Taking a Dive

[thetimturner]

Ohai! I'm Tim, and I'm a geek. I've been into computers since I could touch one, and gaming since I could pickup a controller.

Currently I do onsite computer repair for a big box retailer, and spend most of my 8 hour day behind the wheel of a car. Mix that with depression, and a wife that is a great cook and suddenly(so suddenly I ended up with stretch marks) I found myself going from a slim 160lbs to a massive 230lbs.

About 6 months ago I was browsing through tagged pictures of myself on facebook and came across a photo from my wedding. This one to be exact:

Right after that I saw this:

At that moment I knew enough was enough. My wife and I joined a gym and I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app for android. I started counting calories like a mad man, and doing what I could at the gym(which was light cardio). The MFP community has been very encouraging and a lot of people have kept me motivated. Things progressed, I can do much more cardio than before and I've branched into some weight training as well. All in all across the last 6 months I've lost 37lbs:

I unfortunately didn't have the foresight to grab a pic when I started at 230.

Ever since hitting the -30lb mark my weight loss has dramatically slowed. Its time for me to change things up again, and so I'm here. I've decided I'm going to try 30 days of paleo and see how it works out for me. I'm really new to this diet and have a lot of questions about it, and frankly don't know how to get started.

The plan in my head

- Consistent gym time 3 days a week doing weight training and HIIT.

- C25K, because I have plans to do a warrior dash in April and I WILL be ready.

- Paleo, its time to cut the crap and clean up my diet more. Being on the road all the time I end up eating crap pretty consistently.

Goals

- I want to run a marathon, just because I can.

- I DO NOT want to be the guy in that wedding picture. I want to be better than that.

- I'm not looking to be super bulky I think a good body fat goal is around 15%

Now, here is where I'm going to need help. So far I've been counting calories to rely on my weight loss. My understanding is that with a calorie deficit you won't see much in muscle growth, but if I develop muscle I'll burn more fat. It goes against everything I've done so far, but I'm wondering if it would be worth it to stop the calorie counting when I start paleo and just start lifting more. I've been seeing results with what I've been doing, but I'd like to change things up a bit and I'm not totally certain where to start. When I was a lot skinner I also looked scrawny as I didn't have any muscle or definition. I'm afraid that if I keep going the way I am I'll end up losing the weight like I want, but being back to that scrawny little guy. I need all the help I can get!

[Tom Kenobi]

Welcome to the Rebellion! If you haven't already, I suggest reading alot of Steve's articles. Go to the side and look at the links where steve places them in different "topics/genres" that will help a bunch. Definitely do more lifting/moving heavy things than cardio. I work a body weight routine and i've dropped 13lbs. I don't count calories, I just really put emphasis on making paleo/primal choices for my meals and really limit carbs. You are going to get all the info, links and encouragement you can muster from this community and from the NF website. Keep it up, the transformation is looking good!

[The Purple Diane]

Welcome, Tim! Your plan looks awesome.

As for "getting started" with paleo, you can start as quickly or as slowly as you feel comfortable. Take out the things that are bad for you, one by one, and add in the things that are good for you. One foot in front of the other and you will get there.

Good luck and let us know how you do!