Take care of yourself

I would say I'm mostly meso, a quarter endo. I am zero percent ecto. I can lose weight pretty easily. I can also eat like a Labrador retriever and put on weight pretty easily. The weed doesn't help there.

Lowest I've been in the last five years is 177. Highest is 240 or so. I'm 216 right now, down from 222 last week. I should realistically be walking around at 190. That's the current goal. Figure two months I'll be there.

I should also stop changing bodies like fucking Christian Bale at some point. I can't imagine it's healthy for me.

If you need encouragement, let me know. We can do this together.

 

My wife and I are trying to get our shit together and get healthier, which means we eat better — and less, which is key — pretty much following the Weight Watchers recipes.

We also exercise more. In addition to hitting the gym, I'm doing 100 days of increasing pushups, situps and squats. Today was day 17, which means I've done 153 of each in 17 days. At the end of the 100 days, that will be 5,050 each.

I weigh myself once a week, and Monday I was at 194.2, down from 200.7 three weeks ago. The goal is 165-170, but strong. We're members of a beach club, and I want an old-man beach body by the time Memorial Day gets here.

 

I've been hovering around 250 for years now. I've done enough strength training that I could carry around 220 and look fit. At my fittest, I was 208. Those were the days when I'd NOT work out maybe once a month. But I was single and intensely focused. I could do 500 pushups in 30 minutes or so. I could hit the heavy bag for 40 minutes straight. But women and children destroyed my routine. As previously mentioned I enjoy working out. If nothing else it's a mental refresher. But with everything else in my life, I need a return to structure. And some sleep.

 

Half a life ago, I did pushups five or more times a week, sets of 40 a breeze. One day I'd do 260 total with a set of 60 to end it. The next day I'd do 300, ending with a set of 30 with my hands close together and two sets of 15 with a four count down and a four count up. About 25 minutes each day.

Of course, I weighed about 155 then and had a 30-inch waist. I wonder what I would have weighed if I didn't drink a river of beer each day.

 

At my best, 10 years ago, I was 235-240, in great shape, burning 1800-2000 calories a day, toned and spring to my step. Then it all went to shit after I found a cell phone in the parking lot.

At my worst, 6 months ago, I was 305 and lumpy but still didn't look terribly bad, and was exhausted all the time etc etc. I'm pretty sure I've dipped below 270, heading toward 260.

Most of what I do at the gym is cardio and a small amount of dumbbells or nautilus stuff. I don't want any more muscle mass. I'm a big dude already.

I understand that toning muscle will help burn fat. I'm just leery of weights right now.

The next A1C test is very soon. I would love to be below 260 in the next 3-4 weeks.

 

I find it pretty motivating to look at an item of food that weighs a pound—like a thing of butter, or a one-pound steak. That's a lot of steak! Every one of those you drop off your frame, you're going to feel it, and you're going to feel better for it.

@Songbird, if you've dropped forty pounds or so in the last while, you have to be feeling that. That's shitload of butter and/or beef.

 

I read this at first as though there will be a day in your not-so-distant future when you do 5,050 pushups, sit-ups, and squats. I was like, Buddy, that seems a little ambitious.

 

Courtesy of the local diabetic specialist ... this is a 5-pound mold of fat.

 

Um, yeah. That's motivating. You've lost eight of those? Good for you. In every sense.

 

I'm a little creeped out by the severed foot on the table.

 

That's only two pounds. But you won't gain it back.

 

I used to be like @typefitter, yo-yoing between weights. I think I’ve settled in at a consistent 150-155 these days. I’d like to theoretically get that around 145, though I never weigh myself anymore, just measure my waist.

I was around 220 at my heaviest in 2002-03 or so, and I’m only 5-9. So I’ve shed about 70. In my experience and study, diet and cardio matter most. @Songbird, the notion of adding muscle to burn fat is overblown. If you are primarily trying to lose weight, that time would be far better spent on cardio.

Don’t let lazy asses tell you that the elliptical burns more calories than running. It doesn’t.