One Inch At A Time!

[ArmlessHobo]

Hey guys, my name is Andy!

 

I've been a Nerd Fitness fan for quite some time! It's actually the thing that got me really interested in the gym, leveling up and life and just generally trying to be awesome! I swear I started this post with the intention of keeping it short and sweet, but once I started typing I couldn't stop! It's ended up as an absolute monster of a post! I've hid most of it in a spoiler, this is mostly about my history, where I came from and what shapes me now. Feel free to read it if you like, however if not, don't feel bad. It was mostly for me to get it out of my head and down onto paper, it actually really helped

 

HISTORY

 

Spoiler

To understand where I’m going, you need to know where I came from. I’m going to give you a little run down about my history, but there is quite a lot here!

Growing up I was always a ridiculously skinny kid, when I hit my growth spurt in school I was the same height I am now (5’10) and only 9 stone in weight! This led to a triad of jokes about how I’m dying, a walking skeleton etc etc. I mostly became immune to the insults, but one day I popped online and read an article that told me if I didn’t want to be skinny any more I should eat lots and lift big!

So I did, except I had no clue what I was doing. I remember washing the 3 chocolate bars that I just are down with a pint of milk. In the gym I was just as clueless, relying on machines, using dumbbells and just making exercises up. Of course I didn’t make any progress whatsoever and quickly gave up on my dream of looking like my favourite 80s action star!

When I hit around 19 or 20, my metabolism finally slowed down, I was eating the same diet as I was in my early teens (which was shockingly bad) however the pounds started piling on. After a year I looked in the mirror to see a skinny-fat guy staring back at me.

I flirted with the gym and nutrition on and off, relying on the likes of Men’s Health and other misguided sources of information but it never really stuck. It wasn’t until I was 25 that I started once again with a friend from work, but this time I was determined to take it seriously. I researched and researched, reading article after article, I found my favourite authors, generally those that shared the same nutrition principles as me. I put the hours in at the gym, starting off I still didn’t know what I was doing, but as time went on a program started developing, a diet plan started forming and before I knew it I had a modicum of self-discipline, that I never thought possible, and was enjoying it! This honeymoon period lasted about 2 years, and I learnt an awful lot. Maybe a little too much, I was always finding some new exercise, or rep range, or diet plan to follow or try. I was impatient and wanted quick results, so I look to fad diets to remedy this. In the end I switched around too much, never focused on something I knew would work for long enough and sacrificed any gains in the process! Now don’t get me wrong, I was relatively happy with the shape I was in, I was by no means big, but I managed to add a little mass while taking off some body fat. I was also pretty strong considering I couldn’t even do 1 pull up when starting, by the end I was throwing weight plates in a backpack.

While I wasn’t the most informed or dedicated individual I was enjoying it, I was feeling better than I ever had, looked better than I ever had and while still no Stallone or Schwarzenegger, I was much happier than I had been previously. But then disaster struck. I was diagnosed with depression. The first year was a nightmare, I didn’t know what was happening, didn’t know how to cope and was in denial. I came very close to ending it all on more than once occasion, but I fought through, I sought counselling, took the tablets the doctor prescribed me, made a point of leaving the house and was overly fairly proactive about getting over it. I don’t know how many of you out there have had any experience with depression, whether it be yourself or knowing someone who suffered/suffers, but it is a terrible, terrible illness that I would never wish upon my worst enemy. Hard to explain in detail, it would take an entire article to do so and even then I don’t know if you would have a thorough understanding of it, but it’s essentially like a black void that consumes you, you stop caring about everything, you can no longer enjoy the things you once enjoyed, you have zero motivation, drive or ambition and getting out of bed in the morning could be considered as a success. The only feelings you experience are anger and indifference. You can’t help but feel this way, you fight it and fight it to the point of mental exhaustion, but the depression is invasive and aggressive. It doesn’t back down so easily, like a bully wanting your lunch money it is relentless.

