Quote:
Originally Posted by spleen1015
I think I should look at the Dynasty forum more often. I had no idea this thread was here...
A lot of you guys have done an awesome job. Keep it up.
Let me tell you guys my story and maybe you have some advice that I haven't gotten before because I need some help.
In September 2009, my company started a Biggest Loser contest. At the start of the competition, I weighed 285. At 6'3, that's not huge, but is it still fat as hell, right?
I was hell bent on winning this contest. I knew that I needed to lose weight and I am competitive to a fault. I have to win at everything. Even the drive home is a contest for me every day. Yeah, it is that bad.
Anyway, I needed up losing 60 lbs in 3 months and won the contest with a finishing weight of 223.8 for the final weigh in that December.
Pretty much as soon as the contest was over, I quit working out 6 days a week, started eating crap again.
Today, my weight is staying in the 255-260 range. I go in waves where I'll eat well and exercise for 2 weeks then my knees will start to hurt and I'll quit.
I think about this crap every single day. I tell myself every day that today is the day that I turn it all back around and I never do.
Have any of you guys gone through anything similar?
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I don't know if I'm telling you anything that you haven't heard before.
1. 60 pounds in 3 months is too much, too fast. Congratulations on doing it, but that probably wasn't all that good for you. The only way to lose that much is to crash diet and you can't keep it off that way. Long-term weight loss is all about lifestyle changes that you can live with and/or grow into over time to develop habits.
For example, I'm not a big veggie eater, but when I started my weight loss over a year ago I started force-feeding myself fresh veggies for lunch. Now, if I go 2 or 3 days without them, I find myself craving a fresh carrot or stick of celery. It took many years to develop your current eating habits that contributed to your current weight. It's going to take a while to develop habits to help you lose that weight. So give yourself that time and don't focus on crash diets. What DT does is tremendous, but I don't know many people who can keep up what he's doing for very long. He's most definitely the exception.
2. If your knees are hurting from exercise, find a different exercise and/or just work through the pain. At 260 pounds, I couldn't do plyometrics. I did non-impact exercises like my elliptical and a lot of kickboxing. When I started to do a bit more higher-impact stuff, I was in agonizing pain because of my feet. I just had to work through it and the stronger my supporting muscles got and the less I weighed, the less the pain became. I still feel it occasionally, but not anything like what it used to be.
3. Make your exercise part of your routine. I preach this constantly because it's the
only thing that's ever worked for me. Hence I'm up at 5:00 AM every weekday to workout before the wife/kids are up. You have to find a time that's yours and will always be yours. It takes 2-3 months to build a habit like that, so make sure you find a time that will always be available to you for that long of a time. When it becomes part of your routine, the excuses just go out the window.
4. As for excuses, make yourself very active on one or more fitness forums and DON'T LET YOURSELF OFF THE HOOK by not visiting them! Post your results on a daily basis. Sometimes just perceived peer pressure and/or encouragement can keep you motivated enough to break through that wall.
5. Find your inspiration where you can get it. For example, check out the video (lower right-hand corner) on this website. This one keeps me inspired!
Ben Does Life.
Remember, the journey begins with a simple step.
That simple step could end up making that journey your own source of inspiration. Just take that step and see where it might lead you...