It has been a while since I've updated my blog, but I figured I would provide you with an update! The holiday season really negated any progress I made during December, but in January I got back on the horse and took my weight from 279 lbs in December to 270 lbs today (2/4). I would say since the holidays it's an 11 lb drop in weight. It's not as noticeable in pictures as it is in the way my clothes fit. Shirts that were a bit tighter before now fit great! On the flip side of that clothes that fit just fine before now are too big. Some of them I've only worn once or twice. I guess I'd rather buy new clothes than be over weight. Well anyways the non impressive pictures are posted below.
Pictures below is me at 270 lbs 2/4/2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Ugh Holidays
Well holiday season is coming to a close, and I have to say I did not take it well at all. Don't get me wrong, I had a great holiday. I got to see a lot of family, exchanged gifts, and got to see a lot of friends in from out of town. My diet on the other hand went the complete opposite direction. So with New Years freshly behind me, I won't be doing a weigh in or pictures this month. If you really want to know, take the pictures from last month and add a few pounds ha. Well this month has a few days that I will be taking off from my diet (ND BCS Game, South Bend Brew-fest for instance), but for the most part I should be on my game. Wish me luck!
Friday, December 7, 2012
Warning: Fat Guy With No Shirt
As you might of noticed I haven't updated this blog in quite a while. As you also might have speculated I did not hit my goal of 250 lbs by September. I did how ever make it down to 269 lbs in August. Since then my diet and exercise has more of an after thought. I tried to eat healthy and maintain my progress, but dealing with moving out, stressful financial situations, and career changes got in the way. I spent about 3 months out of the gym, slipped back into some of my bad eating habits, and gained 10 lbs. Although it's not the end of the world, it is a minor set back that I would not have had if I had just paid a little bit more attention into what I was putting into my body. It is a bit frustrating to be back at the same weight I was in June and I'm hoping that won't happen again.
One of the things I regret not doing when I started losing weight was taking any 'Before' pictures. I have plenty of pictures of me being bigger, but that doesn't do it justice. So putting my hesitation aside I finally have some. Now it's about as bad as you can get if you caught me at the beach right now, so you should be able to deal with it. I'm hoping over the next few months to be able to look back and be able to visually make progress as well as numerically on the scale.
So below are my 'Before' pictures on 12/7/2012 at 279 lbs.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Week 11
So it's been a while since I've posted an update, so I figured I would catch you guys up on my progress. I've was pretty wishy washy a few weeks ago. As you can see, I didn't even post anything on here. The last 2 weeks though I've really buckled down and pushed hard. I've been going to the gym 4-5 times a week and sticking to my diet strictly. I've made some progress over the last few weeks, but I'm still about 5 or 6 lbs away from where I should be. The next few weeks I am going to try and catch up.
In the meantime as stated above I am going to the gym regularly and making great strides in my fitness. I've been focusing a lot on running lately, and can now run a mile straight without stopping. This is something I've not been able to do EVER! Not even in High School with regular fitness classes was I able to run a mile straight. I've also been hitting about a 10-11 minute mile which for me, is pretty impressive. Usually after I run 1 mile I walk a ways and switch between running/walking for another mile. If you told me 2 years ago I would willingly be running 2 miles, I wouldn't of believed you. Just need to be able to run 3.1 miles and I'll be all set for that 5K I'm planning on running next year!
If you are interested in starting to lose weight, I would HIGHLY suggest getting some sort of calorie counter and start using it. One of the best ones I've found is MyFitnessPal. It allows you to track your calories, make your own meals, track your fitness, and even add friends so they can continue to motivate you. Speaking of motivation, there is an online community dedicated to losing weight that is very inspiring. Check out /r/loseit!
April 29 278 279.7
May 6 276.5 280.2
May 13 274 -
May 20 272.5 -
May 27 271 -
June 3 269.5 279
June 10 268 275
June 17 266.5 271
June 24 265
July 1 263.5
Sometimes it's hard to gauge your progress. I didn't take any 'Before' pictures with my shirt off (I would of instantly deleted them), but here is a comparison of my face minus about 84 lbs. Enjoy.
