Grossly overweight (130KG 5'10"). Told on friday that my insulin levels were creeping up and fatty blotches on liver.

Almost constantly starting a new diet, lose about 10KG then blow it. Used to do the same with cigarettes, gave up every Monday for between 2 hours and 2 days, occasionally stretching to a week. December 29th 2008 gave up as per usual and haven't smoked since. Wasn't too bothered by initially putting on even more weight, as I thought the fags were more important, but I realise it's time something serious has to start happening quickly or I wont live to get the benefit of my newly found smoke free existence.

I joined a gym three hours after getting the news of the insulin/liver and then loaded up on "gear" (the good type - ie sportswear) over the weekend as lack of any orchestrated exercise over the last 15 years meant I had nothing to sweat into. Three days, three sessions so far. We all know it's not likely to last, but I'm quite enjoying it in a masochistic kind of way.

I was given a scedule to do do about 30 minutes cardio (3 types), 7 types of weight training at about 2 mins each and it generally involves another 15 mins or so standing around recovering, drinking water, and trying not to look like a gobshite (and failing).

I am hoping the diet will look after itself. I eat healthily enough at mealtimes. My disaster time is stuffing myself with wine\nuts\bread & cheese\crisps or basically anything going that lacks any nutritional benefit, lying on the sofa watching tele in the evening. I intend substituting this time with my gym visits at least 4 times a week. When you see how slowly the calorie counter moves whilst your sweating over a non-moving bike it should act as a disincentive to scoff back 120cals worth of crisps in 2 minutes on the nights I'm at home.

There you go. That's me.

Welcome to the community. Love your sense of humor.

So you've identified your weaknesses. I'd say they're:

1) Finding ways to remain consistent.

2) Finding ways to avoid binging on high cal junk at night.

With regards to number 1, how emotionally-backed would you say your goals are. By that, I mean there's a huge difference between repetitively saying to yourself, "I want to lose weight," and "I want to get in the best physical conditioning in my life to prove to myself and everyone around me that it's possible. I want to lead by example. I want to do this for my loved ones. I want to be able to dominate tasks I undertake."

With regards to number 2, I'd seriously educate yourself on the concept of energy density. It's been noted in plenty of research that our bodies tend to register volume of food more so than it does caloric content. So if you are going to chow down on foods later in the evenings, choose foods that provide the volume your body craves while not packing such a huge caloric punch.

Things like most fruits, vegetables, soups, etc... basically things with high water content. The fiber typically found in these foods doesn't hurt either when it comes to satiation.

Welcome to the board!

Thanks for the replies and encouragement.

Steve,

I understand what you're saying and I believe you are correct in saying that this is where I need to be.

I used to do athletics as a teenager. In honesty I was pretty awful for the amount of effort I put into it but I suppose for about five years of my life I was almost obsessively fit. In terms of diet and training I'd be pretty well educated in what I need to do to get to where, ideally, I want to be. Maybe because of this I know the gargantuan task ahead of me to reach anything like that level of fitness again or even what someone 25 years older than my sprightly past-self could hope to reach.

As a realist, I would be overjoyed if my weight was no longer a survival issue, if I could comfortably put the tray down when on a budget airline, if I no longer had to aim for an endspace at a group dinner to give myself elbow room, if I could run for a bus without having an arthritic hip screaming at me, if i could play a round of golf without needing the next day to recover. These are practical goals, rather than the inspirational type goal that you mention, and possibly their lack of sexosity, to invent a new word, is part of the reason I never seem to succeed, but I can't put my hand on my heart at this stage and claim in anyway that I believe I'll be fit to run marathons anytime soon. When I can get the tray down on a Ryanair flight, maybe I can start to dream then.

Welcome.

I would add another component to Steve's thoughts as well. For me, the change didn't come until I made a COMMITMENT. A lot of people get motivated, but motivation doesn't last.

When I stopped thinking about eating healthy and working out as optional - as something I chose to do - things changed. Now I look at it like this: I get up in the morning and go to work. I might not want to. I might not have slept well or it might be raining or I might have a project that I"m dreading ... but I do it anyway. Not because I'm motivated, but because that's what you do to live your life. You get up, go to work, pay the bills. I really try to focus on exercise and eating right the same way. Sometimes it's fun. Sometimes I enjoy it and look forward to it and I'm motivated. But you know what ... sometimes it just sucks and I do it anyway.

For me, making that commitment that it was a part of my life, just like going to work, paying bills, washing the dishes ... that made the difference.

I like that, good post.

Welcome to the boards, you'll find tons of advice and encouragement here. I'm in the same boat as you - used to be wicked fit for military training, but now I'm a cubicle blob. Hopefully both of us can get into some semblance of physical fitness again.

Seeya around!!!

You missed my point.

Goals don't need to be sexy.

They need to be specific and emotionally-fueled.

That's the point.