During the time that I was depressed I put on a lot of weight, I ended up losing any muscle mass I have gained over the few years previously and generally hated the way I looked (although that was as much illness as it was the weight). But then I really took control of it and took it into my own hands. After visiting the NHS for the millionth time, I was prescribed yet another anti-depressant, I was already on two at this point, one at the maximum dose. The thought of taking a third almost broke me, I can remember thinking “Where does it stop?!” and this is where I made one of the most important decision of my life, I decided to ignore what the doctor had told me and come off the tablets. I knew this is what I needed, I expressed as much to the doctor. I bought myself a tablet cutter and went about slowly weaning my way off tablets that are designed to alter your hormones and the receptors in your brain.

Needless to say this was not an easy task, there were ups and downs, what were left of my emotions were all over the place, I had bad days of course, but also for the first time I had good days! This spurred me on through the insomnia, through the random vomiting, through the crying and the screaming inside my head. For the first time in almost 2 years, I actually felt good.

My body composition however, remained the same. I didn’t change my diet much (which actually wasn’t TOO bad), I didn’t start exercising, I just enjoying feeling normal again, feeling good. I didn’t care if I was out of shape, I was just happy to be out of the woods. However, with the final quarter tablet being dropped, something interesting happened. The weight started falling off, I made no changes to my habits intentionally, however my appetite did drop off and I noticed I couldn’t finish meals that I once could polish off and ask for seconds.

To measure the progress of this unexpected weight loss, I used a tape measure, measuring from belly button, around my gut and back to my belly button. At my biggest this came in at 39”, after 3 months on the no –depression diet, it was 32”. 3 months to lose 7 inches off your gut! While I knew from my previous gym experience this was not healthy weight loss (24lb in 3 months), it felt, really, REALLY good. I remember the day I pulled out all my old clothes to see which ones would fit, to find that I now fit into absolutely everything I owned! It was like getting a new wardrobe!

I worried at times I was too skinny, that I had lost too much weight and that I would continue to do so. However it seemed to slow down and finally stop at the 10st 7lb mark and that’s what I sit at today.

So where am I at now? Well I’ve evened out a little, I still have the physique of a small boy, but have a little body fat around my chest and lower stomach but nothing to worry about too much. I’m scrawny everywhere else, apart from the odd workout here and there I’ve not really done much in the way of exercise and my diet isn’t the best, eating too many takeaways and drinking too many fizzy drinks. As it always has been, snacking is also one of my worst enemies.

My mental state? While I am in such a better place right now, there are days that I still do feel the nauseating pang of depression come back, I’ve been struggling with anxiety for the last few months after some changes in my job and have a crazy amount of tension in my shoulders and neck. But if I had to put a number on it, I would say that even on my bad days it’s around 10% of what it used to be, so I can deal with that!

I have become so protective of my mental well-being, probably to a fault. Probably so much so that it causes me undue stress, worsening it. I know this, and I’ve decided to do something about it. Mental health has almost become my hobby, I think about it all the time, I read articles on the internet, watch videos on YouTube trying to gain a better understanding. But there has been one piece of advice that is unanimous regardless of the source, look after your body and the mind will follow.

I used to be almost in denial at the information provided by the likes of these articles, but years on I’ve started to practice relaxation techniques on a daily basis, I’ve started to meditate, I use a variety of different methods to manage my thoughts. This is when I noticed that these guys are on to something, they actually know what they’re talking about.

So I’ve decided to get back into the fitness and nutrition, and this time I am wholly committed to it. I get in contact with my old gym buddy, went to the dungeon of a gym he is currently attending and loved it. I have missed it so. It’s all I have thought about since, any second that I have to myself is thought about what I’m going to do, how I’m going to do it and how much fun I will have along the way! This is exactly what I need right now and I know it.  

If you made your way through that I commend you, I swore I would keep this post short and to the point, however apparently there are quite a lot of factors motivating me.

 

I was always a bit vague with my goals in the past, and to be perfectly honest I’m not entirely sure how to set realistic goals at the minute. Previously, I based them on the weight I was lifting, always striving to lift something heavier, however I don’t even know my starting weights for all exercises at the minute and it’s probably going to take a few weeks to get there. So setting short term goals, and even some long term goals, is going to be something I will be looking towards doing very soon.

