Hello from Toronto

[ttk77]

Hi all.  I've been browsing through the NF site for a couple months and figured it was time to create an account and bite the bullet.  A brief intro and background first.

 

I'm a tall (6'1) 36 year old guy, weighing in at about 220lbs.  After graduating university back in 2001 (science nerd) as hefty as I am now I went on a starvation style diet and dropped 60lbs in about 8 months.  Breakfast was a bagel with peanut-butter and a large double-double, lunch was an hour long walk with a pound of baby carrots, and dinner was a bowl - if it could fit in it, I could eat it.  The weight loss probably had as much to do with the laxative effect of eating a pound of raw carrots all at once as it did from anything else.  Thankfully, I did not yo-yo.  When people started telling me I was getting too skinny I started running and eating more.  Things seemed to fall into a natural equilibrium.  

 

Fortunately/unfortunately my situation changed. I moved to Toronto into a job that finally paid an above poverty level salary, and around the same time I stopped running and started eating more. The effect of having less free time and actually having some money in my pocket. The weight creped back on gradually, but 12 years later and I'm now back where I started.  I've tried to get back running, but received some world class shin splints for my efforts, and I tried getting back on the diet only to realize that a) I now loathe raw carrots with a passion (see above), and b ) my patience for feeling hungry has evaporated over the last decade. I love food, and I love cooking - a dangerous combination.  I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but my nemesis is salty, fatty carbs.  Put an econo-sized bag of chips in front of me and I'll be down to the crumbs before realizing what I'm doing.  

 

So what am I doing about it?  I've started 20min of circuit weights every other morning, and I'm working up to some high intensity interval cardio on the off days.  Diet wise I've decided to cut out alcohol until the spring.  I've also gone paleo/primal (mostly).  Inspired by some of the transformation stories on here I'm currently trying to work up the courage to take a 'before' shot.  I'm a bit self-conscious about my body image at the moment, but I really don't want this journey to be about the scale.  I remember from last time that disappointment from stepping on the scale and not seeing the weight loss I hoped for was the cause of most setbacks.

 

Anyway, thanks for reading.  Wish me luck.

 

Tyler

[Lady Eleventy]

Whooohooo! look at you go! Seems like you've already taken the first steps to a better you. Congratulations and welcome to Nerd Fitness!

[Basement Cat]

Welcome to the rebellion, TTK!

 

Good job on starting weight training! You'll see, you'll get hooked in no time! Don't worry about the before picture. Take one for yourself, but don't feel pressured to post it. This is your journey and we are just here to cheer you on!

 

Good luck with your goals and keep us posted!

[ttk77]

Thanks for the welcomes  This looks like a great place to keep the motivation up.

 

I hadn't actually even considered posting the before shot...at least not until I had an amazing after shot.  My trepidation at taking a before shot right now has more to do with my own body image issues.  I'm going to make myself take it though, and once a month after that going forward.