With the deep and boring off-season upon us, I'm posting an update on my fitness with a mind to encouraging any fellow Sooners who are struggling with their health and weight.
Fellas, there is a way out. It's not easy, but there's a way.
I am going to share my update and some of my personal findings over the past year. TIFWIW. But I also hope others will share their updates or thoughts in this thread as well. It ended up being a pretty good one last year and helped me and some others out quite a bit.
For those who are new to the site, some background is appropriate.
I posted around March of last year that I was Fat AF and starting a plan that would probably fail like the rest of them had, but I was going to try anyway. I asked for some support and got a lot of great encouragement (for which I'm still grateful).
Well, the plan actually worked amazingly well for me, so I posted this update a couple months later when I had lost 60+ lbs. And I think it lead to a lot of folks on the board taking action to improve their health in a variety of ways. I'll be curious to hear how it worked out. I know a lot of folks gave 3X a try, with some mixed reviews (not everything works the same for everyone).
So the big update for me is that I just finished my first international distance triathlon in 7 years. Finished Top 5 in my division. I'm still a big boy even after losing 65+ lbs of blubber last year, so I competed as a Clydesdale. It was a brutal race - hottest day on record in Austin - so I left my goal of breaking 3 hours on the table as I cramped badly in the last 5K (f&ck!).
But even though I missed my goal, it still was a minor miracle that I even returned to the sport after how badly I'd let myself go (as you can see from the pic). I was pushing 290 on my way to 3 bills in March of last year . . .
So now, a year removed from the bulk of my weight loss, and having experimented with some different foods and strategies that fell outside the original plan I followed, here's what I have to offer:
1) Keto Part 1. The 3X Fat Loss approach to nutrition is still 90% of my playbook because more than anything else, it's what reached me and gave me a step by step path to health. It is basically a ketogenic approach to weight loss with a major emphasis on micro nutrition, gut health, and inflammation reduction accomplished through A) clean eating (organic, non-gmo), B) lots of clean drinking (purified water), C) massive intake of greens (I juice every day), and D) high quality supplementation. The whole point is to harness your hormones to work with you and not against you in the weight loss effort. And it works. Or at least it did for me.
2) Keto Part 2. I'm still a big fan of Dr. Berg's stuff, which I shared in my thread last year. He's the real deal and if you want good support to help you do Keto in the right, nutritious way (not the Atkin's Bacon Bacon Butter and more Bacon approach), you should sign up for his free video blog. He also sells a wicked good lemon-flavored wheat grass juice powder that I use in place of coffee and it is A) awesome, and B) a massive source of dense nutrition.
3) Addiction Recovery. The thing that 3X was missing (for me) was something that addresses the emotional component of poor eating habits. That is not an issue for a lot of people; but for others like myself who may have had pretty traumatic experiences in life (especially in childhood) where bad eating patterns were formed, it is an absolute necessity. I had a period of time where I added back some of the weight I'd lost and was starting to lose control again. It was all emotion-based eating (food addiction). Getting into a good support group such as OA gave me a safe place to continue to work through the underlying issues fueling my bad food choices. In short, I was treating myself like shit because that's what I believed myself to be . . . because that's what I was told I was (both verbally and through actions of abuse). For those who know what I'm talking about, or even if you think this might apply, I think getting into a good support group might even be a better first step than signing up for a program like 3X. Here's also a great site by a guy who writes about emotional eating (Shrink Yourself blog). I signed up for his newsletter and it's been good when I've read it.
4) Exercise, Part 1. Despite what the photo above may lead you to believe, exercise was not a part of my weight loss plan originally and for good reason (that the 3X program explains). But it is definitely a huge part of being healthy for the long-run. Having a goal and hobby was a big part of helping me rebound from some of the bad weight I had gained back and giving me a much more healthy place to channel my compulsive tendencies. Everyone is unique; but I have to say that Triathlons are freaking awesome and the training they force you to do is just fantastic for your overall health. At least it has been for me. If you think you want to give it a try, here's a great site for beginners that has helped me a lot. You can use one of their free training guides to go from having never done a triathlon to doing an International/Olympic distance tri (like I did) with only 12 weeks of training.
