LIVIN' LARGE: Minimizing yourself and maximizing your life!When you have over 100 pounds to lose it can seem impossible to get started in the right direction.
If you are new to the forum, the challenge or would just like to offer a little intro about yourself we would love to hear from you. The more we know about each other the easier it is for us to offer support when needed.
__________________ -50# by 4/1/10 2 down 48 to go.
Name: Brenda
Age: 40 (yikes!!!)
Quick history: lifetime skinny girl; graduated college & got fat; met dh, got married, had 2 kids & got fatter (near 200#); dh's big sis died of cancer -- wake up call for dh & I; same month I started working in childcare at a gym where I got a free membership; tried weight watchers while dh tried Atkins; 6months later, started Atkins! ; in 1 year got down to 135#; started counting calories & eliminating most nutrients; got down to 111# --serious lack of muscle, hair thinning, pasty skin, not good; did Chad Waterbury's High Frequency program and started eating; I'm now up to 135# but got a little pudgy in the process. I'm working on leaning out the look so the outside represents the way I'm now feeling inside (about 10# ago was a good place).
My name is Gregg I am 47 I am a FFB who still needs to lose the last 25.4#. I enjoy lifting, 5K runs and long walks on the beach (not the last one so much). On the human side I love to hit the bars with my friends, tailgates, golf outings, and summer festivals. As you can see from my human side I will need help through the summer months and that is why I am up for this challenge.
Does this seem a little AA to anyone, not that I have ever been to a meeting.
__________________ -50# by 4/1/10 2 down 48 to go.
Does it seem like AA? Perhaps, but I think it is important for us to get to know each other just a bit. So, a little bit about me.
I am Newman, your Host, and I am honored to have you all here.
My claim to ?fame? is that I have lost a heckuvalotta weight and I have a lot more to lose. I am not just going to be watching this Challenge from the sidelines. I am going to be participating as well. (Insert Commercial for the Hairclub for Men - I am also a Client.) MY background is in Clinical Dietetics and Performance Nutrition as well as Exercise Kinesiology. I have worked with thousands of individuals seeking to improve their health, fitness and nutrition - both inside the hospital and outside. I have worked with high school and college athletes and even women looking to fit into their wedding dresses (Truly it is a niche market - lol).
Feel free to PM me or ask me anything that I might be able to help with. I have the feeling this will be an experience we will all remember.
Newman
__________________
"Branch chainz, bro. Leucine in the sky with diamonds." - Alan Aragon
I do feel the need to collect a chip of some sort James...
Name: Leigh Peele
Position: Official Challenge Helper
Basically I am here to help you if you have questions or concerns on training, nutrition, or motivation. If you aren't sure if your training program or diet is right for YOUR goals, then don't hesitate to post a question or send me a PM on the matter. In general I encourage you to keep us really informed on what you are doing. Start journals, post updates, basically the more we know and everyone else is aware of, the more we can help or even spot a problem or encourage where you didn't even know you needed it!
Goal: 12% bodyfat, currently at 15%... probably a loss of 5 more lbs.
Problems: work, work, and work. I always get my workouts in, my diet is very spot-on, but I have a problem with stress that often slows me down. I also sit in front of this damned computer too much.
Name: Dori
Age: 28
Background: Been into fitness for about a year and a half. Been overweight/heavy my whole life. Started at 280 pounds last january, now down to 198. Worked with a trainer who was a powerlifter for about 7 months last year, would love to get into powerlifting myself.
Doing the challenge? YES!
Name: Dori
Age: 28
Background: Been into fitness for about a year and a half. Been overweight/heavy my whole life. Started at 280 pounds last january, now down to 198. Worked with a trainer who was a powerlifter for about 7 months last year, would love to get into powerlifting myself.
Doing the challenge? YES!
