Thread: Whipping Myself Into Shape

I normally would not post about such stuff. But I figured the extra accountability would help me out. So here goes.

Anyone that has seen me knows Im no small guy. Im about 6' tall and over the years I have added on some weight. I dont know what triggered it, maybe the fact I noticed clothes were a little tighter or that it had come to a point I just had no energy in the day and always seemed to be dragging.

This sticks out to me because I used to be in pretty good shape and I ran, ran A LOT. In fact, I used to be able to run sub 5 minute miles with 4min 47sec being my best time ever in the mile. Ive ran two miles on uneven terrain (read: not on a track) quite frequently under 12 minutes.

The point to it all to say that I was in pretty decent shape at one point in time. I biked a lot, ran a lot and was fairly active. I never weighed more than 190lbs. When I got out of the service I still remained active, ran a lot and so on. But life situations got me out of that habit and one thing lead to another and I find myself at this point in life, knowing I have got to do something.

So about the middle of week before last I weighed in and was horrified at what showed up on the scales. I dont think I have every been so disappointed and disgusted with myself in my life.

I am typically a very organized, focused and driven person. But when I got off that scale I gave things some thought and realized that even that part of me had fell away to some degree. I had gotten lazy, lost motivation to do things and so on.

I sat down with the wife and said I have got to do something about this and things have to change. If I had never had the realization then I guess life would have been grand, but now having that awareness I could not let it continue. She was very supportive and we set out to come up with a plan.

I LOVE vegetables. I just cannot put into words how much I do. Always have. I guess though I have gotten away from my diet containing as much veggies as I used to eat and replaced it with junk food, pop, and laziness. I love to cook and do spend time learning about how to prepare food in a healthy manner and balanced, I just havent put it into practice much.

So I decided that that would be where I started. I LOVE flavorful food and have learned over the years how fix foods like veggies, that are hard in most cases to keep interesting without cooking them to death, flavorful.

So to shorten the story up a bit, me and the wife are getting to bed earlier so we can get up earlier and go walking, exercise and so on. We have changed our diet to push out the less than ideal stuff and to include more veggies and lean meat like turkey and chicken.

We are now getting up at 4:30 in the morning and going walking everyday for about 15 - 20 minutes, then coming back and exercising for about the same time (We've had a total gym thing sitting in the corner forever that is finally getting used). You'd think I would be even more run down, but actually quite the opposite is true. For the first time in years Im getting a decent amount of sleep. I have had a hard time for a long time getting to bed much before midnight or later and then getting up at 5am to get ready for work. Now we are in bed about 9:00 - 9:30pm and are getting up at 4:30am. And I have to say, I have not felt this good in a LONG time.

So what I am going to do in this thread is post my progress for an extra degree of accountability because I dont want to quit on this. I NEED to do this. I will post my initial weigh in, the date and then post updates as I progress. Please be kind.


March 23, 2008
Initial starting weight: 291lbs

I weighed in this past Sunday (this is the day we set to have our splurge day and weigh in to see how we (me and the wife) were doing) and had the following results:

March 30, 2008
Weight: 281.5 lbs

So in the first week I lost nearly 10 lbs. Not too shaby I dont think. The wife is going along with me because she too wants to trim up a bit and stay active herself.

I must also give recognition to GP2003GT who I have been chatting with on IM and has been EXTREMELY helpful in giving exercise advice and such. I thank him enough for all the advice he has given and for listening to me in what I wanted to accomplish and helping me get there.

I may sticky this if there is no objections so that I can continue to track progress. My goal is to get down into the 210 lb range. Once I get there I'll turn my focus to getting into better shape with the idea of getting back into a little long distance running.

Originally Posted by GTPluv

I've seen you

LOL, Scary isnt it.

I too have found myself in a similar situation. I grew up on the farm and loved outdoors. I have always been pretty skinny but in shape. Now I moved for college and sit in a cubicle all day and then take 3 hour night classes, I have no time to make a decent meal in the day. At night I usually am starving when I get home so I grab fastfood or fix something fast. The interesting thing is I'm 6'5" and weigh 168 lbs. I've got a six pack still and eat fast food everyday. The thing I hate is how lazy I am now, I have a total lack of motivation from what I used to be. My grades in college are actually suffering too. I try and setup a plan to workout but it fails when the next week comes and I am swamped with school and other things going on. So even though I seem to be in good shape, I can tell a lot of things are out of whack lately...

