So, I just turned 30, and I am not happy about the state of my current fitness, or lack thereof.




Measurements: (Measurements might be off a bit, I don't have a proper measuring tape, I ordered one and it should be here in 2 days)

Height: 6'1
Current Weight 252.5 (Ton of extra water weight from eating so bad for my Birthday week.)
Neck: 16"
Shoulders: 53"
Chest: 46"
Bicep: 14"
Waist: 44"
Hips: 46"
Thigh: 26"

Background:

I have always been an athlete, I played 3 different sports in high school, and went on to play baseball in college. My natural athletic ability alone pretty much lead to my success in sports; rather than any hard work I myself put in. I would work very hard in practice and in games, don't get me wrong, but I didn't do any weight training at all until I got to college and was required to do so. Even in college I would only do enough to make sure I met the minimum requirements so I didn't get yelled at. Never had to work hard to succeed before, and didn't feel like I had to then either.

Once I was done playing baseball in college, I no longer had any physical activity required of me. I had been playing sports year round from the age of 5 to 23 and I of course had to eat a lot to maintain what physique I had with that much activity. So here I was, no longer being required to do physical activity, and my lazy self being happy about that, but I was still eating like I was practicing and playing every day. I also got a job where I was able to work from home and play poker in my spare time. Not the best scenario for someone who didn't like to work out.

My weight has been an ongoing struggle for the past 7 years now. Constantly fluctuating up and down from year to year. I am fairly certain several years ago I was over 300 Lbs, but I am not sure, I never looked at a scale. A far cry from the 190 I was through College.

Why I am doing this log:

It hit me this week that I was now 30 years old and it is only going to get harder and harder for me to get in good shape again. Luckily I still play baseball from the months of April-September, 3 days a week. That has helped me from getting in truly terrible shape. At least the past couple years. Also, all of my closest friends are now married or getting married and here I am with not a hint of a significant other in sight. It doesn't help that I am fairly shallow and picky and the girls I am attracted to aren't attracted to me in my current state, lol. Then our personalities have to work, ugh.

I read somewhere that writing down everything is a good way to ensure success in your fitness goals. As long as you don't lie, and measure things properly, you will be able to see where you are lacking. So, I figured that if I am going to write everything down, I might as well do it here, on a website I am on every day anyway.

I also don't have very many baseball playing days left before my body starts to begin failing on me. I would like my last couple of good years left playing to be some of the best I've played, and not have my fitness hampering me.

Just generally tired of being out of shape and being embarrassed with myself. I don't like being the cliche of that popular high school jock who got fat after college.

Goals:

Short Term: Lose 20 Lbs by Dec 31. (My cousin is having her stupid wedding that evening.) Will update short term goals as they are reached. This first goal should be an easy one to reach, I expect to drop like 7 lbs this week from water weight. ( I hope.)

Long Term: Get in the best shape of my life post College by mid May. (The baseball league I play in officially starts then.)

Longer Term: Get in ridiculous shape

Plan:

I will weigh and measure myself every Friday morning when I get up.

Week 1:
Go to the gym and do cardio for the first week to get back into the routine of going to the gym every day.

Eat 1800 calories per day, no cheat meals or days. (I will probably end up being under everyday.)

Week 2:
Add in weight lifting, but only moderately, I fractured the scaphoid bone in my wrist back in July and played the rest of the season till September with just a brace. So we will go slowly to see what I can do. Hitting legs and core harder. I may actually have a Scapholunate Ligament Tear. The doctors didn't check for that when I got checked out and I am loathe to go back with the ****ty cheap insurance I have.

Eat 1800 per day, possible cheat meal.



I plan on logging my food and activity every day(Hopefully after I get back from the gym each evening.) I need to get into a routine and stick to it for every day or I will get lazy and fall off the wagon, again.

Thanks for reading and welcome!

Day 1.

Went to the Gym and did Cardio for an hour, watched a movie while doing it.

