Improving my Power to Weight Ratio

[NitroRoo]

Hey everyone.  My name is Reuben, and I'd like to join the rebellion.

 

I'm in my early 30's, father of two great kids, and I'm fat. I drive a desk for a living, so it's very easy to put on the pounds. I have never really given much thought to what I eat, I just eat what I like and eat until I'm full. I have done mail order "super diets" before and lost a bunch of weight - but as soon as I go back to my "normal" eating habits the weight creeps back on.  One of my problems is I LOVE good food, and if you put it in front of me, I'll eat it until I'm stuffed.  I am determined to make a lifestyle change this time, a permanent change to how much I eat and how I feel about myself. I am a very active person trapped in a couch potato's body.

 

Everything I love to do is active and outdoors, every day I sit inside at a desk... This is my challenge. I have always been an adventurous person who loves to experience new things, especially in the great outdoors. Camping, Hiking, Bicycling, Canoeing/Kayaking, Sailing - you name it. I am also very much into motorcycling - all types - but mainly high performance riding on the track (dirt or road course). ALL of these activities require a certain level of fitness. I hate that when a opportunity presents itself I can't just go for it 100% because I'm out of shape. I am doing this for myself first, and for my kids and family as a close second. My kids also love all of the above, and I'm a fairly young dad - they deserve to have me right there along side them, cheering them on every step of the way. I want to set a good example for them.

 

I actually began this journey back in April.  I was 242 lbs and 6' tall (well, I guess I am still 6' tall   ).  I started by simply counting calories and trying to be smarter about what I ate.  Then in July I started researching working out.  While I've always loved being active, I have NEVER really stuck to any kind of workout.  I went to a true nerd high school called the Science Academy, we didn't have sports - but we had a wind tunnel!  haha.  So I really had no clue what I was doing in a gym.  I've had a few gym memberships in the past, but always ended up just going a few times and then wasting my money on a membership I didn't use.  Then I heard about crossfit.  I watched a little mini series on a guy who joined a crossfit box on youtube and lost a bunch of weight (it's called Killing the Fatman - look it up if you want some inspiration).  I knew right away this was for me.  I'm a pretty social person, so having a workout environment where you can make friends and encourage each other was right up my alley.

 

I joined a crossfit gym just 5 minutes from my workplace (very fortunate), and I have been going 4-5 days a week (more or less) since August 1st.  I've been very good about not overeating, although I haven't been extremely strict about what I eat.  I want to make a permanent change I can live with forever, not an unmaintainable diet.  I'm sure I would have had more success if I had stuck to a very strict diet, but  I also have an Italian wife who loves to cook     At any rate - I am down do 216 as of this morning, which is over 25 lbs down for this year.  Crossfit is now a regular part of my life, and I'm feeling sooo much better, even though I still have a long way to go.

 

Here I am at the beginning of my journey this year - around 240 lbs.  Still can't believe I let myself get this big...

 

On a hike with my kids (and dogs) a couple months ago:

 

A more recent pic of me at work - messing with one of my co-workers (that's me on the right)

 

Anyway - long winded intro, but wanted to jump in with both feet.  Just like I have a good network of friends at my local crossfit - I need a good network of friends to stand by me while I'm stuck inside at my desk.  I'm trying to learn everything I can about diet and exercise - but beyond that, I'm looking for the motivation necessary to make this change stick.  My goal is to hit about 185lbs, and then concentrate on being in better and better shape.  26lbs down, about 31 to go.  Let's do this!

[Duality]

I started at 242 pounds too!

 

It's all about dedication and how much energy you're willing to put in it. It took me about one year and a half to lose 50 pounds, but now I kicked it into high gear and seeing great results! It's all you, you got this, challenge yourself. You've done great progress so far and if you continue, you'll see more great things.

 

Glad to see you on the forums

[NitroRoo]

That's awesome man!  Really cool to see someone who has gone down the same path I am on.  I looked at your pics - you are definitely looking great!  Thanks for the challenge!

