Overweight and gotta fix it

[jwfuhrman]

Lots of things contributed to myself going from my healthy 6' 2" and 250lbs Hockey Player to a 375lbs loser. Stress from losing a fiancee, to ending my hockey career with a broken back, to realizing I couldn't serve in the military because of the injury, to being laid off for over a year.

Ive come to the realization that I need to get over my self pity, my woe is me shit.

I was fine for awhile, actually started losing weight, was down to 295 until about a year and half ago. I was playing Semi-Pro Paintball for a local team, traveling the country to compete in various events(Phoenix, Charlotte, Chicago, Orlando to name a few). But with being 23 and not being the fastest guy, I was getting pushed more and more into a coaching role, rather than playing.

So skip ahead a year and 80lbs later, Im back to my fat self, feeling sorry for myself again when my best friend, who was on the team with me, who "retired" at the same time because he saw what the coaching staff and other players were doing to push me out of the way and off the team suggested that we both should check out a local USPSA match. I said sure, always had fun shooting, shot at Camp Perry a few times in High School.

Alas, my new addiction. First it was pistol only, then I found 3gun and have a HUGE passion for that. In my first season of shooting 3gun and carrying on to this season, I have yet to place below 7th at the various 3guns Ive shot in, and was asked to be a part of the Inagural Indiana State 3gun series.

Thus comes my problem. I feel that I will never place higher than what I have, without being "faster".

So I come to you guys, my fellow M4C'ers for advice on what I should do for a training routine. Something to get me out of Heart Attack Alley and back in shape. Maybe not the 205 I was as a High School Hockey Defensive man, but not a 300lbs+ fat ass like I am now.

I'd like to be down to 250lbs in a year and a half or 2. Thats 100lbs I'd like to lose. My best friend, the one who basically saved me from my depression by getting me to go along to my first USPSA match is getting married June 2nd 2012, and I'd like to be in better shape by then. Even if its just 50-60lbs.

I have access to a treadmill, an eliptical and yea, I bought one of those "Ab Rollers" off tv to help with doing crunches and push ups.

Just any advice on a type of diet and fitness routine would be great. Be advised.... I raise my own beef, pork and chicken.... so not eating meat is 100% out of the question haha.

[Hmac]

I applaud your desire to get healthy. You have a tough road. On average, a sustainable weight loss of over 50% of your excess body weight for at least two years by diet and exercise programs alone is successful about 2% of the time. At your current BMI of 48, you are in the general category of "morbid obesity". You are 180 lbs over ideal body weight. Your risk of heart disease, obstructive sleep apnea, Type II diabetes, and joint degeneration over the next 10 years is extraordinarily high.

In order to accomplish your goal of 125 lb weight loss, without surgery, I would highly recommend a specialized weight loss program encompassing work with nutritionist, psychologist, and physical therapist. Depending on your past weight loss history, weight loss surgery is one of the things you should consider.

IMHO your situation is such that the solution lies well outside the advice you might typically get on an Internet firearms forum. Diet and exercise is not the solution...you will need to effect a lifestyle change and that is very, very difficult to do without a lot of help.

I wish you the best of luck.

[warpigM-4]

I too Wish you luck on your Journey ,Just buy typing this out shows you are ready to do something as stated by Hmac you have a task at hand .
You Must get into the right mindset ,diet and workout route for you to do this.
Good luck to you and I am Sure with the right frame of mind you CAN do this !! Drive on!!

[Alex F]

Which team did you play on?

I've played paintball at some level since the mid 90's, including a stint in the NPPL.

I recently lost a bit of weight myself... I did it the old fashioned way with a diet change and exercise...

I can't offer you any more than that... have you talked to a dietitian or personal trainer?

[jwfuhrman]

Played PSP(Xball) from 06-09 with various teams.

haven't really talked to anyone about it. But i figure if my sister and mom can both lose 70lbs in a year and a half with diet and excersie i can do it too. Just gotta find a routine that fits me

[jwfuhrman]

Majority of my weight is in my gut. My legs and arms aren't "fatty". Regular Doctor check up's I'm told my blood pressure and heart rate are actually just slightly above a "healthy" male of my age group, and no where near what they say it normally should be.