I have a feeling that this unhealthy trend will catch up to me, but there's not a lot I can do to try and stop it, so I might be in your situation a few years from now... I just want to gain a little more muscle and keep it, sucks going back to the farm and just trying to keep up with your dad... lol

Good luck!

I can tell you that my metabolism is slightly higher than normal, at least it used to be. And I developed the mentality I could eat anything in any quantity at any time and Id be fine. Well I abused that all to hades. I didnt get here overnight and I wont get back to where I want overnight.

I dont eat much fast food, but Ive made up for it in other types of stuff I consume. Hopefully I can get back to semblance of being in shape or at least healthier than I am now.

Originally Posted by TDCRacing

Good job! I like the idea of making this community aware of it....That way if you ever get discouraged or start to back down from your plan the slightest bit we will be here to bring you back up and to get you going again.

Thats kinda what I was hoping for. When its just yourself, its easy to reason away why you dont want to get up early today or why you want to cheat for a little while on what you are eating. But when you got some accountability, it changes things drastically. I for one hate it being pointed out that I was going to do something and didnt do it. I dont like breaking my word to myself or anyone. So hopefully this will do the trick and stick in my head just enough to keep me on track.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

(We've had a total gym thing sitting in the corner forever that is finally getting used).

March 23, 2008
Initial starting weight: 291lbs

March 30, 2008
Weight: 281.5 lbs

You have made Chuck Norris proud

As for the weight loss, 10lbs in a week is incredible. I think the most I lost when I was doing WeightWatchers last year was a max of 7lbs. In my time with them, about 3 months, I lost 35s and got down to 315lbs. The lightest I had been in years.

Like you, I was never a small kid. I was already 6' when I was a freshman in High School and weighed in at 200lb back then. By the end of my 4 years in high school I grew to 6'2" and tacked another 40lbs to 240lbs. I was involved in Track, throwing shotput and lifting lots of weights, not for definition back then, but for strength in doing Shotput.

And then came college. 4 years of living in the dorms, eating pizzas at 1am or later I ballooned upto 300lbs really quick. When school ended I moved back home and quickly lost 50lbs from eating regular food.

And then I moved to St. Louis in Sept of 92 to join their PD. I managed to get back down to 235-240lb for most of my 8 years there. Plus having been on the bike patrol the last 4 years really kept things in shape. My face was thin, I could see my toes still without having to suck in gut or anything.

Then I move to Charlotte NC to start my IT career, and then the weight gain came I went to almost 350-375 in my two years there. Sitting on your arse all day and not working out or even walking had a serious impact on my body.

When I moved back to St. Louis in Sept of 2002, I still kept the same weight, I think it went down a bit, to maybe around 350lb, but still way to much for me! Last summer I joined WeightWatchers and went through 3 months of weekly meetings and weighins and I lost an astonishing 35lbs. I was feeling better and felt a bit more comfortable in my skin for once.

But then my contract where I worked ended and I had to make budget cuts in the midterm and so went WeightWatchers. I tried to keep points plan, but it quickly faded. I went to my Doctor last month cause I hadnt seen her in a year, and I weighed in at 335lbs. I was extremely disappointed in myself again.

So hopefully in April I am gonna be getting back on WeightWatchers. I really think the weekly meetings helped to inspire me to lose the weight I had lost in my visits there. Plus they push you for goals and you strive to make them happen.

I have to start riding more everyday and try to stop making excuses why I cant ride or at least get out and be active and not sit around all day doing nothing. Even washing and waxing your car, you are burning calories and keep your baby clean!!! Its those little things that add up to making things better.

