On the way to skinny...
Name: anonymous Start Weight: 447 lbs Goal Weight: 195 Height: 6'4"
day 1 5/13/2003
 | wt: 447 lbs |
| chest: 64.75" |
| waist: 68.25" |
| hips/butt: 61" |
| bicep: 21" |
| forearm: 14.25" |
| thigh: 36" |
| calf: 21" |
| BMI: 54.4 (morbid obesity) |
| Body fat: 50% |
| complaints: back pain, tired, fatigue, mental anguish, gout, hungry, generally not happy. |
Analysis: I am fat. When I loose 100 pounds, I will still be fat. However, I will be 100 pounds lighter. :-) Writing this web journal; who knows it may encourage someone else, and it shames me into compliance.
What I want to do when I'm skinny:
| buy clothes at a regular store (I'd like several suits from K&G) |
| ride in a airplane without asking for a seat belt extension |
| sit in a *booth* at a restaurant with my family |
| take some family photos |
| burn my fat clothes |
I will update this with my progress. I'm thinking about getting a email drop box in case anyone is watching this site and wants to send me some spam.
I am using the program found here. So far Fred is really inspiring me. You should check his site out. I think I'll buy his book when it comes out. I bought some free weights today, and I'll start using them and the book by Arnold Schwarzeneger called "Arnold's Bodybuilding For Men". I have a lot of raw material to work with, apparently.
day 2 5/14/2003
What I ate today:
| Breakfast - I didn't have time, late for a meeting. I know this is a major "no-no". Please sue me. |
| Lunch - I was starving. I ate the better parts of a rotisserie chicken, several cherry tomatoes, some red seedless grapes, an orange, a hunk of French bread, a piece of Swiss cheese. About 32 oz. of diet coke. |
| Dinner - A modest amount of oatmeal sweetened with Splenda. About 16 oz. of diet coke. |
What I did wrong today:
| I didn't drink enough water. After lunch, I continued to graze because the food was still on my desk. The food was healthy, and largely non-processed, but I think I ate too much. Oh well, at least I didn't eat six cheese burgers like I wanted to, and generally would have. |
What I did right today:
| I avoided snack foods! |
| I had a different attitude about eating. |
Problems:
| I feel a major gout attack coming in my left foot. |
Exercise:
| I installed my work out bench including a bunch of free weights, barbells, dumb bells, etc. I'm planning my first work out for tomorrow morning! |
| I parked a little farther from my entrance, so it made me walk a bit more
than I'm used too.
The heat here is oppressive, and unseasonably humid - this will be something I have to figure out how to deal with as I continue down this road of exercise. I'm adapted to working inside, with the air conditioning on, a pleasant 70 degrees, thank you. Outside is strange. It's bright. It's hot. It's noisy. There are a lot of people. If it's all the same, I'd rather stay inside where I can control my environment. In any event, it's clear to me that I need to exercise, so I will venture out to this place called "outside". |
day 3 5/15/2003
What I ate today:
| Breakfast - I ate two pieces of sausage that were in two hot dog buns. So is it better not to eat breakfast than to eat this? I was late for another meeting, and it's all I had time for. Drank a diet coke. |
| Lunch - I wasn't as hungry today, probably because I ate breakfast. :-) A buddy of mine broke up with his girlfriend and needed comfort food. We went to the plant cafeteria and had sliced beef, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, and salad. More diet coke. |
| Dinner -Meat loaf (is this bad? how can it be? it's soooo good) mashed potatoes, corn, salad. Plenty of diet lemonade. |
What I did wrong today:
| I did not drink enough water again. But replaced some of the diet coke I would have drank with diet lemonade, and I personally saw a lot of water go into it when I made it. So that is sorta like water, right? |
What I did right today:
| I didn't eat any pastries, or other types of sweets, although I was sorely tempted at the plant cafeteria where Krispy Kreme's lurk behind every corner. I resisted. I stayed strong. |
Problems:
| Still feeling like gout is about to break out in my left foot, but so far it hasn't manifested too badly. |
Exercise:
| I worked out! Yeah baby. I broke a sweat for the first time in about three years (that's not a joke). I did stretching exercise and I used my new weight set. Then I took a very short bike ride... it would have been longer but my wife told me the tire was a bit low of air, so I had to turn around and go home. The work out was fun. But I feel dreadfully tired and worn out now. I don't think sleep will be a problem tonight. |
day 4 5/16/2003
What I ate today:
| Breakfast -One pop tart, glass of cow juice |
