Gnomzed
Member
from
Starting this off with some history to remind myself of my past successes and failures.
My weight loss journey has been a roller-coaster ever since high-school. I graduated in 2010 at the age of 17 and weight of 210, I'm only 5'5" so this was not ideal at all.
During this time I was living with my high-school sweetheart, however I was not active and fell into a deep depression over some circumstances surrounding that relationship.
While I was biking to work at the time, I was not watching my diet and intake of junk and still managed to gain weight.
in 2011 that relationship fell apart, I was lost for a while as expected. I had to move back in with my parent and find myself again. This took a while and I lost my job during that time.
While looking for work I found that my city had a program, anyone who made under a specific amount a year could qualify for a special membership that allowed access to any leisure center in the city for free. Thinking that exercise is a wonderful way to get out of the funk that I was in, I applied. Once my card arrived I was going to the gym every day, however as I was inexperienced and had no one in my life at the time familiar with the process I made a mountain of mistakes, This however did not stop my progress as going to the gym every day sometimes for 2-3 hours at a time I over trained and lost a lot of weight. My self confidence sky-rocketed and I ended up in the best shape of my life up until that point.
This continued for about a year and a half, by 2013 I was 160 lbs. with around 10-12% body fat. I felt great. Then I started working at a mechanic shop, the heavy labor and long hours started interfering with my workouts and eventually I stopped going as often opting for more of a 3 day workout week rather than a 5-6. However things quickly took a turn as I started to develop issued with my stomach and I was always in pain and bloated I took time off work and went to the doctors to find out what was going on. However after many tests there was no diagnosis and i was looking hope. this was around 2014 I stopped working out and took a medical leave from work at this time as well. Fell back in to a depression and started to gain the weight back. While eventually the pain and stomach problems subsided and no longer was an Issue, going to the gym was no longer a routine of mine at this point. I started going to a trade school to try and get back to work. During this time i met my now wife and my physical fitness really started to take a back seat.
in 2016 I moved from my city to by with my now wife as we also had a kid on the way, He was born March 11, 2016, No longer depressed but having to get used to a huge life change I found work in another tire shop (which is probably the only reason I wasn't completely overweight), A few years later we also had a daughter, she was born September 5, 2019. Shortly after that I was laid off from my job as there wasn't enough business, I was told I would get a call back in the spring to come back for the busy season, I figured this was perfect as I got to spend a lot of time with my Wife and my children, however spring came and went with no call to go back to work. I figured that they may have cut their losses for whatever reason and I would not be getting that job back. I spent a few more months on EI before finding work again. So for almost a year of not being active at all I was shocked to discover that I was now the heaviest I have ever been at 245 lbs. Looking at photos I was disgusted in myself and decided to get back to weight loss and working out.
This burst of motivation kept me going for a while, I started working out from home, doing lots of cardio thinking it was a great way to get in shape, I quickly started loosing weight and just under a year later I was 149 lbs. felt amazing, I was working again, it was a minimum wage job that I took to pay the bills while studying for something else. I kept this up for another half a year for a total of 2 years I felt amazing. Once I got my license in my new job I continued by working out at a gym near my Office, However I now went from very physically demanding jobs to an office job where I don't get to move around a lot. While I was able to maintain this for a while eventually I was unable to continue working out at such an early time in the morning as my sleep schedule has always been an issue
So I cancelled my membership and decided to workout from home I quit smoking. The exercises were great and i maintained my weight but I was really starting to struggle with mental health and a lot of other things. Eventually I was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder, and have to be placed on a short term disability leave. during this time i stopped working out to focus on myself ( a Terrible decision) and never got back into working out.
I went a year and then the medication I was on at the time stopped being as effective and I went through another short term disability leave, during this time I started smoking again, and my weight began to really get out of hand. I started doing a lot of research and discovered that because I had focused so much on calorie intake and cardio rather than resistance training I lost a lot of my muscle mass that I had prior and my metabolism had taken a huge dive, Which is probably why i was really having a hard time maintaining my weight prior to stopping. I also wasn't taking any additional protein to help maintain my muscles, so because I lost so much muscle and I stopped working out, it caused my weight gain to accelerate and just over a year later I was almost back to 245 (230). This has not diminished my drive for fitness if anything it has rekindled the motivation I once had, Now to turn that motivation into discipline I'm coming at my weight loss with a much different perspective and approach, looking to build muscle while loosing weight, a focus more on resistance training rather than cardio. making sure I sleep enough, trying to quit smoking again and get back to the best me I can be.
This time I am empowering my wife to join me in my journey, We started at the beginning of the month and while there have been some hiccups we have seen progress. Among Seasonal blues and kids getting in the way we are determined to begin with our best foot forward and looking for a great community to help us thrive in this new lifestyle we have chosen to adopt for not only our own benefit but for our children as well. While my wife has a much different story, she struggles with body positivity and weight loss as well.
We started by buying a few weights, and then finally deciding to use them we are currently on the 30 day kettle bell challenge called the gauntlet, We got to day 11 before we had a hiccup and we will be restarting again today!