Name: Ben Smith
On-air name: Ben Smith
Stats: 5-11, ~195lbs
Body type: former fat boy
Favorite training lifts/styles:
--Olympic
--Meltdown-style circuits
--sprint/speed work
--CrossFit
--distance running (since March 2005)
History:
--December 19944: 265-270lbs @ 15yrs
--February 1996: 155-160lbs @ 16yrs (wrestler's diet)
--December 1996: 185-190lbs @ 17yrs
--1997-2001: college yo-yo ~200-220lbs
--August 2000: first logged, persistent weight training
--2001-2006: 190-215lbs depending on training goals and general motivation
--currently: ~195lbs, modified cyclical ketogenic diet (modified due to hamstring injury making HIIT nearly impossible through the summer), BF%: no freaking clue, guessing ~20% (can't do much less without surgery)
Hobbies:
--nutrition and rehab/stability exercise research
--reading
--line dancing
--watching the "Nasty Girls" workout video on CrossFit
__________________ No Magic Pill (the log)
My Movember page (yes, I'm slacking on pictures)
Ben - my goodness you were a fat boy - and at 15. But after the first weight loss (impressive by the way) you never bloomed up even close to the old high. Most of us started off slim and then just kept going up. How did you do it. If you already have told the story give me a link. Rob
Ben - my goodness you were a fat boy - and at 15. But after the first weight loss (impressive by the way) you never bloomed up even close to the old high. Most of us started off slim and then just kept going up. How did you do it. If you already have told the story give me a link. Rob
Yeah, you might say I was livin' large
A combination of Southern cuisine, unchecked "healthy" eating (I'd polish off a container of cottage cheese like nothing when I was very young), and spending increasingly more time with my father after my parents' split during middle school (his idea of culinary variety was going to Hardee's for the "10 burgers for $10" deal, then topping them with various combinations of condiments) led to my initial heft despite copious amounts of baseball, basketball, tennis, golf, and swimming for most of my youth (only did about two weeks of football in eighth grade and quit because of all the running ). In tenth grade, my high school resurrected its wrestling team, and I quickly learned that I couldn't compete with the heavyweights because of my lack of strength, so I figured it was easier to drop the weight than to get stronger (which was true, but of course, I did it rather unhealthily, and I ended up a borderline anorexic before rebounding).
I did almost no physical activity during my first three years of college, starting lifting weights my senior year, and stumbled upon the Men's Health forums the summer following graduation where I met a lot of the good old-timers we have here and started my education in proper nutrition. I've hit a couple bumps in the road with nutrition, but I know that a couple months of keto always gets me right back into the game with body composition, and I'm finally starting to learn which carbs do what to my body (different for everyone), a continuing experiment as running becomes more and more a part of my training.
The downside to the crash dieting and subsequent weight yo-yo is that it's VERY difficult for me to put on mass without gaining more fat than I'm comfortable doing--my arms are pretty small compared to my trunk size (just can't bring myself to do isolation work), but at least my legs are catching up with all this rehab work (my PT continues to comment on my quad-dominant stature, which is why he's literally kicking my tail with hamstring and glute work).
What'd I leave out?
__________________ No Magic Pill (the log)
My Movember page (yes, I'm slacking on pictures)
Nice summary.That damned belly fat. I don't think I have ever read about a study of those of us who carried too much weight for too long, and are left with souvenirs from former days. Anyway you got it under control really early. Wish I had.
Nice summary.That damned belly fat. I don't think I have ever read about a study of those of us who carried too much weight for too long, and are left with souvenirs from former days. Anyway you got it under control really early. Wish I had.
Once I finally get to where I want to, I will have all kinds of souveniers... quite a bit of extra skin (pannus) and lots of fun stretch marks. Losing weight as gradually as I have over time has been quite beneficial in the skin department however I am certain I will need surgery to remove much when I am finished....
__________________
"Branch chainz, bro. Leucine in the sky with diamonds." - Alan Aragon
Nice summary.That damned belly fat. I don't think I have ever read about a study of those of us who carried too much weight for too long, and are left with souvenirs from former days. Anyway you got it under control really early. Wish I had.
Oh yeah, there are some leftovers that aren't going anywhere without some surgical help, and I'm not exactly eager to try to fill it out with muscle considering the problems I have with lean bulking. Let's just say I wear clothes really well, even at the pool and beach
__________________ No Magic Pill (the log)
My Movember page (yes, I'm slacking on pictures)
Name: Mark
Age: 29 (30 June 10)
Family: Married for 6 years with a daughter (5) and a son (3)
Country: Australia
Stats: 5'10" - 81kg (178lbs) @ 10%bf
Bodytype: Former Skinny Boy
Have always been active, Athletics, Tennis, BBall, Football (Aussie version),
You name it ive probably played it.
My brother got one of those plastic weight sets when i was about 15-16
and I have been lifting in some form or another (very inconsistently) since then. But always come back to it, cause I really enjoy it. I should be a lot stronger having lifted for that long.
The challenge should be fun.
Aoife
31, but 8 on the inside
attention span of a gnat on crack
normal, active child, turned teen with slight body image issues (with a fine body), turned adult who knew better but got fat anyway. Who then lost weight, sometimes the "right" way, sometimes by eating 300-800 calories a day. Who then was a rockin hottie... turned student who's fitness and body (and house) took a back burner to her studies. Who is now working to get back the kick-ass bod she had before her grandiose ideas of an edumakashun.
My flaws:
I'm impatient, I want results quickly. Like, I want to be DONE already. I bought the real estate once, I'm ready to be there again.
I like cake. and cookies. and pie. and candy. and bread.
I want to be able to eat what ever I want, and not have to work out.
I automatically assume that everyone else is naturally good at what they do/talented/fit without any work and I want to be like that.
Basically, I'm lazy and I like cake. And I'm a huge procrastinator.
