Hi, this is me on the left at UVA2 with Mr. LimpDic and PK at something in the 330 pound range.
...with the original Tribe Constellation folks at UVA2.
And finally, at 6'5" / 365 pounds in England barely fitting into a trolley at 9 AM.
Well, this was me, circa June 2003...
I was well on my way to being diabetic and a probable heart attack at 40 or so. I didn't really get sick often or have any serious physical issues but everything just felt.. labored. Stuff like going up a flight of stairs or jogging across the street to dodge a car would just drain me. I had been heavy since I could remember so I just sort of took it as my lot in life to exist in this state. Weekends was Pizza Hut and 3 liters of regular Pepsi. I'd hit tex-mex and steakhouses for lunch during the week and then go home to more soda and junk food.
Cliffs - I ate way too much of the wrong stuff and didn't exercise at all.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
After spending two weeks in London (where above pic was taken) and noticing the lack of fat people I did a quick high level analysis of what they did to avoid my fate.
1.) Four smallish meals a day
2.) They walked everywhere
.. and that was pretty much it.
So, I spent a few days doing some online research, went to sears.com where I placed an order for a stationary bike, and started to plan out what my new meals would start to look like for a 1700-1800 calorie day. I knew Atkins and South Beach probably weren't for me and I never considered any sort of surgical procedure. I got all of my data together and dived in head first.
I had wild success with putting the bike in front of an AC vent, getting some bottled water, and just playing my PS2 while riding. I ran through a ton of RPGs and all of the GTA series and the time just flew by. The first five minutes would be a warm up pace and I'd get my heart rate up to where it needed to be after that. There were times I'd be working on a mission in GTA:VC and look down just to see I had gone 15 minutes over my planned time.
I started out with just 25 minutes a day and every month or so I'd add on another five until I hit the 45 minute mark. I just can't stress this enough:
Exercise + video games = win
I got the diet under control and went from two big meals a day to four smaller ones. Nothing really groundbreaking here but I didn't use anything other than a microwave and blender to cook with. Offtopic Fitness and Nutrition is a good place for more info on what to do here.
So, this formula combined with 18 months later......
That's me on the right at 6' 5" / 180 and down about 185 pounds total.
I scared the shit out of my extended family at christmas. People at work I hadn't seen in a while didn't recognize me any more. I could jog up a few flights of stairs and not get winded. I slept better, all the weird aches + pains had gone away, and my blood pressure was back to normal. My doctor (who had read me the riot act at 360) saw me at 185 or so and told me I should probably send an email to the people who made my windbike to get an advertising deal.
I know it sounds harsh, but the secret really is to eat less and exercise. Eating had been my crutch for a long, long time and when I finally realized that food is fuel - not fun it just all sorta clicked and my cravings died down. That 2/3rd pound burger with fries + several regular cokes you had two days ago for lunch isn't making you feel any better right now, but that fourth of a pound of fat you put on eating it is with you and not going anywhere.
Props to Mega Boris for his thread like this one back a few years ago - I saved it locally and used it for inspiration when I got down on myself during those first tough few weeks. I can write up some more stuff if you guys want - I'm not sure how this thread is going to go over with the locals....
Those in the same situation - you can do it. MB did, I did, you can too.
Oh, and here's a full sized before pic for your amusement:
http://img137.exs.cx/img137/6113/before1hg.jpg - 900 KB~
- D
...with the original Tribe Constellation folks at UVA2.
And finally, at 6'5" / 365 pounds in England barely fitting into a trolley at 9 AM.
Well, this was me, circa June 2003...
I was well on my way to being diabetic and a probable heart attack at 40 or so. I didn't really get sick often or have any serious physical issues but everything just felt.. labored. Stuff like going up a flight of stairs or jogging across the street to dodge a car would just drain me. I had been heavy since I could remember so I just sort of took it as my lot in life to exist in this state. Weekends was Pizza Hut and 3 liters of regular Pepsi. I'd hit tex-mex and steakhouses for lunch during the week and then go home to more soda and junk food.
Cliffs - I ate way too much of the wrong stuff and didn't exercise at all.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
After spending two weeks in London (where above pic was taken) and noticing the lack of fat people I did a quick high level analysis of what they did to avoid my fate.
1.) Four smallish meals a day
2.) They walked everywhere
.. and that was pretty much it.
So, I spent a few days doing some online research, went to sears.com where I placed an order for a stationary bike, and started to plan out what my new meals would start to look like for a 1700-1800 calorie day. I knew Atkins and South Beach probably weren't for me and I never considered any sort of surgical procedure. I got all of my data together and dived in head first.
I had wild success with putting the bike in front of an AC vent, getting some bottled water, and just playing my PS2 while riding. I ran through a ton of RPGs and all of the GTA series and the time just flew by. The first five minutes would be a warm up pace and I'd get my heart rate up to where it needed to be after that. There were times I'd be working on a mission in GTA:VC and look down just to see I had gone 15 minutes over my planned time.
I started out with just 25 minutes a day and every month or so I'd add on another five until I hit the 45 minute mark. I just can't stress this enough:
Exercise + video games = win
I got the diet under control and went from two big meals a day to four smaller ones. Nothing really groundbreaking here but I didn't use anything other than a microwave and blender to cook with. Offtopic Fitness and Nutrition is a good place for more info on what to do here.
So, this formula combined with 18 months later......
That's me on the right at 6' 5" / 180 and down about 185 pounds total.
I scared the shit out of my extended family at christmas. People at work I hadn't seen in a while didn't recognize me any more. I could jog up a few flights of stairs and not get winded. I slept better, all the weird aches + pains had gone away, and my blood pressure was back to normal. My doctor (who had read me the riot act at 360) saw me at 185 or so and told me I should probably send an email to the people who made my windbike to get an advertising deal.
I know it sounds harsh, but the secret really is to eat less and exercise. Eating had been my crutch for a long, long time and when I finally realized that food is fuel - not fun it just all sorta clicked and my cravings died down. That 2/3rd pound burger with fries + several regular cokes you had two days ago for lunch isn't making you feel any better right now, but that fourth of a pound of fat you put on eating it is with you and not going anywhere.
Props to Mega Boris for his thread like this one back a few years ago - I saved it locally and used it for inspiration when I got down on myself during those first tough few weeks. I can write up some more stuff if you guys want - I'm not sure how this thread is going to go over with the locals....
Those in the same situation - you can do it. MB did, I did, you can too.
Oh, and here's a full sized before pic for your amusement:
http://img137.exs.cx/img137/6113/before1hg.jpg - 900 KB~
- D
