make good progress.

Yes, that is why i am here now. I have daily food and exercise diary in Excel. Now that i posted my starting point body measurements i am going to update those numbers here every week. I will also make report of my diet from the last 7 days every sunday. Body weight and exercise report i will write here every day.


Then intensity of your lifting needs to be high. The weight on the other hand, does not. Weight lifting will have you burning more fat than cardio. Cardio is important too, but diet + lifting gets you 95% of your fat-loss, in my opinion.

Do you mean doing long sets with lots of repetitions to get high intensity? I am planning to do 12-15 repetitions in each set and probably 4-5 sets for the each muscle group that i am training.

With cardio my plan is that since i am starting from BMI 40, doing aerobic exercises is the most important training method until i reach BMI 30 level. Then i will start putting more and more effort on lifting weights and hopefully i also buy a gym membership then. I agree completely that getting more muscle to replace the fat is very essential in order to get better metabolism. I just want to start with focus on cardio since it is easier in the beginning.

No more sofa potato life for me! :tucool:

Day 1 of 180
Today i did my first good jog in a really really long time. It lasted longer than i expected since weather was awesome good. I do nordic walking or power walking with walking sticks. My session was 2 hours 51 minutes. Average pulse was 137, partly because i did some hill intervals with over 160 pulse. Polar estimates that i burned 3,534 kcal during this session.

Some of you might ask how can a guy with BMI 40 walk almost 3 hours with such a high pulse? I think it all becomes in relation with my background of jogging when i was younger. I have never been this fat before but i can still manage to move my body with ease when i decide to do so. Today i decided that i get my fat ass out from the house and walk like hell. And i did! :D

I wanted to do walking with empty stomach to burn more fat. Then right after i came home i had protein drink and some food. So far i have had only this one meal today but it doesn't bother me since i feel very good and energetic.

My diet last seven days: i had too much junk food as usual but today i started eating clean food and i will stick to this decision. If it worked for John then it is going to work also for me.

My body measurements: i wrote about this in my previous post and raw data will be updated next Sunday.

My weight lifting plan for first week: i want to use free weights at home. I will pump arms, chest, upper back and shoulders. Then i will do abs and lower back using my own body weight on a training mat. For each movement i will do 4 sets having 12-15 repetitions in each set.

I decided that since i do cardio two days in a row on Saturday and Sunday i will have one easy day and one more tough training session other day. Today i wanted to go tough way and it feels good right now. But to not put my weak and overweight body over the cliff i also decided that from now on 2 hours will be the longest time for cardio and only once a week. The rest 3 cardio sessions will be 60 minutes like i planned.

When it comes to diet i think 40/40/20 has too much protein for me since i will focus more on weight lifting after i reach BMI 30 level. The first couple months i am going to eat about 2,000 kcal each day having 30% protein, 45% carbs and 25% quality fats, especially fish and olive oil. I try to cook as much as possible myself using fresh meat, fish and veggies. I will try to eat red meat only two times per week and all other days chicken and fish with veggies. For carbs i will choose quality products having zero fat and zero sugar. Having 40-50 grams of fiber each day is no problem since i am used to taking fiber supplements with the food that i cook.

That's it for now, exercising :bb: and clean diet :eat: with having enough rest should get the job done. More tomorrow!

I agree on this one. Monday, Wednesday and Friday will be my lifting days. Then every other weekday i will do cardio. I am going to have a diet that has about same amount of calories that my body consumes if i did no exercises at all. With my current size and shape i am going to eat about 2,000-2,200 kcal every day. Then, with cardio and lifting weights, i am going to do the actual fat burning. In my next post i will tell how i put over 3,000 calories in one walking session today. It took 3 hours but it was worth it! :jumping:

I would target closer to 3000 cal. I doubt you ate only 2000-2200 calories each day to get to 310 lbs unless you have a thyroid issue. If you did eat only 2200 calories a day, then I would get examined by your physician. Heck, get checked by your physician before you start and go over your plan with him. Knowledge is power.

Yes, that is why i am here now. I have daily food and exercise diary in Excel. Now that i posted my starting point body measurements i am going to update those numbers here every week. I will also make report of my diet from the last 7 days every sunday. Body weight and exercise report i will write here every day.

Sounds great. I look forward to reading your journal.

Do you mean doing long sets with lots of repetitions to get high intensity? I am planning to do 12-15 repetitions in each set and probably 4-5 sets for the each muscle group that i am training.