In the meantime as stated above I am going to the gym regularly and making great strides in my fitness. I've been focusing a lot on running lately, and can now run a mile straight without stopping. This is something I've not been able to do EVER! Not even in High School with regular fitness classes was I able to run a mile straight. I've also been hitting about a 10-11 minute mile which for me, is pretty impressive. Usually after I run 1 mile I walk a ways and switch between running/walking for another mile. If you told me 2 years ago I would willingly be running 2 miles, I wouldn't of believed you. Just need to be able to run 3.1 miles and I'll be all set for that 5K I'm planning on running next year!
If you are interested in starting to lose weight, I would HIGHLY suggest getting some sort of calorie counter and start using it. One of the best ones I've found is MyFitnessPal. It allows you to track your calories, make your own meals, track your fitness, and even add friends so they can continue to motivate you. Speaking of motivation, there is an online community dedicated to losing weight that is very inspiring. Check out /r/loseit!
April 29 278 279.7
May 6 276.5 280.2
May 13 274 -
May 20 272.5 -
May 27 271 -
June 3 269.5 279
June 10 268 275
June 17 266.5 271
June 24 265
July 1 263.5
Sometimes it's hard to gauge your progress. I didn't take any 'Before' pictures with my shirt off (I would of instantly deleted them), but here is a comparison of my face minus about 84 lbs. Enjoy.
March 2011 - June 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Week 7
So I decided last week to take the week off. Not really the best way to keep on track of my weight loss, but either way it happened. I had a doctors visit earlier in the week that led to some annoyances that kept me out of the gym. Since I wasn't at the gym it gave me more time to go out to dinner. So the next few weeks I'm expecting to keep putting up some red number while I try and get back on track.
This weekend is my friend Steve's wedding and I couldn't be more excited. I have known Steve for 10 years now and even went to Vincennes with him. Steve and his fiance Lauren have been together for a long time and I'm excited to see them finally get married. In addition to the wedding there will of course be lots of food, open bar, and cake. I'm expecting to pack on at least 2,000 calories while I'm there so this week I really have to cut my food down.
I am however really looking forward to hitting the gym tonight. I'm doubt if a week off is enough to ruin my progress, but we'll find out tonight. I ended the week prior squatting 225, and benching 150. I'm really hoping I can recover back to those numbers quickly.
Want to indulge in some light reading this week? Check out Lean Gains!
April 29 278 279.7
May 6 276.5 280.2
May 13 274 -
May 20 272.5 -
May 27 271
This weekend is my friend Steve's wedding and I couldn't be more excited. I have known Steve for 10 years now and even went to Vincennes with him. Steve and his fiance Lauren have been together for a long time and I'm excited to see them finally get married. In addition to the wedding there will of course be lots of food, open bar, and cake. I'm expecting to pack on at least 2,000 calories while I'm there so this week I really have to cut my food down.
I am however really looking forward to hitting the gym tonight. I'm doubt if a week off is enough to ruin my progress, but we'll find out tonight. I ended the week prior squatting 225, and benching 150. I'm really hoping I can recover back to those numbers quickly.
Want to indulge in some light reading this week? Check out Lean Gains!
April 29 278 279.7
May 6 276.5 280.2
May 13 274 -
May 20 272.5 -
May 27 271
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Week 5
Last week went excellent! I ate very healthy and worked out everyday, that is until the weekend hit. On Friday I made this amazing tropical salsa and of course along with all of the added sugar in the fruit, I ate a ton of carbs getting the salsa to my mouth in the form of tortilla chips. Other than that we threw a mini party for some close friends where we partook in other non-health conscious things. I kind of regret taking the weekend off since it's thrown my weight off drastically. I weighed in Friday morning at 272 which was huge! Meaning I had lost 7 lbs last week! Too bad this morning (Tues) I weighed in at 280. Somehow I managed to gain 8 lbs over the weekend. I'm not buying it, scale. So this week will be a rough week as I try and push myself to get back on track. The rest of this month is going to be interesting considering for the next 3 weekend I have a bachelor party, and 2 weddings.
I've set some weight goals for myself, why not set some fitness goals as well? I've been doing some online research, and although I don't want to be a cop or in the army, it wouldn't be a bad idea to train like one. So the least physically required job that I could think of was police officer (no offense to any officers). So after a quick Google search I was able to find the minimum requirements to become a South Bend Police Officer. I'm going to start here, and work my way up. The city requires I can jump 13.5 inches, do 24 sit ups in a minute, run 300 meters in 82 seconds, do 21 push-ups (no time limit), and clock an 18:56 1.5 mile run.