We would love to hear some tips and tricks as well as advice on anything fitness!
My weight loss journey has been a roller-coaster ever since high-school. I graduated in 2010 at the age of 17 and weight of 210, I'm only 5'5" so this was not ideal at all.
During this time I was living with my high-school sweetheart, however I was not active and fell into a deep depression over some circumstances surrounding that relationship.
While I was biking to work at the time, I was not watching my diet and intake of junk and still managed to gain weight.
in 2011 that relationship fell apart, I was lost for a while as expected. I had to move back in with my parent and find myself again. This took a while and I lost my job during that time.
While looking for work I found that my city had a program, anyone who made under a specific amount a year could qualify for a special membership that allowed access to any leisure center in the city for free. Thinking that exercise is a wonderful way to get out of the funk that I was in, I applied. Once my card arrived I was going to the gym every day, however as I was inexperienced and had no one in my life at the time familiar with the process I made a mountain of mistakes, This however did not stop my progress as going to the gym every day sometimes for 2-3 hours at a time I over trained and lost a lot of weight. My self confidence sky-rocketed and I ended up in the best shape of my life up until that point.
This continued for about a year and a half, by 2013 I was 160 lbs. with around 10-12% body fat. I felt great. Then I started working at a mechanic shop, the heavy labor and long hours started interfering with my workouts and eventually I stopped going as often opting for more of a 3 day workout week rather than a 5-6. However things quickly took a turn as I started to develop issued with my stomach and I was always in pain and bloated I took time off work and went to the doctors to find out what was going on. However after many tests there was no diagnosis and i was looking hope. this was around 2014 I stopped working out and took a medical leave from work at this time as well. Fell back in to a depression and started to gain the weight back. While eventually the pain and stomach problems subsided and no longer was an Issue, going to the gym was no longer a routine of mine at this point. I started going to a trade school to try and get back to work. During this time i met my now wife and my physical fitness really started to take a back seat.
in 2016 I moved from my city to by with my now wife as we also had a kid on the way, He was born March 11, 2016, No longer depressed but having to get used to a huge life change I found work in another tire shop (which is probably the only reason I wasn't completely overweight), A few years later we also had a daughter, she was born September 5, 2019. Shortly after that I was laid off from my job as there wasn't enough business, I was told I would get a call back in the spring to come back for the busy season, I figured this was perfect as I got to spend a lot of time with my Wife and my children, however spring came and went with no call to go back to work. I figured that they may have cut their losses for whatever reason and I would not be getting that job back. I spent a few more months on EI before finding work again. So for almost a year of not being active at all I was shocked to discover that I was now the heaviest I have ever been at 245 lbs. Looking at photos I was disgusted in myself and decided to get back to weight loss and working out.
This burst of motivation kept me going for a while, I started working out from home, doing lots of cardio thinking it was a great way to get in shape, I quickly started loosing weight and just under a year later I was 149 lbs. felt amazing, I was working again, it was a minimum wage job that I took to pay the bills while studying for something else. I kept this up for another half a year for a total of 2 years I felt amazing. Once I got my license in my new job I continued by working out at a gym near my Office, However I now went from very physically demanding jobs to an office job where I don't get to move around a lot. While I was able to maintain this for a while eventually I was unable to continue working out at such an early time in the morning as my sleep schedule has always been an issue
So I cancelled my membership and decided to workout from home I quit smoking. The exercises were great and i maintained my weight but I was really starting to struggle with mental health and a lot of other things. Eventually I was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder, and have to be placed on a short term disability leave. during this time i stopped working out to focus on myself ( a Terrible decision) and never got back into working out.
I went a year and then the medication I was on at the time stopped being as effective and I went through another short term disability leave, during this time I started smoking again, and my weight began to really get out of hand. I started doing a lot of research and discovered that because I had focused so much on calorie intake and cardio rather than resistance training I lost a lot of my muscle mass that I had prior and my metabolism had taken a huge dive, Which is probably why i was really having a hard time maintaining my weight prior to stopping. I also wasn't taking any additional protein to help maintain my muscles, so because I lost so much muscle and I stopped working out, it caused my weight gain to accelerate and just over a year later I was almost back to 245 (230). This has not diminished my drive for fitness if anything it has rekindled the motivation I once had, Now to turn that motivation into discipline I'm coming at my weight loss with a much different perspective and approach, looking to build muscle while loosing weight, a focus more on resistance training rather than cardio. making sure I sleep enough, trying to quit smoking again and get back to the best me I can be.
This time I am empowering my wife to join me in my journey, We started at the beginning of the month and while there have been some hiccups we have seen progress. Among Seasonal blues and kids getting in the way we are determined to begin with our best foot forward and looking for a great community to help us thrive in this new lifestyle we have chosen to adopt for not only our own benefit but for our children as well. While my wife has a much different story, she struggles with body positivity and weight loss as well.
We started by buying a few weights, and then finally deciding to use them we are currently on the 30 day kettle bell challenge called the gauntlet, We got to day 11 before we had a hiccup and we will be restarting again today!
We would love to hear some tips and tricks as well as advice on anything fitness!
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