Howdy from Flower Mound

Hi. My name is Brian, and I want to introduce myself. I’m relatively new to the site, but have been impressed so far.

Currently, my goal is to get down to 212 lbs. For the majority of my adult life, I’ve been bigger than most people. Likely, I’ll never be thin (right now, I’m the thinnest person in my family - 3 siblings, and several aunts, uncles, and cousins). Because of that, I’m trying to focus more on being athletic, as well as losing some weight. If I can be a muscular 212, I think I will look and feel pretty good (previously, I felt really good in that situation about 5-6 years ago).

I used to be much heavier than I am now. Ten years ago, due to a sedentary lifestyle, being an awesome cook (and loving good food), working a lot, and being indifferent toward my health, my weight ballooned to 260+ lbs. After some health issues, I decided to get healthier for my daughter and wife (ex now). My dad was heavy and unhealthy, and died young at age 58…I didn’t (and don’t) want to do that to my daughter. I saw a nutritionist, and with steeled discipline, I dropped to 188 lbs in about 8 months. But while I felt better, I didn’t feel great (I had a couple years since then where I felt better). I think that weight was a bit lighter than I like to be. Anyway, I made all of that progress, but wasn’t really getting support at home. My ex didn’t change anything (she is very thin, so she can eat anything), and started to nudge me to stop being so disciplined. I caved, and eventually weight started to come back. However, a lot of it was muscle that I added from being at the gym 5 x week. I was feeling great, even with the weight coming back.

However, my ex and I eventually got a divorce. That put me in a position that made it hard to exercise and eat right. My budget was insanely tight, so I couldn’t afford good food or a gym membership. And being a single-father, my workout time was cut dramatically anyway. I found a way to workout (not as much though – 2 x week), but my diet suffered, and I started adding bad weight. Since then, I also seem to date women who don’t value fitness and exercise, so that works against me as well.

The last person I dated (for nearly a year) was bad. Emotionally and physically she was in bad shape. She was pretty negative, so I completely fell off of the wagon, and got pretty depressed. We broke up a couple of months ago, and I had gotten up to 240 lbs, and was getting no physical activity.

Luckily, around the time of the break-up, I received a promotion at work and it’s given me the inspiration to try to get my health/fitness back in order. I’ve started working out pretty regularly, and focusing on eating better. For months, I wasn’t seeing any progress on the scale, but some has started. Previously, when I dropped all of the weight, it took years to start feeling toned. However, this time, after just a couple of months, my arms and chest are starting to firm up (but not the abs…never the abs…). This site was suggested by one of the people who work at our fitness center here at work, and I am loving it! I just found this community area, and it seems very cool. Hopefully I can become a part of the support and inspiration network that so many have on here. Maybe even hook up with some locals in DFW to get out and bike, sports, or other events.

I do have a question though. I want to be healthy, but my BMI has not been good for a long time. As a matter of fact, when I felt my best, and was lifting 5 x week, my BMI was still borderline obese. I’m wondering if I should focus more on losing weight, or getting exercise and feeling good? I love lifting, and it makes me feel good and confident. But if I’m obese, that doesn’t seem healthy. If anybody has any thoughts on that, I definitely welcome them.

Thanks! I look forward to having a great experience here while improving my health.