I've been wanting to start a log on here for awhile now...so here we go!!

I've been overweight for the past 22 years. I'm currently 5'11 260 lbs. In high school I was 170 or so and very active, walking 18 holes of golf or more 5-6 days a week, playing pick up basketball, etc. Started to steadily put the pounds on in college and was up to 220 by the time I was 21. Got engaged and wanted to look good in the pictures so I ran and lifted down to 195 the summer before the wedding. Predictably, the weight came back after the wedding.

Over the next 12 years I completely let myself go, ballooning all the way up to at least 340 a couple years after my divorce. My self esteem was non-existent and I was stuck in a job with AT&T that I dreaded going to literally every day. I had no social life to speak of and was nearly 100% sedentary. The highest I ever weighed myself was at 334 but I know I got heavier than that.

Finally in 2011 I started to make an effort to lose the weight and by the summer of 2012 I was down to 268. I got laid off at AT&T which was the best thing that ever happened to me. Started a new career dealing poker and finally had a job that I actually liked. Even started dating again, got some self confidence back and fell in love...with a married woman. Long story short, she was separated when we met then after a few months she wasn't blah blah blah. I ended up heart broken and by June of 2013 I was back up to 312.

That's when I stumbled across YTF's legendary H & F log. He was a year or so in at that point and I got extremely motivated to finally make a lasting change in my lifestyle! Started logging my calories on June 15, 2013 and doing lots of cardio. I'd walk the track at a nearby junior college, walking 100% at first but gradually mixing in more and more jogging. After about two months I could finish a 5K in about 40 minutes and the weight was falling off nicely.

I kept at it, running further and faster and began to enter races for fun. I did several 5K's then a 10K in October. I set two goals for 2014: finish a 15K race that went over 2 bridges in February and a half marathon in March. Did really well in both of those races and finished both start to finish without ever stopping to walk. By May 2014 I was down to 220, a 91 pound drop in 11 months...well on my way to my goal of 180 by my 40th birthday in September.

Ended up hitting a bit of a plateau and then took a couple months off from running when my younger two kids came to visit during the summer. Never got back below 220 and eventually the weight started to creep back up. I'd rally sometimes and drop 10 or so pounds but then would get complacent and put more back on. Before I knew it, I was back up to 270 by February of this year. Since then I've run lots of miles but my poor eating habits have derailed the weight loss. Got down to 245 in May but once again hit a lull this summer.

So here we are, two plus years since I got caught up in YTF's story and I'm still down 50 plus pounds but not happy with how inconsistent I've been the last year or so which led to the creation of this thread.

Tomorrow I am starting a 12 week program to prepare for another half marathon on November 8th. If everything goes well my goal is to train for and compete a full marathon in November 2016 and get down to and maintain a weight of 180 lbs!!

I will be logging my calories and will post them here along with my weigh-ins of course. Also will post running times...haven't set a goal time for the half marathon yet. The first one I did in March 2014 I completed in 2:17:17 which is about a 10:20 pace.

I do have a membership at Anytime Fitness and will be doing strength training 3 times a week.

I think this log will help me tremendously with compliance and I'm excited about what will happen in the next year!

Cliffs:
-Skinny high school kid gets fat
-Gets inspired following YTF and drops 90 lbs
-Like YTF gets complacent and gains
-Starts H & F log to be compliant for half marathon training program
-Wants to run a full marathon in November 2016!!

Sounds like you got your stuff together, you can do this man!

GL!
What are your strength training plans?

Gonna start with some of the nautilus machines at my gym. Was using the chest press, shoulder press, leg press and seated row machine a few months ago. I've never gone much strength training at all, lost 90 lbs with just diet and cardio in 2013-14 but I know I should do all three.

Monday morning weigh-in:

260.6

I'll use my weight first thing Monday morning as the official weigh-in. I'm using an app called My Net Diary to log my calories. I've set a goal of 219 lbs by December 31st, which is right at 2 lbs/week. If I knock that out I'll shoot for 180 by this time next year. My daily calorie goal right now is 2102 not including any exercise.

Day 1

Had a very successful day!! Stayed under my calorie goal without ever getting very hungry between meals. Worked an earlier shift than normal due to our poker room running extra satellites for our quarterly $50K guarantee next week. Gonna start back at the gym tomorrow and begin a 12 week training program for the half marathon. The race is November 8th so 83 days and counting!!

Breakfast: Special K flakes with extra protein (2.9 oz), 1% Milk (10.9 oz)-456 cals

Lunch: Grilled chicken breast (4.5 oz), Mission whole wheat tortilla, Swiss cheese, sweet baby ray's bbq sauce (1 oz), sugar free Pudding cup, 2 fried shrimp (chick I used to date at work couldn't finish her lunch and offered)-595 cals

Dinner: Leftover homemade seafood gumbo (12 oz), white rice (7 oz), 10 club crackers-773 cals

Snacks: Chewy granola bar, Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich-240 cals

Totals: 2064 cals, 123g protein

I'm a very picky eater which will always make losing and maintaining tougher for me. I've honestly tried to eat more green vegetables and fruits but I can't force myself to like them and have to maintain a diet that's realistic for me.

Man, if only YTF had access to this thread and could emulate it.

I'm pulling for him to get back on it...he's a big part of what got me started losing weight. I lost motivation too last year and it can be a difficult thing to get back. Kinda spooky how our storylines parallel each other, both poker dealers who were well over 300 lbs, divorced with kids. This thread won't get the same attention without the lol YTF moments but I'm committed!!

One of the main reasons I even still check his thread and am still rooting for him is I met up with Bobby and I really did think he was a good guy and it's hard not to root for someone like that.

