29 years old. 6ft. 265lbs. My peak heaviest, ever. A little background on me on how I believe I got here.

On 08/30/11 I had the worst news of my life, my dad passing. I was handling it the best I could, which wasn’t well at all. I still to this day don’t handle it well. I try not to think about it and sometimes I wonder is it all real, yup still in denial. It’s sad. Even though he left me a sizeable inheritance, it was not what I needed and he was taken too early from me.
At the time, I was working at the same company he was at and was in good shape and health. It was my first job out of school, and he got me it. I was at a different location as him, the entire management team and executives were all friends of his. I was 23, 205lbs, ate right and worked out frequently. For the next 3 years I did not handle things the way I should have. I left that job simply because I couldn’t handle working in the same environment as him.

I started playing more because he knew I enjoyed it and that felt like a safe zone for me. Win or lose, I didn’t care. I started partying more, drinking, and doing drugs to cope with the depression. My good eating habits went out the window along with my workout regimen, but I wasn’t gaining weight. I don’t know if it was the drugs or the partying or what but I was 205-210 for the next 3 years. Long story short, I started to not get along with my friends and was kind of getting sick of it the scene I was in. During that 3 years I did spend a lot of money but I still had a lot of it.

I kept saying to myself you have to stop partying, you have to stop this lifestyle and go back to normal. You have to turn things around. Luckily, I finally gained control and stopped partying, drugs, and talking to those friends cold turkey. I even gave poker a short break so I could really focus on what I wanted. Even though I had a majority of the money left, I needed to get back to working so I could transition back into a normal lifestyle. I started looking for work and took any job that would hire me. I kept finding contracts here and there for the next 2 years or so until I finally found something permanent that paid well and was a great fit for me. At this point I was about 225lbs.

During that time I spent getting myself back in order, I met a girl and have been dating her now for 2.5 years. I started to get comfortable and eating whatever I wanted, and boom everything caught up with me. I gained so much weight and really didn’t care because I have been so comfortable.

About a year ago I started playing in a local club about 10 mins from where I was living at the time. The group there began noticing I was gaining weight, I would eat the **** snacks they had, and the high calorie catered food every single week. That turned into an even more terrible diet. About 8 months ago I decided to take all that money and put a sizeable down payment on a condo. My girlfriend moved in with me, we got a dog blah blah you know how it goes. At this point I was about 235lbs and was noticing I was getting too big. I kept saying join a gym, you can do this. I kept putting it off though and before I knew it….I was still gaining weight though and finally realized this past week that I NEED A CHANGE. I NEED TO LOSE THIS WEIGHT. What the changing factor was when I went to buy a new shirt, I had to go up a size to XXL. They don’t make bigger shirts than that unless I go to BIG and TALL. I weighed myself the other day and I am at my peak heaviest even though I don’t feel I am that big.

TLDR Cliffs: was always good shape, dad died, quit job, partied like a rock star, stopped partying, got fat, got back on track, kept eating like crap, keep gaining weight.

My main goals are to eat better, lose weight, feel better, and look better.

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I work a desk job doing IT being a Network Admin. I am here your normal M-F 40 hours a week. I go home during lunch and walk my dog, eat at home and come back. When I get off of work I usually feed and walk the dog, then take a nap, then do absolutely nothing. That is all changing, TODAY!

I joined a gym and am going to do this!

My long-term goal is to lose 50lbs by my 30th birthday in March. (I know, typical right?) My short term goals are to lose 2lbs a week with good eating habits, strength training, and cardio.

The idea for this thread is to blog my daily or weekly regimen, to help me stay on track, and to seek advice from others.

Being able to go home for lunch sounds great for maintaining a diet.

There's a lot of advice in these threads on weight loss.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/85...t-guy-1581935/

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/85...eyond-1554044/


GL!

thanks! yes its a great thing for me. i was planning on starting this week with the gym and over the weekend i helped my friend move and pulled a muscle. i feel it starting to recover already though but i will wait a week to make sure.

Stats:
5’11”
265lbs
29yr old.

Goals:
Lose fat, gain confidence, become healthier, fit in clothes better. I have been told I don’t look like your typical overweight fella. Yes, I have a belly LOL but, I have attained a lot of my muscle and size from when I was in better shape. I still have big arms, shoulders, chesticles, and back. Just extra fat on them.

Program:
I am planning on doing a similar routine that worked for me in the past. I am hoping I can stick to it, which I know is going to be very tough. I will be doing 4 sets of everything and trying for 10-12 reps. The cardio I do will either be on the stair master if available, or incline walk, or the elliptical. The first 8 weeks I will start at 30 mins cardio to work my way up to 45mins then 60mins.

Mon: Chest - Incline bench, flat bench, Butterflies, . 30 mins cardio
Tue: Legs – Squat/leg press (alt weeks), leg extension, leg curl. No cardio
Wed: Rest day/Cardio 45-60mins
Thu: Back – Lat Pulldown, seated cable row, bent over 1 arm dB row, deadlifts (every other week). 30 mins cardio
Fri: Arms – Standing tricep rope pulldown, skullcrushers, dips, standing barbell curl, seated alternate db curl, preacher curl. 30 mins cardio
Sat: Rest day/Cardio 45-60mins
Sun: Shoulders – seated db press, seated db lat raises, upright barbell row, reverse machine fly, 30 mins cardio

Nutrition
I have a really bad obsession with Pizza. I need to stop eating pizza. Right now, I probably eat pizza every week. If I could eat it once a month that is good short term goal for me.

I am not really good, nor consistent, with calorie counting. That is another thing that is going to be tough for me. I think my best bet for now just starting out is just to log what I am consuming, vs the actual calorie count. If I screw up and eat 10 cookies, I don’t think the calorie count really matters because I ate 10 cookies.

