A little history on my struggles with fitness. I used to be a hardcore lifter and martial artist. When I graduated high school I had a 28 inch waist and a 56 inch chest. I measured 72 inches around my shoulders and had 30 inch thighs and 18 1/2 inch biceps. At 5'9" I weighed 195 pounds with 5% bodyfat and this was all natural. I was blessed with great genes and worked hard for what I had.
I remained in pretty good shape until I broke my back twice in a year when I was 24. I became totally sedentary, put on 50 pounds, and lost any semblance of muscle tone. Chronic pain and deep muscle spasms prevented me from lifting, and depression kept me from caring.
Over the years, I have continued to gain weight, regardless of my dietary habits or my level of activity. I plateued at 285 pounds (although thankfully my frame is big enough that almost nobody believes I even went 250) . For the last four years I have sat at that level of morbid obesity whether I ate 1000, 2000, 3000, or 6000 calories a day.
During this time, I was pretty stressed, between my job, my surroundings, and my declining health (arthritis in about half my joints, fibromyalgia, torn rotator cuff, etc.).
Eight weeks ago, I asked for a demotion at work so that I could move into a position with a fixed schedule and have time for my wife, mother, and hobbies. I've lost 20 pounds. I haven't changed my eating habits. I haven't exercised more. I have simply reduced my stress levels.
My goal now is to combine my more relaxed lifestyle with some moderate resistance training. If I can keep from injuring myself, I feel like I may be able to accelerate the shedding of pounds and that in turn should help with my other issues. I've accepted that a 41 year old in terrible physical condition is unlikely to ever regain the kind of power, speed, and flexibility he enjoyed at 18, but I pray he can at least manage to fit into a pair of 32 inch jeans (and not cause others to instantly projectile vomite when going shirtless) at some point before croaking.
I remained in pretty good shape until I broke my back twice in a year when I was 24. I became totally sedentary, put on 50 pounds, and lost any semblance of muscle tone. Chronic pain and deep muscle spasms prevented me from lifting, and depression kept me from caring.
Over the years, I have continued to gain weight, regardless of my dietary habits or my level of activity. I plateued at 285 pounds (although thankfully my frame is big enough that almost nobody believes I even went 250) . For the last four years I have sat at that level of morbid obesity whether I ate 1000, 2000, 3000, or 6000 calories a day.
Eight weeks ago, I asked for a demotion at work so that I could move into a position with a fixed schedule and have time for my wife, mother, and hobbies. I've lost 20 pounds. I haven't changed my eating habits. I haven't exercised more. I have simply reduced my stress levels.
My goal now is to combine my more relaxed lifestyle with some moderate resistance training. If I can keep from injuring myself, I feel like I may be able to accelerate the shedding of pounds and that in turn should help with my other issues. I've accepted that a 41 year old in terrible physical condition is unlikely to ever regain the kind of power, speed, and flexibility he enjoyed at 18, but I pray he can at least manage to fit into a pair of 32 inch jeans (and not cause others to instantly projectile vomite when going shirtless) at some point before croaking.