Intensity isn't measured by how many reps in a set or alot of sets - its what you do with each rep in each set. Concentrate on form and move as much weight as you can in any given rep scheme. I prefer the 6-8 rep range (ie, lift as much as you can with 6 reps and build up to 8 reps at that weight. At that point, bump up the weight until you can only get 6 reps). Others prefer something else. Make the most of whatever you decide. Focus!

With cardio my plan is that since i am starting from BMI 40, doing aerobic exercises is the most important training method until i reach BMI 30 level. Then i will start putting more and more effort on lifting weights and hopefully i also buy a gym membership then. I agree completely that getting more muscle to replace the fat is very essential in order to get better metabolism. I just want to start with focus on cardio since it is easier in the beginning.

Aerobic exercises are important. Improve your cardiovascular system and you will feel it right away. You're a newbie and as such you will shock your body and be able to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time for a short while. Take advantage of this and lift hard/smart. Do your cardio as well. Both are important and doing both will help you achieve your goals that much faster.

No more sofa potato life for me! :tucool:

Awesome! :gl:

Holy crap. I can't possibly imagine walking for 3 hours. Good job!
i am going to eat about 2,000 kcal each day having
You should probably consume more like 3,000 calories because you weigh about 300 pounds.

FYI, if you're going to be doing this much cardio then you definitely need to eat more. Remember, to lose weight you still need to eat.

Nice job on the walk. You'll be feeling it tomorrow :)

Day 2 of 180
Today i did cardio 63 minutes, average pulse 120 and estimated calories during walk 1,023 kcal. I also pumped couple sets for my arms and shoulders using Dumbbells and Barbell. My body is definately not ready for hard weight lifting so i will use this week for getting used to it doing some random sets and next week i will start following my lifting plan. So this week, couple sets every day so that i get used to it. Main focus will be cardio and tomorrow i am planning to make full 2 hours. I feel slightly tired from yesterday so that's enough training for today.

I would target closer to 3000 cal. I doubt you ate only 2000-2200 calories each day to get to 310 lbs unless you have a thyroid issue. If you did eat only 2200 calories a day, then I would get examined by your physician. Heck, get checked by your physician before you start and go over your plan with him. Knowledge is power.


My junk food diet was always between 3,000 kcal and 4,000 kcal having lots of fat and sugar. That is how i was eating last 5 years and then got into this shape being over 300 pounds.


Sounds great. I look forward to reading your journal.

Thanks. I will be here every day after i have done my daily exercises!


Intensity isn't measured by how many reps in a set or alot of sets - its what you do with each rep in each set. Concentrate on form and move as much weight as you can in any given rep scheme. I prefer the 6-8 rep range (ie, lift as much as you can with 6 reps and build up to 8 reps at that weight. At that point, bump up the weight until you can only get 6 reps). Others prefer something else. Make the most of whatever you decide. Focus!

Here's what i did today: first i warm the muscle doing 10-15 rep with Dumbbells. Then i use Barbell having more weight and allowing me to do only 6-10 rep for each set.


Aerobic exercises are important. Improve your cardiovascular system and you will feel it right away. You're a newbie and as such you will shock your body and be able to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time for a short while. Take advantage of this and lift hard/smart. Do your cardio as well. Both are important and doing both will help you achieve your goals that much faster.

This week i want to only get used to lifting free weights again. I do what feels best. Next week i will start doing 3 weight lifting sessions each lasting 45 minutes and having sets for my arms, shoulders, chest and upper back. Abs and lower back i will do using my own body weight. Cardio should be enough for the legs in beginning period of my project.

Within one week i will have clearly separate cardio and weight lifting days. This week is for testing everything.


Awesome! :gl:

Thanks! This is definately something completely different from sitting dumb in my fat ass in front of TV. :bb:

This morning i woke up more tired than yesterday. But i'm not going to give up my goal of doing 2 hours cardio. I will do it later today. Now here's something i haven't done yet: what will my body measurements be after 6 months of training?

US MEASUREMENTS

MY STATS May 16 - Nov 16 2004
WEIGHT (pounds) 310,85 --> 185 (lose 125 pounds)
HEIGHT (ft/in)) 6'2"
BMI 39,89 --> 25 (get BMI to normal level)
WAIST 52,76 --> 38 (lose 14 inches)
HIPS 50 --> 42 (lose 8 inches)
FOREARMS 12,6 --> 14 (get 1,5 inches)
ARMS 15,75 -->18 (get 2 inches)
THIGHS 30,31 --> 28 (lose 2 inches)
CALVES 18,5 --> 17 (lose 1,5 inches)
CHEST 49,61 --> 51 (get 1,5 inches)

So my goal is to lose 125 pounds, lose fat from waist, hips, thighs, calves and gain muscle at forearms, arms and chest. Obviously i will get muscle all over the body depending on how well i get weight lifting routine done. So for example losing 2 inches from thighs means that i might burn 5 inches of fat and get 3 inches of muscle instead. If i do all this in 6 months i am going to be very satisfied.

