Hey all, I'm from Houston and have made the decision over the past week to lose some weight. I knew I wouldn't be able to stick with it without people of like minds and I found you guys on google so here I am! I'm 6'3" and 275'ish. My year-end goal is 220 which I think is a "healthy" weight for my height.

In 2005 I tried losing weight just through diet change and I actually got down to 249 or so in a few months, but I turned again to fast food and bad portion control and now I'm back right where I was and + a few pounds.

So far I like what I see here and I think this will be an invaluable resource for me.

I'm looking to buy a weight bench so I can get back into weight training but I'm not sure where I could find a good new/used one. I'm just looking for a basic bench with no addons, and dumbells (and weights of course). Any ideas would be appreciated.

Welcome to the forum! The motivation and the support here are great! I found it helpful to do a diary in the diary section of the forum to track what I eat and what form of exercise I do...I wish you luck in this journey and can't wait to see you progress!!

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Hi Bazooka!
Welcome to the WLF

Good for you for starting this journey!

As for a weight bench - does craig's list cover your area?
craigslist - community classifieds

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m2m
The future is no place To put your better days

Welcome! I'm from Houston too (once the fattest city in the US, I'm not sure who took that title from us). You should definitely start a journal to keep track of food and exercise and yes craigslist.com does cover Houston, so you should try that.

It looks like we are in the same boat my friend. I was 277 when I decided it was time for a change back at Christmas time. My goal is 225-230lbs. I am down to 248 right now and have maintainted it for a few weeks now. So I guess its time to start doing more than crunches and jogging. Best of luck. I do know after the 2nd week I gained some weight. Don't let it discourage you if you stick with it, it will come off.

Regards,
Charlie

Thanks for the replies everyone.

M2M, thanks for the link to craigs, I'll keep an eye on it for a while. I'm sure something will come up if I don't find it immediately. Thanks a bunch.

SN, I wouldn't mind keep an online journal but do other people actually read and comment on them? I haven't looked through the journal section of the forum yet. I think it'd be really helpful to have daily comments from peers, but I'm not sure if that would be feasible....guess I'll have to go over there and check it out huh?

Hey Quantum, looks like you got a head start on me! I think my biggest motivation is to look good for my and my wife's family. I don't see them much anymore as they're all in Oklahoma and I've always thought it'd be awesome to show up at their door a new person and to maybe help motivate others to do the same.

People dont always comment, but every once and a while you will get a nice comment from someone that will give you a little extra boost. I think it helps if you comment on other peoples journals, I need to get in the habit of doing that. Some journals are more amusing than others, I usually just keep track of food and stuff in mine and will occasionally write down stuff thats bothering me or issues I am having with losing weight. But other journals are more social. It all depends on the person and how they choose to use their journals. But they are a great resource. Also I have gone to look at peoples journals if I see they are doing really well with their tickers at the bottom showing how much they lost and go to their journal to see what they are doing.

Right on. How do I go about setting up one of those tickers?

Btw, I found a bench on craigs for $25 that was nearby. I go look at it and tell the guy I'll take it, then he asks if I would be interested in the barbell, dumbells, and weights too! Just what I was looking for and he only wanted another $10. I gave him $40 for everything because I was getting such a good deal and didn't have a $10. Now I just need a couple larger plates and I'll be all set!! Can't beat that!!!

I can tell tomorrow morning is going to be a huge weight loss too. I just *cheated* and weighed in tonight...271. I'm getting excited now!

I've also decided to remove the games from my computer. I spend way too much time playing when I could be doing active and productive things.

Ticker check!

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Wow thats amazing! I havent actually gotten anything off of Craigslist yet, but I look at it for fun sometimes. But its good to know that it actually works out well.

Welcome to the forum!

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Get Rock Hard Abs - Your guide to dieting, fitness programs, abs workouts, exercises, and more.

Hey - glad to hear the Craigs list worked!

Good score on the bench & weights!

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m2m
The future is no place To put your better days