However, at some point he/you/one needs to draw a line in the sand and completely commit to staying on one side of it and moving heaven and earth to get back to that side if you accidentally cross it. His line seems to be some sort of range between 200 and 300 lbs. Which is an awfully large area to be unhappy about but not really motivated enough to fix for good.

Anyway, logging really can make a big difference if it's a commitment to continue doing and go back to any point you start getting close to "the line" or whatever.

Yugo,

YTF seems like a very likeable guy and I'm rooting hard for him as well. I check his thread still too and was glad to see him post yesterday. I've come to the realization that I can't just free wheel it when it comes to logging...in July I jogged/walked nearly 100 miles and GAINED about 4 lbs. Calories are the key and the only way for me to be compliant is to log religiously.

Yup. Anyone can say what they want about other factors, as there certainly are other ones, but this is the foundation of long-term success imo.

GL OP! Weight loss will have massive benefits for your running times, all about them cals as you already seem to know

Definitely...I'm really slow right now compared to where I was last year. Between the heat and the extra 40 lbs I'm carrying it sucks!!

good luck, weight loss/cutting can suck at times but it's worth it in the end!

that's what I was thinking.

But hey, I just got back from the gym....but enough about me, back to OP!

Your oscillating motivation sounds a lot like mine. But having a hard deadline was huge for me, so if I may project a little, it should do the trick for you.

GL OP. I'll be following this (any) thread (that mentions me in the title).

Where is loco to set up a "will the protege become the master" monologue when we need one?

You should both go for a hard deadline and the make a hard ceiling. Achieving the second is harder than the former as ytf has found out.

I'm down for any challenge that'll keep both of us motivated...

Day 2

Super busy day, got lots accomplished. Had errands to do in the morning so I didn't get to the gym until almost noon. Had been about 3 months since I'd done any strength training but it went well.

By the time I got out to the running trail it was almost 1 pm. It was about 85 degrees and it started out overcast but that went away about a mile in. Was planning on an easy 4 mile run but the heat was too much so I had to cut it to a 5K with a little walking in the third mile. Slow time but didn't wanna overdo it this early on.

Breakfast: Special K flakes with extra protein (3.1 oz), 1% milk (13.1 oz)-507 cals

Lunch: Grilled chicken breast, Mission whole wheat tortilla, Swiss cheese, Sweet Baby Ray's bbq (1 oz)-404 cals

Dinner: Taco Tuesday at work!! 4 hard tacos w/cheese, taco sauce-598 cals (I used a hard taco from Moe's for the numbers, the ones tonight were fairly small)

Snacks: Skinny cow ice cream sandwich, 2 chewy granola bars, popcorn-543 cals

Totals: 2052 cals, 126g protein

Workout:
Chest press
15x1x60
15x1x70
15x1x80

Seated row
15x1x50
15x1x60
15x1x70

Shoulder press
15x1x30
15x1x40
15x1x50

Leg press
15x1x80
15x1x100
15x1x120

Running:
Mile 1 11:14
Mile 2 11:29
Mile 3 12:54

Day 3

Another good day in the books...worked late Tuesday night so didn't get out to run until 1 pm again. I gotta get out early and beat the heat as much as I can. The humidity is a killer.

The training schedule had this as an optional rest day but I wanted to keep the momentum going. Wanted to do an easy 3 miles but cut it to 2 because of the heat again. Off work at 11 tonight so I'm setting a 7 am alarm for tomorrow!! Schedule is calling for 6 miles with 3 at race pace, not sure I can muster that at this point but we'll find out...

Breakfast: Usual-499 cals

Lunch: Omelette w/ 3 large eggs, American cheese and turkey slice, Pam cooking spray (0 cals LOL), grits (.25 cup)-523 cals (Logged 50 for the Pam)

Dinner-Grilled chicken breast (4.6 oz), Swiss cheese, tortilla, bbq sauce (1 oz)-407 cals

Snacks-Skinny cow, 2 chewy granola bars, Tostitos cantina thin chips (1 oz)-480 cals

Totals: 1909 cals 116g protein

Running
Mile 1 11:13
Mile 2 11:13

Add a small glass of chocolate milk before bed...

2040 cals total (goal 2102)

Liquid calories is probably a pretty easy thing to get out of your diet... Maybe dropping the granola bars for some Greek yoghurt, though convenience appears a factor there.

Really surprised me how much my endurance shot up when I switched to running at night in FL.
That summer heat is a beast!

Can't stomach yogurt, wish I could...it's rare that I drink any calories. I usually have 1-2 coke zeros a day and everything else is usually water.

Be tough for me with my work schedule...snoozed a little this morning but got out there at 8. Did a one mile warm up then race pace for 2.1 but that was all I had today. It was overcast with a light rain but still awfully humid. As much as I hate it I might put in some miles on the treadmill. In July my gym had a cardio challenge that ran parallel with the Tour de France. Did 23 days in a row on the treadmill averging 4 miles a day, 80% running 20% walking. Took a few days off then did a 5k race outside and I thought I was gonna die!! So what would be better: more miles inside on the treadmill or less miles outside in the heat?

run wherever you prefer. but if you run outside while it's hot, just run a little slower. i know you have a training plan and i assume you're keen on following pace guidelines and that's good in general. but if it's hotter, you need to reduce pace, so that the impact & intensity of your run is the same as "originally planned". if your body needs to spend more of its energy than normal on cooling itself, it has less power than normal to run at a specific pace.

Cool thanks for the info...until it cools down a little I may run on the treadmill for the longer runs and outside for the short easy runs