| Lunch - pizza!! (hey it's my free day!), better part of a 2 liter diet coke |
| Snack - orange Gatorade |
| Dinner -more pizza!! |
What I did wrong today:
| Same ole same ole... not enough h20. I guess I should at least drink some everyday... |
What I did right today:
| Friday's are my free day. Despite that, I didn't go crazy. |
Problems:
| Sore from the work out, but I'm making it. |
Exercise:
| About a 30 minute workout session followed by a 1 mile bike ride. I feel like a whipped puppy. |
Notes:
| I wasn't as tired this morning when I woke up. Also, I haven't been as hungry as I normally would be. Maybe it's just psychological, but I'll take it. I have had a bad headache all day long that just laughs at Tylenol. Am I detoxing? |
| Fred wrote me back! He is a great encouragement to me. |
| I am going to weigh and measure tomorrow. Will I see results? Is it actually possible for me to loose weight? I believe so, time will tell. |
day 5 5/17/2003
|
TIME FOR THE HAPPY DANCE
|
|
What I ate today:
| Breakfast -1 orange, 1 cup of grapefruit juice, about 1-1/2 cups banana pudding (I was supposed to eat this on my free day, but didn't) |
| Lunch - nothing |
| Snack - nothing |
| Dinner - steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, fruit, 2 pieces of bread |
What I did wrong today:
| Probably still overeating. |
What I did right today:
| I'm eating A LOT less than I normally do... :-D |
Problems:
| Problems? Gout seems to have gone away for now. |
Exercise:
| About a 30 minute workout session. I did 20 situps! I busted a knuckle on one of the free weights, and I'm gonna milk it for all it's worth. |
Notes:
| LOOK OUT SKINNY...HERE I COME... I actually lost weight. Matter of fact I lost seven pounds. YEAH ME! I also lost some inches. I'm feeling pretty good. I think my arms are getting stronger. I'm not as hungry as I normally am, and life is good. I like the weight lifting, which surprises me, because it involves something other than computers. :-) I can really feel myself getting into this, especially considering the fact that I lost weight without any stinking pills, no calorie counting, no silly shakes or bars to eat, none of that crazy stuff that just turns my stomach. This rocks. I wish I could get all of my money back on all the weight loss junk I've bought over the years. I'm sure it would probably be around $10,000 dollars. |
day 6 5/18/2003
What I ate today: I don't want to report this, but I have to be honest with myself.
| Breakfast -2 sausage kolaches 1 glazed donut (bummer dude) |
| Lunch - back on track 2 pieces of baked chicken breast no skin, asparagus, small amount of rice |
| Snack - 2 servings of diet Jell-O |
| Dinner -2 pieces of cake, 2 cups of some ice cream punch (bummer dude) |
What I did wrong today:
| DEFEAT! I ate sweets today. Sunday's are very hard for me because of all the church activities I attend - there are always sweets there! What's up with that? I wish I hadn't eaten the stupid crap, but I did. I guess if I gain some weight, I'll know why. I've got to get over this because this junk is not compatible with the way I want to live my life. |
What I did right today:
| I ate a reasonable lunch, I guess... |
Problems:
| Sore from the work out, but I'm making it. |
Exercise:
| I worked out following evening church service. I was able to do 30 sit-ups, and the other various weight lifting forms I've been doing for the past week. My arms feel like rubber right now... and I'm sick to my stomach cause I drank a big glass of ice water immediately following my workout. |
Notes:
I am extremely disappointed with myself, especially considering the success I was able to measure just yesterday. I can't believe I gave in so easily to donuts and cake. This type of food has always been my downfall, and when you are in a room full of it, just there for the taking... well, I caved. What's really sad is because I didn't eat properly today, I'm hungry now, and its almost 11pm before I go to bed. NO WAY I'M EATING ANOTHER BITE OF FOOD TILL MORNING. This is just ridiculous, I am more than what my urges to eat tell me I am. I will not be ruled by my belly. I am disgusted with myself. I will remember this lesson next time I'm tempted by sweets. I don't like this feeling. I don't want to live my life like this. I've proven to myself that I can workout, I can lose weight, I can ride my bike. I CAN GET IN SHAPE. I WILL GET IN SHAPE. I'm preaching to myself here because the chances are almost nil that anyone outside of me and my wife are reading this.... but I draw a line in the sand tonight. I say YOU MAY GO THIS FAR... BUT NO FURTHER. I intended to advance that line everyday, constantly moving the boundary of what is acceptable.
