Hey man! Thanks for sharing all that. Stories like yours is part of the reason this forum is interesting. I don't know about others but I don't want an endless repetition of how to workout and what to eat on this site. It feels good to know that we aren't struggling alone.
[QUOTE=saiyandide;1565009321]I started in 2010 I was at about 320lbs I am only 5'10 married full time job 3 kids and a flight of stairs might as well be a death sentence. I knew enough was enough. I joined here started to learn what I needed to do to lose the fat and build muscle. I tracked my eating, kept a strong deficit started to eat clean good food. Against all the nay sayers at work and my own wife I ended the same year at 210lbs still fat but not even close to what I looked like before.I was down 12 pant sizes stronger then ever before and a flight of stairs was not even going to wind me to run up. [QUOTE]
Congrats on being able to do all that and actually achieve impressive results. You seem clearly capable of doing these things and succeeding. It's good to have actual evidence in your history of your abilities.
[QUOTE=saiyandide;1565009321]
Then after all my hard work fighting and scrapping to be the best I could my wife introduced me to World of Warcraft. As STUPID as it sounds I got hooked and fast. Before I knew it every free moment at home was not spent walking/jogging for a few miles at night.I was eating Chinese food and pizza every night leveling my character. My lunch breaks stopped being a hard push at the gym to the hardest I could push in a 60 minute time frame. I was instead saving the virtual world of Azeroth.
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Just curious here! What's your wife like? I mean, is she skinny? regular? plus-size?
Also, it's good that you seem to have identified some weaknesses that keep you away from becoming who you wish to be. Once you realise how certain habits and indulgences make you go back to the lifestyle that resulted in you losing control of your fitness, the only rational thing to do is to avoid them at all cost. At the very least, figure out a strict system where your exposure to such things (ex. games) is heavily regulated and controlled.
[QUOTE=saiyandide;1565009321]
I am at about 4 weeks now and have gone from 298 to 277 large loss of water to be expected for the first few weeks. I really feel back in my grove temptations are pretty much null and void to me. My brain really feels like I am back in the right mindset for the first time in so so long. My support is low but my now 14 year old sees what I am doing and I know on some level he has my back. Like before my wife is skeptical saying I am in my 30s now its impossible blah blah blah. [QUOTE]
Congrats on losing that 21 lbs. If you indeed aren't being tempted and feeling motivated, that's really good. I hear people struggling and constantly complaining about temptations. I'm sure your kid has you back! I am not exactly sure what the deal with your wife is though. Saying you can't do this because you are in your 30s is one of the dumbest reasons one could give for not supporting you. Not to mention that if I assume that you'll die around 85-90, in that case, the majority of your life still lies ahead of you. How is now not an amazing time for a transformation then? There are no biological reasons holding you back either. I'll be honest, as I read more of your thing, I get more curious to know what exactly her (your wife's) deal is.
[QUOTE=saiyandide;1565009321]
People at this new job only have known Fat Me. It isn't till I recently showed them pictures of me at my lowest, my happiest that they realize that I am not just one of the fat fade dieters in the building. I got my best motivation today from one of the women that work there that is a fitness trainer at her local YMCA and by far the fittest person in the building. She asked me in the lunch room what I was eating (8oz chicken and steambag broc****) she gave me "THAT LOOK" the look a person gives a fat person that is yet again on "diet" that will never work out and a "yeah good luck with that". That doubt, as stupid as it sounds will help fuel me further and further. [/QUOTE]
LMAO! I know! There are people like that. She reminds me of this trainer guy who mocked my lack of strength and would comment about how much more he lifts in between spotting my sets. Despite not being a professional, I out-squatted and out-deadlifted him both in absolute and relative-to-bodyweight terms after some 1-1.5 years of training. However, there were other trainers around me who always tried to motivate me. I think it'll save us a lot of emotional-energy if we just ignore idiots like that.
But here's the thing. I am not writing this to be rude or anything. It does get a bit frustrating to see people do the whole yoyo dieting thing. Atkins now, Weight Watchers next time, Paleo after that, HipHop Abs after that, etc. It really gets frustrating to see anyone endlessly recycling things like that. However, that is no excuse for anyone to demotivate you. My approach would be to perhaps discuss other approaches with you and share why I think you may be setting yourself up for failure instead of making you feel bad for trying to put in the effort!
I think that part of the reason we want to be muscular, stronger, fitter etc is linked to how we think others perceive us. That is to say that we care about it because we care about the image we wish to present to others. That is normal and very human. However, even if as a mental health conditioning exercise, I think one should never allow that to be the primary motivator. I think by thinking that way, we move the source of our motivation and drive so far out of us and external to us that we fail to build that intrinsic and self-driven spirit. Think about it! You were willing to play your video games to the point that it ruined all your progress and set you back so much. No matter how fat you got or how unfit you became, you kept at it. Who was forcing you to devote yourself that much to it? It was something negative but internally driven. You constantly leveled-up and made progress in your game because YOU felt like doing it and YOU felt good. In a similar sense, I think the more you start mentally framing your fitness goals in terms of your desires and learn to want them for yourself, you will have great success. Yes I know that many will tell you things such as "You will do this to show THEM they were wrong!". I see how that could work for some people but that's not the mindset I'd like to have. I'd rather focus on learning to do the right things because I have deprived myself of the great things I could have had. I want to be bigger, stronger and fitter because I realised that my stupid actions kept me from being that way. Others can feel free to inspire, motivate, support and cheer for me in this journey. However, I am not doing this for anyone else besides myself. If I fail, others don't gain a pound or lose their strength. It's me who I'll make suffer.
Sorry for the long and kinda preachy post :P
I hope you keep us updated about your activities.
FAHIM