36 years and dying...

[trinsdad]

Where to start...

I can't stand the way I look. I can't stand the way I feel. My body hurts every morning when I wake up and don't have the energy to push though a whole day many days.

I was never an athlete, although I felt I had potential when I was younger. I never had the ambition or the ability to focus on the task at hand...to acheive the desired results that I had seen others who worked so hard to enjoy. Sure I dabbled with weights as many youth would...even arrived at a few milestones only to have trauma crash me back down to a set wieght point.

I am 6'2 290 lbs I currently have 215 llbs of LBM and the rest fat. And its getting worse.

I hear from friends "Oh your not fat you're just a realy big guy" and I used to buy it so much that I made even more excuses to allow time to pass.


Something happened to me recently that has cause so much pain that I actualy moved into focus. And instead of running I have motivated myself to get involved into the body building community. Sort of "Fake it til' I make it".

Currently I had started Dr. Maru Pascale The Anabolic Diet for my nutrition and just a multi vitamin and joint support formula because I ache so much still.

I had started walking 3 times a week for the past 2 months and just yesterday made it to my local Gym and trained legs.

I have decided to take 2 years to get in shape instead of trying 12 weeks (like the advertised programs) and so far I am down only 12 pounds.


I have dreams of someday being able to take off my shirt and be in better shape than I was when I was a teenager (which wouldnt be hard)

I have to do it. I have a new baby girl that I have to be around for. But most of all I have to do this for me. I came here to this board because I had seen such a great community of bosy builders sharing information and advice.

This was the community I chose to join today.

Today I am 6'2" 290lbs ...someday I will be 215 lbs and strong. I look froward to learning from you all on my new adventure.

Any advice for anyone with expirience for someone that needs to lose 70+ pounds would be a blessing. I have decided to go to the gym 3-4 times a week and do only 1-2 sets of machines for ther next 2 months. Then start with free weights.

I will stick with the Anabolic diet since its easy to follow however I feel really weird about eating all this fat..but Im losing weight on it. And it has seems to raise my testosterone up a bit.


Anyway..thank you all for reading me God Bless

Trinsdad

 

[P-funk]

I have decided to take 2 years to get in shape instead of trying 12 weeks (like the advertised programs) and so far I am down only 12 pounds.

Only 12lbs in 12 weeks????? Only!!!!!!! Man that is great!!! A lb a week is defenitly something to be proud of.

I am glad that you have realized that there is no real 12 week bullshit program. 2 years to get in shape is a great goal but don't put a deadline on yourself. Why not say "I am going to take the REST OF MY LIFE to get in shape and stay in shape. For my health and for the sake of my daughter".

First thing you should do is post your diet in the nutrition forum so that we can take a look at it. Also post your training routine. You should defenitly start a journal here as well. It will be easier for us to help you if you keep a journal becuase everything will be in one place so we don;t have to go fishing around for ypur information.

Good luck, we're here to help and welcome to IM

 

[DaMayor]

Welcome to IM trinsdad!

Man, that scenario sure sounds familiar! (Eh, P-funk?) Funny how our children motivate us....or should I say, how fortunate that our children motivate us!
While our goals are somewhat different, I can relate man. Although I must say, your two year timeline is a great improvement over the usual expectations of most. As opposed to those nonsensical claims on T.V., yours is very realistic. But like P-funk said, don't set a definite goal.....just go with the flow. Results will come about soon enough. My biggest problem was that I compared my current physical 'state' to that of a few years ago, and expected an immediate transformation the day I returned to the gym. Not the case.
If I were to offer a single piece of advice, it would be to be patient! Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, is your diet. Regardless of your choice of training, diet is the key.
There are many many knowledegeable folks here, and all willing to help out......a great support system.
Good luck!

 

[OceanDude]

Trinsdad,
I can relate precisely to what you are saying. But let me tell you, I???m a guy that started the body transformation game very late in life (10 years older than you) this past January. I started at 228 lbs at 32% body fat and am currently 191 lbs at 10% body fat. If you do that math that???s 54 lbs of fat lost and 17 lbs of lean muscle gained on a 6??? frame (slow metabolism) in about 6 months. Don???t sell some of those 12 week programs too short (i.e. Body for Life http://bodyforlife.com/ has some fantastic success) since I used some of their foundations and so have tens of thousands of others. But you are absolutely right it takes time ??? more than 12 weeks to completely transform a body more than about 25 lbs over weight. Some of these programs mislead in that department and end up doing more damage than good when people fall short of expectations. Since it took me over 25 years to get to my pre-transformation unhealthy body state I am elated with any program that can do it in under a year though.

