Resolve.

I am an addict, and I’m angry. I am angry at myself for flinching at every attempt to eat healthy, live healthy and improve myself. I am angry at my society, who is accepting of such high levels of obesity and mediocrity. I have handed my life over to food companies who play on my mental weaknesses to fatten their bottom line and bleed away my health and productivity. In my current state, my body is a poor excuse for a human’s, laden down with excess fat, high blood pressure and flabby resolve. Failure builds on failure, and every time I stick my arm out that window, waving my money at the wage slave whose job it is deliver my fix, I’m that much further from success.

No more. Control is mine and I have given it away for too long. Today I take back control over myself. I’ve spent long enough KNOWING what to do about it. The time has come to DO IT. Today is November 24, 2008. As of this date, I am 270 pounds, with a size 48 pair of pants and a 3XL shirt. I resolve, starting NOW, to lose 2 pounds of fat a week, for the next 55 weeks. By this date, I will weigh 160 pounds and wear a size 30 pant.

I am done with fast food. Fast food is the human equivalent of animal feed. Those in seats of power hold their rule through the use of this nutritionally barren slop. Dollar menu? Fuck you. Feed the masses with cheap, readily available food whose nutritive value falls somewhere between what it resembles and the packaging it comes in, and you’ll keep them dull, fat, and complacent – just like a lot full of cattle.

I am ready to change. I have seen too much time pass being less than I know that I can be. I am ready to meet the man who I know lives inside me. I’m ready to be ME.

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle - Suggested Reading

Well, it’s been a good long while since I last posted here. After my daughter was born in April, a lot of things in my life fell by the wayside as our family adjusted to the new addition. Things have somewhat leveled out and I’m ready to get back to work with a vengeance. I’ve decided to post a bit about a book that inspired this entire blog, as well as my lifestyle change. This book is Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. If you’ve searched around the internet for fitness books, it’s likely that you’ve come across it at least once.

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is an eBook authored by Tom Venuto, a professional bodybuilder and trainer who decided that too much misinformation had been passed on to the general public regarding losing fat and getting into shape. His book lays out, in scientific detail, what precisely is needed to get fit and lose fat. Notice, I said FAT, not weight, because the two things are not the same. BFFM (with a title like that, wouldn’t you abbreviate too?) discusses the three main pillars of getting into and staying in shape – motivation and mindset, diet, and exercise. There are also chapters on supplements and even a chapter on WATER – an untapped fat loss resource that is vitally important.

Let me say that this is the most important purchase I have made or will ever make for my health and fitness. After reading this book, I know that it is no longer a matter of whether or not I get into the best shape of my life, but WHEN. This is not a book that holds your hand and tells you what to eat and when to eat it – it gives you the information and the tools you need to empower you to decide what to eat, when to eat it, what methods of exercise work and how to implement them. Rather than give you a fish and feed you for a day, Tom teaches you how to fish, so you can feed yourself for the rest of your life.

If you haven’t figured it out already, I am very impressed by this book and I encourage everyone who reads this to visit his site and take a look at what Mr. Venuto has to offer. Starting this weekend, I will begin posting my weekly pics, along with my stats to this blog. This way you can see how well BFFM actually works.

Until next time, remember, those who quit never see their true potential.

X

Habits

Here it is, one month into my challenge, and I haven’t gotten it yet. I started off well enough, resolving to change, making little changes along the way, but more often than not, I’m still relying on excuses and not placing the responsibility where it belongs: on myself. The reason for the change in posting photos of myself was due more to my reluctance to make the time to take them. This past weekend, not only did I not take my monthly photos, I also forgot to take any measurements at all, either on the scale or with the tape measure. This did not occur to me until this morning, when my mind turned to what I would be eating for lunch. For a moment, I told myself, well, I’ll just delete this whole blog and just start from scratch. Then I thought about it – what a better way to show how difficult this is than to admit to my falls off the wagon and show myself and anyone else following along how close I came to giving up. Once my goal is reached, I’ll be able to look back and see how far I’ve come.

When I came up with the idea for this blog, I decided that no matter what happened, I would push through all the bad times because I REFUSE TO LIVE THIS WAY ANYMORE. There’s really all there is to it. I must make myself see that I will make mistakes, but I cannot fail if I refuse to give up. A mistake is just an effect, without a positive or negative label. If I do not like the effect I’m getting, it is up to me to change the cause that created it.

I think one point of misguidance I’ve given myself is to look too far ahead and say, “I’m going to eat X and exercise Y all week this week”. I need to narrow my focus and deal with the moment I’m living in, rather than TRY for some nonexistent future moment.

Starting A New Way of Life is Hard

Well, here it is, three weeks after my first post and I have discovered how difficult it is to keep a blog current while busy with a full-time job and two kids. As I type, I do so one-handed while holding my two-month-old daughter. But, in the end, everything is just an excuse, so without further ado, the pictures I promised:

I have decided that weekly photographs would not be worth anything, since there would be no visible difference at this point, so I will take and post montly pictures from this point on.

I have been faithful to my dietary changes, but have not been as consistent with my exercise, which has been sporadic at best. Nevertheless, my weight loss has been steady. Here are the numbers from the first week:

June 8, 2008

257.6 lbs.

52.4% bodyfat
Neck: 16.75

Shoulders: 50"

Arm: 15.25"

Chest: 47"

Waist: 50.5"

Hips: 47.25"

Thigh: 28.75
Calf: 17"

Weight loss was approximately 3 pounds, with the measurements staying pretty steady. The week of June 15th was less than successful, as I did not have time to measure myself, but was able to take a weight reading, which was as follows:

June 15, 2008

254 lbs.

52.6% bodyfat

This past week has been difficult for both exercise and eating right, and my numbers show accordingly. However, where I would have been detered, I have now adopted a healthier approach towards and difficulites that may arise - as long as you live, there are no failures, only feedback - its what you choose to do with that feedback that really matters. Having said that, here are my numbers:

June 22, 2008

256 lbs.

56.1% bodyfat (somehow I doubt this, but thats what the scale said)

Neck: 17.25"

Shoulders: 50"

Chest: 45.75"

Arm: 15.75"

Waist: 50"

Hips: 48.75"

Thigh: 28.25"

Calf: 17"

In the week to come, I'll renew my resolve and look for ways to work exercise and posting entries into my schedule (I call it a schedule, but schedule somehow implies some level of control and lack of chaos, which I do not have). Part of my purpose behind getting in shape however, is gaining some control over my life, so acknowledging this is vital to what I'm doing.

The Journey Begins...

I am done. What a better way to start the first post of a new blog than with that sentence, but it’s true. I’m done with being fat. Ever since I was nine years old, I have been fat. I have had it with the low self-esteem and all the other issues that come with being fat. Consider this my manifesto of intent. Today I begin a new way of life, one that no longer accepts the ways of the past. For the first 30 years of my life, I have sat around, reacting to the world around me, without taking any real steps towards fitness, be it physical or mental. The way I see it, if I begin one, the other will follow close behind.

This blog is my way of keeping me honest and on track. I will post once a week, and will include a photo of myself along with my weight and body measurements. I’ve seen a lot of sites that give you the before and after of someone’s body transformation, but very few that give any insight into the during. Here are my current numbers, as of June 1, 2008.

260.5 lbs.
53% body fat


Neck: 16.75"
Shoulders: 48"
Chest: 46"
Upper Arm: 14.5"
Waist: 50.5"
Hips: 48.75"
Thigh: 29"

These body measurements may be excessive, but what the hell, if you’re gonna do something, you might as well be thorough, right?

I will post a picture before the week is done, but as of this post, I have been unable to take and upload the pic.

Fat Man X Challenge

For the term of this blog, my goal is to spend the next 8 months dropping as much fat as safely possible, while gaining lean muscle. I’ve laid it out as follows:

Start date: June 1, 2008
End date: February 1, 2009

8 month goal: 65 lbs
6 month goal: 48 lbs
3 month goal: 24 lbs

Weight at end of 8 months: 195 lbs

You may be asking, why 8 months? Why not 9 months or just a whole year? The reason behind it is simple. While making a purchase, I pulled out my driver’s license to show to the cashier and while putting it back in my wallet, I realized that it was due for a renewal in February 2009. I also realized that I really didn’t want to be the person in that picture or that weight any longer. The idea for the Fat Man X Challenge was born that day.