Who I Am

If you’ve been reading this blog you’re probably wondering who I am and why I feel that I should be writing on the subject of weight loss and nutrition. I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t want some fat guy telling me how to lose weight!

The truth is that my body has transformed in this manner: fat => skinny => fat=> fit => fat

Since I was little I always remembered being bigger than kids my age. It was always a horrible feeling but being so young I could do nothing about it. Years down the road I decided I wanted to change. With the introduction of the internet I began to educate myself on how to lose weight. After intensive research I chose the quickest weight loss plans I could find, ultimately transforming myself into skinny man (in a lanky, unattractive way). Because I implemented a fad diet (Atkins, followed by a poorly implemented Keto plan), I gained all the pounds back by introducing the staples of my old eating lifestyle.

Determined to have a more sustainable weight loss, I researched far and wide for information until I found a great exercise plan complimented by a healthy diet. It was incredible! I was eating tasty food, losing weight and keeping it off.

As I hit the midway point in my college career things took a turn for the worst. My family was having long-term problems and the stress was affecting my dedication.

Long story short: I gained 70 pounds and lost the muscle I had gained.

What this blog is about

The goal of all my writing is to educate people of everything I’ve learned throughout this entire process and show them that there is a way to healthier life. I will obviously be leading through example because this blog will track my progress. I’m no expert but I can definitely help others in similar positions.

Why Fad Diets Make You Fat

I feel sorry for people who are trying to lose weight for the first time. They probably head to Google, type in “weight loss diet” and are bombarded with a ridiculous amount of information that constantly varies from one source to another. The truth is that there is more than one way to lose weight. No diet fits the bill for every individual.

As a “want-it-now” culture it’s no surprise that some of the most popular diets publicized are those that are meant to eliminate an insane amount of weight in a short period of time. I’ve seen channels such as VH1 and E! broadcast stories of how celebrities lose weight by liquid only diets, lemon and cayenne pepper diets (yuck!), or diets that consist of soups with nonexistent caloric value. After seeing how gorgeous those stars are it’s no surprise that we fatties at home find their techniques appealing.

If it works for them then why won’t it work for me?

It’s true that celebrities lose weight quickly with their extreme diets. What the media fails to highlight is how quickly they gain it back. When movie stars need to lose weight for a role, they often put their bodies in starvation mode through a significantly calorie deficient diet. As soon as filming is complete they’ll return to their previous diets and regain their weight just as quickly (plus a little extra for many). The reason this happens is because your body is an efficient survival machine. When you don’t consume enough food it eats through your muscle and then your fat. As soon as you chow down it beings a desperate storing process, transforming what you consume into fat because it believes you’ll die without it.

So what does this mean to you?

It means don’t follow the diet of the day/week/month. Programs such as the Atkins diet and the South Beach diet will allow you to lose weight initially, but soon afterward stall (like in almost any diet). You then reintroduce your carbohydrates and balloon up again. Instead, pick a healthier route and stick to it. You won’t just lose weight but completely transform your lifestyle.

Beginner’s Guide to Losing Weight

Weight loss is very difficult for many people, myself included. It involves abandoning the way you eat and spend your time to enter a process that is completely unfamiliar and seemingly painful. Many times you have to eliminate the trip to Hooters with your buddies or that delicious slice of cake you’ve become accustomed to having before bed. After a few days of suffering through your new workout and diet routines you decide that you’re happier with your old habits.

Trust me, you’re not the only one. The problem lies in diving into the whole process cold turkey. When you’re completely uneducated about what you’re doing then you’re more likely to get hurt, feel tired from undernourishment, or not lose any weight because of a poor diet.

I’m not saying that you should prevent yourself from starting a workout plan because you don’t know much. You’d never start that way! What you can do is ease into it bit by bit. Your body is probably so out of shape that moderate exercise and a small change in diet will be more than enough to burn the fat while you start researching more. I’ll highlight my recommendations.

Diet

Right now you probably have no idea how many calories you consume and how many grams of protein or carbohydrates your foods have. Don’t worry about it. You’ll pick it up slowly. In the mean time you can start by spreading your meals into 5-6 servings per day. It can be hard if you work and are used to eating three solid meals. The problem with doing so involves you pigging out during those meals because you’re so hungry when it’s time to eat. Instead, keep having your three main meals (albeit a bit smaller and hopefully healthier) and start having a few high protein snacks in between. The snacks can consist of a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, a handful of nuts, a turkey sandwich, or a protein shake. I chose those because they’re easy to prepare and give you essential oils, protein, and carbohydrates.

