| Shared Movies Over 80 Million Movies and TV-Shows No Charge per movie, No download limit! | Antidepressant Medications Handle stress, elevate the mood, treat anxiety disorders. | Weight Loss Supplements Natural supplements that burn body fat, suppress appetite and support a healthy diet. | Casino Classic Best Online Casino! Get $500 free on the house! |
|
Posted at December 31, 1969, 6:00 pm: In July of 2001 I was 5'6", 265 lbs with a 44-ish inch waist. I had been fat all my life but for the two years prior to that point I had ballooned up to 265 from a moderately overweight (and very active - basketball, hockey, soccer, football) 180 lbs. I had been depressed for a long time and on medication which didn't help, but most of all I stopped being active and let eating take up more of my time. I was 17 at the time! My life was practically over. I woke up the last day of July and realized this. I was unhappy, I hated going out in public, I felt bad every time I ate because I was so full. I didn't know how to eat or what to eat or portion control or how to manage a fitness program... so I tried to forget everything I knew about food and start again. I did things all wrong for a long while, practically a starvation diet even though I was never hungry; extremely low-fat consisting of Slim-Fast shakes, turkey sandwiches and chicken breasts. By Christmas I was down to 195 lbs; in March I was 165, and in the summer I dropped to an all-time low of 140 lbs (far on the 'other side' of the spectrum). I had only begun to do things right - diet and training wise - in April or May of 2002. I started eating a lot more, from an average of 1000 calories to 1800-ish (a big step up at the time). I gained a fair bit of strength and leaned out a lot, and was running 2 miles 3 times a week. In the summer I ran into a lot of family problems and whatnot, and dropped about 15 lbs in 2 weeks due to stress. This was probably the biggest obstacle in my training, since that muscle was all I had to show for the effort I had put in. I had made up for my starvation dieting and then lost it all. August, September and October I spent eating and eating and a little bit of training. This was another 'bad' time and I gained 30 lbs; maybe half and half mass/fat. I was eating a lot of junk food and had reverted to my old way of eating until stuffed, eating everything in sight. I was really unhappy again and stepped up my training and eating once and for all in November and December. This time I ate at maintenance calories and weight trained and did cardio, and by early this month (January) was back down to my goal weight of 155 lbs. I realized starvation dieting had been the root of all my problems and swore to myself I'd never do that again. I had lost a total of 125 lbs in one year, gained 30, and lost 15. I had never weight trained while obese so I did not lose a lot of muscle but I could have gained a lot of mass in that time if I had dont things right. I was at around 14% bodyfat and 154 lbs a week ago and pleased with my physique more than ever. I actually had mass and was pretty lean. But I realized it wasn't enough, and I have since started a moderate bulking program. I hope to gain 5 lbs of muscle in the next 3 months while staying pretty lean and continuing a laid-back cardio program. I used to get out of breath from climbing a single flight of stairs, and now I can run for 3 miles and still keep my heart rate under what my old resting heart rate used to be. I no longer have my heart arrythmia/murmur problems, asthma, allergies, or sleep apnea. This was the best thing I've ever done in my life, but I want all of you who are doing the same to take your time. Don't make the same mistakes I did! Take your time and do things right, or you will have trouble no matter how dedicated you are. I hope this wasn't too long or badly written. I wish all of you guys luck! Original of the message was taken from http://forum.bodybuilding.com/ Previous Post: zoomzoom: Thanks for the words of encouragement. Next Post: Thanks for the insight, jaystrike. |