Newcomer from Canadia

[Thrillho]

Howdy!

Man, I don't know where to start here. I'm not exactly a newbie, but I am far from being in any sort of reasonable shape. I suppose I'll do this chronologically and hope for the best!

• Good shape in high school - 6'4", 220lbs, worked out a lot. Big all over.
  
• Eight years of Shizen Ryu, brown belt, rank of Sempei (and full-time Uki... oi). Competed occasionally.
  
• Out of high school, got into college, spent most of my time studying and playing Starcraft.
  
• Failed college, got kicked out of college, spent most of my time eating and playing Starcraft.
  
• Moved to the city, lived next door to some nice Hell's Angels, spent most of my time eating and playing Tetris 64.
  
• Moved back home, screwed up a couple jobs, got my girlfriend pregnant.
  
• Discovered that I could stress-eat quite a lot when I put my mind to it!
  
• Over the course of my girlfriend's pregnancy I gained close to 60 lbs, putting me at 280.
  
• Got married, managed to get myself back into college, graduated Dean's List Honors this time around (motivation!)
  
• Got a decent job, got a house, had two more kids, and gained another fifty pounds. Hit peak mass around 330.
  
• About three years ago, something finally snapped inside me and my delusions vanished: I was disgusted with myself.
  
• I've lost 50 lbs over the last three years, and I am back down to 280. Still industrial-strength pudge, starting to feel better.
  
• Setting my goals of weight loss, increased strength and flexibility, and getting back into martial arts.
  
• Long term goal: back down to 220 lbs, which for my frame is actually pretty trim.
  
• Potentially unrealistic goal: fight a professional MMA fight before the age of 40 (they are sanctioned here again!)
  

There, that just about covers it. I know a lot about health and nutrition (like I said, lost 50 lbs, my wife is a vegetarian and the manager of the local Farmer's Market), I know a lot about strength and fitness (former competitive martial artist), and I know a lot about... well, stuff in general. I'm a dork. But between knowledge and action there's a HELL of a gap.

I have three kids, who are ten, five and four. They take up enormous amounts of my time. At the moment I am unemployed (got laid off in January), but i do have a lot of side jobs and a LOT of incentive to do well at them since I desperately need the money. I am on EI, but it's a huge cut in my pay. I save a lot on gas now that I don't have to drive into town every day, but even so... screwed financially. Easy to see it as a challenge to eat less, though, and eat better.

Which I am not doing. I think I've gained three pounds this year.

Self-motivation isn't working for me anymore. I don't work out in the mornings anymore because OH MY GOD sleeping in until 7:05 feels so nice (and at 7:06 my son always comes in and asks me to make the lunches for him and the girls for school). I don't work out at night because OH MY GOD getting my kids into bed means I can finally stop moving for ten minutes... and then it's usually time to watch Netflix with my wife or play WiiKart or write (I write a lot, and now that I'm unemployed I'm really trying to make a professional go of it again). I did a lot of running in the summer, having worked out a half-mile marker from my house and running one mile every night. Over the course of the summer I knocked 2:40 off of my mile time, but it's still a terrible time because I'm still a gigantic pudgy man with bad knees.

So, here I am. Big guy with food issues, missing his former glory days of kicking ass, and actually being able to take off his shirt without shame.

[eco2pia]

Yeah, your story sounds pretty familiar. I am new here too, and just starting to try to get back to where I ought to be. I am sure you will bridge that gap between knowledge and action! We kinda have to--can you imagine getting old like this?! Do or die, gogogogogo!

Oh. Yeah. Welcome...or something.

[BarefootDawsy]

Welcome aboard! Looks like you're on the right track already - well done What part of Canadia are you from?

[Thrillho]

Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. Aka, "the nice part".

[BarefootDawsy]

Ahh wine country nice

[Corbab]

Your goals seem great, and you obviously have the know-how to get there. Pick some basic programming (diet, exercise, happiness) and go to town. Everyone here will cheer for you and help you out anywhere you need. Make sure to keep us posted.

Welcome!

[Thrillho]

Yeah, sometime tomorrow I want to get my current shameful state set in stone. Measurements (never done those before), weight, all that junk.

[Thrillho]

Hmmmm, a question I never thought about before: How do I take the measurements? How tight do I draw the tape measure? I am... well, let's be kind and call me 'adorably squishy', so I can tighten that sucker pretty far, but I assume I'm just supposed to pull them just tight enough that I don't dimple or anything. Also, my hip measurement will probably be the same as my waist measurements, since I am very pear shaped, and the hips/waist are pretty much the same thing. Another concern is that as I start losing weight, my thigh and bicep measurements are going to go down, since I do have a little bit of flab there. That's normal, right?

Based on a look around, shameful shirtless pictures in front of the mirror are OK, right? Should I spoiler tag them? I am pretty horrifying to behold.