21 again before 35

joshdann

Hello!

I'm a 33-yr old man in North Texas, starting again the journey of physical self improvement. I've made a commitment to myself to be at least at the same weight and body composition I was when I was 21, by the time I turn 35. When I started this, my goal gave me about 15 months to lose about 110 lbs of fat and gain about 10 lbs of muscle. Of course I'm unsure of the exact numbers, but my overall weight needs to drop about 100 lbs, and I think I'm close on the breakdown.

A bit of background on me: I am 6'6", a former offensive lineman (high school) with the build to match. When I was 20 years old, 3 years out of high school, I weighed 300lbs and decided to get in the best shape of my life. and I did! In 4.5 months I dropped 85 lbs, down to 215 and in absolutely fantastic shape. I was a better athlete then than I had ever been while playing organized sports. I was lifting weights 3-4 days per week, and playing racquetball on all the days I wasn't lifting. It really was the peak of my physical condition, although I was no body builder.

Well, of course, things happened and I lost my routine. My roommate / workout buddy moved 3.5 hours away. I got busier with my career (technology... lots of desk time), and I simply fell out of the habit of going to the gym. A few years later, I'm 24 and up to 245 but still in pretty good shape overall. I meet a wonderful woman and fall in love. 5 years later we're planning a wedding and trying to get back in shape... I was 305 by that point. I managed to get down to 285 before the wedding, but I think we all know how long that lasted.

Fast forward a few more years and I have a little bit of a wakeup call. My father tells me he's been diagnosed with Type II diabetes at age 62. He's had other health problems, and while he's not exactly dying, I know I'm headed for a similar state before too long. I go out of town for a couple weeks for work, eating on the company dime... and get back home, look in the mirror, and think "WTF". I step on the scale. Three. Five. Zero. This %@&^ has to end. That was July 2012.

By January, I was down to 295! Not skinny by any means, but well on my way. I was mostly just eating right and hiking a lot. Really not hiking, but playing a sport called disc golf that I've enjoyed for 12+ years... it's basically hiking with a 10 lb bag on your back. Anyway, I got complacent *again*, didn't set myself up with the right tools, and I fell out of the routine. again. I gained 25 lbs back from January to July 2013.

So, there I sat. getting fatter again. Hating it. Wanting to do something about it. knowing that I had to do something different if it was going to stick this time. Thankfully, my wife decides to get on board. She's always been supportive of me, but she also wants to shed a few pounds, so we're going to do this together. She doesn't have nearly as much to lose as I do, but she's ready and willing to work out together, eat better, and keep each other motivated. Fantastic!

Now, here I am. I started by buying a Fitbit One, and tracking my daily activity. This has been a huge step in the right direction. I'm a computer nerd, and there is really nothing like empirical data. I more recently added MFP to the mix, which is great b/c of the community, the awesome food database, and the reporting functionality. Just a few days ago I also added Runkeeper, which is (at least for now) successfully sending the data I generate there to MFP, where I can correlate my heart out. My wife and I joined LA Fitness, bought some new workout clothes (that hopefully won't fit anymore in a few months) and have committed to at least 3 days per week in the gym and at least an hour walking/biking when not in the gym.

My goal of 21 again before 35 means I want to be 215 lbs by 10/30/2014. There are tons of other little goals to help me reach that major one, like calorie intake, steps measured by fitbit, distance measured by runkeeper, etc. I am even trying to get back into some of my old football offseason ways - increasing the various weights I work out with by small amounts each week. I'm also going to take up running, slowly... 310ish lbs is a /lot/ for my legs to absorb on concrete, so I'll ramp that part up as I drop weight.

Fourteen days ago (7/26/2013) I was 320 lbs. This morning I weighed in at just over 308. The first 50 is going to be way easier than the last 50, but I'm happy with the path I've put myself on.

I'd really love to hear from other guys in a similar situation. I'm a very large framed individual at 6'6", so my weight numbers won't match the majority of people. If there are other BMFs (big mother...) out there on MFP, please hit me up! Any tips, techniques, running advice, etc... I'm all ears. I'm going to make this happen. I'm not going to become another statistic. When I turn 35, I will be in as good of shape as I have ever been... maybe better

thanks for reading!

Josh