Well I ran the 1.5 miles today and hit a time of 20 mins almost on the dot, I also ran it on a treadmill. For being over-weight and not used to running, I think I did alright. My vertical jump last week was over 12 inches measured with a piece of printer paper and in dress shoes, not very reliable. I can in fact do 21 push-ups, but I haven't tested the 300 meter run or the 24 sit ups yet. As soon as I have a way to test the run I will post the results of that and the sit ups. I'm just not feeling too energetic after the gym this morning to work out more.
The Army is a bit harder, but I'm sure I'll get onto more of that later after I conquer SBPD. The Military in general has some guidelines they've posted as far as body fat content. For the National Guard for my age group is below 26%, for the Army it's 22%. Again I will post more when I can get past Police Dept. Also this week marks a doctors visit, so we'll see what he has to say too.
http://www.in.gov/ilea/2338.htm
http://www.nationalguard.com/guard-basics/eligibility-requirements
http://www.military.com/military-fitness/army-fitness-requirements/army-basic-training-pft
April 29 278 279.7
May 6 276.5 280.2
May 13 274
I've set some weight goals for myself, why not set some fitness goals as well? I've been doing some online research, and although I don't want to be a cop or in the army, it wouldn't be a bad idea to train like one. So the least physically required job that I could think of was police officer (no offense to any officers). So after a quick Google search I was able to find the minimum requirements to become a South Bend Police Officer. I'm going to start here, and work my way up. The city requires I can jump 13.5 inches, do 24 sit ups in a minute, run 300 meters in 82 seconds, do 21 push-ups (no time limit), and clock an 18:56 1.5 mile run.
Well I ran the 1.5 miles today and hit a time of 20 mins almost on the dot, I also ran it on a treadmill. For being over-weight and not used to running, I think I did alright. My vertical jump last week was over 12 inches measured with a piece of printer paper and in dress shoes, not very reliable. I can in fact do 21 push-ups, but I haven't tested the 300 meter run or the 24 sit ups yet. As soon as I have a way to test the run I will post the results of that and the sit ups. I'm just not feeling too energetic after the gym this morning to work out more.
The Army is a bit harder, but I'm sure I'll get onto more of that later after I conquer SBPD. The Military in general has some guidelines they've posted as far as body fat content. For the National Guard for my age group is below 26%, for the Army it's 22%. Again I will post more when I can get past Police Dept. Also this week marks a doctors visit, so we'll see what he has to say too.
http://www.in.gov/ilea/2338.htm
http://www.nationalguard.com/guard-basics/eligibility-requirements
http://www.military.com/military-fitness/army-fitness-requirements/army-basic-training-pft
April 29 278 279.7
May 6 276.5 280.2
May 13 274
Tropical Salsa
1 Mango, 1 Papaya, 1/2 Golden Pineapple, 5 Jalapeños (Seeded), 2 Poblano Peppers (Charred, Skinned, Seeded), 1 Bunch Cilantro, Juice of 1 Lime, 1 Red Onion
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Week 4
I set up my goals at the beginning of the week when I weighed 284. So I spent the week watching what I ate and working hard and I'm proud to say this morning I weighed 279.7! That put me ahead of my goal by a pound! I just hope I don't see it as an opportunity to slack off.
So I'e been doing Atkins off and on for about a year now, and I can tell you that it is working well. 75+ lbs well. Although I've come a long way, there is still a long way to go. It took years to put on, and it will take years to take off. It's not that hard to diet and exercise, and I actually enjoy my new found strength. I wish I would of started losing weight a lot sooner so that I would not have wasted years being unhealthy and generally unhappy about life.
So for those of you who don't know what Atkins is, it is basically a carb/calorie restricted diet. I'm not going to type up all the in's and out's of the diet since that's what Google is for. But I still feel like people interested in the diet can learn from my personal experience. I've actually given up carbonated beverages for a while. When I was weighing myself everyday I would notice when I drank even a diet soda it would slow my weight loss. Plus personally I feel a lot better when I drink non carbonated water vs diet soda.
