Hello from Titanium Bulwark

[Titanium Bulwark]

Hello everyone,

Just found this site a few weeks ago and I'm starting my road to new health and fitness! I read through all the articles I could find on this site and the links about the Paleo diet and I'm 10 days in now. The eating part is not too bad (you mean I get to eat MORE meat and good stuff, sweet...) and my energy levels have stayed relatively high throughout. I'd love to get in on the challenges and such and I figured this would be a good way for me to track and have accountability/goals for each 6 weeks.

Current Workout routine:

M/W: Advanced Bodyweight Routine, adding 2 reps each time (other than pull ups/chin ups/single leg squats, still working on those)

T: Walk or Interval sprints (30 mins)

Tr: Basketball or Walk or Interval Sprints

F: 300 Workout - working up to the 135 lbs for the weight exercises and getting my pull ups/chin ups into form

Weekends: Yard Work, Walk, etc.

Current Goals:

Perform 10 consecutive pull ups (currently 6)

Perform baseline assessment for big lifts (squat, deadlift, bench, Row, Overhead press, etc)

Background:

It's been a real eye opener reading through this website and the articles/blog entries over the last few weeks. It's amazing how much I've been doing "wrong" with running and using weight machines.

A little bit about myself: I'm 27, 6' 5", 240 lbs, married for 4 years, 1 year old daughter, Chemical Engineer and a total nerd. I've tried several times to find something that would let me use my love of RPG video games (leveling up process) to help me get back in shape, which I think this website does fantastically. I'm a big fan of strategy games and rpgs and D&D; big fan of SNES games and older games as well (Super Mario RPG, FFIII, etc).

Growing up I was always very active, I love baseball and basketball and could play passable soccer. I grew up overseas so I didn't really have a chance to play football. I was always tall, but didn't really "fill out" until my freshman year of college. I have a large frame naturally, so I don't usually notice weight gain until I've really over done it. Too much beer and hamburgers, and eventually I was a little pudgy around the middle (250 lbs or so). I went to visit my parents for the summer and went on a big diet, really watching what I ate, working out/running every day, and spent a fair amount of time on a recumbent bike playing Gladius on gamecube with my youngest brother (kept my calorie burn up, but let me play video games as well!). Lost lots of weight, back to fighting shape, I was around 208 lbs and but looked way too skinny; like a bobblehead.

As college continued on, I gradually put back on the weight until my last year of grad school. Very stressful experience, was in a different city from my future wife who was starting law school, really rough patch for me. When I got married right after college, I weighed close to 300 lbs (don't think I ever actually saw a 3 as the starting number on the scale, but it was dang close). Went on a little bit of a diet, started running again, joined a gym, dropped back to around 270 lbs. A good start, but not what I was looking for. Did P90X, stuck to the diet like glue, kept working out, dropped back to around 240 lbs. I felt good and was doing Warrior Dash type events every quarter or so.

Then, my daughter was born. It is great, and she is such a blessing to my wife and me. Being a dad however, means that I need to make sure my health is good enough that I'm around to provide for her. So P90X taking 1hr + each day was not really feasible. I was able to join the gym at work and start working out at lunch. Again, started running and doing a 5x5 system at the gym, which helped some, but I still had a belly.

Enter nerdfitness. I'm currently 10 days into the Paleo challenge and have been doing the advanced bodyweight workout twice a week, and the 300 workout another time during the week. Off days are either a walk with the dog or interval training/basketball. Paleo eating is not too difficult for me, I love meat and veggies and have a new found love of sweet potatoes. I still drink dairy (though whole milk now, tastes so much better) but I've cut back on most of the cheese, and I still use non-Paleo condiments (I'm something of a BBQ sauce aficionado). No grains, cut way back on drinks (paleo ritas and light beer only on the weekend).

My long term plan is to move on from the bodyweight workouts to real lifting. I've got a home gym (bench press set, bodyweight tower, dumb bells, etc), so I can do almost all of what I need at the house. I've looked over what has been suggested for building your own workout, and I'm probably going to try that or a variation of the 5x5 and then "lift heavy things and put them back down". The bodyweight workouts are a good challenge for me, as I've really never done pull ups prior to this year (my New Year's resolution was to be able to do 5 continuous pull ups, completed!) and being naturally a larger frame, I've always envied the ectomorphs for the ability to do dips/pull ups, etc, like the ninja warrior folks (great show).

My real concern is finding something that sticks. Not a 30 day diet or a quick fix, but something that I can sustain long term. I'm hoping that the Paleo clicks enough that I keep it going, so any tips there would be great to have.

[HansBraggart]

welcome, friend! i am a newbie too. it is great to meet you!