Right now, a normal day for me is like this. Wake up, skip breakfast, have a 5 hour energy or a Mio Energy mix with water. Have lunch at Panera, dominos, some kind of fast food. Later on have a shake or pop tarts. Dinner time, my girlfriend knows I have been saying I want to get better so she has been cooking some sort of chicken meal that’s good for you low calorie. Then later on have some snack and go to bed.

Overall, I would like add 3 protein shakes a day into this. I would like to have a shake for breakfast around 9am, then have some sort of healthy meal for lunch around 1pm, then another shake around 4pm, then healthy dinner around 7pm, then another shake before I got to bed around 12am.

Hey man...I'm on the same journey....I'm rooting for you.....The worst thing you can do imo is not log calories....you need to know how much your consuming and how much of a deficit you want to create....you can't do that without counting. Yes it's a pain, but def worth it!

Would you mind elaborating on why this is important to you?

Here's the thing. You can eat whatever you want. You just need to log it, and make sure you come in at or under your caloric limit. You can have pizza. I have lost 40+lbs since December. And I drink, and eat garbage foods constantly. But I hit my calorie numbers far more often than I don't.

Log everything. Be accountable. Be honest. Don't give yourself breaks. Even if you have a fat pig blow out, log it.

You do that and you will lose weight (assuming you're hitting your numbers more often than not). There's no stopping science baby.

ugh, i am just so friggin lazy man. what do you suggest using thats simplest?

i am lazy and i dont cook. i like quick effortless options. in the past when i was in shape i followed this regime to keep on track and it worked, also they were a good meal replacement.

how should i figure out my caloric limit?? i freaking love pizza. looks like im going to have to log it. maybe the benefit of logging it is the time it takes to do it might make me rethink what i am about to eat!

The protein shakes just aren't that great for satiety. I depend a lot on whey too but it's different in my case because I'm doing it to hit protein numbers. If I were just trying to lose weight I'd settle for lower protein numbers if I could have more solid meals. It's fine as long as you don't have issues with hunger, though.

Gl with your goals. Props for wanting to get back on track. I'm also a big advocate of logging calories so I'd definitely recommend you to stick with that if you can.

I do think you would have more benefit doing another program than the brosplit you have now. Perhaps look into a 3 day full body program or perhaps a 4 day upper/lower. You'll see more/quicker results.

my program is def bro based right now bc thats what i was doing back then...i like your idea better and have thought of that. i think youre on to something

Hey man I use my fitness pal.. easy to use app, and you can scan most bar codes on your phone.

You need to invest in some digital scales.

In regards to being lazy, there's nothing that I can do about that, but planning helps.

I do most of my cooking on the weekend for the rest of the week and portion it out in tupperware boxes.

On other days I put stuff in my slow cooker before I leave the house in the morning and it's done by the time I get home. Stews curries etc.

Likewise you can never go wrong with steak and salad ..takes 5 min cooking.


If you need recipe ideas just ask...plenty of gourmets on here.

The main thing is to log everything.

in regards to full body, after reading more about it, i think its a better option for me. less time and simpler to get back into it. i have narrowed it down to these 2 options below

option 1: from https://www.muscleandstrength.com/wo...g-workout.html
mon:
1. leg press 3x20
2. seated row 3x20
3. chest dip 2x15-20
4. machine shoulder press 2x20
5. cable curl 2x20
6. tricep extension 2x20
7. plank 3x1min

wed:
1. smith squat 3x20
2. seated calf raise 2x25
3. lat pull down 3x20
4. db flys 3x20
5. tricep kickback 2x20
6. standing db curl 2x20
7. decline sit ups 2xmax

fri:
1. db lunges 4x20
2. wide grip pull up 3xmax
3. barbell bench 3x15-20
4. standing barbell curl 3x15-20
5. tricep bench dip 3x15
6. horizontal leg raise 2xmax


option 2: from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/randy29.htm
train mon, wed, fri only
1. crunches 3 sets of 12-15 reps
2. bench press 2 sets of 8-12
3. db flys 2 sets of 8-12
4. wide grip lat pulldown 2 sets of 8-12
5. seated cable rows 2 sets of 8-12
6. db shoulder press 3 sets of 8-12
7. barbell curl 3 sets of 8-12
8. tricep pushdown 3 sets of 8-12
9. squats 2 sets of 8-12
10. leg extensions 2 sets of 8-12
11. lying leg curles 3 sets of 12-15
12. standing calf raises 3 sets of 12-15

I dont like the look of either of those tbh. I think you should find a good full body focussing on the main compounds. You cant go wrong with SS but there is a couple of good novice routines on the bodybuilding.com forums as well (not the main page those are usually not very good)
I'll try to find a link to them

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=159678631

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=169172473

I'd pick one of those or SS. All well thought out and proven routines with a solid progression scheme.

thanks...SS? what am i missing here

Sorry, Starting Strength! Google it

thanks!

signed up for my fitness pal.

my daily calorie goal is 1,750 - 2,000 to lose 2lbs - 1.5lbs a week. i think thats do able

Sounds absolutely doable! Good luck!

thank you everyone

been logging food on MFP and i must say i kinda enjoy it. first weigh in tomo!

I do a Friday weigh in too. I also upload pics every month so I can track progress that way. But to each their own, just make sure you do it at the same time each week.

Good luck!

good idea. i can see it being a little embarrassing but thats all part of the journey i guess right?!

ate pretty good friday until the wee hours at parx near the bubble and good saturday buttt not so good on sunday day 2. gotta make up for it this week

Cals...