How hard it is to lose fat from hips compared to losing fat from waist? I mean, if the bone structure is large at hips area, then it is obviously not possible to lose so much inches from there. Please correct me if i am wrong.

Day 3 of 180
Two hours of cardio without Polar. I feel tired.

Day 4 of 180
Cardio 2 hours 31 minutes, average pulse 132, estimated calories during walk 2,901 kcal. Walking feels alright and i have no trouble keeping my diet clean either. I cut the food intake around 2,200 kcal. I have lost 5 pounds during these very first days.

The only thing that i don't feel comfortable about yet is lifting weights. I think i was feeling so crap about myself yesterday because of that. So, this week i will focus on cardio and losing the very first pounds. Next monday i will start following a lifting plan.

I was also thinking about this whole project and realized that if i get 100 pounds off my weight in 6 months it is a superb achievement. Then i have rest of my life to pack muscle and fine tune. Lifting will be part of this project but nothing serious before i hit that BMI 30 level like i wrote earlier. I am just too weak to do everything at once. Cardio and clean diet is the main focus right now and it is a huge change compared to life of a sofa potato.

More tomorrow! :tu:

Day 5 of 180
Rest.

:whistle:
:read:
:eat:

Day 6 of 180
Cardio 1 hour 55 minutes and i'm already excited about tomorrow, how many pounds of weight i have lost during first week?

:jumping:

Day 7 of 180
I did some weight lifting today instead of cardio. Now here's some new measurements from the first week:

WEIGHT -6 pounds
WAIST -1,5 in
ARMS +0,75 in
THIGHS -0,5 in

This is exactly what i want, that is, lose fat from mid section and legs, gain muscle to arms.

I had very basic food mainly from fish and chicken and veggies, then some olive oil, protein drinks and carbs. Daily calories were 2,200-2,400 and i did lots of cardio to get metabolism burning fat. If i manage to progress this way i will be over 50 pounds lighter in weight in less than 3 months. That would be superb and i'm satisfied for this first week.

:claplow:

Day 8 of 180
Cardio 2 hours 15 minutes. There is clear difference compared to making a long walk only one week ago. I can walk long distances with much more ease now. I am sure it is not only the pounds that i have lost in weight but also general improvement in my aerobic system.

Tomorrow is first day doing weights with program, right now i think my lifting will be as follows:

4 x 8 for both bicepts and tricepts
3 x 12 for shoulders
3 x 8 for chest
3 x 8 for upper back
2 x 12 for forearms
1 x 12 for wrists
3 x 10 for abs
3 x 10 for lower back

The last two movements i will do using my own body weight on training mat. First number is sets and second number is repetitions.

I wrote earlier that i can't afford a gym membership right now so for legs cardio will be the only exercise at the moment. My daily average seems to be around 2 hours so making 14+ hours of cardio each week is quite enough to at least burn fat from my legs and all over the body. Combining this with clean diet will do the trick.

My goal is to lose 4-6 pounds each week depending on how much cardio i manage to do. Lifting weights is only 3x45 minutes per one week but i will build it up to 3x75 minutes by the time i can afford to buy gym membership.

More tomorrow. :tu:

Just wondering is there anybody out there reading this journal? Maybe it is not sexy enough to try go from BMI 40 to BMI 25 in only 6 months, that is, to lose over 100 pounds in 180 days! :)

Don't worry, we're reading!

Great work on the walking, I'm glad to hear it's getting easier for you. Something you may want to try sometime (when you feel you're able to) is to incorporate short, slow jogs into your walking routine. Even if they're only for 20 seconds, they'll get your heart rate up a bit and give your heart/body a little variety. The body gets accustomed to routines and tries to conserve fat, breaking the routine up from time to time is the best way make gains.

Like I said, only give this a try if and when you're ready...don't overdo it.

Keep up the journal, even though we don't always reply, we're reading! :nod:

I feel crap. I think i am going to quit. Grrrrr...........

Everyone has bad days...just remember your goals and how much better you're going to look and feel once you start reaching them! You can do it! :tu: