If it's an addiction than Getying out of it like that is not healthy. You need to step out of it gradually.

I will give you a personal example. My uncle smokes 2 packs a day. He decided he wants to quit once and for all so what he did is he stopped smoking right there on the spot. One month later he started smoking 3 packs a day.

He went to the doctor(in middle east) and the doctor suggested that he smokes 1/2 a cig less a day. Over 6 months he quit completely and never had the urge to smoke again. He is clean now for 5 years( he smokes hookah with friends once a month when they go out, but that's it)

Good luck!

Thanks much !

I'm not much of a drinker, I drink a few time's a year mostly. I just felt like going overboard for New Years, I realize now that it was a bad idea !

So, two days ago I went out and bought a new pair of jeans.. All mine were too large, I'm now wearing a size 46, down from 54.

My legs feel like death from squats. I've also started walking 2-4 miles every day. Keeping up with a much better diet, starting the day with a healthy protein shake and less than 8oz of meat at dinner, salads, etc... If I had a scale, I'd weight myself for you guys, I know I'm down at least 10lbs or more.

In a month or so I may be in better shape than I've been in years.

Still no internet at home, I'm posting this from a Starbucks on my brothers laptop.

So this is a morning shake I've been having every day for a little while, it's actually what started my weight loss.

1 cup Strawberries (frozen, so I don't have to add Ice)
1 cup Orange Juice
1 cup Skim Milk
2 scoops ground Flax seed (the little measuring thing they give with whey protein powders)
2 scoops Whey Protein
1 TBS Cinnamon (It helps keep my blood sugar in check, I'm diabetic)
1.5 TBS Organic Peanut Butter

Before I drink that, I start my morning with some Planks, squats and some triceps pushup my friend showed me, it's from the p90x workout. Lay on your left side, and put your right hand on the floor, use your right hand to do as much of a pushup as you can manage while laying on your side. At over 350lbs I can't do many, nor can I do them as well as the guys in the video. I do as many as I can, then I do five more.

Today I also started some basic High Intensity Training, which is basically running full speed for about a minute or less and jogging for a minute or less as a cool down, repeat for 10 minutes. I need a pair of running shoes to continue to do this right, sandals won't cut it ! Getting some weights too, I've always read to tone muscle, you want to do lots of reps with small weights, to build big muscle you want to do few reps with huge weights. I'll be getting some small weights and doing a lot of reps.

Finished my 2 mile walk, and I'll be doing some more stuff later tonight. No donut tastes as good as a kiss from a pretty girl feels.

Being desired is a desirable thing,
~Gojira

Hey all, small update on what I'm doing.

Exercise
No walk today 'cause it's rainy, on and off.

I've been keeping up with my morning cardio, my evening cardio, my daily walk (sans today) and I started weightlifting 3x a week. 3 sets of 8 reps for now. Also I was told to lift no more than 3 days a week, as the downtime between lifting is where the magic happens. I'll be doing squats with some weights now and planks are still wrecking me, they're seriously tough for my body shape. I also had to lay off the high intensity training, it's too hard on my knees... One day I'll be able to run, just not today.

I'm going to start this program, it's a dumbbell only program:
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workout...rkout.html

Diet
I've been told to lay off the Tofu (soy), as it's full of estrogen. I guess I'll be having plain white chicken breast after I finish out the tofu I have left. I'm still very strict on my diet, lots of greens, morning shake, vitamins and fish oil, if I *need* a snack I'll have a carrot.

If I need more than a carrot I tell myself "Hunger pangs mean my stomach is shrinking, deal with it".

My Body
The size 46 jeans I was so glad to slip into used to be a tad snug, now they're a tad loose! Unfortunately, my stomach is still freaking huge. I keep reading at reddit fitness that weight loss is "first on, last off" meaning the first place you pack on the extra weight is the last place you lose it.

Personality
I've been working on positive affirmations while walking, "I am becoming an extroverted male" is the one I'm working on first. Working out has also helped make me feel more positive about myself and my life.

as3 also gave me really good advice -- It was to not put my insecurities on others. Until I heard it like that, I didn't realize how often I did that. Changing my personality has been an uphill battle, but I'm not quitting.

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress."
- Frederick Douglass


Thanks for reading,
~Gojira.

Hi there, Gojira.

First of all, congratulations. Seems like you are doing some consistent effort to get your goals. Remenber, change is not an event, is a process, so consistency is the key for any long term change you want to make.

Yea, leave the tofu alone. I´m not a doctor, but I keep fit all he year, been lifting for some years, spend some money hiring an expert nutritionsist, and have also make my research, so I can say I know couple of things about lifting and eating. I guess there are some members who can give you better advice, but also guess none of them will disagreee with most of what I´m about to say.

If you want to loose weight, you have to include a source of lean protein in all of your meals. Protein is what makes you "not hungry". You can use chicken, beef, tuna, eggs (only whites) and whey protein (it´s really convenient) as your main protein sources.

Also, keep eating lots of veggies, and some fruits, not all of them: apples, oranges, pineapple, strawberries are some of the good ones (low glycemic index)

Avoid: sugar, white flour, alcohol (drink a grass of red wine a day if you can´t help yourself), sodas.

Also, you have to know what are you going to eat for all the 5 or 6 meals you want to make a day. Plan ahead and only buy that you want to eat, it´s easier to stick to itif you always know what you are going to eat and already have it. Also, if you don´t have around anything you don´t want to eat, it´s a lot easier to not eat it.

You dumbell program sounds good enough. However, if you have access to a place where you can train with barbells, I recommendo you to take a look at this: http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-b...g-program/ You can find also some nutrution advice on the blog.

It´s a pretty simple method, only threee exercises per day, three days a week, but works great. Ridiculosuly effective to pack some muscle (and also loose some fat). You start with almost no weight (just with an empty barbell for most of the exercises), but you keep adding wheight each day you train, so you end up lifting pretty heavy in 2 or threee monts.

Hope this helps.

Talk to you soon.

Thanks much extraballislit !

I've completely cut out all sugar, soda, breads and I'm taking Tofu out and replacing it with skinless chicken -- I'm going to try for 6-8oz of chicken at most during dinner. For now, I'm enjoying a vegetarian lunch of caramelized onions, bell pepper, anaheim chillies and Mushrooms most days, and the smoothie I mentioned earlier for breakfast everyday.

My stubbornness supersedes my willpower, in this case it works because I won't cheat and I only eat my 3 meals a day. I got into this with the plan of a complete lifestyle change and I don't plan to quit when I feel I've lost enough weight.

I've also read great things about the Strong Lifts 5x5 Program, it was heavily recommended to me, as was the Starting Strength regiment. The dumbbell routine I have isn't as effective as the other programs, but due to a lack of funds and space to keep weight lifting gear I can't join a gym or buy more equipment for home. I would also like to add that with the amount of weight I have to lose, I feel that I need to start and end my day with some amount of cardio, I try and shoot for at least a half hour every morning and night as well as weight lifting 3 days a week.

Losing weight is definitely challenging, and just being able to have a Journal here where I can talk about whatever I'm doing helps keep me focused and dedicated -- even though weight loss isn't the primary point of this site, self improvement is a major part of it.


Thanks to all who've been supportive of me and my goals,
~Gojira.

So last night I went to visit my buddies, I felt pretty confident and content with myself. There was supposed to be some girls there so I put on 6" of AV, alas, the girls were his younger sister and her friends -- meaning, no girls, no report !

Either way, my ex roommates noticed I've lost a lot of weight and that was nice to hear. One of them said "Oh my GOD, you have lost a lot of weight". This guy and me had a bit of a blowout awhile back. I trust his opinion most because he doesn't beat around the bush and he doesn't lie to make people feel better about themselves. Honest to a fault, just like my friends.

Other than that, everything is going well weight loss wise. Lots to do, lots of weight to drop... Hopefully I'll be 75-100lbs lighter in 6-8 months.

So an interesting update, all around.

I picked up some Asics Enduro 4's the other day. They're technically a trail running shoe, but they're sooo comfy to walk in I figured they'd be fine for the street, now I can walk faster and greater distances without feeling fatigued from friction, today I shaved 10 minutes off my two mile walk.

Also I'm starting to see some muscle definition in my shoulders, I'm still losing weight in my legs, shoulders and back.. not as much fat loss in my stomach yet, which is unfortunate but I'm still getting smaller. I'm gaining muscle and losing fat, I've gained more muscle than fat loss so I gained weight on the scale, but my clothes are still getting progressively loose.

And now for the most interesting update: I started lifting weights partially due to a friend of mine losing a LOT of weight by lifting 3x a week, no cardio or anything, just lifting and dieting. So I started talking with him about it recently and he tells me he goes with his uncle to a friends garage. Apparently he's a good trainer, and he's been teaching him and letting him use his gear free, I'm sure it makes him feel good having a hand in transforming someone the way my friend has changed... Then my friend invited me to come down and workout with them, so I asked a little more about this trainer and apparently he was Mr Colorado in the late 70's, and he has a passion for getting people in shape. Not to mention all the top of the line equipment for weight lifting, a skilled eye making sure I'm doing it right, and the encouragement of 3 people who were as large as me and now aren't.

I'm really excited for the opportunity, my friend lost a grip of fat in a relatively short time, I'm really hoping this aides in my weight loss journey. I should start with them on Monday.


Keep it positive people,
~Gojira.

(01-25-2012 4:03 PM)Gojira Wrote:  So an interesting update, all around.

I picked up some Asics Enduro 4's the other day. They're technically a trail running shoe, but they're sooo comfy to walk in I figured they'd be fine for the street, now I can walk faster and greater distances without feeling fatigued from friction, today I shaved 10 minutes off my two mile walk.

Also I'm starting to see some muscle definition in my shoulders, I'm still losing weight in my legs, shoulders and back.. not as much fat loss in my stomach yet, which is unfortunate but I'm still getting smaller. I'm gaining muscle and losing fat, I've gained more muscle than fat loss so I gained weight on the scale, but my clothes are still getting progressively loose.

And now for the most interesting update: I started lifting weights partially due to a friend of mine losing a LOT of weight by lifting 3x a week, no cardio or anything, just lifting and dieting. So I started talking with him about it recently and he tells me he goes with his uncle to a friends garage. Apparently he's a good trainer, and he's been teaching him and letting him use his gear free, I'm sure it makes him feel good having a hand in transforming someone the way my friend has changed... Then my friend invited me to come down and workout with them, so I asked a little more about this trainer and apparently he was Mr Colorado in the late 70's, and he has a passion for getting people in shape. Not to mention all the top of the line equipment for weight lifting, a skilled eye making sure I'm doing it right, and the encouragement of 3 people who were as large as me and now aren't.

I'm really excited for the opportunity, my friend lost a grip of fat in a relatively short time, I'm really hoping this aides in my weight loss journey. I should start with them on Monday.


Keep it positive people,
~Gojira.

keep going bro i also started exercising starting the first week of January and i can already feel very lite
i'm also taking deer antler velvet and haven't gotten any sores what i do see is more energy sometimes it scares me a bit cuz i'm doing more than what i had thought i was going to do