I think one thing that simply floored me last year at Branson was seeing Dunster! Back in 2006 he was a really really really big guy, not just in his height but he was heavy. Not blubbering mind you, but just a big guy! And this past Meet, he lost like 70lbs+ and god dang! He looked like a new guy! And I complimented him on that and how jealous I was of his weight loss

Hopefully maybe if I can get my arse in gear, so maybe I can pull a Dunster

Thanks for listening

We all have to start somewhere and you I think are in a similar situation as myself. Just reaching a point where there are no other options but to take action. I guess it was just the stark comparison to where I used to be and where I am now. I mean, I could run a mile in 5 hours now if I wanted to, but I aim to change that. Who knows, maybe we both can pull off Dunsters as you put it.

I think the big thing with Weigh Watchers is the accountability. Its the thought of showing up there an knowing you did not stay on track and having to answer for it. I believe in being honest with myself, even if its brutal. Id rather say heres where you're at, this is what got you there, what are you going to do about it? Couple that with the thought of coming here and saying you know what, I sluffed off all week and I just dont care anymore and then facing everyone with that attitude. Yeah, most would be polite and tactful, but its the lasting image I leave with that statement. The image they walk away with of myself. The though in their mind, theres the guy who cant stick with what he started. That spills over if I say Im going to do something else to help them out or a project. "Yeah, okay, isnt he the guy who just up and quit on his own plans and goal?". See my point?

I hate sleeping. Dont ask me why, I dont know how I developed that mentality. But I just decided to get over it and make time to do what I needed. Go to bed earlier, wake up earlier and get it done before the day starts because if I wait until the day gets started, then it becomes I was too busy, I didnt have time, I had so much to do, etc. Getting up that early avoids that and its really peaceful at that time. Not a lot of cars, people or much of anything around. Me and the wife can talk, walk the dog and get a work out. I even got up early on Saturday, the day I usually sleep in really late.

Ive lived long enough trying to protect my personal time and doing nothing with it, time to make use of it finally.

Originally Posted by TDCRacing

you know what the funny thing is though? Im sitting here eating doritos and oreo's while im reading all of this lol

Well, Ive done the same thing. Watching shows on TV about being health conscience. There Iam, watching TV, eating snacks, doing nothing active, while a show about being healthy plays away. All the while sitting there thinking, you know, they're right, I could do that or I should do that. Popping another snack in my mouth.

Well let me get down to my target weight before we call it a good idea, LOL. It would, however, if we were close enough to one another, that we could get together a few times a week to meet up and go for a run, brisk walk or do some type of exercise. There is nothing like good ole peer support to keep one moving along.

I have to deal with the likes of GTPluv and shes some type of pre-Madonna or something.











Okay, Im going off to hide in my corner again.

Thank you. You made me smile. I may have to stop harassing you about being directionally challenged now.

i know you can do it scott. i used to weigh around 320 and im down to 219 now. if i can do it i know you can. drink LOTS of water throughout the day to curb your appetite. youd be suprised just how much that helps.

hey gtpluv its not cottage cheese its just fun waiting to be unleashed lol.

Great post Scott! Good job on taking action turning things around.

I'm 6' and from high school until I was in my mid/late twenties I could never get over 167lbs. Well that changed when my wife got pregnant. I gained 1 lb less than her putting me at 213 lbs. What can I say I'm a sympathetic husband. I dropped over half of it after our daughter was born.

Two work injuries/surgeries in the past couple years I gained back some going back to 204 lbs and lost a TON of muscle strength. I'm actually thankful for the injuries to an extent. I got the time with my lil girl and I quit smoking 1 1/2 years ago while out.

I think I'm finally nearing recovery and am actually thankful for our Occupational Conditioning Center. Recently I've been able to start strength training and conditioning. Back down to 189 lbs and gaining some muscle strength/endurance again.

I've changed the things I eat, cut my portions in half (was always "Slim" and could eat anything), and exercise more than most of my life. Not to mention I'm done with factory work, going back to school, and trying to start a few things of my own.

I really respect your posting this and wish you guys the best of luck. Even if we are the warm and fuzzy GP community, I wouldn't have it any other way. LOL. It's not car related, but I don't think it would be a bad idea to have a lifestyle or whatever section. GPF will always have my respect and loyalty. Somewhat reminds me of when I first got into CGP almost a decade ago.