I'm fairly active, living on a farm. The problem is my gut is where the majority of my fat is. Part of that reason is I sit on my ass all day with my day job, being a machinist that runs cnc machines, and parts that have a 30 min run time.

I walk alot, we've got 2 miles of trails and creek bottom to walk and when its not shitty out I'm usually outside doing something.

[TommyG]

Followed a similar path but a little later in life. Was a college lacrosse player, raced mountain bikes, motorcycles, surfed was into climbing etc. all through my 20s. I was 225-230 then but could keep up with the skinny folks just fine on the bike, climbed 5.10 routes in the East, etc.

Started on a career path and ended up working out of a company car every day. Super long days and fast food for breakfast, lunch and supper. Fast forward a few years and all my toys had cobwebs and I was over 300 pounds.

I have been headed back down for a while now. It is slow going in tha direction and frustrating at times. However, getting starting and sticking with it was the worst part.

I would talk to your doctor and a trainer to find out what is going to work best with your back injury. If your back can take it, simple walking is a great place to start, keep pushing yourself there. I started looking at everywhere that I went locally during the week and decided that, time permitting, everything within a certain distance of home had to be walked to (post office, store, out for coffee, etc.) and tried to stick to it. You are already doing that, keep pushing your walks out further and go faster. It will give you a good base to jump to more exercise. I went back to the things that I knew from my previous activities once I started to drop a few pounds and feel better.

How did you train for hockey if you could not get ont he ice? Are there things from those days that your body will tolerate. You probably have good muscle memory there and might fall back into that training more easily since you were pretty used to it for a time.

Read up on changing your metabolism. You have heard it before but eating small portions more often will speed things up and help you lose also.

It is frustrating and takes a while but it is so worth it. Stick with it man, you can do it.

[SHIVAN]

I am very anti-gagdet when it comes to nutrition and exercise, but I will say this:

60 days of P90x had me drop from 232lbs to 204lbs. I had to stop for two reasons, one my shoulder was jacked up -- MRI diagnosis this Wednesday hopefully -- and it was 98*+ in my garage where I worked out.

I stuck close to the diet they outlined, though not exactly, and did the workouts almost every day. Though I did skip some when there was no way around it.

Yes, it's a gimmicky routine, but if you can hack it, it will pay off. Everyone I personally know who did it lost weight AND gained definition and tone.

@ 300lbs+ you will need to get the bands for pullups versus a pullup bar, but the bands let me do way more reps on the highest resistance band there was, then getting in 10 pullups for each set.

Good luck!

[bkb0000]

i just want to add...

a great rule i've taught myself to live by, with regard to sticking with a conditioning plan and dealing with various monkey wrenches, stumbling blocks, etc... when you've got an excuse for everything else, you can still put 20 minutes in on the elliptical.

good luck, brother. there's nothing like being fit to make a man feel better about a shitty situation. ask me how i know.

[jwfuhrman]

My back injury was almost 6 years ago now. Broke my back and left elbow(smashed the elbow actually) after my senior year of high school in a pick up hockey game with some of the new seniors. Got checked rly hard, went over backwards(think folded in half backwards). That's when I gained alot of my weight, with having been laid up for 7 months then another 6 before I was 80%. In that time, my fiancee decided she didn't want an overweight has been hockey player, or something idk, so she bailed. That added to the stress and self pitty and weight gain.

i cut weight before by cutting all Pop/Soda out of my eating habits, quit drinking and smoking, and didn't eat as nearly much fast food. Mostly lean beef, chicken, with less starchy foods(is less bread and potatoes). I'm going to start with that again. Don't have to worry about smoking i quit that 4 years ago.

i have an endurance bike that while I'm watching TV or something at night I'll be on more. I wanna check out p90x as i have heard the same thing from people