Winston's fat OBLITERATION Journal!

[winston856]

I'm tired of this fat, I want it gone NOW!


Hello everybody, I'm starting this journal after reading the mountain of information on this website. I'm really glad I found this place because it's really going to help me stay focused and aid me when need be


Backstory: So I'm now 20 years of age, 6 feet 1 inch and weigh 289 pounds @ 40% body fat on a large frame. I decided that my fat wasn't going to just go away so I started seeking out ways to lose it. I started out by eating healthier, fruits in the mornings, carbs at lunch and protein for dinner. I was following this home written weight loss guide by this quack my mother had met at the coast.

Well it was working just because I was eating crappy before. I started to fall of the wagon after a while and got back all the weight I had lost (about 10lbs). After that there was a while where I just ate what I wanted again before I started getting sick of the way I looked. I've always admired thin people and want to be one of them some day, I knew I was going to be thin but I kept putting the work off.

All of my friends were skinny, save for one. Him and I were the "two fat guys" and that's how it always was. Well lately he started looking into his weight and started losing it! He lost about 40-50lbs. I went no way am I going to be the ONLY fat guy amongst all of us. I talked to him about how he did it, he fasted and ran, drank fruit juice and what not. Basically starved himself and cut calories way back while doing cardio.

Now he's what'd you'd call a skinny/fat person, he's lost weight and is physically smaller, but he's still fat you know? So I'm thinking to myself wouldn't it be just awesome if I went to the gym and lost weight/gained muscle the right way and just rubbed it in his face! :/

He's always been a cocky guy and looked for the "easy" way to lose weight because he's lazy. Well I want to put in the hard work and get slender and jacked up so I can show him that the right way is the best. I might be coming off as a jerk but he's the kind of guy that just needs to be proved wrong!

Anyway so I started going to the gym, I was doing HIIT cardio for 37 minutes a day while drinking nutrition shakes and eating Nature valley granola bars. I was probably eating around 1500 calories a day and I lost 10 lbs, back down to 289lbs, thought I was doing really well. Well I stopped going to the gym because I caught a cold and was out for about a month. During that time I gained 5lbs back to 295 and attributed it to not working out.

Just about 2 weeks ago I found "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto and read it. It is an AMAZING book that puts everything on the table and says it like it is which is what I really liked about it. Tom talked about eating the right way and how protein and complex carbs compliment each other and how you need cardio AND weight training to lose fat! I always had it in my head that you needed to slim down before you hit the weights otherwise you'd end up like Arnold Schwarzenegger or something. That book broke me of that thinking.

After reading that book I corrected my eating habits and started out trying to eat 6 smaller meals a day, I've cut out ALL processed/refined sugar/soda/candy/everything. Just by eating "clean" and following his book I lost those 5lbs and went back down to 289 where I am now. Now I've got a gym schedule set up for training/cardio days to get this fat off my body.

I'm a total beginner when it comes to weight lifting, I've never benched at all in my life. I used to be active in tennis and sports when I was younger so my cardiovascular system isn't a TOTAL mess but it's still bad. I've gained weight steadily throughout my life because I used to eat worse when I was a kid.

After discovering this site about the same time as the book I've be reading reading reading, and searching. I've gathered some info and bought some supplements from bb.com (whey/udo's 369 blend).

Schedule:

Sunday: REST

Mon/Wed/Fri: Cardio (keeping my heartrate between 148-155bpm for 30-45 mins).

Tues/Thurs/Sat: Weight Lifting; One exercise per muscle group.

Week 1 - 1 x 8-12
Week 2 - 2 x 8-12
Week 3 - 3 x 8-12

Lower Body: Leg Press
Leg Extension
Leg Curls
Calve Raises

Upper Body: Bench Press
Shoulder Press
Seated Row
Tricep Pushdowns
Bicep Curls

That workout is from a beginners workout article on bb.com. That coupled with Venuto's Rep recommendation for Hypertrophy (8-12 reps). It's actually 6-12 reps but from more reading it seemed like the ideal was 8-12.

Anywho that's my routine for now. I'm currently reading Rippetoe's guide "starting strength" and would very much like to do that but I figure I'll do the above schedule for about a month to get into better shape so I can move into starting strength.

Somebody's probably going to come in here and tell me to do starting strength now lol. Well I'm still reading it on the forums so maybe I just might start it sooner than I think.


My Goals:

Reach 200lbs by December 11th, 2008.
To be able to go anywhere and buy clothes.
Keep my fat OFF FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To get muscular.


Motivation:

I have a few reasons for motivation. One is that all my friends are skinny and I'd love to do more athletic activities with them, I don't need this fat holding me back.

Another is a friend of mine who's really athletic, lean and muscular. He always talks about how confident he is because of his strength, I want that feeling!

Mainly it's for myself but I have a 15 year old brother who's about 5'11" and he's pushing 265lbs. We're really close and he looks up to me so I've decided that I'm doing this for him too so when he sees how I'm doing and how much better I look and feel he can do the same! He's going to be skinny with me

Supplements:
2lbs of Whey Gold Cookies and Cream
Udo's Choice 3,6,9 blend.


Conclusion:

Thanks for reading this long thing and listening to me ramble. I am totally stoked about this and am 100% dedicated. I've dropped all sweets and everything like hot potatoes. I've spent so much time being fat that I've ate every sweet thing and candy in the world so I'm not missing out on anything. I just want to be lean and healthy! NOTHING is going to stop me, I'm so focused right now I just want to rid myself of this. I will stop for nothing (except rest days lol).

I'll get pictures up in a few weeks too

[winston856]

Comments are Welcome along with questions or anything else! Thanks.

[winston856]

Well today was my first day lifting in the gym. I managed to oversleep my 8 a.m. alarm for some reason or another.

I woke up around 10:50 a.m. had a scoop of whey in water and some Flax plus multigrain cereal dry.

I headed off to the gym about 15 mins after eating that and got there about 30 mins after my Pre-workout meal.

Today was lifting so I did my upper and lower body with the routine in my first post.

I did 12 reps on everything except the barbell bicep curl where I did 8 reps, I probably should've pushed harder on that one.

Anyway I've discovered after today that my upper body is much weaker than my lower body is. That's probably due to the many years of being over weight I have large calves and thighs. Also my hamstrings are the tightest muscle in my body at the moment.

I started the bench press with just the 45lb bar because I'd never lifted before. Well I got 12 reps out of that pretty easily actually so I'm going to add 5 or 10 lbs next time.

Everything overall was not that challenging, except the barbell curl, for which I'm sure I could have done more reps on I just gave up prematurely.

Tomorrow is a rest day then it's on with cardio on monday, can't wait!