Well, it's time for me to begin my journal. I've been putting it off for longer than I care to admit, so it's time that I keep track of my nutrition and results so I can stay motivated. I'm aiming to get down to 165 by the end of this year so it will take a lot more than just working out and dieting.

Anyway, here are my current stats:

Height: 5'10.75"
Weight: 220.5 (yeegads I've gained far too much!)
Bodyfat % = 20.0%
Waist: 44" according to Myotape (I wear 38" jeans and only a little tiny bit of fat from my belly hangs over; hmmm, I wonder if the jeans manufacturers have been increasing the sizes of regular jeans and decreasing the size numbers?).
Chest: 43"
Arms: Left - 12 3/4" Right - 12 3/4"
Quadriceps: Left - 23" Right - 23"
Calves: Left - 16" Right - 16"


Goal:

Height: 5'10.75"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Bodyfat: 10%
Chest: 46-49"
Waist: 29-32"
Arms: 17-18.5" on both sides
Legs: They can stay the same; I like these measurements. Maybe should increase my calf size to around 18.5" or so.

I use FatTrack II Digital Calipers to measure my bodyfat percentage. I take three readings and average them out and I'll be using that number to gauge my progress.

The measurements for my goals above are only ballpark figures as I'll have no idea of what I'll look like at my ideal weight. I've been overweight since high school so there's no telling what form my measurements will take.

I'll keep posting daily logs here and will update my actual web site weekly with photo updates to keep track of my progress.

It's time to begin. :bb: :eat: :db:

Well, I had a hell of a workout this morning. Unfortunately, that effort was wasted on junk food all day. This will be my last day with junk food for awhile. I want to reach my goal weight so bad that I'm going to do everything I can (naturally) to get to it by the end of this year.

My final cheat "day" today:

Meal 1 (7:00 a.m.): Post Workout Nutrition Shake
Meal 2 (10:30 a.m.): Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs from Mel's Diner (really good mom and pop restaurant by my work)
Meal 3 (3:00 p.m.): Chinese Take-out
Meal 4 (11:00 p.m.): Arby's

My diet begins tomorrow:

Meal 1: Nutrition Shake
Meal 2: Oatmeal or Whole Wheat cereal + Eggbeaters + Whole Wheat Toast (if tuna sandwich is had for lunch, no whole wheat toast for breakfast)
Meal 3: Power Bar + Apple
Meal 4: Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine dinner or Tuna sandwich w/whole wheat bread depending on the day.
Meal 5: Banana, Slices of ham or turkey
Meal 6: Nutrition Shake
Snack: Beef Jerky

Total estimated caloric intake: 1820.

I realize this is far from optimal as far as diet goes but due to my current hectic work schedule it's one of the only options for me at this time. I'm planning on executing a much more natural food-friendly diet as I begin to reach my goal weight. I'm still getting enough protein so that I can preserve my lean mass while I'm cutting.

Awesome! My weight lifting workouts are finally producing results!! I'm doing the basic training program in Arnold Schwarzenegger's book "The New Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding." I still feel the "hardness" from the day before and my bi's and tri's are noticeably bigger when flexed. I'm doing higher rep, higher set workouts (same weight as before, however) as recommended for endomorphic types to help burn off fat.

In contrast, on the Body For Life program I would get a temporary pump but the hardness would subside throughout the day. Now if I can maintain this workout schedule I'm going to look freaking great by the end of this year. :tu:

Looks like I'm definitely sticking to this exercise program for awhile.

Well, I've discovered something interesting. Quitting cold turkey for me doesn't work. In fact, I get so many cravings that I end up cheating by the middle of the week. :mad:

So, what I'm doing this week is cutting down on eating out (and limiting my selections to healthy choices) to once a day. Then next week, only once a day for three days during the week. And finally, the week after that, I won't eat out at all. I figure that if I do that, my body won't be so shocked with the change. One other thing I discovered tonight:

I've been doing my transformation for all the wrong reasons, which has been throwing me off repeatedly I think. It's probably also been the cause of me not caring much about my diet to cheat. So, I'm changing my reason for doing this during my final phase. My main reason beforehand was:

1. To get girls. Even when I was at my lowest of 194 no girl ever wanted to pay attention to me other than as a friend. I don't understand -- even with my newfound confidence and humor and a LOT less fat I wasn't even able to get a girlfriend or a date. I've NEVER had a girlfriend (at 24 that's pretty sad, isn't it?) and that became one of my motivations for this transformation. I guess I need to not have ANY bodyfat on me at all for that to happen. It's obvious that looks play a very important part in the whole dating game -- confidence and humor doesn't mean a damned thing. Of course, this led to a minor depression over the past couple months where I didn't give a shit about my diet at all. I went back to my old eating habits of three meals a day of fast food simply because of convenience.

