A few years ago I gained a lot of weight, almost 40 lbs in just over six months... I had just recently taken a new job in a new city and had new friends. Friends that go out to eat every single day and they go for the buffets and the fried food. But starting just over two years ago I decided I needed to change.
We had already joined the gym but mainly to get the day care benefits that it offered. As a joining bonus you could have 6 sessions with the trainer. Now I have always been an athlete. Played sports every season in high school, went on to college on a scholarship to play.. spent most of my adult life in the outdoors either skiing, mountain biking or hiking. But now I was not exercising much at all.
Quickly I got frustrated with the fact that I was so overweight, and that began the obsession. It started slowly, doing the same routines I was in college, weight lifting mainly. I lost almost all the weight that I gained but I was still determined. I wanted to have 12 percent or less body fat. For a guy my height and weight that was a tough goal but I thought it cant be that bad. So I tried, started running more, eating less and working out with a routine that I enjoyed. Then I went to the trainer to check my body fat.
I went from a high of 253lbs to 225lbs and my body fat went from 21 to 18. I was happy but not very.
I felt great, had some good muscle definition, could start to see my abs, pants were fitting better, but I was still a long way away from my goal.
Of course I never weighed less than 205 even at the height of my athletic career I was 6'2" and 205 lbs, but I could lift a lot of weight and spent most of my time working on getting better at sports.
So I asked the trainer what am I doing wrong... she began that 18 percent was good for a man my age, (I didnt want to be compared to a man my age) that I was doing well but maybe I needed to change my diet, so in walks the german drill instructor of a trainer and the other trainer asked her what she suggested... well after the german explained to me that I was not working out enough, (it was the 6 days a week for an hour each day) it was how I was doing it.. not enough cardio... and my diet sucked, very little protein, not enough fat.. so that day I changed.
The wife was away so I started eating healthy, greek yogurt, oatmeal (even though I hated oatmeal) apples and peanut butter... virtually eliminated bread and pasta, added more fish and veggies, more rice, etc.. and I started running more, 3 miles every other day basically, well needless to say I lost another 12lbs... and since then I am between 210 and 212. I have not been back to check my fat percentage, I am a little scared it is not what I want it to be...
But now the obsession is worse. If you have all seen Blade Trinity then you would have seen the transformation Ryan Reynolds went through from Van Wilder to his vampire hunting 8-pack ab body... and that is what I am trying to do. Although I dont have the time to work out like he did but I am going to try... my goal was 205 but now I want to see if I can get below 10 in body fat, maybe not the 3 that Reynolds acheived but I am not stop when I hit 10...
Do I have a problem or is it a healthy obsession? Some have said that I need to slow down, but I feel great, and its not entirely affect other parts of my life... well if any one is reading this blog, what do you think?
We had already joined the gym but mainly to get the day care benefits that it offered. As a joining bonus you could have 6 sessions with the trainer. Now I have always been an athlete. Played sports every season in high school, went on to college on a scholarship to play.. spent most of my adult life in the outdoors either skiing, mountain biking or hiking. But now I was not exercising much at all.
Quickly I got frustrated with the fact that I was so overweight, and that began the obsession. It started slowly, doing the same routines I was in college, weight lifting mainly. I lost almost all the weight that I gained but I was still determined. I wanted to have 12 percent or less body fat. For a guy my height and weight that was a tough goal but I thought it cant be that bad. So I tried, started running more, eating less and working out with a routine that I enjoyed. Then I went to the trainer to check my body fat.
I went from a high of 253lbs to 225lbs and my body fat went from 21 to 18. I was happy but not very.
I felt great, had some good muscle definition, could start to see my abs, pants were fitting better, but I was still a long way away from my goal.
Of course I never weighed less than 205 even at the height of my athletic career I was 6'2" and 205 lbs, but I could lift a lot of weight and spent most of my time working on getting better at sports.
So I asked the trainer what am I doing wrong... she began that 18 percent was good for a man my age, (I didnt want to be compared to a man my age) that I was doing well but maybe I needed to change my diet, so in walks the german drill instructor of a trainer and the other trainer asked her what she suggested... well after the german explained to me that I was not working out enough, (it was the 6 days a week for an hour each day) it was how I was doing it.. not enough cardio... and my diet sucked, very little protein, not enough fat.. so that day I changed.
The wife was away so I started eating healthy, greek yogurt, oatmeal (even though I hated oatmeal) apples and peanut butter... virtually eliminated bread and pasta, added more fish and veggies, more rice, etc.. and I started running more, 3 miles every other day basically, well needless to say I lost another 12lbs... and since then I am between 210 and 212. I have not been back to check my fat percentage, I am a little scared it is not what I want it to be...
But now the obsession is worse. If you have all seen Blade Trinity then you would have seen the transformation Ryan Reynolds went through from Van Wilder to his vampire hunting 8-pack ab body... and that is what I am trying to do. Although I dont have the time to work out like he did but I am going to try... my goal was 205 but now I want to see if I can get below 10 in body fat, maybe not the 3 that Reynolds acheived but I am not stop when I hit 10...
Do I have a problem or is it a healthy obsession? Some have said that I need to slow down, but I feel great, and its not entirely affect other parts of my life... well if any one is reading this blog, what do you think?
I think if it's just a goal, something you'd like to get to if you can,, then it's not a problem. If it changes how you feel about yourself or "ruins" your day if the scale is off or the body fat percentage isn't what you want it to be, it may be time to look at it differently or take a break. There's nothing wrong with eating healthy food and exercising. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to be in shape. But if you're not happy unless you see a certain number, I don't know. Only you can really say if you're taking it too far.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that changing your diet and working out is a bad thing. You might never look like Ryan Reynolds (think - women trying to look like Angelina Jolie) but you'll look the best and feel the best that YOU can.
ReplyDeleteNow, if you start freaking out because you eat a piece of bread and then work out 5 extra hours, I'd definitely start to worry.
Yeh I am not quite there yet nitebyrd, and hopefully I will not end up that obsessed but somedays I definitely worry about it... but I do cheat my diet once a week or so.
ReplyDeleteIf I did not do that I think I would probably lose my desire to eat healthy. I like the occasional ice cream.