[NitroRoo]

A little update for the new year. I've been going to CFRH 4-5x a week, with a few days missed here and there. I missed a week over the holidays while I was on vacation, but I still managed to squeeze in a couple runs/workouts at the hotel.

Slowly chipping away at the weight, down to 211 now. Getting close to the 200lb mark, which I'm very excited about! My first CF baseline workout I struggled to string together 10 pushups. We recently did "Cindy" 20 min AMRAP.

5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Air Squats

I used a band on the pullups, but managed 11 rounds with strict pushups the whole time. That's 110 pushups!!! I feel SO much better than I did at this time last year. I still have a lot of weight to lose - I'm shooting for the 170's. Now that the holidays are over, I'm focusing heavily on what I eat. To say CrossFit has motivated me more than anything else I ever tried is a huge understatement. It's been fantastic and I can't wait to go in there every day.
 

I also entered my first mountain bike race last weekend.  30 minute short track race, get in as many laps of the 1 mile course as you can.  I managed 5 laps in 31:21 - pretty slow but I wasn't in last place!  I haven't been riding much lately due to the shorter days and busy schedule, but I still felt pretty good and I think that's hugely due to how much I've been working out.

 

 

12 lbs to go and I'll be under 200!  Can't wait!

[Basement Cat]

Welcome to the rebellion, Ruben!

 

That's an amazing achievement in one year! Congratulations! Here's to losing the next 12!

[NitroRoo]

I did it!  Hit 199.8 lbs on my Monday weigh in this week!  So stoked!  I still have a long way to go, but boy does it feel good to be in the 1 hundreds!

[NitroRoo]

In 10 days I'll have been doing crossfit for 1 year.  I'm down to 187.0 as of this morning which means I've lost about 55lbs so far, and honestly could stand to drop probably 15 more lbs or so with a stricter diet - but I'm shooting for sustainable lifestyle - the lbs will continue to drop with what I'm doing.  Currently I'm consistently losing about 1/2lb per week (down from 1-2 lbs per week earlier in my journey).

 

I also ran my first 5k this year.  My goal was to do it without stopping and I did that, my time was 27:44.  This was back in April, I need to sign up for another race soon.  Planning on incorporating regular running into the schedule somehow...

 

 

I'm also able to enjoy things like hikes with the kids without feeling too worn out, which is great:

 

 

Anyway, just thought I'd throw out a little update.  Persistence pays off!

[NitroRoo]

It's been one crazy year, being the first time I've found something fitness related and REALLY stuck with it. I FINALLY realized that the way to get in shape isn't some super diet or insane, short term workout program - it's a chipper. A long term goal that you can work towards each and every day - one WOD at a time.

So how far have I come in 1 year? Well, when I started I had virtually no fitness background, other than I loved the outdoors and being active - but having a desk job and poor eating habits for years meant I was way out of shape and overweight. My baseline workout I couldn't do 1 pullup, and 10 pushups was honestly pretty hard for me to do. Of course when you're 240+ and sedentary that's to be expected.

I've been going to CrossFit 5 days a week most weeks. I've missed a few days here and there. My diet certainly hasn't been perfect, but it's absolutely sustainable. You start to really care about what you put in your body when you work that hard to lose weight and get in shape. Oh yeah, I'm down to about 185 now, too.

Funny, I've definitely come a LONG way, but I still feel like I have SO far to go. I can do most of the workouts RX now, but when I do I still finish back towards the back, but my goals are shifting from just getting in shape to improving my weights, times, form, etc. And that's what I love about crossfit - there's no limit to how far you can take it. I love that in my mind I'm not done. I know I'll never be DONE. CrossFit is a way of life for me now and it feels freakin great.

For those of you who might be interested, I made a video about my CrossFit journey and even included a bit of footage from "Fight Gone Bad" last week. It's about CrossFit and motorcycles (relates to my job), but if you have 25 mins to kill... here you go:

http://youtu.be/Aj3P852lIts

[NitroRoo]

181.6 this morning.  Getting close to the 170's!