When I started Atkins, I was going from Taco Bell, home deep fried frozen cheese sticks, most of a frozen pizza for dinner 4 nights a week, to diet food. It did not seem interesting or tasty to me what so ever. The first few weeks were rough. I craved everything from tacos to ice cream, and it wasn't because I was hungry it was because I was dieting. So I powered through it and after a while my eating habits became just that, habits. Just recently I went to Vegas and we went to the buffet. I told myself when I left that I was of vacation, and I would let myself eat whatever I wanted. So I walked up to the buffet and grabbed everything that looked good. When I sat back down without realizing it I had grabbed a plate full of protein. And while I made sure to eat some of the most delicious chicken, prime rib, and pork that I've ever had, I made sure to go back up and get dessert. But eventually I came to find recipes that I love to cook at home.
One of my favorites recently is a quesadilla with shredded chicken, cheese, and vegetables. It's so simple once I found low carb tortillas in the grocery store (about 4 net carbs). And since you can eat meat, cheese, and vegetables it's not that hard figuring out mexican recipes you can make. Most of the time though I'll just cook marinated chicken/steak/pork with a side salad for dinner. If you ask Google for low carb recipes you'l find entire websites dedicated to the subject.
So my goal is to lose 30 lbs by Sept 1st. I calculated that that's roughly 2.2 lbs a week which seems a bit tough, but still do-able. Whether I make it or not, I'm still going to lose weight and I'm still going to feel better. So, in case you're following along at home here it is. It'll actually be easier for me to keep track if I have it written down somewhere, might as well be here. 279.7
April 29 278 279.7
May 6 276.5
May 13 274
May 20 272.5
May 27 271
June 3 269.5
June 10 268
June 17 266.5
June 24 265
July 1 263.5
July 8 262
July 15 260.5
July 22 259
July 29 257.5
Aug 5 256
Aug 12 254.5
Aug 19 253
Aug 26 251.5
Sept 1 250
So I'e been doing Atkins off and on for about a year now, and I can tell you that it is working well. 75+ lbs well. Although I've come a long way, there is still a long way to go. It took years to put on, and it will take years to take off. It's not that hard to diet and exercise, and I actually enjoy my new found strength. I wish I would of started losing weight a lot sooner so that I would not have wasted years being unhealthy and generally unhappy about life.
So for those of you who don't know what Atkins is, it is basically a carb/calorie restricted diet. I'm not going to type up all the in's and out's of the diet since that's what Google is for. But I still feel like people interested in the diet can learn from my personal experience. I've actually given up carbonated beverages for a while. When I was weighing myself everyday I would notice when I drank even a diet soda it would slow my weight loss. Plus personally I feel a lot better when I drink non carbonated water vs diet soda.
When I started Atkins, I was going from Taco Bell, home deep fried frozen cheese sticks, most of a frozen pizza for dinner 4 nights a week, to diet food. It did not seem interesting or tasty to me what so ever. The first few weeks were rough. I craved everything from tacos to ice cream, and it wasn't because I was hungry it was because I was dieting. So I powered through it and after a while my eating habits became just that, habits. Just recently I went to Vegas and we went to the buffet. I told myself when I left that I was of vacation, and I would let myself eat whatever I wanted. So I walked up to the buffet and grabbed everything that looked good. When I sat back down without realizing it I had grabbed a plate full of protein. And while I made sure to eat some of the most delicious chicken, prime rib, and pork that I've ever had, I made sure to go back up and get dessert. But eventually I came to find recipes that I love to cook at home.
One of my favorites recently is a quesadilla with shredded chicken, cheese, and vegetables. It's so simple once I found low carb tortillas in the grocery store (about 4 net carbs). And since you can eat meat, cheese, and vegetables it's not that hard figuring out mexican recipes you can make. Most of the time though I'll just cook marinated chicken/steak/pork with a side salad for dinner. If you ask Google for low carb recipes you'l find entire websites dedicated to the subject.
So my goal is to lose 30 lbs by Sept 1st. I calculated that that's roughly 2.2 lbs a week which seems a bit tough, but still do-able. Whether I make it or not, I'm still going to lose weight and I'm still going to feel better. So, in case you're following along at home here it is. It'll actually be easier for me to keep track if I have it written down somewhere, might as well be here. 279.7
April 29 278 279.7
May 6 276.5
May 13 274
May 20 272.5
May 27 271
June 3 269.5
June 10 268
June 17 266.5
June 24 265
July 1 263.5
July 8 262
July 15 260.5
July 22 259
July 29 257.5
Aug 5 256
Aug 12 254.5
Aug 19 253
Aug 26 251.5
Sept 1 250
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