And I get caught up in ideals rather than just doing stuff. Tough to explain, but I'm working on it so hopefully it'll stop working against me... let's just say it's the reason I'm a procrastinator.
On the plus side, I like to be strong and be able to do stuff. So proving I'm strong (lifting) and able to do stuff is usually good enough motivation to get my sorry butt to the gym.
Anyway... I have a new gym now (Lifetime Fitness) open 24 hours, I have an rockin exercise room at home, bikes and safe streets to run on, and I'm on summer vacation.
Meaning...
This is the time to get my entire life back together before school picks back up in the fall. If I do it right, school will stop being a hinderance when it comes to every other aspect of my life (which hubby will greatly appreciate).
I'm gonna stop now, I totally lost track of what I was saying.
Okay since I don't have to go to bed any time soon anyway and get up in the morning! I'll tell y'all about me (more than that I'm a smartie pants).
Paula
age 39 although I will be 40 by the time the challenge ends.
Started lifting weights back in December once a week while at my boyfriends. Upped the ante in January after taking a crap ton of measurements (R. can be a little OCD) and started lifting more regularly. Stumbled across the Oxygen magazine and onto their forums. Met a great bunch of people there and learned more about lifting. Set up my own home gym since I have my own issues and prefer not to lift in a public setting at this time. Quickly graduated to freeweights. Have been lifting regularly (3x a week) since the end of February. I love it - never figure that I would love lifting weights.
have done some serious recomposition in a very short period of time. Have seen a significant jump since I started using NROL a week ago. I'm looking forward to the challenge and progressing through NROL. As of today, I've lost 23.75 inches total off my body since the first of the year.
background: grew up normal size, got fat in my 20s, lost 60 lbs in 2006, I'm losing the rest (of the excess) in 2007 (or as long as it takes). Been "plateaued" (well, up 9 lbs from lowest) since Dec 2006 - part intentional (the plateau was "take a break and eat maintenance), part not really getting restarted. I've got about 45-60 lbs to go - but not focused on a target weight as much as target size/bf% so its a little nebulous.
Good morning! Our little challenge is shaping up nicely. We have a lot of great people who are Hardcore and Ready to Rock! This is going to be an amazing 61 days. We have a lot of new names around the forum so if this is one of you, feel free to post a message here introducing yourself if you haven't already. Many people are using the logs which is great for introductions but here is a consolidated space for that also.
As the challenge date approaches you may find that you have questions about your plan, whether you should change something, if your nutritional goals, etc are sound. Whatever the question is, we are here to help.
As you read above, I have asked Coach Leigh Peele to help us out and she so graciously is making herself available to you. In addition to Leigh,
Coach Johnathan Fass will also be joining us to round out our team. Leigh, John, and I will be making the rounds in the logs answering questions, emails, and PMs with your program and the Challenge. Not only that but we are fortunate to have so many participants in the challenge who will be spurring you on and helping you too!! They will be reading logs and posting as well. What could be more Rowdy Awesome??
We are all a team here and we will all work together to see everyone succeed. Good luck and let's have fun.
Jonathan....introduce yourself....
Newman
__________________
"Branch chainz, bro. Leucine in the sky with diamonds." - Alan Aragon
Name: Jonathan Fass
Position: Professional Gentleman of Leisure and Official Challenge Helper
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leigh P.
Basically I am here to help you if you have questions or concerns on training, nutrition, or motivation. If you aren't sure if your training program or diet is right for YOUR goals, then don't hesitate to post a question or send me a PM on the matter. In general I encourage you to keep us really informed on what you are doing. Start journals, post updates, basically the more we know and everyone else is aware of, the more we can help or even spot a problem or encourage where you didn't even know you needed it!
Hi all, I'm Iollan, but no one can pronounce that, so call me Eric, everyone else does, even my Mom, who named me Iollan....
Pretty much been livin' large since birth. Manaaged to some extent to keep it in check until I finished college and left football behind; I've battled my weight forever, but last summer hit an all time high of 389, and have been working on the lifestyle changes neccessary to let me continue to have a lifestyle....
I'm an ENTP or ENFP depending on the day. I had a grad school prof who had us take the Myers Briggs at the start of every semester I had a class with him.
__________________ It all starts with the mind, but the thoughts, the intention aren't enough. Action needs to come next. Dream it, believe it, plan it, execute it, celebrate it. - Wendy
Please introduce yourself
; in 1 year got down to 135#; started counting calories & eliminating most nutrients; got down to 111# --serious lack of muscle, hair thinning, pasty skin, not good; did Chad Waterbury's High Frequency program and started eating; I'm now up to 135# but got a little pudgy in the process. I'm working on leaning out the look so the outside represents the way I'm now feeling inside (about 10# ago was a good place).
Linear Mode