Saying that however, my goal at the minute is to attend the gym, and get back into the habit of cooking and preparing meals. My girlfriend and I did a monster shop at the weekend, filling the fridge with nothing but healthy ingredients, a rough meal plan will let us know what we’re having to eat on a daily basis and the ability to throw together shakes and homemade protein bars will mean that I’ve never short on calories!

I’m going to take my goals on a week-by-week basis, like I said just starting the habit up again. This week I plan to:

• Take a lunch to work every day this week.

• Go to the gym on Wednesday and Friday.

• Go for a hike on Saturday.

Obviously I’m doing more than this, but I also know the negative effect setting too many or unrealistic goals can have.

 

I took my measurements and progress pics yesterday and they are as follows:

 

I’m looking to put a little bit of size on (through beginner gains) so hoping to see these increase over the next few months.

DIET

My diet is going to consist of a lot of whole foods along with supplementation. The majority of my meals will be home cooked using fresh ingredients, I will have some things from a packet purely for convenience but the ingredients of these will be closely monitored. I’ll be looking to have a diet high in protein (1g+ per lb of bodyweight), moderate carbohydrates (200g and below) and moderate to high fat intake (around 70 – 90g). Once I get it up and running on MyFitnessPal I will post up some macros.

A sample day of eating will go along the lines of:

Breakfast

Shugart Shake (Whey, Peanut Butter, Banana, Almond Milk) 550 cal

Lunch

Chicken and rice 400 cal

Pre-Workout

Homemade protein bar (essentially oats, honey and whey in bar form) 300 cal

Post Workout

Whey shake 100 cal

Dinner

Chicken and white carbs (potatoes, rice etc) 450 cal

Pre-bed snack

Cashew Nuts 300 cal

 

I will be looking to eat som

ewhere between 2100 - 2200 calories per day, I know this may seem quite low but I know from past experiences that this is roughly my maintenance window.

On my rest days I will sub out the protein bar for nuts and the white carbs in dinner for something a little lower on the glycaemic index.

I’m allowing myself one cheat meal per week, in fact an entire night off on a Friday. I know that this will obviously effect my overall progress, but I also know that this is paramount to my mental health (overprotective, I warned you!). But I’m not dumb, and any chance I can to take this in moderation, or skip over it entirely, I will. At the same time, I want to be able to enjoy a night out with my friends should the need arise.

WORKOUTS

As for the gym itself? I’m going to be doing a lot of big the big lifts, focusing mostly on compounds with some isolations that I enjoy (It’s got to be fun, right?!). I like to use progressive overload, constantly increasing the weight on the bar, however the rep range will be 8 – 10, which is quite high for this technique as it’s usually utilized to gain strength quickly. I’ll be doing 3 full-body workouts per week and I’m still in the process of working out the specifics, however it will look something like this?

 Cavehill is around 1 and a half hours hike.

I mentioned earlier that I’m not overly fussed on the program I’m doing or the diet that I’m eating, I just want to get back into the habit of working out, eating well, tracking my macros, hydrating and just generally being awesome again. However I do believe that what I have in place at the minute will give me a solid base to work from and I will revise it in 3 months’ time and make changes as required.

Well thank you for reading, that is me and that is what I plan to do. I hope to be active on the forums and I look forward to meeting you all

Andy

[Grymm]

Just so you know, I read every word.  Welcome aboard!  You can take the bottom section and copy it to the challenge forum, and you're got yourself your first challenge.

[ArmlessHobo]

Thanks man! And thanks for taking the time to read it, I really appreciate it I might just do that, thanks for the tip!

[Ivana Sedai]

Hello Andy! 

 

Your idea about weekly goals sounds good! I wish you luck!

[Altamarie]

Hello Andy!

I am new too and have also had my share of experience with depression. Your goals sound awesome and you menu sounds good too.

Welcome aboard and good luck to you!