6 Month Transformation Ongoing thread

[chrisfaceoff]

Well a little more than 6 months....

To sum up the backstory:

June 2015 I was blindsided by my fiance and she left me. 8 years together, stayed with her through her pharmacy school, and was getting ready to plan a wedding. She went on vacation with some of the girls she graduated school with to celebrate, and came back saying she found her soulmate and that we were through. No rhyme or reason, no desire to work out any issues(none were ever spoken of) and just throw 8 years down the drain. I was devastated, crushed, and left to pick up the pieces of what was left of my life. I battled a pretty deep depression(and still do), let my mind wander down a pretty dark path, didn't do much of anything but feel sorry for myself, and crawl inside my own mind. My own head and thoughts became my own worst enemy.

BUT THAT IS IN THE PAST, AND THAT'S WHERE I LEAVE IT

I started working out hoping that a physical change would boost me, but also selfishly bring her back, but slowly I started to enjoy working out and liked seeing all the progress I was making in the scale dropping and the weight I was able to lift. I dropped close to 50 pounds during this time.

Then I started having some pretty serious eye trouble. Being diabetic since I was 8(I am 29 now) and not taking care of myself the way I should be, I developed Diabetic Retinopathy and a blood vessel burst leaking blood in my right eye. I had several surgeries to repair the affected area, and contain it and then preventative surgery in my left eye to hopefully eliminate the risk of it happening in that eye. 7 Surgeries total in the span of about 6 months. I wasn't allowed to lift or even jog on the treadmill. Basically I was told to rest and let it heal. So I did. I finally got the OK to go back about a month and a half ago, but because I had already fallen out of my routine I somehow managed to come up every reason why I couldn't do it, and "I'll start tomorrow". Then tomorrow turned into "next week", and next week turned into "start of the new month".

It finally clicked for me last week that if I don't start NOW, I never will. My mind is finally in the right place to pick back up. It would be easier to say it will be a New Year's Resolution and start Jan 1, but fact of the matter is that if I wait until then I will only find another excuse, so today starts the second journey, My redemption story.

I am 29 Years old
I'm weighing in over 300 pounds
I've become complacent and accepted mediocrity from myself again after doing so well for myself before
My eating habits are terrible
I have Diabetes that I let get away from me and my sugars are always north of 250.
My A1C blood work last was over 11. (It should be between 6 and 7)
I have High Cholesterol
I have High Blood Pressure

I'm better than this. I will be better than this.


I'm going until June 1st. I want to look back at the old me and be proud of where I took myself and brought myself. I want to make healthier choices to carry with myself for not just 6 months but for the rest of my life.

I plan on doing 2 different workout programs I found on Bodybuilding.com. In addition to these workouts I have several other goals I want to accomplish during the next half year.

1) In April I am running my first 5K. - Full disclosure, I hate running. I hate the treadmill. I cant run long distances now without feeling like death. I don't mind cardio, but only if its in playing sports like Basketball or Volleyball. I don't have a time I want to complete it in because I have nothing benchmark it off of, I just want to complete it. Maybe I will take on a second 5K and set the goal of beating it in a portion of this first one, but for now the goal is completing something i always told myself I never did.

2) I want to lower my A1C test to under 8.0. This will be my hardest task. I need to check my sugar more, and be on top of my highs and lows. When my sugar crashes I panic and look for Junk to bring it back up, I need to break more mental habits than anything with this.

3) I want to finish my weigh in at June under 250 lbs

I understand there are going to be good days and bad days, and the bad days are going to bring me down, but I want to try and develop and take a positive out of EVERYDAY, even if it is completely minor.

I'm going to treat this post as a blog, and provide daily updates to hopefully to not only keep myself going, but maybe encourage others to start moving forward, or keep moving forward if they feel like they hit that wall. I welcome any encouraging words, advice or just positive vibes as I move along with the journey.


...And so the Journey Begins

[Soxrule111]

Sorry about the chick man.


Good luck on the Weight lose. Hopefully keeping this thread active will help you out. I to am hoping to drop about 40-50 next year, but its so hard to stay good lol.

[chrisfaceoff]

Thanks man. Yep, its the worst, but as long as I am seeing results, i will keep pushing on.

and its her loss. I beat myself up thinking it was me, but its not. Do I wish it never happened? absolutely. But there is a reason it did. I don't know what that is, but it serves a greater purpose.

But that's the past. Here's to looking toward the future!

[HBMC]

Nice to hear you are doing something proactive about your weight, it's always hard to get away from terrible habits. I am sorry to hear about your situation and health troubles. Those are a terrible combo for your emotional health. I too have depression and I have been down those dark paths, it is an awful place to be in.

For cardio (I hate running with the passion of the burning flames of 1,000 suns), I would suggest something that is low impact but high intensity (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or Greco-Roman Wrestling) if there is anything like that around your area. It will save your knees & ankles and will improve your overall fitness quickly. If that isn't your style, find a rec league for a sport you enjoy.

Best of luck!

[centereacan06]

Wishing you the best man.

And, you may already know this, but I'd suggest jumping rope if some days you don't want or can't run. Definitely the next best, if not the best, cardio exercise IMO.

[kukocitb]

good for you man! Cannot imagine going through that! Appreciate the story because I am out of shape and need to a better job of taking care of myself.

[PensFan29]

I'm here to follow this and I hope you keep a running log...accountability is a huge key to success. If you want to bounce any diet or supplement ideas off someone I am all ears as I worked in that industry for a while. Best wishes for you and the coming year!

[detroitlions]

Congrats on the decision to change OP, the biggest thing that helped me with distances is breaking the mental barriers that come with it, best of luck

[jcardstore]

Good luck! The hardest times are in the past and you're going to have an excellent future!

[chrisfaceoff]

Day 1:


Starting weight is a disgusting and embarrassing 311.2 Pounds.

Still concerned about busting a vessel if I go too heavy too quick with lifting so I am easing my way back in to the weights this week before starting the workout routine next week to see where I'm at.

Did 3 sets on an incline bench press today 12, 10, and 8 with adding weight each time.

Finished up with 35 mins on the treadmill going for 1.75 miles and burning over 300 calories.

Had some grilled chicken and veggies for dinner and have some leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

I'm cutting myself off from eating at 7PM every night. eating late killed me, and its killing me now to not have anything for the game haha.

Tomorrow is gonna be some more walking and cardio, slowly increasing my distance and speed little by little.

Positive: Paid for the year, went down and got started. Didn't go as long on the treadmill as I would have liked but made the best of what I did and worked up a nice sweat.

[g8rzfan]

Change is always good. Been going through the break up process. About 9-10 months ago I checked into a crossfit bootcamp at about 380 lbs. I'm now sitting at 314 and hitting prs weekly on lifts and living pretty happily.

We all start somewhere. You've got this.

I'm on an awesome macro diet where if it fits I eat it and I get a cheat meal every week to keep my metabolism going.

All in all you have to do it for you and be selfish for you and no one else.

[Branesergen]

Good luck to you man! I don't know you and you don't know me but I have a feeling you can pull this off! Don't over extend yourself and just keep moving forward. Getting started is the hard part. You got this!

[PensFan29]

Originally Posted by chrisfaceoff

Day 1:


Starting weight is a disgusting and embarrassing 311.2 Pounds.

Still concerned about busting a vessel if I go too heavy too quick with lifting so I am easing my way back in to the weights this week before starting the workout routine next week to see where I'm at.

Did 3 sets on an incline bench press today 12, 10, and 8 with adding weight each time.

Finished up with 35 mins on the treadmill going for 1.75 miles and burning over 300 calories.

Had some grilled chicken and veggies for dinner and have some leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

I'm cutting myself off from eating at 7PM every night. eating late killed me, and its killing me now to not have anything for the game haha.

Tomorrow is gonna be some more walking and cardio, slowly increasing my distance and speed little by little.

Positive: Paid for the year, went down and got started. Didn't go as long on the treadmill as I would have liked but made the best of what I did and worked up a nice sweat.

What are you using as a healthy snack between meals?

Rowing is great low impact cardio too. Might be beneficial as you lose the weight before you get into too much running. Losing the weight first would help your joints a lot when 5k training.

[chrisfaceoff]

Originally Posted by PensFan29

What are you using as a healthy snack between meals?

Rowing is great low impact cardio too. Might be beneficial as you lose the weight before you get into too much running. Losing the weight first would help your joints a lot when 5k training.

I have some 100 calorie almond packs, and was going to stick to apple slices or carrot and celery sticks. I'm a pretty picky eater, so I am open to come recommendations.

I hate peanut butter so don't include that haha.

I'll take that rowing advice. Might use that as a warmup exercise tonight. Was going to do some leg presses today and then some elliptical or the bike tonight.

[PensFan29]

Almonds are great and have healthy fats. You can couple them with celery or apples, but those by themselves have few calories and won't do as much good.


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[TarjetasBéisbol]

Good luck to you!

[tennelson55]

Originally Posted by chrisfaceoff

Well a little more than 6 months....

To sum up the backstory:

June 2015 I was blindsided by my fiance and she left me. 8 years together, stayed with her through her pharmacy school, and was getting ready to plan a wedding. She went on vacation with some of the girls she graduated school with to celebrate, and came back saying she found her soulmate and that we were through. No rhyme or reason, no desire to work out any issues(none were ever spoken of) and just throw 8 years down the drain. I was devastated, crushed, and left to pick up the pieces of what was left of my life. I battled a pretty deep depression(and still do), let my mind wander down a pretty dark path, didn't do much of anything but feel sorry for myself, and crawl inside my own mind. My own head and thoughts became my own worst enemy.

BUT THAT IS IN THE PAST, AND THAT'S WHERE I LEAVE IT

I started working out hoping that a physical change would boost me, but also selfishly bring her back, but slowly I started to enjoy working out and liked seeing all the progress I was making in the scale dropping and the weight I was able to lift. I dropped close to 50 pounds during this time.

Then I started having some pretty serious eye trouble. Being diabetic since I was 8(I am 29 now) and not taking care of myself the way I should be, I developed Diabetic Retinopathy and a blood vessel burst leaking blood in my right eye. I had several surgeries to repair the affected area, and contain it and then preventative surgery in my left eye to hopefully eliminate the risk of it happening in that eye. 7 Surgeries total in the span of about 6 months. I wasn't allowed to lift or even jog on the treadmill. Basically I was told to rest and let it heal. So I did. I finally got the OK to go back about a month and a half ago, but because I had already fallen out of my routine I somehow managed to come up every reason why I couldn't do it, and "I'll start tomorrow". Then tomorrow turned into "next week", and next week turned into "start of the new month".

It finally clicked for me last week that if I don't start NOW, I never will. My mind is finally in the right place to pick back up. It would be easier to say it will be a New Year's Resolution and start Jan 1, but fact of the matter is that if I wait until then I will only find another excuse, so today starts the second journey, My redemption story.

I am 29 Years old
I'm weighing in over 300 pounds
I've become complacent and accepted mediocrity from myself again after doing so well for myself before
My eating habits are terrible
I have Diabetes that I let get away from me and my sugars are always north of 250.
My A1C blood work last was over 11. (It should be between 6 and 7)
I have High Cholesterol
I have High Blood Pressure

I'm better than this. I will be better than this.


I'm going until June 1st. I want to look back at the old me and be proud of where I took myself and brought myself. I want to make healthier choices to carry with myself for not just 6 months but for the rest of my life.

I plan on doing 2 different workout programs I found on Bodybuilding.com. In addition to these workouts I have several other goals I want to accomplish during the next half year.

1) In April I am running my first 5K. - Full disclosure, I hate running. I hate the treadmill. I cant run long distances now without feeling like death. I don't mind cardio, but only if its in playing sports like Basketball or Volleyball. I don't have a time I want to complete it in because I have nothing benchmark it off of, I just want to complete it. Maybe I will take on a second 5K and set the goal of beating it in a portion of this first one, but for now the goal is completing something i always told myself I never did.

2) I want to lower my A1C test to under 8.0. This will be my hardest task. I need to check my sugar more, and be on top of my highs and lows. When my sugar crashes I panic and look for Junk to bring it back up, I need to break more mental habits than anything with this.

3) I want to finish my weigh in at June under 250 lbs

I understand there are going to be good days and bad days, and the bad days are going to bring me down, but I want to try and develop and take a positive out of EVERYDAY, even if it is completely minor.

I'm going to treat this post as a blog, and provide daily updates to hopefully to not only keep myself going, but maybe encourage others to start moving forward, or keep moving forward if they feel like they hit that wall. I welcome any encouraging words, advice or just positive vibes as I move along with the journey.


...And so the Journey Begins

sucks about the lady man, i feel for ya.
my father's a diabetic and he struggles with his glucose levels as well. sadly his weight is correlated with his glucose levels.
OP i suggest typing or writing down EVERYTHING you eat. the snacks add up. i've seen my father guzzle down ice cream after dinner and i just shake my head.
as for the diet stuff, write is down and tally it up caloric wise. i also reccomend not doing strength training/weights. if you're trying to lose weight by lifting weights you're counteracting what you're trying to accomplish. you want fast heart rate consistantly and the best way to do that; running. i will add that humans are supposed to walk an average of 4-6 miles a day. if you can get 8 miles total for your day i'd say you're doing a lot and will probably start to lose actual weight.
remember that your body is very resilent and that it will take a long time to lose weight. i would say if you lose 1 lbs a week that's a lot. don't look at your weight daily either, it will just harp on you. i've found that i can weight 5 lbs in either direction on a given day.
best of luck to you and gl on the task! it'll take a lot of work that you know you can do. just put in the work and you'll get your answer.

[JosieD]

1. You got this. I can tell you are going to own it!
2. We are here to support you.
3. If I can finish a 5k, you can finish a 5k. I had to walk but I have lung disease.

[ThoseBackPages]

Sorry about your female issue (past tense)

you CAN do this.

i am a type 2. ive managed to get it under control with diet and exercise. i walk. at least three miles a day. PORTION control is essential, especially when first starting. i do not eat man made sugar at all, and have not for nearly 7 years now.

