So it's time to bite the bullet. I'm going to have a go at the Weight Loss Plan. I've already had one abortive attempt in 2006, but got to about 8 or 10 weeks in and...er...got ill or something.
This time, I have no excuses. I am living and working in the Middle East (Qatar), away from my wife and kids, but I have a gym at my disposal in the apartment block, so it makes sense. Also the eating thing can be better controlled. We get a free lunch in the mess on the site I'm working on, and it's rice and chicken and salad almost every day. I leave the stuff like the chips and fatty meat casseroles (they're always cold anyway)
I'm 37-year-old male (checks - yep), 6ft 2 on my good leg, nearly 20 stone. Haven't measured myself for a while, but neck is at least 18", waist is 46", chest is about 48 to 50". If I can get hold of a tape measure I'll do the business.
Before I came out (on 19th April), I was up to over 20 stone and felt atrocious. I have been yo-yoing around the high teens for, oh, a decade at least. I've done Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Slim Fast, stupid pens that you sniff...a lot of things. I did lose 5 stone on WW back in 2000, but soon piled it back on with interest. It's not just the physical aspects of being obese that are a problem, the mental aspects have been bad, and I've been seriously depressed about it all along, blaming my bad hip and my arrhythmia, but know that being big isn't helping them ONE BIT.
I'm going to give it a real go. I'm here for 6 months to a year, and want to end up looking and feeling on top of the world. I want my wife to fall in love with me all over again, and I want my kids to have a fit, healthy dad.
So enough guff. I started on Saturday night, and plan to do Sat/Mon/Wed and some light cardio on Friday (my day off).
The first session was strange. I had to use free weights for the leg press (dumbbell squats) and shoulder press (overhead dumbbell push) when I have been used to machines.
Saturday 26/04/08
Squats - 9kg each side - 15 reps
Chest Press - 20kg - 25 reps
Lat pulldown - 40kg - 10 reps
Shoulders - 8kg each side - 10 reps
I figured I had to alter things a bit, and didn't think I'd pushed it nearly hard enough. After reading about maximising effort (panting rather than holding breath), I went into last night with a new mindset.
Monday 28/04/08
Squats - 10kg each side - 20 reps
Chest Press - 35kg - 30+ reps
Lat pulldown - 50kg - 12 or 13 reps
Shoulders - 10kg each side - 10 reps
So I still need to work on the first two and find the right weight, but found that the panting and the concentration exercises really helped me go a lot further than I did before, and afterwards I was completely done in and shaking, so much so I went to bed at 9.30. This morning I feel like I've been beaten up. Roll on Wednesday!
Or at least, it was until Mansized helped me to lose at least 20% of my fat bodyweight
Best of luck with your posting to Qatar, and with your determination to lose weight. You have a great opportunity it seems with an onsite gym, good food on offer and without the distractions of a young family.
My weight loss was a combination of healthier food choices, and weight training, with a great deal of help and advice (and the occasional bit of abuse) from my cyber friends here on Mansized. It is almost exactly nine months since I started on my quest, and to date I have lost around 4 1/2 stone.
You have similar stats to me.
I am 6"2 and wegh 19st 7.
I just lost 3 stone 3 lbs on this site since Janurary 6th.
You CAN do it. You just need to stay focused , motivated and dedicated.
Keep posting here and we will kick you into shape if need be! :)
Bloody hell. I'm still aching, and I want to do another session tonight.
Had to be strong last night, though. Temptation was everywhere, especially in the garage outside my apartment block, with its donuts. But I was good, even though the frustrations of living here were really getting on my tits.
Bloody hell. I'm still aching, and I want to do another session tonight.
Had to be strong last night, though. Temptation was everywhere, especially in the garage outside my apartment block, with its donuts. But I was good, even though the frustrations of living here were really getting on my tits.
Seriously sore today; it hurts to lift a glass of water. I'm wondering if I should give it an extra day to recover and hit the weights tomorrow night, but then I'm worried if I start deviating from my plan I'll be asking for trouble...