Next, your main meals should be built from the “triforce” of nutrition that are emphasized in books such as Body-for-Life. This is what you should stick to:

• Protein: You need to have a lean protein serving about the size of your fist (grilled/baked chicken, lean cuts of beef, turkey, tofu, eggs whites, or fish). Make sure you are cooking your protein in a healthy way. Fried chicken doesn’t count!
• Carbohydrate: This one is tough for people. Like me, many suffer from carb addiction. What you have to do is throw out all your baked treats as well as all that pantry stuff that is easy to think about when you’re watching “I Love [Insert annoying reality star]” on VH1. After that’s done you should stock up with healthy carbs such as brown rice, beans, sweet potatoes, whole grain pasta, and whole grain breads. Pick whichever one you’re in the mood for and have a palm sized portion (i.e. half a cup of rice). Make sure nothing is drenched in butter or alfredo sauce and you’ll be building amazing eating habits for the rest of your life.
• Veggies: I have to admit I love vegetables, but I know I’m in the minority. I have met my fair share of individuals plagued with veg-phobia and symphathize with them. What you should do is find the few veggies you might actually enjoy and stick with them. Otherwise constantly look for healthy recipes that might sound appetizing. I’ll write an article on different vegetable meals later on. In the mean time make sure to stick with the leafy greens and other low calorie greens. This means eating lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, zucchini, green beans, onions, or whatever else might fill you up for the low calorie price. Personally I love tossing broccoli, zucchini, and onions in a wok and have them stir-fried. Delicious and healthy! Don’t think of vegetables as a necessary evil but more as a filler that will keep you from the krispy cremes at work.

Have a protein, carbohydrate, and veggie on your plate 5-6 times a day if you can. When not possible, try for 3 times a day with the snacks I listed above. If you have a “I-need-to-have-something-sweet-now-or-I’ll-fight-someone” moment you’re welcome to a tablespoon of peanut or almond butter, but try not to overdo it. Sugar-free jello and pudding can also do the trick.

Workout

This one varies from person to person. I recommend going to bodybuilding.com and checking out their excellent training section for what best fits you. If you’re completely brand new to working out, I suggest not going out and sprinting immediately. Your joints might not be up to the task in your current condition. Instead, head to the bicycle, elliptical, or pool. They’ll make sure that you’re not punishing your hardly used body parts with your own bodyweight. If you do decide that you want to head first to the track remember to stretch carefully and not over-do it. Injury is one of the main reasons people quit their exercise and diet.

In terms of weight training, stick to lower weight/higher repetition while you’re starting (i.e. don’t use a lot of weight when you can only do three bicep curls). If you can, get a trainer at the gym for a few sessions so you learn how to cater to your specific needs. You’ll also learn how to use the equipment the correct way. Finally, make sure to stick to proper form (i.e. don’t try to impress the attractive individual next to you by pulling out the 100 pound dumbbells). It will prevent injury and allow you to truly gain muscle or lose fat.

If you can’t afford a trainer, ask a friend who goes regularly to the gym to educate you. If you can work out with them constantly you’ll probably get pushed harder to reach your goals. If all else fails, research, research, research. The internet is filled with ways to start training now. Furthermore, the library has tons of books on exercise that have pictures of the right way to do your lifts.

Work hard. Stay motivated. Reach your goals.

What Motivates Me to Lose Weight

I just wrote a post about why we choose to lose weight and how we can be more effective with our goals. Here are the reasons I choose to lose weight:

• I want to feel attractive: I’ve got a beautiful girlfriend who loves me regardless of my weight. I noticed that her “undying” love was one of the reasons I wasn’t sticking to my fitness plans. I didn’t need to lose weight to impress her in any way and that just made me complacent with my size. Now I’m changing the way I think into wanting to lose weight so I can do many more athletic activities with her. We have amazing trails around where I live so it’ll be nice to go jogging with her or take a bike ride every now and then.
• Sports: I love playing soccer and running track. I haven’t been able to play at my full potential for a few years because I get tired too quickly and can’t keep up with a lot of my friends on the field. Getting in better shape will make me want to play so much more, which gets me out of the house and investing my time in cardiovascular activity.
• Saving money: losing weight means I will eat out less, which has taken a big chunk of my cash recently. Instead I’ll be making incredible food at home. Also, being healthier means I won’t have to spend so much on doctor’s visit which can get pricey very quickly.
• Confidence: I’m sure many people feel the same way, but when I’m fat I just don’t feel as good talking to people I don’t know very well. If you don’t feel good about yourself then you can’t develop the relationships you want to in life. Being healthy makes you feel better about yourself and it reflects upon how you socialize with other. It’s that simple.
• Increased energy: when you’re at your ideal weight you have the energy to do so many things. A lot of people don’t achieve their goals in life because after a long day of work they get home and are just exhausted. Having prolonged energy might be the reason that you spend more time playing with your kids, write that book you’ve been thinking about for so long, start that business that you’re so passionate about, or just have more time to socialize with friend and family.

Why do you want to lose weight?

What Motivates Us to Lose Weight

As human beings we tend to have visions of what our lives should be like. We want expensive cars, the latest gadgets, great careers, amazing social lives, and perfect bodies. The problem is that we want everything now. In the United States, where this “want-it-now” culture is most prevalent, we see the constantly increasing use of fast food, costly credit card purchases, and “miracle” weight loss pills.

While the occasional splurge is not going to kill us, making habits out of these lifestyles affects us negatively. It becomes a cycle: we buy more than we can pay for, which makes us have to work longer hours, which cuts our opportunity to cook our own healthy meals, which leads us to McDonalds, which makes us fat, which leads us to buy the “miracle” pill that is being advertised on television, which doesn’t end up working, which depresses us more, which makes us shop and eat more, which….I think you get the point.