Meal 1:
13Oz of chicken - 390 C
170g Broccoli Florets - 60 C
222g Russet Potato - 165 C

Meal 2:
8Oz Center cut pork chop - 440 C
170g Broccoli Florets - 60 C
178g Russet Potato - 110 C

Meal 3:
3 Eggs - 210 C
16Oz 1% Milk - 200 C
Piece of Wheat Toast - 80 C

Roughly 1800, when counting for a couple condiments.

Jeez... 1800 is really low! If you're able to adhere to that, good luck!

Yeah dude, youll lose weight incredibly fast if youre hitting the gym and eating 2500. Might as well take advantage of being able to eat more now while you can!

This is what I wanted to post, but didn't. It's better to have sustainable habits that move you toward your goal consistently than unsustainable temporary ones that get you there faster, because your probability of relapse exponentially rises. And physiologically speaking, it's just not that healthy to lose weight "too fast". I reckon 23-2500 would be a better range for you.

Tips: Prepare all your food in the morning/the night before. Having to wait around to cook or generally not having the prescribed foods available at an instant's notice increases the chance you'll cheat really drastically. But OTOH, making all your food for the whole week does too, because it tastes terrible when it's been sitting in the fridge for too long!

I'll probably stick to 1800 for the first two weeks and make adjustments after that. Can't say I would be sorry to be able to add an extra 600 calories or so a day.

I pre-make all my meals for the week, except for breakfast.

This week I made:

Center Cut Pork Chops with Asparagus and a Baked Potato

Homemade Chili with White Rice and a little bit of Mozzarella

Day 2:

Gym for an hour on the Elliptical

3 Eggs - 210 C
Wheat Toast - 80 C
Milk - 200 C

Cheese Pizza Slice - 500 C (Left over from my Birthday)
Pepsi - 150C

Chili Meal - 730 C


Finished somewhere around 1900

Damn, legit decent looking meal prep in the first week. You'll get there

****, brah. If any 250lb man can comply with sub 2k/day cals, it's you my man. Whether or not it's the best idea physiologically, I have nfi. But you definitely don't need my advice!

Moar fruit/ vegetables/ salad?

Keep up that meal prep and you will crush this. Looking solid

dat prep life

How much do you guys think he's burning from his workouts?

I struggle with fruit because there are very few I actually like. I have bought them in the past and they just end up going to waste.

Salads are something I could add more of in, but do you think there is a real advantage to adding them in over pre-made meals? I would much rather eat a healthy pre made meal than a salad.

According to my fitbit and the machines, they are around 750 caloriesish p/hr, but lol those trackers.

Ultimately it doesn't really matter, anyway; nitting about calories burned is a pretty small rock compared to sticking to whatever deficit the OP settles on.

Looks like you're off to a great start OP; good luck!

Ty, Ty!

Adding fruits and vegetables would help for satiety, micros, fiber, and potassium. If you can't be bothered with eating a lot of veggies, just find supplements for potassium and fiber and you'll be alright.

I currently take supplements for both, and probiotcs.

I was curious bc 1800 doesn't seem that low unless he's burning off a ton of calories exercising every day. If you eat healthy you can have a lot of food for 1800 calories.

That's manlet thinking. He's 6'1" 250 lbs; his TDEE is in the 29-3000 calorie a day range if he's even mildly active. 1800 calories is likely too aggressive of a total for most people given those stats, but given he is already bulk cooking and packaging a week's worth of food, it seems like he has a better shot than most to make it work.

Day 3:

No Gym today

Didn't have time between work, poker and meeting my friends out for game 7.

First Meal:
Center cut pork chop-550 C
Potato-138 C
Asparagus-20 C

Second Meal:
Primantis Sandwhich(chicken sandwhich)-800C
Fries-300C

1900ish for the day.

Didn't sacrifice a social occasion to go to the gym and then go home to sit alone and eat his 6th pre-prepared meal of chicken and broccoli for the week? This guy clearly isn't going to make it.

I know, I can barely enjoy myself watching this.