5) Exercise, Part 2. The dialogue in last year's thread also led me to incorporate more HIIT into my exercise routine. I follow the Tabata protocol for the most part, which is one version of a HIIT workout. Here's the app I use. HIIT workouts trigger the body's natural production of Human Growth Hormone, which is AWESOME for fat burning and over-all well-being. Here is a good post for some very simple places to get started with HIIT. (Side note: if you were dead-set on doing some sort of exercise even if you're still fat AF, the HIIT workouts are best. Don't do the long cardio stuff because if you do, you'll trigger the body's production of cortisol, which means you'll inflame your food cravings, which will sabotage any efforts you make to get right with your relationship with food. But again, if you are really fat, I wouldn't do anything more than a 20-30 minute walk every day until you get within striking distance (10-20 lbs?) of your goal weight.
6) Accountability. I think a big reason why I've kept off the weight is that I made myself publicly accountable. I told people what I was doing and posted my progress on Facebook. I posted here. That may not work out well for everyone, and I guess that can cut both ways if you tank and throw in the towel: it could have made me hide. But I think it has given me some extra resolve to not let it all go back to shit. Also, it has led to me helping others. That's probably been the biggest thing, really. Helping other guys do right by themselves has made it easier to coach myself up to treat my own body with dignity.
7a) Money Part 1. A few words about money, since there's no avoiding the spending to make this happen. I definitely threw down some coin to make all this happen - buying the 3X program, buying the supplements, buying a $300 juicer, etc. I don't regret it. But this is one of those areas where "great" seems to be the enemy of the "good." Lots of people I've seen shy away from chunking down the coin to get healthy who are paying oceans more in health care, health insurance, lost productivity, and lost wages . . . but why? Because they wanted to find the cheapest way to buy organic vitamins? Don't get me wrong, I'm a penny-pincher, too. But this is an area where you definitely don't want to miss the forest for the trees. I think people use the money as an excuse because they really just don't want to change. Because the simple math is undeniable. I'm a Certified Financial Planner by training and I can tell you flat out that every dollar you spend on your health is a good fiscal decision. The biggest variable is adding back years to my working lifespan. In my case, at least 5 years. But it's also made a gigantic difference my insurance premiums (for the rest of my life). I viewed (and still view it) all as a capital expense to acquire a future income stream. And I calculate the NPV of my total investments in my health so far to be worth at least a half a million dollars. And that's being conservative. I shit you not.
7b) Money Part 2. The other thing that I think people miss when they are trying to "save money" is that sometimes spending a lot of money is what a person needs to do to take something seriously. That certainly proved to be the case for me. The money I spent made me throw down the effort, too. It's really just like Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Just like spending money to get my old car cleaned up and waxed makes me start liking it again, spending the coin on my body made me start caring about my body again. And I think that's where it all starts. Or at least it did for me.
7c) Money Part 3. A very fun practical tool pointed out to me in the thread last year was Dietbet.com. I've now done three (in the middle of my third) and they've helped combine the accountability and the money motivations in a very cool way. I can't remember who pointed this out, but thank you. It's also helped me make a little money. I still think we should do an annual dietbet but since only one other guy tried it with me last year, I'm not going to set it up unless there's a groundswell here. But it's definitely something anyone can do on their own.
8) Legacy. My 10 year old son has started taking his own nutrition really seriously. And exercising. He came to watch me compete yesterday. It's amazing how much more effective it is to tell my boy to eat his vegetables when he sees me doing the same thing. So I know, even if all the other benefits weren't real, that this is something that will be a part of my family legacy. And that makes the sacrifices worth the effort and the cost.
9) Sex. No surprise: the sex is more frequent and better. Possible surprise (or at least it was to me): the unit is larger. Here's why: 1) It's no longer sheathed in folds of fat. And 2) increased circulation. This is no bullshit. My wife pointed it out before I did.
I could go on . . . but with this crowd, I think it's best to end with sex.
Fellas, there is a way out. It's not easy, but there's a way.
I am going to share my update and some of my personal findings over the past year. TIFWIW. But I also hope others will share their updates or thoughts in this thread as well. It ended up being a pretty good one last year and helped me and some others out quite a bit.
For those who are new to the site, some background is appropriate.
I posted around March of last year that I was Fat AF and starting a plan that would probably fail like the rest of them had, but I was going to try anyway. I asked for some support and got a lot of great encouragement (for which I'm still grateful).
Well, the plan actually worked amazingly well for me, so I posted this update a couple months later when I had lost 60+ lbs. And I think it lead to a lot of folks on the board taking action to improve their health in a variety of ways. I'll be curious to hear how it worked out. I know a lot of folks gave 3X a try, with some mixed reviews (not everything works the same for everyone).
So the big update for me is that I just finished my first international distance triathlon in 7 years. Finished Top 5 in my division. I'm still a big boy even after losing 65+ lbs of blubber last year, so I competed as a Clydesdale. It was a brutal race - hottest day on record in Austin - so I left my goal of breaking 3 hours on the table as I cramped badly in the last 5K (f&ck!).
But even though I missed my goal, it still was a minor miracle that I even returned to the sport after how badly I'd let myself go (as you can see from the pic). I was pushing 290 on my way to 3 bills in March of last year . . .
So now, a year removed from the bulk of my weight loss, and having experimented with some different foods and strategies that fell outside the original plan I followed, here's what I have to offer:
1) Keto Part 1. The 3X Fat Loss approach to nutrition is still 90% of my playbook because more than anything else, it's what reached me and gave me a step by step path to health. It is basically a ketogenic approach to weight loss with a major emphasis on micro nutrition, gut health, and inflammation reduction accomplished through A) clean eating (organic, non-gmo), B) lots of clean drinking (purified water), C) massive intake of greens (I juice every day), and D) high quality supplementation. The whole point is to harness your hormones to work with you and not against you in the weight loss effort. And it works. Or at least it did for me.
2) Keto Part 2. I'm still a big fan of Dr. Berg's stuff, which I shared in my thread last year. He's the real deal and if you want good support to help you do Keto in the right, nutritious way (not the Atkin's Bacon Bacon Butter and more Bacon approach), you should sign up for his free video blog. He also sells a wicked good lemon-flavored wheat grass juice powder that I use in place of coffee and it is A) awesome, and B) a massive source of dense nutrition.
3) Addiction Recovery. The thing that 3X was missing (for me) was something that addresses the emotional component of poor eating habits. That is not an issue for a lot of people; but for others like myself who may have had pretty traumatic experiences in life (especially in childhood) where bad eating patterns were formed, it is an absolute necessity. I had a period of time where I added back some of the weight I'd lost and was starting to lose control again. It was all emotion-based eating (food addiction). Getting into a good support group such as OA gave me a safe place to continue to work through the underlying issues fueling my bad food choices. In short, I was treating myself like shit because that's what I believed myself to be . . . because that's what I was told I was (both verbally and through actions of abuse). For those who know what I'm talking about, or even if you think this might apply, I think getting into a good support group might even be a better first step than signing up for a program like 3X. Here's also a great site by a guy who writes about emotional eating (Shrink Yourself blog). I signed up for his newsletter and it's been good when I've read it.
4) Exercise, Part 1. Despite what the photo above may lead you to believe, exercise was not a part of my weight loss plan originally and for good reason (that the 3X program explains). But it is definitely a huge part of being healthy for the long-run. Having a goal and hobby was a big part of helping me rebound from some of the bad weight I had gained back and giving me a much more healthy place to channel my compulsive tendencies. Everyone is unique; but I have to say that Triathlons are freaking awesome and the training they force you to do is just fantastic for your overall health. At least it has been for me. If you think you want to give it a try, here's a great site for beginners that has helped me a lot. You can use one of their free training guides to go from having never done a triathlon to doing an International/Olympic distance tri (like I did) with only 12 weeks of training.
5) Exercise, Part 2. The dialogue in last year's thread also led me to incorporate more HIIT into my exercise routine. I follow the Tabata protocol for the most part, which is one version of a HIIT workout. Here's the app I use. HIIT workouts trigger the body's natural production of Human Growth Hormone, which is AWESOME for fat burning and over-all well-being. Here is a good post for some very simple places to get started with HIIT. (Side note: if you were dead-set on doing some sort of exercise even if you're still fat AF, the HIIT workouts are best. Don't do the long cardio stuff because if you do, you'll trigger the body's production of cortisol, which means you'll inflame your food cravings, which will sabotage any efforts you make to get right with your relationship with food. But again, if you are really fat, I wouldn't do anything more than a 20-30 minute walk every day until you get within striking distance (10-20 lbs?) of your goal weight.
6) Accountability. I think a big reason why I've kept off the weight is that I made myself publicly accountable. I told people what I was doing and posted my progress on Facebook. I posted here. That may not work out well for everyone, and I guess that can cut both ways if you tank and throw in the towel: it could have made me hide. But I think it has given me some extra resolve to not let it all go back to shit. Also, it has led to me helping others. That's probably been the biggest thing, really. Helping other guys do right by themselves has made it easier to coach myself up to treat my own body with dignity.
7a) Money Part 1. A few words about money, since there's no avoiding the spending to make this happen. I definitely threw down some coin to make all this happen - buying the 3X program, buying the supplements, buying a $300 juicer, etc. I don't regret it. But this is one of those areas where "great" seems to be the enemy of the "good." Lots of people I've seen shy away from chunking down the coin to get healthy who are paying oceans more in health care, health insurance, lost productivity, and lost wages . . . but why? Because they wanted to find the cheapest way to buy organic vitamins? Don't get me wrong, I'm a penny-pincher, too. But this is an area where you definitely don't want to miss the forest for the trees. I think people use the money as an excuse because they really just don't want to change. Because the simple math is undeniable. I'm a Certified Financial Planner by training and I can tell you flat out that every dollar you spend on your health is a good fiscal decision. The biggest variable is adding back years to my working lifespan. In my case, at least 5 years. But it's also made a gigantic difference my insurance premiums (for the rest of my life). I viewed (and still view it) all as a capital expense to acquire a future income stream. And I calculate the NPV of my total investments in my health so far to be worth at least a half a million dollars. And that's being conservative. I shit you not.
7b) Money Part 2. The other thing that I think people miss when they are trying to "save money" is that sometimes spending a lot of money is what a person needs to do to take something seriously. That certainly proved to be the case for me. The money I spent made me throw down the effort, too. It's really just like Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Just like spending money to get my old car cleaned up and waxed makes me start liking it again, spending the coin on my body made me start caring about my body again. And I think that's where it all starts. Or at least it did for me.
7c) Money Part 3. A very fun practical tool pointed out to me in the thread last year was Dietbet.com. I've now done three (in the middle of my third) and they've helped combine the accountability and the money motivations in a very cool way. I can't remember who pointed this out, but thank you. It's also helped me make a little money. I still think we should do an annual dietbet but since only one other guy tried it with me last year, I'm not going to set it up unless there's a groundswell here. But it's definitely something anyone can do on their own.
8) Legacy. My 10 year old son has started taking his own nutrition really seriously. And exercising. He came to watch me compete yesterday. It's amazing how much more effective it is to tell my boy to eat his vegetables when he sees me doing the same thing. So I know, even if all the other benefits weren't real, that this is something that will be a part of my family legacy. And that makes the sacrifices worth the effort and the cost.
9) Sex. No surprise: the sex is more frequent and better. Possible surprise (or at least it was to me): the unit is larger. Here's why: 1) It's no longer sheathed in folds of fat. And 2) increased circulation. This is no bullshit. My wife pointed it out before I did.
I could go on . . . but with this crowd, I think it's best to end with sex.