So what can we do to stop this cycle? Ok, you’ve decided it’s time to start a diet and join the local gym. Great! You’re pumped. You start the first few days of cutting those calories and try to bench what you used to in high school. You lose a couple pounds but your progress starts to taper.  You continue to attack the celery and salad while nursing your sore body. Then you get even more motivated to fight your obesity and…….you’re back in front of the TV eating scoops of ice cream and snacking on chips.

What happened? Well you probably made an excuse that told you to fall off the bandwagon. Something like:

“I don’t have time to go to the gym today but I’ll go tomorrow for sure.”

Or:

“I had a bad day. I can have this piece of chocolate and continue with my nasty diet food later.”

There’s the problem! You just associated negative thoughts to your weight loss plans and associated positive thoughts to your bad habits. Your mind is essentially telling you that procrastinating and eating junk food is what you really want in life while following your diet and exercise plan is painful.

Changing this mentality is tough but incredibly rewarding. I’m in the process of changing what emotions I link to my thoughts and have been doing very well. Here’s what you need to do:

-Make a list of why you want to lose weight
-Make a list of why you don’t want to diet and exercise

The reason’s why you want to lose weight should be enough to get you fired up right now. You absolutely want to live a healthy life. You might end up being more attractive, have better endurance when playing basketball with your friends, or you’ll be able to spend less on medical bills. You’ll be living a longer and fuller life!

Now look at why you don’t want to diet or exercise. Maybe you don’t want to start because you won’t get to eat your favorite foods. Maybe exercise feels so painful for you and you feel embarrassed of how you will look or perform in the gym. They’re common thoughts but they have to be eliminated. Instead of saying to yourself that you won’t get to eat your favorite foods state that you’ll get to try new foods that are absolutely delectable. Instead of associating pain with working out start believing that it gives you more energy in the day and that it leads to a gorgeous body. This is all very Tony Robbins-esque in nature but it works.

Once you tell yourself these things over and over you begin to believe it. You start seeing the changes. You’re trying new foods that you can’t believe you’ve been missing out on. Your body begins to perform incredibly and you’re running circles around your old college buddies on the football field. Women or men (or both!) are starting to notice you more. You’re feeling so much more confident at work and are getting more sales/promotions. The sky is the limit!

So, keep visualizing the positive effects exercising and dieting will have on your life. I sure will!

Picture Progress 7-18-08 (Day 1)

Godzilla Front

Godzilla Side

This is what I look like. Not pretty. It’s disgusting and I want to keep that mind set. The “you’re beautiful big” mentality is one of the reasons the United States is the leader in the obesity pack. The mentality allows people to be complacent with the way they are and eliminates the motivation needed to stick with a dietary and exercise program. While no one should get Paris Hilton thin, there should not be a single person who is complacent at a weight that creates problems for their health. I don’t need to be in “King Leonidas” shape (though I’ll take it if I can get it) but I do need to be in a healthy state.

Meal Plan

As far as my diet, I don’t plan to be strict in the sense of counting calories. What I’ll be strict on is the management of my portions. I’ll have 5-6 meals per day with one carbohydrate (rice, whole wheat bread, beans whole wheat pasta), one protein (chicken, lean beef, turkey, and fish), and green veggies (such as broccoli, zucchini, lettuce, and cabbage).

I’ll be drinking lots of water and pretty much eliminating all other forms of liquids with the exception of a diet coke a couple times a week.

Exercise

In terms of my workout I’ll mostly be following a routine I found not too long ago on bodybuilding.com. It emphasizes cardio as soon as you wake up and a weight lifting routine for all the body’s muscles. The man who used this program (it was a sort of transformation experiment) ended up losing over 30lbs in a 12 week period. While his results were great, I won’t set my mind to expect his progress because I know that all body’s are different. I might lose more, I might lose less. We’ll see. Nevertheless I’m raring to go! You should be too!

Link to the transformation series: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/12wktrans01.htm

Why I’ve started this blog

It’s 9:23 p.m. on a summer night and all I can think about how disgusting my body is. It hasn’t always been this way. Before I entered college (about 4 years ago) I weighed a respectable 160lbs. Currently, I am the fattest I’ve ever been at 230lbs. My clothes are fitting too tightly, my endurance is completely shot, and worst of all: I’ve become complacent to being this size.

Alas, things will change. After reading up on how to be more productive I’ve learned that I will never be at my peak of performance capability until I’m healthy. Being overweight not only affects my health, but it is an important factor in my life’s goals, my relationship, my career, my confidence, and my wallet.

In this blog I will cover my weight loss progress, my experiments, my recipes, as well as the wealth of information I learn in my path. Keep up with me by coming back to this site of by subscribing to my RSS feed. I’m doing this the right way and for the long term. I hope you take something away from this!

Welcome to BuildingMe

Hello and thank you for choosing to view this exceptionally tiny fragment of the internet. My name is RJ and I will be rebuilding my body starting now. Keep checking for updates so that you learn what I learn and go through the physical and psychological rollercoaster ride of getting healthy.