fishermanmatt Member

I'm 6'4" tall and 39 years old. Before at around 530 Still at it but here's a during at around 320 (slightly over two years later).

Great job! Just keep doing it one day at a time. You'll amaze yourself at what you can accomplish.

I've never been to Planet Fitness so I can't comment on it so mine is on gyms in general and being a overweight person in them. It's quoted from a page I wrote on my gyms website. A link: http://platformgym.com/?p=426 "Joining a gym is intimidating. I was 470 pounds in September 2012. I had lost 50 pounds in the months…

I use a Polar (FT80 to be exact). I paid a lot but never use the extra functions that are built into it. The lower models be Pilor (like the FT4 mentioned earlier) have all the functions that I use. While auto syncing would be nice, it only takes 30 seconds to create a cardio exercise, enter a time and add the calorie…

Social Distortion - Reach for the Sky, Winners and Losers, Don't Drag Me Down Rancid - Killing Zone, Fall Back Down, Radio Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies, The Seven Deadly Sins, Black Friday Rule The Clash - Train in Vain, Police on my Back The Offspring - Gone Away NOFX - Linoleum Bleachers - I want to get better Die…

Congratulations on all your success Brookie! Through the good days and sometimes not so good days, you inspire me daily. I'm so glad you made this post to let others see what your pals already know, Brookie is awesome! Keep up the great work my friend!

First off, congrats on what you've accomplished to date. I started out at a similar size a bit earlier. I've been going at it 715 days now and I'm down around 200. Keep it up, you're doing great! I've found the truth on calorie burns lies somewhere between the high number MFP gives and the lower number the exercise…

Inspiring story. You look amazing. Congrats!

When I started out other forms of exercise hurt so I stuck to the pool and swam. I would do laps for an hour 5-6 times per week. Combined with a healthy diet, it's how I lost my first 50 pounds.

Echoing what others have said. If you want to start running, them start running. I think it's good to push yourself but listen to your body and don't overdo it. I started C25k at 375 pounds. It was difficult and I had to repeat some workouts but I made it through and have completed 5 5k's and will do my first mud run this…

Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better The Offspring - Gone Away Social Distortion - Reach for the Sky Rancid - Fall Back Down Flogging Molly - The Seven Deadly Sins

- What race(s) are you running? Warrior Dash a week from Saturday. What started out as a fun thing to try with two friends had grown to a team of at least six. Excited and nervous at the same time. - What are your concerns? Obstacles requiring holding my weight with my arms. I can't can't do a pull-up yet so any obstacle…

I'm a fan of Punk. Here's a few of my go to workout songs (in no particular order): Social Distortion - Reach for the Sky, Winners and Losers, Don't Drag Me Down Rancid - Killing Zone, Fall Back Down, Radio Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies, The Seven Deadly Sins, Black Friday Rule The Clash - Train in Vain, Police on my…

I started C25k at around 375 pounds. The program worked great for me. I went from not being able to job 30 seconds to jogging an entire 5k. I've done four 5ks to date. Random thing I learned: - My cardio came around a lot quicker than my legs did. - Don't worry about speed/pace. You're not racing anyone but yourself. -…

Great work everyone. I had that same moment GardenGirlie. Love the NSV's where you dot something then later realize it was something you couldn't do in the past. Here's mine. Today I wore my skinny(er) jeans. I've got a ways to go on my journey towards fitness. One thing I do to motivate myself is to buy clothes I like…

Sitting at home alone on my birthday in 2012. My birthday fell on a holiday and the office was closed. I used to love going into the office and working. Working kept my mind busy. If my mind was busy with work it didn't have time to think about how lonely and depressed I was. So anyway, I'm sitting at home alone with my…

Haha, I took that exact same photo but never posted it. I remember how great I felt the day I noticed the steering wheel no longer touched. Congrats on a great NSV. Keep up the great work. You're doing amazing!

Interesting topic. I admit I'm a bit apprehensive about losing the weight. Being fat is all I know. It's always in the back of my mind and been a consideration in nearly every decision I've made since I became aware that I was fat. How do you get it out of your mind and decision making process when it's always been…

At 38 so I'm not quite 40 but I was 370 pounds when I started C25k. I agree with others that say to take it slow. I found my cardio came around a lot quicker than my legs. It's a great feeling finishing up a half hour junk when a couple months earlier you couldn't run a minute without being winded. Good luck and have fun!

Think about the binge. What triggered it? What was the choice you made that set off the binge? What could you do differently if the same situation happens again to avoid the same binge? Strike it up as a learning experience and move on. Dwelling on a bad day won't change it but if you use what you learned then you can make…

I started my journey toward fitness in a similar if not worse spot. I was 37 and needed to lose 300 pounds. I did a little reading and saw 2 pounds a week was a realistic goal and went to work. I decided early on to break down the 300 pounds into smaller, easier to achieve goals with specific rewards that would help me…

I set out with a three year plan to reach my goal weight. I'm slightly ahead of schedule but my progress has slowed considerably. Since I had so much to lose I set goals along the way with rewards that will hopefully help me reach the next goal. It's difficult at times but I try to enjoy the journey instead of focusing on…

Just wrapped up my final day yesterday. Going from not being able to maintain a one minute jog to being able to jog for 35 minutes just feels amazing. Here are a couple of my observations: - Don't worry about the speed. Set a pace where you challenge yourself but can still carry on a broken conversation. - Your cardio will…

I just wrapped up C25k this afternoon. I kept the walking speeds at 3.6 and the runs at 4.6 or 4.8. I tried to keep the pace at a challenging speed but one I could continue. Good luck with the program!

I would go with the lower of the two. Have you considered a heart rate monitor?

No ones perfect, just be better today than you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you were today.

One year progress shot taken with Nathan Maxwell of Flogging Molly at their Green 17 Tour. 2013 2014 - down approximately 85 pounds

When I look in the mirror I still see the 550 guy I was despite having lost a pretty good amount of weight. The ladies that own my gym are updating the website and asked if they could add my story to their site. Part of this included having my photo taken. They posted one of the group photos on Facebook last night and I…

I joined my first gym at over 500 pounds. I sat out in the parking lot for nearly an hour building up the nerve to go in then I got myself up every day at 5:00 AM to swim for an hour. I joined a second gym after I'd lost 50 pounds and started lifting weights. Even though I didn't have any bad experiences at the Y, I was…

On the extreme end of things, I'm down around 215 pounds from my highest weight (185 since finding MFP). I've always had issues getting shoes wide enough. When I couldn't get wider shoes I was forced to go up sizes in the wide widths. Since losing the weight I'm down from a 16eeee to a 13eee.