Yes, that is me on each side of the monument - a little digital compositing fun!
Friday, July 28, 2006
The Story So Far...
I have been fat my entire life and many members of my family are also heavy. Long ago, I accepted the fact that I would always be fat. So, what made me finally decide to get lean? A random act of violence.
In November of 2003, I was robbed at gunpoint in my apartment. Two men broke in and one held a visiting friend and me face down on the floor, grinding his gun into the back of our heads while the other completely ransacked the place for nearly thirty minutes. They were so angry and violent that I am actually surprised neither of us was killed. Thankfully, neither of us was physically hurt. I immediately moved into my parent’s basement and went through a serious bout of depression. I don’t care about the physical things they took from me. The most valuable things they took from me were my sense of security and my perceived control of my life. I was 35 years old and felt as though my life was over. I did not have a good night’s sleep for many months and would spend most of my time lying on the couch eating Cheez-Its (yes, that big box from Costco in one weekend) and watching television.
In January of 2005 something in me snapped. I felt that I had to either regain control of my entire life or commit myself to an institution. I decided that if I could control my weight, I could get back control of every aspect of my life. The following month I moved into a duplex with a friend (just a few blocks from my parents). Being raised Catholic and with Lent approaching, I decided to go onto the Atkins Diet for Lent. I hated it! My digestive tract could not decide if it was going to be on pause or fast-forward. I suffered through it and was never so happy to see Lent end.
Frustrated with Atkins, but happy with my slightly smaller waist, I progressed to the South Beach Diet. I was hungry the entire time and this only lasted a few weeks. I then spent some time doing research and trying different things. Then in June of 2005, I stumbled upon Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program at www.burnthefat.com. I decided to give the program a try...
Last July (2005) I set goals, re-engineered my nutrition and bought a recumbent bike, smith machine, dumbbells and free-weights. I transformed my basement into a gym and began the program.
I am very visually oriented so I made six-foot tall goal posters. I made a cube out of cardboard the size of one pound of fat and placed it on top of the refrigerator to remind me to get healthy snacks. I put a TV and DVD player in front of the bike and a sign on the TV upstairs that said “Get Off Your Ass, Get On The Bike!” Even slow, steady pedaling is better than no pedaling. I made custom wallpapers and screensavers so my computer at work and even my cell phone would remind me of my goals. Most importantly, I enlisted a few friends to randomly call me once a week to encourage me.
I created Excel spreadsheets to calculate my TDEE, create a diet from it and to track my progress. I not only met my initial goals, I exceeded them!
A few months ago, I hit a plateau, could not get my body to burn any more fat, and became extremely frustrated. CardioCoach.com workouts have helped me to re-focus my efforts and reach the 100 pounds of fat lost milestone! I wish I had discovered this site months ago!
I am 6 foot 6 and fifteen months ago I weighed over 312 pounds and was wearing pants with a 50-inch waist – with my gut hanging over. I am now under 220 pounds and wearing a very comfortable 36-inch pant – 34s are in my sights! I am nearly 17 gallons smaller than I was a year ago and leaner than I ever remember being! In the past fifteen months I have added ten pounds of lean mass and burned over one hundred pounds of fat!
Most importantly, I have a confidence I never believed I could have. I am happier than I’ve ever been in my life. I have never been more spiritually at peace. I can barely hold back the tears while I write this. I feel as though my life is mine again - and more. I feel at least twenty years younger. Yes, I feel younger than I did in college!
People who haven’t seen me in a while don’t recognize me. Sometimes I don’t even recognize me. That is not entirely true – I recognize the person who had been hidden under all that fat: physically, emotionally and spiritually. That is the true Rob. I see old pictures of myself and wonder who that person is.
Shortly after the robbery, a good friend at work gave me a little card with a quote from Maya Angelou on it. I have kept it tacked to the corner of my PC monitor ever since. It reads “Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant.” How very true it is.
Leaner,
Rob
I have been fat my entire life and many members of my family are also heavy. Long ago, I accepted the fact that I would always be fat. So, what made me finally decide to get lean? A random act of violence.
In November of 2003, I was robbed at gunpoint in my apartment. Two men broke in and one held a visiting friend and me face down on the floor, grinding his gun into the back of our heads while the other completely ransacked the place for nearly thirty minutes. They were so angry and violent that I am actually surprised neither of us was killed. Thankfully, neither of us was physically hurt. I immediately moved into my parent’s basement and went through a serious bout of depression. I don’t care about the physical things they took from me. The most valuable things they took from me were my sense of security and my perceived control of my life. I was 35 years old and felt as though my life was over. I did not have a good night’s sleep for many months and would spend most of my time lying on the couch eating Cheez-Its (yes, that big box from Costco in one weekend) and watching television.
In January of 2005 something in me snapped. I felt that I had to either regain control of my entire life or commit myself to an institution. I decided that if I could control my weight, I could get back control of every aspect of my life. The following month I moved into a duplex with a friend (just a few blocks from my parents). Being raised Catholic and with Lent approaching, I decided to go onto the Atkins Diet for Lent. I hated it! My digestive tract could not decide if it was going to be on pause or fast-forward. I suffered through it and was never so happy to see Lent end.
Frustrated with Atkins, but happy with my slightly smaller waist, I progressed to the South Beach Diet. I was hungry the entire time and this only lasted a few weeks. I then spent some time doing research and trying different things. Then in June of 2005, I stumbled upon Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program at www.burnthefat.com. I decided to give the program a try...
Last July (2005) I set goals, re-engineered my nutrition and bought a recumbent bike, smith machine, dumbbells and free-weights. I transformed my basement into a gym and began the program.
I am very visually oriented so I made six-foot tall goal posters. I made a cube out of cardboard the size of one pound of fat and placed it on top of the refrigerator to remind me to get healthy snacks. I put a TV and DVD player in front of the bike and a sign on the TV upstairs that said “Get Off Your Ass, Get On The Bike!” Even slow, steady pedaling is better than no pedaling. I made custom wallpapers and screensavers so my computer at work and even my cell phone would remind me of my goals. Most importantly, I enlisted a few friends to randomly call me once a week to encourage me.
I created Excel spreadsheets to calculate my TDEE, create a diet from it and to track my progress. I not only met my initial goals, I exceeded them!
A few months ago, I hit a plateau, could not get my body to burn any more fat, and became extremely frustrated. CardioCoach.com workouts have helped me to re-focus my efforts and reach the 100 pounds of fat lost milestone! I wish I had discovered this site months ago!
I am 6 foot 6 and fifteen months ago I weighed over 312 pounds and was wearing pants with a 50-inch waist – with my gut hanging over. I am now under 220 pounds and wearing a very comfortable 36-inch pant – 34s are in my sights! I am nearly 17 gallons smaller than I was a year ago and leaner than I ever remember being! In the past fifteen months I have added ten pounds of lean mass and burned over one hundred pounds of fat!
Most importantly, I have a confidence I never believed I could have. I am happier than I’ve ever been in my life. I have never been more spiritually at peace. I can barely hold back the tears while I write this. I feel as though my life is mine again - and more. I feel at least twenty years younger. Yes, I feel younger than I did in college!
People who haven’t seen me in a while don’t recognize me. Sometimes I don’t even recognize me. That is not entirely true – I recognize the person who had been hidden under all that fat: physically, emotionally and spiritually. That is the true Rob. I see old pictures of myself and wonder who that person is.
Shortly after the robbery, a good friend at work gave me a little card with a quote from Maya Angelou on it. I have kept it tacked to the corner of my PC monitor ever since. It reads “Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant.” How very true it is.
Leaner,
Rob
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