Record your trials, accomplishments and moods during weight loss. Looking back on your diary, you may gain valuable insight. Share your notes; let others benefit from your experience as you learn from theirs
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Hey everyone my name is Sam but alot of people just call me Tusk. I'm 21 years old and the past 2 years have been the worst of my life. Family problems, getting led on by a girl for several years, not knowing what I want to do with my life, having shoulder surgery, weight gain, and several other things landed me in a seemly inescapable nightmare of depression and anxiety. I moved back home from college and moped around in my room for a year and a half. Just recently I got a job and started hanging out with friends again, but I still have a long way to go, to reach my goals.
I am 6'2" and weigh 229 lbs.
my goal is to weigh 190 lbs. and to wake up from this nightmare I've let my life become.
I started working out in April. I filled out weekly workout charts and took pictures one a week to track my progress. after a month with minimal results I got discouraged and have been struggling to keep on my workout schedule. I decided I needed some extra help to reach my goals so I joined this community. I will continue tracking my weight loss with workout logs and pictures here.
I'm not sure how if i'm going to do daily updates or weekly but once I'll figure it out once I get all my logs and pictures onto my computer.
I'm excited to meet new people and make new friends. I'm open to any advice anyone has about anything.
Hey Tusks! Welcome to the forum and boy you've found the right place. We all know how hard it is to lose weight----and we all know how hard it is to stick with it when you feel like you're getting nowhere (sp) fast.
Stick to your guns and I know that you'll accomplish your goals!!
My progress from april 10th until now. I gained 4 pounds from april 17th to may 3rd but I also started lifting weights during this time. I expect only weight loss from here on out.
I just finished my first workout since starting my diary earlier tonight and it was a good one. I did 2.59 miles in 30 minutes at resistance lvl 7 on my elliptical.
When I started back in april I was doing 2.4 miles in 30 minutes at resistance lvl 4. I will usually go about a week and a half to two weeks at a resistance lvl before I move on to the next one.
My workout plan from here until I can do 30 minutes at lvl 10 resistance with no trouble will be as follows.
I do all my workouts at my house because of my anxiety. Once I get a little confidence back I may try to start going to a small gym for some of my workouts.
One thing I forgot to mention in my original entry is that I've already lost alot of weight once in my life, back when I was a senior in high school I lost 40 lbs. from the start of the school year up to graduation. I weighed 240 lbs. at the beginning of the year and was down to 200 lbs. when I graduated. My freshmen year in college I got down to 190lbs. and have never been happier in my life. Which is why my goal is to get to 190lbs. again.
I just got done with my workout for the day and I feel good. I did 2.68 miles at resistance lvl. 7 in 30 minutes. I'm able to do 30 minutes of resistance lvl. 7 comfortably enough now that i'm going to move up to lvl. for tomorrows workout.
For some reason whenever I workout I always have flashbacks to the worst moments of my life that in my mind happened because I was over weight, and the best moments in my life that in my mind happened because I was at my ideal weight. I've always done this as long as I can remember. I'll be working out concentrating on keeping a good pace or thinking about my day and then i'll just randomly flashback and get this rush of anger or burst of energy to push myself even harder. It might just be my body's reaction when my endorphines kick in, but i'm not so sure that's it.
You sound like you're doing an awesome job so far, I don't like to exercise in public either...I even have a hard time walking outdoors because I think everyones eyes are on me But I don't have the money for a treadmill, so I just avoid busy streets haha
Today was a great day for me. When I woke up this morning I hopped on the scale for my weekly weigh in and I am down to 226 lbs. Then I get a call from work that I can take the day off if I want, so of course I did. I went to the mall with my buddy to get a pair of shorts since I don't fit into my 34's yet. I got a pair of 38's to wear for the next couple of weeks. My workout tonight was awsome, I moved up to resistance lvl. 8 and I was able to do 2.70 miles in 30 minutes. My body was just in the zone today. Usually when I move up resistance lvls i'll only get about 2.40 miles the first day.
I think I look like i've gained weight in this weeks picture but it doesn't really bother me. Same thing happend last time I was losing weight. I hit a 4 week period when I started lifting weights where I thought I looked like I was gaining weight.