Now my main reason is this:

1. For my physical, spiritual, and mental well-being. To hell with girls. If I get one fine, if not I really don't care anymore. I'm tired of basing my worth on whether or not I have a girlfriend. I see everyone else with a girlfriend kissing them and hugging them and it pisses me off. I'm tired of seeing everyone else (yes, even guys that are much uglier than me) having a girl and me not with one. There's only one common variable in all this: my hearing loss. Could that be the reason that no girl wants to be with me? I don't call much attention to it -- I speak and communicate better (in most cases even MUCH better) than most people without hearing disabilities. But, no matter. That's not my focus anymore.

I'm changing my focus.

I'm doing this for myself -- pure and simple. No girlfriend, fine. I can handle that. I'll be able to get one once I get rid of the rest of this body fat. For now, it's simply for my own health, well-being, and self image. Plus, I want to see if I can handle going through the whole 12 weeks of the Body For Life challenge. I figure if I can do that, then I can accomplish anything else I put my mind to. I've only made it to the 8th week (when I lost my second 30 lbs.) and then I quit.

This will be my focus during the next 12 weeks: completing the Body For Life Challenge. Wish me luck.

Good luck buddy!
Its hard to keep focused over long periods of time and keep your resolve. I will offer you some advice I use on a regular basis that helps.

1) Anything that pisses me off I remember it and think about it when I am in the gym, this helps me concentrate on working as hard as I possibly can.

2) To avoid food cravings drink water , do sit ups, do stretchings excersises, anything to get your mind off food.

3) Concentrate on your body, become a bit of a narcicist and look at yourself in the mirror and congratulate yourself on the parts you like and the parts you dont just say "In time!".

As for women it will be easier for you to become mr olympia rather than understand them!

Stick to it!

Post some pics ever so often so you can see your progress!

Hey Brian --

My take is that you have made the first, most important step you can make. That step is realizing that nothing external (e.g., women) can motivate anyone long enough to stick with anything challenging.

A second most important thing: emotions are horribly masters. Emotions deceive us. They change throughout the day for lots of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with (1) whether we CAN reach our goal, or (2) whether we SHOULD keep working toward our goal. Decisions and planning should be our masters, not momentary emotions. When it comes to working out have you noticed that action often proceeds the feeling? That is, you don't feel like working out, but start anyway....and mid way into the workout--THEN--you feel like working out. If we let emotion rule, we'd never start, and if we never started, we'd never feel like working out.

Anyhow, there is a video program I can't recommend highly enough. It will look great on your home theater. It can help you get the permanent, internal REASONS you (we all) need to be Motivated for good. Here it is....

http://www.jimrohn.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=26

Hi Brian, I'm going to actually build on what MGB said because he made some very good points. One of the things that I've noticed in reading your posts (not just in this thread) is that you tend to be at one end of the extremes or the other. Your emotions, when it comes to fitness, run hot and cold... either exhuberant or defeated. Unfortunately, and I've fought with this myself many times, when it comes to something that you want to be a long term commitment, like fitness or getting to 165 by December, that type of approach is going to set you up to fail. When it comes to achieving the kinds of goals that we are all trying to achieve on this board, slow and steady really does win the race. I may be way off here, and I'm sorry if I am, it's just an observation. You've come so far already and I really want to see you make it to your goal of 165, I just don't want to see you burn out trying to conquer it too quickly.

Where'd you get that bf% measurement of 20%? If it's accurate, you've got one hell of a muscle base! If you don't lose any muscle mass, you could be at a very ripped 10% bf at 200 pounds.

Shadow12 wrote:

Stick to it!

Post some pics ever so often so you can see your progress!

Once I seriously begin my program I will begin posting pictures weekly (w/daily measurements and scale weight) so that I can keep updated on my progress. I need to get some grocery shopping done this weekend so that I can have the nutrition that I need. I have to seriously revamp my diet. My previous diet has really run its course and it's getting ever more difficult for me to stay on it -- I really need to add some variety to my nutrition program.

