Farewell, Fat & Pain

[Swashbuckler]

Greetings everyone,

 

I'm a 31yo guy all the way from Finland, and for the past 5-6 years I've suffered of at times debilitating back pain (degenerated discs and spinal disc hernias) and, as a consequence, I've eaten enough pills to fill a small pharmacy, gained weight, and gotten weight-related health problems (like a bad knee which seems to heal whenever I lose the weight... yeah, I've done some yo-yoing).

 

I've always been relatively athletic, and in 2010 when I got married, I trained twice a day 6-7 days a week, bodyfat was under 10%, resting heart rate 40bpm, and my back pain was all but gone as long as I didn't provoke it (i.e. I avoided sitting like the plague, just stood or lied down). Then when I returned to the university after a long sick leave, the torture seats in lecture halls messed up my back again and sent me back on sick leave, popping prescription opiates like candy. Oh, and I regained the 40lbs or so of lard I'd shed a couple of years ago.

 

Since I don't want to be a useless shit, last summer I decided to kick the pain meds and get back in shape again, pain or no pain, while finishing my studies and working on the side. I started in September by weaning myself from the addictive prescription painkillers (something I never want to do again). After getting rid of them, I started exercising after a looong break (I mean years). First I did just a set of push-ups, one here, another there. Then I added other exercises and I did random sets throughout the day. Now I'm to a point where I can actually exercise for 30-45mins without keeling over to wait for death, but still miles away from what I was 3 years ago.

 

Because of the back pain, I sometimes need motivation to get up and endure that pain throughout a workout. I chose to motivate myself with the threat of more pain and physical violence by joining my old boxing club: I joined the sparring group, where you'll end up as a punching bag if you can't keep up, so... better keep up, right?

I also decided to step in the ring next summer in 150lbs weight class (I'm 6´1, so I'd have a nice reach advantage over quite a few opponents). It seems I have light bones; usually guys my size / shape tend to be heavier, which doesn't really provide any advantages except in weight class sports. Anyway, I have 40lbs to shed, so that ought to be 1,7lbs per week, which I think is doable.

 

So there's a bit of history, my biggest hurdles, and my goals in a nutshell. I'm certain of my success, because I have the support of my wife (we're one of those annoying couples who do everything together, including going to the boxing gym), and that's all I need. From Nerd Finess, I hope to find motivation and inspiration, first and foremost. I have a pretty solid idea of what I have to do to cut the weight (done it before) and how to avoid the mistakes that led to regaining that weight (burnt hand teaches etc...), but there's no such thing as too much inspiration or motivation, so I'm looking forward to meeting knowledgeable people here and, as is more than likely, I'll probably pick up a thing or a few dozen along the way...

[Basement Cat]

Welcome Swashbuckler!

 

Glad to have you on board! You see to know whta you are doing, so I'll just wish you good luck. If you need advice or tips, check out the training subforums.

 

Good luck and keep us posted!

[Swashbuckler]

Thanks for the welcome and well-wishes, SilverRapier. I'm already looking forward to my 1st 6-week challenge.