I was looking through some old pictures today and I found a picture of what I looked like back in 04' which is my goal weight now. So i'll post that one so you can see what my goal is.
I don't really have a set diet. I eat when i'm hungry (usually every 3-4 hours) in sensible portions. Lots of ham and turkey sandwiches, tuna, chicken breast, and healthy choice microwave dinners when i'm lazy. Usually I try to have 3 meals and 2 snacks or protein shakes, but with my work schedule some days I don't get to have my snacks. These past 2 weeks i've had to eat fast food for lunch 3 days out of the week. Not to happy about that, and I am deff not making a habit of it. All I drink is a glass of cranberry juice in the morning, propel or gatorade when i'm working out, and water the rest of the time.
It's going to be tough to eat like I want to this summer. All my buddies that are home from college for the summer have rediculous metabolism and can eat whatever they want without ever having to workout and never gain a pound.
Hi Tusk, welcome to your diary. It's great you've made a renewed commitment to your health. You don't have much to lose and men lose so fast when they eat right and exercise. Your workouts look great, cardio and weights. (I gain the first 4 weeks of weight lifting too).
While your buddies are scarfing down Rotten Ronnies and pizza this summer, if you're working out, you can probably allow yourself one or two days per week where you can do that. But you can also start some new habits of cutting up carrots, cucumber and green/red peppers and keeping them in a plastic container in the fridge.
I feel sad when I think about someone as young as 21 dealing with depression and anxiety. But it is a reality and once my doctor told me 85% of his patients come to see him because of depression. That was an eye opener! You should be proud of yourself for loving yourself the way you are. Pooh on your ex-girlfriend! Judging by that awesome picture of you, there will be a line up of girls for you in your future.
Not knowing what to do with your life, is a stress for many people. Not just young people, either. Take the pressure off yourself, and just work in your new job and enjoy your friends. You are doing all the right things. And answers about possible careers will present themselves to you, over time. I look forward to seeing your progress. Hugs, buddy.
While your buddies are scarfing down Rotten Ronnies and pizza this summer, if you're working out, you can probably allow yourself one or two days per week where you can do that. But you can also start some new habits of cutting up carrots, cucumber and green/red peppers and keeping them in a plastic container in the fridge.
Hey thanks for the idea. I'll grab some extra veggies next time I go to the store and make a little snack pack.
Today was my weight/light cardio day and I felt great while I was lifting. My workout went as follows
10x curls 25lbs.
10x front arm raises 8lbs. (can't lift alot because of my 2 time surgically repaired shoulder)
10x lat pull ups 20lbs.
10x chest flys 20lbs.
10x dumbbell benchpress 20lbs.
10x reverse flys 8lbs.
10 minutes on eliptical
Repeat x2
I have to do really light weights on several of my shoulder exercises because I am extremely loose jointed in my shoulders. I have had 2 surgerys on my left shoulder to repair a torn labrum and currenty have a partial torn labrum in my right shoulder but have chosen to live with pain instead of have another surgery.
Making this diary was the best thing I could have done. Already it's given me alot more motivation to get back my 190lbs. body. After gaining alot of weight I became so ashamed of myself. I hated myself for letting all the hard work I had done to get into shape just go to waste. I don't know when it happend but sometime in April I finally woke up from this pitty party i've been having for myself. Yea I gained weight again and yea life hasn't worked out the way I wanted it to. I'm just going to take it one day at a time and continue to work my way to being happy again.
Sorry you hit a rough patch in life. We all do. I think what's most important for you for not only your weightloss, but also your sanity, is getting a grip on your thought processes. It seems like you are doing a pretty good job of that. Try and pay attention to the things that "little voice" is saying inside that head of yours.
Things really start to change for the better when we start listening to that voice. Better yet, things really start to improve once you start CORRECTING that voice.
With regards to the training, I would focus on more compound lifts.
And with the nutrition, if the weight doesn't start heading down more consistently, you MIGHT want to get a little more strict with either what you eat or how you track it.
But I don't have the money for a 
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