Everybody has a story to tell. I'm no different. Here in this thread, I'm going to track my journey back to a healthy lifestyle. I'm so far removed from where I came from that I almost don't recognize myself in the mirror anymore. I look back at the pictures of myself from only a few years ago, and wonder how I could have let myself fall so far.

John's site has been a god-send at a time in my life when I really needed to take a step back and make some serious changes to get back on track to where I've always wanted to be: a perpetual state of happiness in all aspects of my life. Removing just one aspect from it in the past few years, healthy living, has left me overweight, tired, depressed, and lacking something I've never been without: self-confidence.

One thing I've realized after reading many of John's insights is that we share a common set of traits: an iron-will, a competitive spirit that serves as constant motivation, and a stubborness that would make even a mule beg for mercy! That's why I know that with a lot of pre-planning, and a desire to succeed, I'm well on my way to achieving similar results as John. So what am I doing to return to a healthly lifestyle? I'm leveraging these traits to cut out any and all aspects of my life that would impede the progress of this journey. No more booze. No more parties. No more late nights. This is going to be quite a contrast to my former lifestyle, but I know it's the only way I'm going to be able to succeed.

I don't really know how this thread will evolve. I have made a commitment to track everything related to this journey, including daily nutrition, workout, and weight/bodyfat logs, combined with weekly front/side profile pictures. I guess the only reason I'm even creating this thread is to provide proof of process to all of those people in my life who have encouraged me, but most of all to those who didn't believe I could find my way back from whence I came.

Pertinent Stats @ Journey Start (09/06/2004):
Age: 25
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 225 lbs.
BF%: 21.8%

Fat Loss Phase Goals (Ending 02/2005):
Weight: 185 lbs.
BF%: 9-10%

Let the journey begin..

[image of 09/06/2004 self will be inserted here once i setup my isp webspace]

http://www.geocities.com/dhealy2002/images/w1-workouts.bmp

The first week was quite a task! I can remember back to some of the hardest workouts I had when I was training for track & field back in university, and yet the marginal workouts I had this past week were comparable in terms of perceived intensity, to the point of almost being enough to kill me!! I've got a loooooooooong way to go, that's for sure! First weight workout was on Sunday. I've decided that I'm sticking to Dr. Michael Colgan's 52-week power program; it always got me into unbelievable shape just prior to my collegiate season back in the day, so I'm hoping it'll work as it has in the past. For more information about Colgan, check out his website (http://www.colganinstitute.com). The program I'm following is detailed in his book, The New Power Program: Protocols for Maximum Strength (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1896817262/qid=1095179190/sr=8-1/ref=pd_cps_1/103-5949088-6731859?v=glance&s=books&n=507846).

http://www.geocities.com/dhealy2002/images/w1-foodIntakeAgate.bmp
For a complete meal log, click here (http://www.geocities.com/dhealy2002/images/w1-foodIntake.bmp) - it's quite large (500kb+)! If Internet Explorer resizes it to an unreadable size, just hold your mouse over the bottom right-hand corner of the image till a resize button appears.

I was pleasantly surprised that cutting my caloric intake back drastically wasn't as hard as I'd imagined it'd be. Going from two large meals a day to six smaller ones really kept me feeling full most of the time (but I will say that after 2 hours of hockey on Friday night, I was REALLY craving a Big Mac!!!). I guess my only real cheat meal of the week was the 6" chicken teriyaki sub I had on Thursday night, but that was only because I had a really late night at work, and was absolutely famished to the point where I didn't think I had the energy to make something! From now on, I'm making sure I have healthy snacks at work for the late nights I know I'll be having in the coming weeks.

http://www.geocities.com/dhealy2002/images/w1-weightLoss.bmp

Lost 5.2 lbs and 2.3% bodyfat. A little more drastic than I thought the first week would have went, but I guess that's what happens when one cuts out all junkfood, starts eating right, and works out. I must say I don't expect results like this to continue, given that I've only cut my daily caloric intake by 1000kcal from my BMR (with 55% level 3 activity multiplier) of 3400-3500kcal. But I guess that with a daily average intake of just over 2000kcal, it makes sense why I lost more than 2 lbs this week!

All in all, I'm happy with my start. I've got 5 days in the weight room planned this week, and I'm also going to up the intensity of my running workouts. Let's see what happens!

[image of 09/13/04 self will be inserted here]

Hey Bro,
I am currently about 17.5%-18% body fat and weigh 212 lbs. I am trying to get down to 190 at 10%. I would like to know if you would like a competition. I challenge you to a dual. I intend to get to this weight by the first week of May. Let me know if you are interested and maybe, through this web site, we can push each other and check in from time to time. I'll post some stats weekly and check in with you to see if you are doing ok. What say you! tanks :tu:

Hey Tankhead..

I've always found that any extra motiviation is a good thing! I'll accept your challenge :tu: But I must say, you may need to adjust your target date for 190/10%, because if this dual gets heated, it's gonna be long before May when we hit those targets (I'm hoping for the beginning of February, but definetly no later than the end of March). My plan is to keep updating this thread with progress on a weekly basis, so feel free to do the same :gl:

I am on it! 30 min of 7.40 min/mile today on the treadmill in the a.m.
I will be hitting shoulders, tri's, and bi's in the p.m.
I will eat about 2300 cals today because of the double exercise session. Talk to you soon :cool: