Introducing....

SoCalSwimmerDude

Me! I joined up w/ MFP about 2 weeks ago and have lost a total of 8lbs. I grew up a competitive swimmer my entire life and through college. Because of this, I ate HUGE portions and basically whatever I wanted (don't be fooled, the swimmers you see at the Olympics don't always have steller diets until they get older). Ah, but then I graduated college, didn't want to even put my toes in the water (6 miles a day for 15 yrs will do that to you), but I continued to eat just like I always did. Within 1 yr, I gained approx 50 pounds. By the way, this was about 5 yrs ago. I then starved myself and ate the wrong way and did a little working out to lose those 50. It easily took over a year to do this as I was always up and down.

For the past 3-4 yrs I've kept the entire 50lbs off, but have fluctuated 10-20 and I'm finally committed to doing it the right way. Additionally, 4 yrs ago I married a vegetarian. Slowly but surely, she got me interested in veggies. Because we always eat the same meals, I somehow became Mr. Cook. I've discovered a passion for cooking healthy food for me (sometimes w/ meat) and for her (never with meat). It's allowed me to make really healthy food tasty. I don't follow recipes, I simply choose the ingrediants and say, "Hmmm...should I make this italian, mexican, asian, or just throw some salt/pepper/onion/garlic on it?"

Through my wifes knowledge of the various nutrients different foods give you (a must if you're going to be a vegetarian) and the information I gathered from numerous seminars and training while being a swimmer (even though I didn't abide by it), my food and excercise knowledge, I've discovered, is pretty darn legit.

So here I am... looking to lose about 20 pounds and start getting ripped again like I did in the swimming days. This is the first time I've ever counted calories and even more so, the first time I've counted nutrients and vitamins. Its been very interesting these first few weeks to see how I eat naturally and then supplement that with various foods to ensure I'm getting all the nutrients I need. If there is one person I hope to inspire, it would be my sister.

I think MFP is a great community and especially unique. Glad to be here.

kennysrush

Welcome from a non-competitive, once high school swim team, swimmer! This program is working great for me!