Hi all, I wanna share my story with you guys.... I'm at my thirties, I am fat all my life and I used to be a smoker. When I quit smoking, my already obese physique continued to increase further, maybe because my appetite became even more. My waistline was at 40 inches and I weighed 226 lbs., and I was already having a hard time buttoning my pants, my tummy stuck out making my pants fold.
Until I finally decided to get fit.... In May 2003, I started going to the gym, and picked up a few techniques on dieting, which I have never done in my entire life. The method introduced to me was Calorie Counting. And so I did, enthusiastically for the next months. Together with my diet, my once passive lifestyle became active by going to the gym regularly, doing cardiovascular exercises (treadmill, transport, bike) for at least one hour four times a week, and a circuit workout also for one hour two to three times a week. It paid off after a couple of months.
I now weigh 170 lbs and my waistline dropped to 34 :)
I'm glad I got into it and I hope I can still continue to achieve my ideal weight. Admittedly, it's been very difficult as I have plateaued already at 170, also because I have not watched my diet as strictly as I used to. I'm still happy nevertheless as I have already shifted my circuit workout to a bodybuilding routine already.
Hope this can inspire some to start getting fit :)
I was a gym fanatic back in highschool, was very active in karate as well... Before I left for the US, I was around 150lb, relatively lean. After my first 2 semesters in the US, not having much activity and recreation other than eating, I ballooned to 190 or so. I remembered I bought a pair of jeans with 38 waist measurement. Mind you that I never wear my jeans around my waist (near belly button) and have always been a "low waist" pants wearer, so my waist was actually around 40'sh!!! I was 20years old then.
Next summer I met more friends, joined our schools' basketball, indoor soccer and other intramurals, played some tennis, squash etc and after one summer, I dropped back to 145 or so. Stayed that way until I came back late 98.
From 98 to early this year, I've done nothing but pack on pounds due to a relatively sedentary lifestyle. I stayed at around 180 for 2 years.
I've decided to fix my diet last August and decided to try out South Beach Diet system. The program forced me to learn more about carbs and insulin effects to fat storage. Those web research really opened my eyes to dieting.
I've always known that protein is king when it comes to muscle retention and building, but carbs confuse me a lot. Being Asian, rice and noodles are our staple diet food. Turns out that those "staples" needs to be regulated and timed correctly for maximum energy usage and minimal fat storage.
Took up SBD's Phase 1 and 2 weeks of Phase 2. I lose a lot of inches, and around 10lbs.
I've never been a fan of the weighing scale since it tells you almost nothing. Weight loss can be due to water loss, fat loss or even muscle loss, there's no way for the scale to tell you what's going on.
Anyway, I started off with a 38.5 waist and dropped to a 33 in 2 weeks or so. Weight was down to 165 or so from 185.
After that phase, I've gained quite a bit of endurance and strength from my workouts and diet plans so I proceeded with my bodybuilding plans.
I'm now on my 2nd month of bodybuilding, just started bulking officially last week. Hope to reach 175lbs with 10% bodyfat by June or so.