[PensFan29]

Originally Posted by tennelson55

sucks about the lady man, i feel for ya.
my father's a diabetic and he struggles with his glucose levels as well. sadly his weight is correlated with his glucose levels.
OP i suggest typing or writing down EVERYTHING you eat. the snacks add up. i've seen my father guzzle down ice cream after dinner and i just shake my head.
as for the diet stuff, write is down and tally it up caloric wise. i also reccomend not doing strength training/weights. if you're trying to lose weight by lifting weights you're counteracting what you're trying to accomplish. you want fast heart rate consistantly and the best way to do that; running. i will add that humans are supposed to walk an average of 4-6 miles a day. if you can get 8 miles total for your day i'd say you're doing a lot and will probably start to lose actual weight.
remember that your body is very resilent and that it will take a long time to lose weight. i would say if you lose 1 lbs a week that's a lot. don't look at your weight daily either, it will just harp on you. i've found that i can weight 5 lbs in either direction on a given day.
best of luck to you and gl on the task! it'll take a lot of work that you know you can do. just put in the work and you'll get your answer.

i'm not sure who told you you can't lose weight by lifting, but they are wrong. lifting builds muscle...the body burns more calories maintaining muscle than fat...therefore lifting burns calories. additionally, high rep sets at set intervals keep the heart rate working at a steady state which is ideal for longer term weight loss. if you lose the weight but don't have a body built underneath, then you haven't really done much except change a number.

it's not weight training OR cardio, it's finding the middle ground of both.

[chrisfaceoff]

Originally Posted by PensFan29

i'm not sure who told you you can't lose weight by lifting, but they are wrong. lifting builds muscle...the body burns more calories maintaining muscle than fat...therefore lifting burns calories. additionally, high rep sets at set intervals keep the heart rate working at a steady state which is ideal for longer term weight loss. if you lose the weight but don't have a body built underneath, then you haven't really done much except change a number.

it's not weight training OR cardio, it's finding the middle ground of both.

This is my mentality. For the last time I started going, I was focus don strictly cardio. It wasn't until I started focusing on weights that I noticed the weight dropping faster and building up a better endurance.

As for the amount of cardio I squeeze in, I have a sedentary job, so I try to walk on my breaks and then do at least 30 mins at the gym. The weather right now is pretty brutal so I'm trying to put it in as much as possible. I usually end up with 4-6 miles at the end of the day between everything.

once the weather gets better, the pup will be happy because we will be going on some extra long walks!

[TarjetasBéisbol]

Originally Posted by tennelson55

i also reccomend not doing strength training/weights. if you're trying to lose weight by lifting weights you're counteracting what you're trying to accomplish.

I hate to see stuff like this, posting info that is not based on any facts, but it is very common all over the internet. The whole key to getting into shape is mixing things up and fooling your body, mix in weight training, running, and aerobic exercise to get to the point you want to reach. You can't just say that one thing will work, you have to find out what works for you and stay dedicated to finding it.

[NeedChapmans]

Chris, congratulations on the post, on recognizing where you are and where you want to be ... it's a lot harder than people realize to look at yourself in the mirror and see that things need to change (and then change them).

In that vein, I'd like to offer you a challenge. You say you'd like to get to 250 lbs by June, and I'd like to challenge you to do better. If you can get to 240 lbs by July 1st, I'll send this card to you for completing the task.



I don't know you but based only on your BO and eBay profile, I assume it's a card you'd like to own. If you're up for it, let me know. If you're not, then that's OK too.

[PensFan29]

Originally Posted by NeedChapmans

Chris, congratulations on the post, on recognizing where you are and where you want to be ... it's a lot harder than people realize to look at yourself in the mirror and see that things need to change (and then change them).

In that vein, I'd like to offer you a challenge. You say you'd like to get to 250 lbs by June, and I'd like to challenge you to do better. If you can get to 240 lbs by July 1st, I'll send this card to you for completing the task.



I don't know you but based only on your BO and eBay profile, I assume it's a card you'd like to own. If you're up for it, let me know. If you're not, then that's OK too.

Oh snap!


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[TarjetasBéisbol]

Originally Posted by NeedChapmans

Chris, congratulations on the post, on recognizing where you are and where you want to be ... it's a lot harder than people realize to look at yourself in the mirror and see that things need to change (and then change them).

In that vein, I'd like to offer you a challenge. You say you'd like to get to 250 lbs by June, and I'd like to challenge you to do better. If you can get to 240 lbs by July 1st, I'll send this card to you for completing the task.

I don't know you but based only on your BO and eBay profile, I assume it's a card you'd like to own. If you're up for it, let me know. If you're not, then that's OK too.

Oh yes...carrots, carrots always work! That is one fine carrot too!