MGB wrote:

My take is that you have made the first, most important step you can make. That step is realizing that nothing external (e.g., women) can motivate anyone long enough to stick with anything challenging.

A second most important thing: emotions are horribly masters. Emotions deceive us. They change throughout the day for lots of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with (1) whether we CAN reach our goal, or (2) whether we SHOULD keep working toward our goal. Decisions and planning should be our masters, not momentary emotions. When it comes to working out have you noticed that action often proceeds the feeling? That is, you don't feel like working out, but start anyway....and mid way into the workout--THEN--you feel like working out. If we let emotion rule, we'd never start, and if we never started, we'd never feel like working out.

This has to be one of the most enlightening things I've read as of late. But you're right: I need to focus more inward and figure out the most compelling reasons that will motivate me to keep abreast of my workouts and nutrition program. My reasons need to be mine and my own only -- and nothing external, either. Previously, I've been going about it all wrong. Now it's time to do things the right way. Sure, it'll be nice to get a girlfriend -- but that'll only be icing on the cake for me for now. Now I will concentrate on the health, spiritual, and mental benefits of taking on such a program.

slush_puppy wrote:

One of the things that I've noticed in reading your posts (not just in this thread) is that you tend to be at one end of the extremes or the other. Your emotions, when it comes to fitness, run hot and cold... either exhuberant or defeated. Unfortunately, and I've fought with this myself many times, when it comes to something that you want to be a long term commitment, like fitness or getting to 165 by December, that type of approach is going to set you up to fail. When it comes to achieving the kinds of goals that we are all trying to achieve on this board, slow and steady really does win the race. I may be way off here, and I'm sorry if I am, it's just an observation. You've come so far already and I really want to see you make it to your goal of 165, I just don't want to see you burn out trying to conquer it too quickly.

Damn, what the hell is with all this enlightenment all of a sudden? I'm not patronizing you or anyone else on this board at all. In fact, a lot of lightbulbs are going off in my head right about now. But, you are correct. I've recently inherited a passion for fitness (after I lost a lot of that previous weight) and my ego and self image have far exceeded that of my current body and achievements as of late. I realize most individuals tend to become the opposite: they have low self esteem and still see themselves as fat when they're skinny as a rail. Me, I see myself as muscular, strong, and ripped but I'm still fat and slightly weak from a lot of fast food over the past couple months.

That's probably why I suffer delusions of granduer and defeat many times. I more than likely need to regain control over my ego and self-image -- a way to see myself as I really am instead of getting ahead of myself and acting as if I were strong, muscular, and good looking. I've had no problem with building strength and gaining muscle. It's this blasted endomorphic body I've been cursed with that's messing with me. But, it's no matter -- I'll reach my goal in time. My goal is 10% bodyfat or below -- not necessarily 165. Although I'd eventually like to be 190 at 10% bodyfat. That will be sweet. :tu:

French wrote:

Where'd you get that bf% measurement of 20%? If it's accurate, you've got one hell of a muscle base! If you don't lose any muscle mass, you could be at a very ripped 10% bf at 200 pounds.

I took my bodyfat measurement with FatTrack II digital calipers three times and averaged the measurements. I think most of my muscle mass is in my legs, as you can see with my measurements. For example, I have no problem lifting 300 lbs. or over with my calves since I used to weigh 290 lbs. Even with my quads, I can already squat around 180, and with a leg press 250. I trained my legs with utmost intensity during my first two years of high school as they were my easiest bodypart. I still have no problem with muscle mass in my legs. It was during my junior year that I quit P.E. I still regret that decision and will for as long as I live.

However, my upper body is another matter. It's still pudgy with not much muscle except for my back and shoulders (which are easy for me to build muscle mass and strength on). I need to build up my pecs, upper arms, and forearms. I've found with my pecs and arms, I need more volume training in order to see any gains. But, anywho -- I'm going to be experimenting more with this Body For Life challenge to see exactly how much weight I have to increase with each set that will produce optimum results. With previous challenges, I would always increase by only ten lbs. per set to keep injury risks low (part of the "be careful and don't hurt yourself" mentality). I think that really hurt my progress somewhat. So, I will add 20 lbs. per set this time and see what kind of results that gives me.

But, anyway -- thank you everyone so much for your insights and advice. You've really added some additional perspectives that I previously neglected to consider. I believe that this time I will finally be successful in my transformation. It remains to be seen, however!