Growth.

[aquadwayne]

Hey nerds -

 

I'm going to try to post here daily. I'm in the process of slimming down while I get healthy. A little about me: I am an IT guy at work. I lift 3 days a week (more when I can) and should go back to running.

 

Last summer I had a gout inflammation and went to the doctor about it. I got on the scale and to my surprise, I weight 347 lbs! I knew I'd gotten bigger but I had no idea how big I'd gotten. I spent a few months trying to cut back on eating out (for both health and money reasons). Then I decided to get serious starting December 1st.

 

I began studying nutrition and changing how I ate. I also started working out regularly, although I was primarily using machines because I was intimidated by free weights. The first week I had DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Syndrome) which made me wary of going back to the gym. I managed to keep my motivation up thanks to Arnold and the other guys in the movie 'Pumping Iron'.

 

Fast forward 11 months: I am now 242 lbs. I have lost 105 lbs! I want to get down to about 185 to 190 lbs and then put on 10 lbs of muscle. I have gone from XXXL shirts to L shirts, and size 48 waist jeans down to halfway between 36 and 38. I'm the smallest I have ever been in my adult life and easily the most in shape I've been in my whole life. I still have about 50 lbs to lose, but I'm not sweating it. I've reached a point where I'm more interested in the journey than the results, so I'll get there.

 

Questions? Wanna talk? Feel free!

[Terinatum]

WOOT!! Great journey so far! Over 100 pounds lost is fantastic! I'm working on getting lots of lost pounds myself. I love your attitude switch in regards to the next 50#. I am in the throws of defining my journey similarly. I lost 96# in 2 years being on NF and this year, plagued with body changes, I have gained back 21#. So it's back to defining my life according to happiness and what I'm striving for. With no guilt and even less shame attached to my actions and thoughts. I am wonderfully human.

I wish you the greatest of luck and fortitude on your journey. Lift heavy, baby!!

[aquadwayne]

Today I started the P.H.U.L. program. I like it because it emphasizes both power and hypertrophy. I still want to get better at pull-ups (which aren't included) so I'm adding those in. So far I can almost get to 2 chin-ups. Once I can do 3 consecutively, I'm going to work on pull-ups.

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[aquadwayne]

Ugh, I'm excited for weight loss and transformation, but at the same time I dread it. The holidays and the season are getting to me and making me want to be lazy. I know I can't though, so I'm doing my best to push through those feelings because those will only provide temporary satisfaction. 

 

NUTRITION

I've been experimenting with my diet lately (which may be part of the reason for the lack of motivation), so I haven't had any consistent weight loss in a while. I decided a week or two ago that I was going to try and slow down my weight loss to ensure I'm burning fat and not muscle (or at least as little as possible), but when I upped my calorie intake I gained weight. It could be due to water weight since I'm eating more carbs now, but it's still not real encouraging. To top it off, getting closer to the holidays means everyone around me is eating more and more junk which means I'm constantly surrounded by it. I'm doing my best to stay on my game, but it did not go well over the weekend. My gf wanted to go to the bar (happens 2-3 times a year so nothing crazy), but I ended up getting drunk and getting my calories for the day up to around 3500. The day after that was around 3000. I'm trying to stick to ~2400 a day (which is 300-400 more a day than I've been eating for the last month or two). We made Beef Lo Mein for dinner and it was actually pretty healthy and then her mom brought over a HUGE plate of cookies which are not just sitting on our counter so every time I'm in the kitchen I get to play the temptation game. I'm so tired of being fat, but I've become so programmed to desire instant gratification. It's a constant battle. My gf is also GREAT at making excuses for things, so she will make excuses as to why she can eat anything she wants and why I should too. As much as I love Christmas Time, I can't wait for it to be over so I can go back normal.

 

TRAINING

I've started doing Stronglifts 5x5 again. I did it for ~1 month over the summer and got my lifts up to the highest they'd been (and in some cases still are). I'm fairly certain I'm still a beginner/novice. I stopped doing it over the summer because I realized my form was terrible, so I started changing things and taking weight down to focus on form and never actually found a program to stick to while doing that. My form is MUCH better now, and I want my lifts to be higher. I'm going to do my best to run it until April and see where my lifts are at that point. I want a 225 bench, 300 squat, and at least a 350 lb Deadlift. I have deloaded to give myself room to work up to my current working weights, so my lifts are currently 160 bench, 175 squat, and 235 deadlift.

 

I can't wait to get my Adidas Powerlift 2.0 shoes (get them this Saturday). They feel so stable when I'm lifting. What's new with you guys?