transformation of a fatty

Last spring I joined a gym.  My friend got me into playing racquetball which was a total blast.  A couple of months later I had a messed up elbow and so cooled off on that and started doing more weights.  The goal was to lose a couple of pounds and feel better about myself.  At one point in February 2012 I was weighing in at 250 on a friends scale.  I carry the weight better because I'm tall but I knew I could feel the weight on me.  I felt sluggish and just clumsy.  It's hard to describe really but I knew something was wrong.

Fast forward to November.  It's cold and crummy out.  Holidays coming up which means lots of food and erratic lifestyle patterns.  I kept hitting the gym 2-3 nights a week.  Weights with some racquetball on occasion.  Weight hovering consistently around 242-245.

My boost came from signing up for the site myfittnesspal.com (MFP) after my doctor recommended it.  It's the first time I've used any site like this.  It's been a way to be honest with myself.  I'll eat whatever I want and do whatever I want still.  The catch is I'm forcing myself to record what I'm consuming and doing.  Not getting too over the top recording every little thing in there but it's been a real eye opening experience.

What I like the most is the way it crunches the number.  It figures out how much you are allotted for different categories like: calories, carbs, sat fat (something i need to stay away from), protein, cholesterol, and sodium (another one for me to avoid).  It shows me more or less what I've got allowed for the day.  After the gym I enter how long I rode a bike and other cardio stuff and so it increases what I'm allotted for the day.  Most importantly, it's a way to immediately what the consequences are for some of my consumption choices.  I had a frozen pizza one night.  Didn't lie about it and entered it in there and saw the outcome.  I've got no one to blame but myself for the results.

I'm not overly religious about using MFP.  I use it during the week.  Weekends is more difficult because I cook and wind up eating out too much with my g/friend.  I also drink A LOT on the weekends.  Even with allowing myself to slip on the weekends, I've had good results from this.  The week before Christmas I weighed in at 238!  I've not seen that weight in a couple of years!!!

So here it is after the holiday season.  It's Friday.  Tonight I'll weigh in and see that I'm in the 245 range again.  I can feel it. I'm OK with that.  I didn't do much at the gym in almost a month and this is all my fault.  I can't dwell on this too much. Next week will be better.  I've had my fun.  It's back to work.

A bad day eating + lots of alcohol and no gym action  :(

A good day eating + cardio at the gym :)

My point is that I'm looking forward making a strong push with this in the coming months.  I'm looking forward to using MFP in addition to my growing workout routine and seeing the results.  I'm happy with my progress in the past year.  From the couch, to racquetball, to weights, all in a year... it's been a (hopefully) life changing experience.  I'm looking forward to that "lean" feel i had just a couple of weeks ago.  I'm looking forward to going to bed at night semi sore from the gym and sleeping like a rock.  I'm looking forward to NOT waking up on a random morning with a sore back or neck because i slept wrong or did something stupid.  I'm doing this for myself.  I'm doing this so I can physically feel the way i feel mentally.  I'm doing this for me and to hell with everyone else.