Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Well ain't this some S#$T

Hey. So week two's weight-in is here. As I have seen season after season on The Biggest Loser the week two numbers are usually never good. I have fallen victim to that same fate. Only 1 pound lost this week! Now as was pointed out to me by a good friend I have been working out at the gym and I may have gained muscle over the past two weeks. Muscle weights more than fat and so I may not have lost that much weight but I may in fact lost the FAT and gained some muscle. So there is my silver lining. :-)

I'm a little bummed I didn't have a nice big fat number this week but I was expecting it so I'm ok. I am determined to get this weight off and be a happy fully functioning member of society once again!

Take care, until next time!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Working thru the pain

Hey. It's Sunday. Left calf muscle is still tight. Did my morning bike session. I was able to bike 6.3 miles. It felt okay while I was biking and I went farther and could push it harder today than I could yesterday. I feel like my afternoon bike session is a go! Had my post workout orange, gonna take an advil to relive some of the muscle pain and rest a bit.

That's all for now. Take care, until next time!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

First Injury.

Hey. So today is day 10. I woke up with a slight calf pull. I may have over done it on the calf press at the gym yesterday. Then again you have to tear muscle to build muscle. Anyway it's Saturday so no gym for two days. That should give me enough time to rest the leg. I have two bike sessions scheduled for today. I'm gonna take it easy on the first session and see how the calf muscle feels. It might just be tight and a good stretching session might help it out.

That's it for now.

Take care, until next time!

Friday, February 24, 2012

Gym manager likes me!

Hey. So today I'm at the gym and I'm almost done today's workout when the manager of the Planet Fitness comes up to me and shakes my hand. He said he's been watching me since I came in a couple days ago and was impressed with me and that I don't quit when working out. Pretty kewl boost of morale!

Oh, I'm now biking two sessions a day on the days I don't go to the gym. I did 12.5 miles yesterday!

I was so happy with my weight drop on Wednesday I sneaked a peak this morning to see if I dropped any more. I lost another 5.2 pounds. That's 22 pounds I've lost in 9 days! I'm feeling good. Eating good. I have noticed that I can stand up and walk farther before my back starts to ache. So it's working and I'm happy about that! Looking forward to a lot more coming off!

Take care, until next time!

Weigh-in Wednesday!

Hey. So one week down. I started on a Wednesday so my weight in days will follow in weekly increments. Ok so the first week wasn't too bad. I got settled in at my parents house. Got my bedroom and a spare room all set up for me. Put the exercise bike in the garage. I started out doing two fifteen minute sessions on the bike. Thinking this should give me my half an hour or exercise per day. I started on a low tension setting but gradually increased the level until I was comfortable with it.

I am averaging just over one mile every five minutes on the bike. All of my sessions have ended with me biking over 6 miles in the half an hour period. Some sessions I have pushed harder and made it 7 or even 8 miles. On Monday my father and I went to the local Planet Fitness where I have a gym membership. My father gets to come in free as a guest on my membership so it works out great as he's trying to be supportive of me and lose a few pounds himself. Gym workouts for me are mostly about building muscle. Muscle burns calories and the fat. This first day at the gym was mostly about finding some equipment I am comfortable using and trying to establish a routine. We went around 10 am to get in between the early morning people and the lunch crowd. Most of the equipment was available and there was no wait to use anything. We had a good workout.

So I guess I should tell you what you want to know. How much weight did I lose? Well it was a good week. I lost 16.8 pounds!!!

Just a pebble on the beach as far as my goal is concerned but it's a good start!

Take care, until next time!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Getting Started.

Hi. My name is Gary and like two-thirds of Americans I am obese. Actually I am morbidly obese by medical standards. I won't be posting my actual weight as that is private and a bit humiliating that I didn't care about myself enough to stop what I was doing to myself.

My weight got to be such an issue that I was basically unable to continue going to work. Each morning became harder and harder to push myself to go to work as I didn't look forward to the walk in from the parking lot. By most standards it wasn't a long walk at all, except for me. At the end I was stopping and resting two to three times before I actually made it to my desk. Walking to the bathroom was also a strain on me. I was usually out of breath by the time I got there and would need to take a seat and rest before heading back to my desk.

This just became too much and I had to reverse the direction my life was taking. With the help of a friend, I packed up some essential equipment and items I would need and moved in with my parents several states away. Aware that I would probably lose my job and would be living off of my savings for several months as I try to reduce my weight to something I can manage my life at.

A bit about my habits that got me to where I was. I drank several soda's a day. Did not eat well at all. Sometimes only eating once a day. Usually that would be a large meal from McDonalds, Chic-fil-a or Wendy's. These meals would be very high in calories and fat and after returning home from work with my pile of food I would eat and watch tv and not move much. This went on for several years until my knees started hurting just to get up off the couch.

My lifestyle outside of work was very limited. I hardly ever left my house on the weekends unless it was to go get more fast food. I couldn't walk very far so anyplace I went was always difficult and as I couldn't use the facilities at most places I would just stay home. Usually on Saturday nights I had some friends come over and we would order food and watch a movie. I even had my groceries delivered so I wasn't getting any exercise there either. And so I ate, and slept and did much of nothing with my life. Week after week, month after month, year after year. Until now!

Currently I am using the Body bug as seen on The Biggest Loser to track my calories and exercise, I ride a stationary bike every day for at least 30 minutes and have started going to a gym for strength training and to build muscles to burn the fat off. I am just shy of one week in and I'm doing pretty well. Have not had a soda since coming down here and have been drinking 6-8 glasses of water each day. With the help of my parents I have been eating healthy meals and get the 5-6 small meals a day I need. Every so often I will post my weight loss and other tidbits on this blog.

Hopefully it might inspire others to take charge of their life like I am trying to do. All my best!