Trinsdad, when I started my transformation I could not even walk 1/3 a mile along our new beachfront property without getting sore and swollen feet/ankles ??? that???s how pathetic I had permitted myself to become. Now I am routinely sprinting in intervals along a three miles run on that beach and lifting more weight at the gym than I ever thought possible for even a young man my size (e.g. 440 lbs shrugs, 900+ lbs inclined leg press). There are only four things necessary to be successful ??? only one cost you any money directly (gym): 1) Force of will and dedication, 2) Knowledge about nutrition/cardio/aerobics/anarobics/lifting, 3) Actual effort in the gym and 4) Time.

I invested massive amounts of time into reading and learning about nutrition, fat loss principals etc. I then committed to doing it. Since I dropped out of the workforce (or was really pushed out due to age/wage issues) I went more intense than most on the actual gym time and nutrition. I simply no longer ate for ???social??? reasons or for the ???taste of food??? ??? I ate only for nutrition to feed the engine so to speak. In fact I actually developed an affinity for high fiber bland foods (with explicitly added essential/healthy fats that kept me feeling full), and went out of my way to not make the food overly stimulating in taste. Within 2 weeks I found myself eating more volume of food than ever in my life (6 meals a day) and having to force myself to eat each and every meal (since I was always ???full???) but was in actuality taking in less total calories than ever in my life. The key for me was managing insulin levels with the 6 meals with low glycemic complex carbs (except post workout where I went fast carbs) and keeping muscle in a constant state of anabolism with the resistance training and protein/amino acid trickle-charge. The cardio and anaerobic training essentially acted as a synergistic fat burn to the meal program to super elevate my metabolism. I mean I actually feel my entire body get HOT after a meal now that my metabolism is revved up so high. Of course the newly developed muscle kind of just develops its own ???critical mass??? where it increases daily caloric burn in and of itself and makes it fairly easy to sustain the fat burn when you go off the wagon now and then on the meals (let face it we all have family and friends that want to have a BBQ or a few beers and we can???t always just say ???the doctor told me no???).

Good Luck to you ??? its definitely DOABLE to be a whole new creation inside of a year. There will be some pain as your joints and ligaments get shocked into the new reality of dealing with muscle strength not seen in a long time. That passes too though and the way you look and feel and the looks you get in public places and the beach is simply addicting.

I???d be happy to give you some pointers if you like.

-OD

 

[trinsdad]

I will be happy to get any pointers as I go through this expirience. I appriciate your feedback so far and will continue to haunt this board. I am going to get a Body Fat test done soon so I know where I stand and where I want to be.


Trinsdad

 

[huckleberrytodd]

You can

this might as well be a post from me 18 months ago i was 5'4'' and 260 lbs. with a brand new baby that i couldnt even get on the floor and play with because i was so over weight. i started a diet and exercise program jusst to be able to tie my shoes w/out breathing heavy i lost an average of about 1 or 2 lbs a week today i steped on the scale and am at 164 and 14 % body fat. The best advice i ever got is that "losing ONLY 1 lb a week = 52 lbs a year" it took us 30 + years to learn how to be fat it only takes a week of losing to learn to be thin consistancy is the key YOU CAN DO IT !!!! I KNOW I DID IT any thing i can do to help post it

 

[trinsdad]

Thank you so much. I will get involved with the board and learn as much as I can

 

[lean_n_76er]

Gee, if your story doesn't motivate people I don't know what will. Welcome to the board Trinsdad. There are many knowledgeable persons here who can help you achive your goals. I for one am one of the "unrealistic" people who want chang NOW! But I know it's not going to happen without proper nutrition and training. Best of luck to you and with the mind set you have now, I believe you will achive your goals!

 

[OceanDude]

Originally posted by lean_n_76er
... I for one am one of the "unrealistic" people who want chang NOW! But I know it's not going to happen without proper nutrition and training.

But lean_n_76er you have changed NOW. It just that initial spark of passion and will to do it that makes it happen. Once that first step is taken it IS happening and you are a different person. The rest is just time...

 

[Dale Mabry]

The only advice I can give you is that you get what you put into it. If you half ass it, you will get half assed results. If you try your absolute hardest while you are in the gym or running at the park, you will get to where you desire and most likely get there faster than you desire. If you leave the gym 90% of the time satisfied with your performance, you will be happy with what you come up with.