Starting out in the forums . . .
 

I've tried to be more healthy in the past and have struggled with just maintaining any sort of exercise habit. I've allowed myself to get to a size that I'm just not comfortable with, and I'm using FitDay as a way to track my progress while I try REAL hard to make the changes I need to make. A bit about myself:

I'm in my late-30s, and up through high school, I was a skinny kid. Family used to tease me about being able to see my ribs. I'm an asthmatic (which is now under control), and let that be an excuse when I didn't want to do anything physical, and my interests weren't exactly in line with what was taught in PE class, so I didn't exactly develop any good health habits when I was younger.

When I moved out on my own after high school and had to start providing for myself, I adopted the philosophy that if it took longer to cook than it did to eat, I was preparing the wrong food. I ate a LOT of microwave meals, and it didn't help that 6 fast food restaurants were less than 5 minutes away from my first apartment! I put on a gut, and I've been carrying it around every since.

About 5 years, I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, and have 3 vertebrate breaking down in my back. My being overweight didn't help things, and I've had a few treatments over the years involving steroid injects and physical therapy to help. Fortunately, I've not had a flare up of pain over the past year or so.

My lifestyle is fairly sedentary. I work in an office and sit in front of a computer for 10 hours/day (I do have the option to stand while working, which I advantage of quite often). I write and I produce a horror movie podcast, so I spend several hours at home in front of a computer. FitDay tells me that burns some calories, but, really, I haven't done too much.

I'm 6'4" and currently weight 306 lbs (most of it in my stomach). 2 weeks ago, I started the C25k program and started really tracking my calories (I was apparently consuming 3500+ calories at least three times a week), and I'm down from my starting-two-weeks-ago 316 lbs., so I feel like I'm on the right track.

Ultimately, I'd like to get down to 250 by the end of the year. I feel like if I can stay on track with what I'm doing now, I should be able to hit it.

One of my struggles is with food. I'm a vegetarian, which takes a lot of protein sources off the menu for me. I'm not vegan, so I've not forsaken cheese, eggs, etc, so I'm still getting SOME protein, but I do wonder if I could see even more progress is I were to incorporate vegetarian-friendly supplements.

I'm looking forward to spending some time here in the forums (more sitting in front of the computer!) . . . !

Brother, welcome to FitDay and the forums!

If you put your mind to it, you can get 60 pounds off so fast!

If there's anything we can do to help, just say the word.

Regards,
Michael

PS If you don't mind me asking, how on earth can you eat over 10K cals a day as a vegatarian? I have no doubt that in the past I've easily eaten 10K cals in a day (or much more) but of veggies? :confused:

maybe I missed that part... my damn ADD, but I didn't see where he said that.

Welcome to FitDay Brother. You can get down to 250, look at what Michael has done!

I don't mind you asking, but 10K/day isn't something I've ever done (thankfully!)!

I did, and still do, eat more than veggies. Cheese is a killer for me, and we still eat eggs and the like. Meat itself is the only thing off the menu for us.

Oops--my mis-read, I was seeing 3500 cals three times a day, not a week :eek:. That makes more sense (it's still a lot of veggies, though, I would think!).

I'm glad you don't do 10k a day--I can tell you it's not a good idea.

Best wishes on your fitness journey!

Regards,
Michael