4XLT

On a somewhat regular basis I am asked what I have done and what I am doing still to lose weight (130 pounds as of May 2009 and aiming for 200 pounds). I’ve been able to solidly identify five distinct arenas that I’ve had to focus on to be successful: 1) inner resolve, 2) smart nutrition, 3) worthwhile cardio, 4) weight training, and 5) blogging & community support.

The following began as a rough, shoot from the hip email I wrote in response to the above question in early May 2009. Over time, I’m going to be editing this article and adding in helpful links to more “how-to” articles and scientific studies, but for now, this should hopefully give someone a basic starting point to work from.

And by all means, please feel free to email me if you have any questions!

1. Inner Resolve

Here’s where it’s all got to start and end. I could write and ramble on for a long time and make no greater a point that simply stating that there’s gonna come a time (if there hasn’t already) where you cross the Rubicon. That fire and resolve is key to the whole damn enterprise. You can read as much as you want, but if you don’t got it inside of you, you’re screwed or at best spinning your wheels.

For me, I finally got fed up of wearing XXXXLT shirts. I saw photos. I got sick and tired of being the token fat guy. I got tired of being single since I was 20. As this journey has progressed, I’ve learned a lot about myself and come to have a better grip on (and move away from) the surrender, apathy, and self-loating that obesity represented. Now I simply refuse to go back. Ever. I’m disgusted at who I used to be, can tolerate who I am more and more, and am excited about who I’m becoming.

Read this article called Phoenix Theory – it really helped me, and then, copy this quote to Word, make it real big, and stick it on your bathroom mirror:

“The truth is that you may not have what it takes. You may not be committed enough. You may not have the discipline. You may not put in enough effort. You might not work hard enough. You do not believe in yourself. You’re full of excuses. You get distracted too easy. To wrap it up in one statement: you really don’t f***ing care enough.”

— Dave Tate (powerlifter & strength coach)

At first it may not come off as too terribly inspiring, but look again. And then read it again. And then think over it for a few days. What always hits me about this quote is that ultimately, none of my excuses matter. If I care enough, I will find a way to become a better man. If I don’t really care, then nothing will happen. But when I start giving a damn, then it doesn’t matter how hard the goal is, I’ll get there in time.

I’ve found that keeping inspiring quotes all over my apartment, a big sheet of paper with my goals, and photos of guys’ whose bodies I’m inspired by (along with my fat photos) really helps my mental game as it constantly keeps my goal of becoming better in front of me. I’ve come to call the giant sheet of paper in my bedroom my “Wall of Defiance” as I use it to defy all the lazy and apathetic impulses that would have me stay the same guy who weighed 440 pounds.

Positive reinforcement might work for some guys, but I don’t need any soft and gentle encouragement from myself. I’ve got to be brutally honest about who I was, who I am still, and who I never want to be again. I use all the hate and pain and rejection and all that garbage I feel and turn it into a raging wildfire that fuels my drive to change my life.

And I don’t ever want to get soft and lose track of that.

2. Smart Nutrition

For guys like us, two-thirds to three-quarters of what we need to do is in regards to what we put in our mouths. Do the food right, and everything will start to fall into place.

Start tracking what you eat. Seriously. It’s a pain in the ass, but it’s really, really helpful.

I’m not saying to go Atkins, but being smart about your carbs is vital.

For me, on a theoretical good day, I try to have all my carbs come from good sources (veggies like beans and sweet potatoes rather than grains or white rice), and try to have my carbs in the morning & afternoon and fats at night. Protein, obviously, all the time.

I can send you my super easy but can get boring meal plan if you’d like. Basically, it’s beans/bread & meat/eggs for some meals, and cheese/nuts & meat/eggs for others. I’m a simple guy who doesn’t like to do a lot of food prep so this works for me.

4-6 smaller meals spread throughout the day. I go for five. Don’t starve yourself, because when you go deeply under your body’s caloric needs, you system can start to go into starvation mode. When you have a splurge or five, you body will pack on the extra pounds really quick. That, in combination with dehydration is why contestants from The Biggest Loser always pack on the pounds rapidly after the show ends.