I remember what it was like getting to shop in regular clothes stores. It's wonderful. I'm tired of having to pay a surcharge for my fat. It's just time to do something about it, plain and simple. I'm glad I ate that stupid donut today. I'm glad I ate that stupid cake... because it served to remind me why I'm doing it. YES, I OVERATE TODAY... but it's not the end of the world. I'll work out harder this week and at the end of the week I'll be further ahead because of it.
CAKE IS MY ENEMY
DONUTS ARE MY ENEMY
Skinny people can eat this stuff and get away with it, BUT I CAN'T... this is like poison to me. This is toxic to me.
MY ENEMY'S SOLE PURPOSE IS TO DESTROY ME. Tonight it ends!
day 18 5/30/2003
| wt: 436 lbs |
| chest: 62.5" |
| waist: 65.5" |
| hips/butt: 58.25" |
| bicep: 22.25" |
| forearm: 14" |
| thigh: 34.5" |
| calf: 19.25" |
| BMI: 53.18 (morbid obesity) |
| complaints: sore from working out. |
Did you think that I forgot about you? No, I did not. I've actually been busy working out, and so my free time to mess with this website has decreased. :-) I'm excited because I have confirmed measurable positive results. I'm actually getting thinner, stronger and more healthy. I was recently in a training class and all day long there were plates of pastries, donuts, chocolate and other goodies made freely available. I wanted some so bad... I even walked up to the plate before I was able to turn myself around and go sit down. I realized that I want to be healthy more than I wanted that piece of flour, sugar and lard.
We've been working out six times a week alternating resistance weight training and aerobic. Sunday's are our day off. I'm really looking forward to Sunday. :-) I'm able to do about 30 sit-ups at a time now, where before I could not even do one.
In about two weeks I've lost over 11 pounds, and to me that equals about 22 pounds a month. The prospect of where I might be by the end of summer motivates me more than I can describe.
Being able to lift weight, to the point of exhaustion, and then just a bit more has had positive mental effects on me as well. It's let me know that I can reach down inside myself and pull strength from places I didn't know I had. It isn't exactly spiritual, but it certainly does transcend the physical. I'll like to think of it as merely psychological. In any event, I'm able to tap into it, and push myself beyond my self-imposed limits and achieve these wonderfully dramatic results.
Time for my cardio work out! Cya!
day 19 5/31/2003
wt: 434
This is the last day of May, and marks the 2-1/2 week point of my journey. I've lost a total of 13 pounds so far. Here are some other metrics:
| Weight down 13 pounds |
| Chest: down 2.25 inches |
| Waist: down 2.25 inches |
| Hips down 2.75 inches |
| Bicep up 1.25 inches (what's up with that?) |
| Forearm down .25 inches |
| Thigh down 1.5 inches |
| Calf down 1.75 inches |
Here is what I'm doing...
| Monday - upper body & abs 45 mins |
| Tuesday - cardio-aerobic 20 mins |
| Wednesday - lower body & abs 45 mins |
| Thursday - cardio-aerobic 20 mins |
| Friday - upper body & abs 45 mins |
| Saturday - cardio-aerobic 20 mins |
| Sunday - free day |
I keep alternating this so some weeks I get two upper body work outs, some weeks I get two lower body workouts. I just alternate. I'm harder on my abs because I have a big belly, and I really want a ripped stomache.
For food I am doing this:
Six meals a day, 1 portion of protein, 1 portion of carbs. Two of the meals also include a portion of veggies. 3 of the meals are high protein low carb meal replacement drinks or bars. I know I talked bad about this before, but it does WORK. I'm at the place where I will get into shape. I don't care what I have to do, it WILL happen.
I do all my workouts in the AM before I eat, or wait three hours after last eating.
Today we bought some more free weights, and also a very nice stationary bike that will help us do the cardio workouts. We are peaking on intensity levels so that as we get stronger we won't have to work out longer - it's all relative based on intensity.
Tomorrow is my free day, and I have mixed feelings about it. I believe it is a day to just relax and not worry about eating, but I do not think it's a license to be a glutton. I'll let you know how it goes.
