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My weight has been a never-ending struggle for me. From back in my early high school days (2001-2003) when I played basketball regularly I was around 5'8", 175lbs, playing ball everyday, drinking plenty of water, burning a lot of calories. Then when I got my first job in 2003 at a grocery store in town I stopped doing those things and started to eat...a LOT. I'm talking about buying a large box of Cheez-Its and a 64oz bottle of Gatorade and going through all of that...on a half hour lunch break...EVERY DAY! Not to mention the fact that when I got off work I would stop at McDonalds and pick up a Super Sized Double Quarter Pounder meal (back when that option was still on the menu). That combined with that I stopped exercising almost completely caused my weight to shoot up from 175 to over 250lbs in a year and a half. It was pretty ridiculous. So it was probably a blessing in disguise when I stopped working there in 2005.
Fast forward two years, early 2007, I now around 190 lbs. Being unemployed (and later high school dropout) those two years, I didn't have the avenues to either continue my horrible eating habits, so my weight naturally dropped. Still not satisfied, I purchased a gym membership, with hopes to get back to my playing weight in high school...that didn't last long. I stopped going after three weeks. My motivation wasn't there and with a bunch of different things going on at the time (moving to a new state, girlfriend being pregnant, getting laid off from two jobs I had, moving back home to my parents), I just couldn't find the time to go...actually to be honest, I didn't have it as a priority as much as I should have.
So its summer 2007 now, and I'm back home starting a new job as a Valet Driver at a hotel. SO I'm thinking that its the best of both worlds, I can get exercise (running for cars) while getting paid. I was there for six weeks when I got promoted to a Bellman position. Damn. So much for that idea. Because I wasn't prioritizing exercise and not really getting it at work (I was getting some lifting however with handling luggage), my weight started to trend upward again. Constantly fluctuating between 220-245lbs over the next five years.
As of today I am at the high-end of that range (exactly 245lbs at the time of this post), but now I am prioritizing weight loss as my goal for the future. Which is why I am posting this on TL. I currently have a gym membership that I have picked up last week and I have been going there for the last few days, it is amazing how much strength that I am lacking in areas of my body compared to the rest. Because weight loss is the main goal, I am focusing on cardio moreso than heavy lifting, although lifting will be a definite part of my training regimen. I figure I would make up a few training goals that I would like to reach by next summer.
- Weight: >200lbs (I want to be able to cross the 200lb threshold and keep my weight there for the first time in over 5 years.)
- Mile run (treadmill): 8:00 or less (I've ran a sub 8:00/mi ONCE in my life. And to this day I have no idea how I did it, sophomore year HS I ran a 7:52 on 4 laps of the track.)
- Pullups: 10 or more (I can't do pullups, let me repeat that, I CANNOT do a single pullup. So to be able to do one completely would be a miracle in itself)
- Bench press: 20 reps (at the NFL combine standard 225lbs)
- I will also like to compete in a 5k run locally as well. I have no plans of being a distance runner, although I would love to be able to run in a marathon before I'm 30.
So yeah, those are some of my goals of where I want to be nine months from now. With my 26th birthday coming up, to quote Danny Glover from Lethal Weapon "I'm getting too old for this shit". It's time to get serious about where I want to be at. Wish me luck.
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If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to run only on a treadmill, and what is your bench press currently at?
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20 reps of 225lbs bench press, you have to be kidding me?!
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Go to the health and fitness section here, it's great
good luck, but i think you have lots of misconceptions about weight loss, etc. it's really important that you relearn everything, or you'll end up getting subpar results, wont be motivated, or injure yourself
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On September 07 2012 05:48 farvacola wrote:
If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to run only on a treadmill, and what is your bench press currently at?
The treadmill will be as a part of my regular workout regimen and I would be able to accurately time it as well. I also plan on jogging locally in my hometown. Treadmill at the gym just makes it easier especially when winter season comes
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On September 07 2012 05:48 sc4k wrote:
20 reps of 225lbs bench press, you have to be kidding me?!
Yeah I pretty much pulled that number out of my ass, I can do 3-4 reps now. Just a long range goal.
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On September 07 2012 05:51 aRyuujin wrote:
Go to the health and fitness section here, it's great
good luck, but i think you have lots of misconceptions about weight loss, etc. it's really important that you relearn everything, or you'll end up getting subpar results, wont be motivated, or injure yourself
Yeah I know it sounds like I'm reaching with these goals, the most important thing for me is that I want to be in the habit of working out and training on a regular basis and sticking with it.
H&F is a great subforum. I've been looking over it the last few days I will be taking a lot from there as well.
I'm not going to overexert myself. No worries there. I also understand that dieting is a MAJOR part of weight loss as well. That will come soon enough.
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You're 5'8'' and 175 is your low end? Hot damn, you must be built like a tank.
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I'm sure that I've read (maybe right here on teamliquid) that cardio being better for losing weight is just a myth, and weightlifting is actually better. I can't really say myself, as I've always hated cardio and I just prefer lifting weights, but it has helped a lot.
You will, at some point be in that spot where you're not really fat but not really muscly either and you'll probably look horrible, but once you get past that point, it'll only get better. Muscles also burn calories just by existing, as they require maintenance, especially leg muscles, as they're the biggest.
Good luck with weight loss!
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On September 07 2012 06:01 Incze wrote:
I'm sure that I've read (maybe right here on teamliquid) that cardio being better for losing weight is just a myth, and weightlifting is actually better. I can't really say myself, as I've always hated cardio and I just prefer lifting weights, but it has helped a lot.