I know how the pop addition goes. I used to drink so much Dr. Pepper and orange pop goes it was ridiculous. I still drink a lot of pop (in addition to a lot of water), but it’s all diet soda. Maybe not the greatest, but it’s my vice and I dont care. If I’m not peeing a lot and having almost clear piss, then I’m not drinking enough. That’s my basic rule – no need for counting ounces.

I never ever EVER thought I’d like diet cola, but here I am a year later, and oddly enough, I think “real” soda is way too sweet. That was actually a pretty bittersweet moment for me.

3. Worthwhile Cardio: HIIT

Steady state jogging for half an hour might help your heart, but for fat loss, it’s pretty much a waste of time.

Read up on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) – it’s what you want to be doing. I like to combo the elliptical (a fat guy’s best friend) and row to get the full body mix, but now that I’m lighter and can run without my shins and knees killing me, sprints in the parking lot work well when I’m in a time crunch.

4. Weight Training

As a big dude, your goal with weight training is to ramp up your metabolism, not get ripped. So don’t worry about doing split exercise days (this is my legs day, back day, etc). Do the big, full body lifts and get your heart rate going.

My plan at the gym is to do at least one or two full body lifts in some variation of squats (whole body and for your quads) and deadlifts (whole body and hip flexors/back), then a horizontal push, horizontal pull, vertical push, and vertical pull.

Right now, an absolutely perfect workout for me would be three-four times a week of the following lifts. I rotate between high rep / low set / lighter weight days (3×10) and low rep / medium set / heavy weight days (4×6) as part of a lifting theory called undulating periodization to help stave off plateauing:

• Squat or deadlift variation: Usually power cleans
• Horizontal push: chest press plate machine
• Horizontal pull: row plate machine (I cheat with poor form when I do bent over rows)
• Vertical push: standing barbell military press
• Vertical pull: pull down / lat pulls plate machine (can’t wait till I can knock out a single pull up – it’s gonna be awesome!)
• Full-body explosive move: kettlebell / dumbell swings
• Unnecessary Vanity Extras: single leg dips with a 35 pound plate for triceps (not strong/light enough for real dips yet) and biceps

That takes me about 1:15 or so depending on how busy the gym is.

Do some reading on T-Nation.com – anything there will be helpful, but Chad Waterbury has some really good info a/b total body training.

And all of this, weight training and cardio – you can do it all sans-gym and weights if you’re creative. Just do some googling for total body training or body weight exercises, etc.

5. Blog, Support, & Helpful Community

Gonna go negative real quick here: some people won’t get that you want to change your life and lose weight. Some people will even try to discourage you, say you’re perfect the way you are, that you are handsome already, whatever. It’s bullshit and you know it. You gotta keep those people at arm’s distance and even further. But the real truth is that MOST OF YOUR FRIENDS DON’T REALLY GIVE A DAMN. So you can’t expect to count on them for help when you’re in the doldrums and losing weight becomes more hard work then epic effort.

That’s why blogging is so dagum important, man. Seriously. I am convinced that it has been just as helpful and important for me as the other three (#1 obviously trumping everything else). The reason for that, I think, is that when I’m blogging regularly, I’m thinking more often about my own weight loss / life issues from a deliberate state of mind. I’m also reaching out and reading others’ blogs about this stuff, making me again think about myself. And on top of that, I’ve got friends who are ready to lift me up and comfort me when I’m down (the girls) or kick me while I’m down until I stand up and start to fight again (the guys).

You simply aren’t going to find that in the real world, especially if you’re the group’s token fat guy. Sure, you’ll get a “oh, so good for you” bit on occasion, but not much more. You need a community. That’s why blogging helps (or even joining Weight Watchers or being active on a weight loss web forum, but I’m partial to blogs because I can air out my thoughts more easily).

Go over to WordPress.com and get started on a blog. Easy to set up. Drop me a line here, comment on my blog, and I’ll let people know you’re new and looking to change your life. The weight loss blogosphere is generally really cool helpful people who are anywhere from starting out like you to losing 100 pounds and maintaining it a year later.