awesome bro.. it feels great doesn't it?

I'm 5'10" and at one point weighed 234 lbs so I'll offer some advice. I graduated high school at 135lbs and was very active, ran a couple miles 5x a week because of baseball and lifted weights all through high school (at school) though never gained any weight (muscle) because I was so active and didn't eat right. Started gaining weight right after school... no more baseball and I had a desk job. 5 years later, at 23, I weighed 234 lbs...

Tried a bunch of things for a few months and just bounced up and down the scale. Exercised some, dieted some, binged some, it sucked. Never thought I'd lose it.

Went crazy and took in 1200-1500 calories a day. Ate almost exclusivly plain oatmeal for breakfast, subway for luch (for real lol), and a chicken breast or some other piece of meat for dinner but nothing else. Took a multi-vitamin, only drank water... 2.5 months later I weighed 168 lbs (lost 66 lbs) and looked like a cancer patient. Wasn't healthy at all. Started eating normal, but careful, again and a week later was back to 180lbs. Two years later I was back to 225lbs.

I like to eat what I want, when I want. I don't eat terribly, and was semi-active (golf, and I liked to walk)... made the decision to go to a friends kickboxing class. It was a fight school, so I was intimidated but wanted to lose weight so I figured I had to work hard. At any rate, 2 days a week two hours each (kick boxing an ju-jitsu) and a year later I ate anything/everything I wanted and pretty much hovered around 190lbs. Looked good too. It's been a year since and I hover around 180-185 and am in the best shape of my life. I can pick a 220lb guy up off the ground and dump him on his head, can do 100 pushups in a minute, and run 2 miles in 14 minutes.

My point? Be active. There's much more to gain by busting out a hard workout for 45 minutes 2-3 days a week than eating like a bird and loosing just as much muscle as fat. Then you'll feel completely drained, have no muscle and no metabolism, and when you go back to eating like normal you'll gain it all back in a month and probably end up heavier than you started.

I've got some killer 10-20 minute workouts you can do at home and time/count yourself. The fight prep workouts I've been doing for the last 2 months are an excellent indicator of conditioning and makes it possible to self motivate (because your reps / time is counted). At any rate, I'll stop typing now and will talk about the rest later.

Yeah it does feel good...

I love to eat...Thats the problem...I have no portion control...And as I have gotten older shedding the pounds is not as easy as it was back in the day...

When I went into the Air Force I was 155lbs...5 years later at a desk job I am 225 (218 Now)...So yeah something has to give...

I actually looked at what my daily calorie intake has been for the average day for the past couple of years...My daily calorie intake was damn near 3000 calories a day at least...I have to cut that down; which I have done...

Joe please let me know what you know...I am really looking into losing a decent chunk of this weight and prolly bouncing into muay thai because I have quite a few friends who fight in it around here...

My biggest issue is staying motivated...But it is getting easier...Especially with my wife pushing...

About 3 years ago I had decided to do this...And I got down to about 170 lbs...Which was great but I did it with a fad diet and got put on 12's and couldn't sustain it...

But I am not doing a fad diet now...I am watching the portions and eating right...

It is funny but losing just 7lbs has made a big change...I am sleeping better, feel better, everything is seeming better...

We are finding things that we enjoy that get us outside...Like today we are going to busch gardens...Which is going to be a blast and also help us get our walking in for the day...

Joe I would appreciate the workouts if you would send the instructions to me I would appreciate it...

We call them the "Eliminator Series". I stretch / hit pads every day for a few rounds at the office, and do these Eliminators twice a week. They're tough, but like I said I change into shorts at the office and change back when done. See what kind of times you can get. You'll need a partner on the last three to keep time. You have to push, no more than 15 seconds between rounds.



Preliminator (3 rounds straight for best total time).

• 15 Pull Ups
• 25 Push Ups
• 50 Crunches

Eliminator (1 minute rounds, 15 second breaks).

• Air Squats
• Full Situps
• Burpees
• Clap Pushups
• Squat Kicks
• 6-12's
• Toe Squats
• Turkish Sit-Ups
• Crunches
• Hang From Bar*

Deliminator (1 minute rounds, 15 second breaks).

• Pull Ups
• Clap Pushups
• Air Squats
• 6-12's
• Squat Kicks
• Knee To Stomach
• Push Ups
• Crunches
• 1" Pushups
• Advancing Round Kicks
• Reverse Pull Ups
• Turkish Situps
• Hands To Feet
• Table Maker*
• Hang On Bar*

Reliminator (My Favorite - Not)

• Preliminator + Deliminator

Legend (What The Exercises Are)

• 6-12's - Lay on back, feet straight out and up 6" off ground. Bounce between 6" and 12" off the ground for 1 rep.
• 1" Pushups - Deep pushups only going 1" up and down for 1 rep.
• Advancing Round Kicks - Back leg round kick, alternating sides moving foward. Each kick is 1 rep.
• Air Squats - Feet shoulder width apart, squat until your legs make a 90* bend.
• Burpees - Start standing, drop to push-up position, push-up, stand back up and jump for 1 rep.
• Crunches - Whatever is comfortable.
• Clap Push Ups - Do a push-up and clap hands together at the top, without falling on your face. Do not have to do full push-up, whatever necessary to complete the clap.
• Knee To Stomach - Hang from pull-up bar and bring your knees above belt level or as close to it for 1 rep.
• Hands To Feet - Lay on back arms above you and feet straight out. Bring arms and feet together and touch for 1 rep.
• Hang On Bar* - Hang on bar for entire round without letting go. Each time you drop deduct 5 reps + 1 rep for each second not on the bar. If can hold for entire 60 seconds get a +60 rep bonus.
• Pull Ups - Standard pull-up, arms must drop below 90* angle and must lift chin over bar.
• Push Ups - Full push-ups, touch chest to ground and full extension back up.
• Reverse Pull Ups - Same a pull-up, but with hands hold bar in opposite direction.
• Sit Ups - Full situp, may have a friend or use a bar to hold feet down if necessary. Best if done with a small pad or rolled-up towel under lower back.
• Squat Kicks - Air squat with a front kick as you come up. Rotate kicking legs. Each kick is a rep.
• Toe Squats - On hands and toes, air squat 12" for one rep. Looks like your humping a chick from behind. Awsome.
• Table Maker* - On butt, hands behind you on floor raise your butt off the ground far enough to make a flat table with your stomach and hold it. Each time you drop deduct 5 reps + 1 rep for each second. If can hold for entire 60 seconds get a +60 rep bonus.
• Turkish Situps - Hardest of all exercises. Lie on back with 25# kettle bell or dumbell with your arm straight up in the air. Keep arm straight and stand up. Maintain straight arm and lie back down for 1 rep. Can rotate arms.

Dude im in the same boat. I stayed active in high school , football in the fall and baseball and golf in the spring. I never had time to gain any weight. I tried to keep my weight down to get into a lower weight lifting class. Then I graduated and all hell broke loose. I weight right at 200 now and im only 19. Its not muscle either. So I have cut back on the cokes and beer for now. Ill see if that makes a difference and if it doesnt then ill go towards harsher measures.

Thanks Joe...

Im going to work on those...

Weems...

Yeah bro get it started while your younger...lol...

will do bro, will do.

So Yesterday was a full complete week of healthy living...

its great...

Congrats, Chris! Keep us updated on how this goes for you.