4XLT

Today’s Weigh-In: 339.8 pounds
Total Weight Lost: 100.2 pounds
Days Till Next Goal: 6
Pounds To Go: GOAL MET!

I have lost 100 pounds!

I may have squeaked in by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin this morning, but you know what? I’ll take it! I’ll take it, and then I’ll earn it solidly tomorrow by eating right and working out today. When I see 338.X show up on the scale, I’ll feel like I can gloat legitimately (but that won’t stop me from doing it today).

One hundred pounds from my fattest weight – that’s so freaking awesome. I got to admit that I am totally pumped. So pumped, that I did an endzone dance / fist pumps / caveman grunt combo in my kitchen when I saw 339.8 come up on the scale three times in a row.

What I’ve Learned So Far

I could tell you all about my macronutrient intake and what it should be. In fact, I’ve got a handy sheet printed out listing how my 40% protein, 40% carb, and 20% fat ideal intake looks like split over five equally sized meals through the day. More carbohydratess in the morning; more protein gets eaten at night. I know roughly what my caloric intake should look like on my lifting days and on my nonlifting /cardio days (all without having to buy a stupidly expensive BodyBugg that the inane 24 Hr. Fitness trainers try shoving down my throat).

After my food intake, I could tell you why full-body workouts using nasty compound movements and lifts are great. And why High Intensity Interval Training is the king of cardio in whatever form you do it. I’m learning the names of muscles and variations of different lifts. I’m learning about hypertrophy and the difference between muscle growth and strength.

I could go on and on about the theory of weight loss and make it sound really, really complicated. And, in truth, much of it is, because the human body is complicated. But when the rubber meets the road, here’s what I’ve learned that’s really helped:

Watch your calories and keep them under your daily limit. In a move that won’t gain me many fans, let me admit to taking advantage of McDonald’s dollar menu and their McChickens. At 350 calories, they are an easy and cheap meal. Are they the healthiest food in the world? Of course not! Is it the smartest move ever? Nah – in fact, as my weight continues to drop, I know fully well I’ll have to implement my food intake plan more stringently. But for now, just counting my calories works well.

Lift weights with a plan – not randomly! There are a hundred different opinions at play here. If you want to learn everything you can about the subject, do yourself a favor and visit T-Nation. I’ve seen too many people approach their lifting in an ad hoc manner and wonder why they aren’t seeing results. Get a plan and stick to it – preferably a plan that works your whole body with compound movements that involve multiple muscles. I’m talking squats, deadlifts, and the like.

If you want to do cardio, do HIIT. Intervals will amp up your metabolism and burn more fat in the long jun than just jogging at the same pace for half an hour. Plus, you get done quicker!

Track everything in a food and lifting journal. If you’re like me, you forget things. A lot. So, for me to stay on top of my health efforts, I have to track my food intake AND my lifting. Else, I forget exactly how much I’ve eaten earlier int he day or forget how much I was lifting earlier in the week.

Get help. The blog – and moreso the encouragement from everyone in the FAT Coalition – has been key to me going strong. Community is so vital. ‘Nuff said.

Screw everybody else. Along the road, people are going to patronize you. Well meaning folks will tell you that you’re great the way you are when you know better. Love yourself – sure, but don’t be content with yourself. And if anyone gives you any grief, screw ‘em and leave them behind. You got better, more important things to do than be drug down.

Staying Realistic

However, the fact remains that, even at a hundred pounds lost, I’m still three hundred and forty. I’m still, definitely, very much a fat guy. And I don’t like that. But, the one thing that the last seven months have taught me is that I don’t have to be the fat guy anymore.

Surprisingly, that was the single largest hurdle for me in this whole weight loss journey: the mental game. For a long time, I thought that I was always going to be the fat guy – that the token big, funny, “you’re like a brother to me” role was just my lot in life. I might as well accept it.

I’m done accepting it. And now, seven months and a hundred pounds later, I am making headway into not being that guy any more. I flat out, absolutely refuse to return to that life – that’s the entire reason I got the 440 tattoo in the first place. It’s always there on my forearm; I can’t not see it. It’s always there, reminding me of where I’ve come from – and where I don’t want to return.

From Here

I’m keeping my eyes set towards the future. And right now, the future for me is to get back into the two-hundreds for the first time since high school.

My next set of goals breaks down the forty pounds into three mini-goals of fifteen pounds a piece to get me bellow three hundred pounds by 2009: 325lbs by October 1st, 310lbs by November 15th, and finally 295lbs by January 1st.

HERE WE GO!

“Never Face Defeat” by No Innocent victim

…I’ll never again face defeat
never again misguided
I’ll never face defeat
a thousand armies you could send
I’ll never face defeat
I know who wins in the end
I’ll never face defeat
I might get knocked down but I’m winning the war