You will, at some point be in that spot where you're not really fat but not really muscly either and you'll probably look horrible, but once you get past that point, it'll only get better. Muscles also burn calories just by existing, as they require maintenance, especially leg muscles, as they're the biggest.
Good luck with weight loss!
Well the idea behind the line of thinking that suggests that weight lifting is a better path to weight loss deals with the increased resting caloric demand of lean body mass. In the end, it comes down to subjective fit; if one finds it easier to motivate themselves to hit the weights 4-6 times a week as opposed to 4-6 sessions of cardio, than opting for the lifting is a better choice. Of course, mixing cardio with lifting is most ideal.
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The key to losing large amount of weight, and becoming healthier, has to do a lot more with food intake than working out. I recently dropped from 275lbs to 212lbs. (6ft tall if you were wondering). I did very minimal "working out", most of it was increasing h2o intake, and just eating less.
And when I say recently (I mean in the past 9months)
Don't worry about the pullups + chinups for now, that'll come far more naturally when you've dropped weight. I use to be able to do only 1 pull up when I was 275, now I can do 5, now that I'm 212.
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Lol well good luck anyway man. It's all about commitment. Look up Kai Greene on Youtube he's my favourite for the psychological instruction in the process  , his philosophy is great and inspiring.
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On September 07 2012 05:59 Jerubaal wrote:
You're 5'8'' and 175 is your low end? Hot damn, you must be built like a tank.
Yeah I was thinking that 175 is already a little big for 5'8'' (although I don't know if it's muscle or fat, as he was apparently playing sports). I'm 5'8''-ish and I'm a good 20-25 pounds less than that. OP's BMI is slightly overweight at that time (http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/).
PhillyWild, if you're serious about getting into shape, go into the Health and Fitness section of TL. Lots of good threads in there. Learn to eat right, and learn how to exercise properly. Good luck, and don't pussy out! (Ask the experts in those threads for realistic benchmarks and goals as well; I don't know if yours are ideal for your current situation.)
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On September 07 2012 06:19 wei2coolman wrote:
The key to losing large amount of weight, and becoming healthier, has to do a lot more with food intake than working out. I recently dropped from 275lbs to 212lbs. (6ft tall if you were wondering). I did very minimal "working out", most of it was increasing h2o intake, and just eating less.
And when I say recently (I mean in the past 9months)
Don't worry about the pullups + chinups for now, that'll come far more naturally when you've dropped weight. I use to be able to do only 1 pull up when I was 275, now I can do 5, now that I'm 212.
This.
You need to work out the details of your diet moreso than your gym routine. Also, this forum isn't great for this kind of stuff. Bodybuilding.com has tremendous diet and workout programs for all skill levels and starting points. Good Luck.
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I'm doing something similar. I haven't become particularly overweight, but I'm not fit. Sorry, I only do the metric system, but my "fit and healthy" weight is around 85 KG (187 pounds) and I'm 189 CM tall (6'2). That's about what I want to weight when I do a half marathon sometime next year. Leading up to my wedding I did 9 months of extreme muscle-gain gym work with a personal trainer, eating mad amount of protein. I bulked up to 99.8 KG (220 pounds) but just before the wedding I got pretty sick (due to the overdose on protein shakes...) and I quit the gym entirely. Over a year onwards I'm around 210 pounds but the muscle has gone and it's just flab now.
So I'm going to the gym too; but I'm not doing any weights; just treadmill and stretching, and on the weekend I run outside. I don't think doing heavy weight lifting is particularly effective as weight loss. If I was going to do weights, it'd be light weights with cardio involved... like a rotation kind of thing that gets the heart rate up. That's the key; heart rate consistently at a high (but not excessive) level.
And as for diet; I've upped my meals to 5-6 a day. I'm eating fresh vegetables, soft cheese, some wholemeal crackers, sometimes salami for morning tea and afternoon tea and I'm trying to cut down on desserts and fast food for dinners but usually give in once a week. Only lost about 2 pounds so far but it's only been a couple of weeks.
I highly recommend eating 5-6 meals a day. My mum (mom) did that, not even eating particularly healthy food, and she lost a tonne of weight simply because it kickstarts your metabolism. Also; drink plenty of water.
I realise you didn't ask for advice... apologies if I seem patronising.
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Like what a lot of people already said... DIET, diet... diet! Eat 5-6 meals of nutritious foods and don't pig out. Discipline yourself into not eating fatty foods and starting eating real food.
Only reason why I mentioned diet so much is because you seem mainly concerned about "working out", but working out isn't going to help if you don't fix your diet.
*EDIT* I weigh like 165 at 5'10, but I want to get to 155 like my boys Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson. I doubt that I would get 155 but we all can have goals right? 
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On September 07 2012 05:59 Jerubaal wrote:
You're 5'8'' and 175 is your low end? Hot damn, you must be built like a tank.
Yeah everyone says that I'm built like a football player more than anything with my bone structure.
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To clarify, working out is only gonna be a part of my overall plans. Dieting is a very important part as well and I am currently in the process of improving my dietary decisions and choices. (No more late night runs to McDonalds, eating soups and salads on my lunch break at work instead of two slices of pizza and cookies, which the former is slightly more pricey than the latter.) I am trying to motivate myself to cook more at home as well.
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I never understood the connotation that "fast food" is bad. All fast food places offer healthy alternatives. Just don't eat the high caloric items they offer.
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EPT
