I haven't posted on here in a while so I thought it'd be nice to write a bit here in this handy journal section.
I've spent the last few months doing alot of research on fitness, and I mean alot. I would say that I've spent almost more time reading articles and advice from here and other places than I have in studying for my school subjects!
Anyway, I've realized that I made too many mistakes. A good chunk of this part of the journal actually serves as a warning to beginners like me.
Because I wasn't educated (fitness wise), I did alot of stupid things. I also apparently have no self-control. I can only hope my body can forgive me.
Like I said in my intro awhile ago, I was once very overweight - about 230 lbs. at my 16th annual checkup. At that time I was about 5 foot 7 inches.
What I didn't mention in my intro thread was how I went about losing that weight. I'm not sure what inspired me, but I began doing cardio - in excess.
It was great at first, because I had so much energy (from all the fat I had). I jogged and jogged and jogged.
Soon I began to use other machines, like the bicycle and eliptical (sorry if I mispelled those). Without any knowledge whatsoever in fitness, I knew that I needed to break a sweat in order to lose weight.
I began spending 10 minutes each on every cardio machine there was. I was a soaking mess by the time I was done. I felt so good that I was burning away the years of fastfood I ate.
Over time, I began increasing the speed, the resistance, and the time of my cardio workouts. I became compulsive and obsessed. I went from an unhealthy fat boy to a healthy normal boy to an unhealthy and underweight boy.
I was paranoid. I felt that if I didn't sweat like a horse, I would accumulate fat and explode. To make things worse, I used the gym as an escape. I felt massive relief from cardio when I absorbed myself in my world of weight-loss provided by the appealing gym and my iPod.
By 2005, people were getting concerned. My mom desperately tried to get me to eat more as a result of the E-mails she got from my worried teachers. I looked like a holocaust victim, but that didn't phase me. I just kept going and going and going.
Finally, I realized that I honestly wasn't fat anymore. I felt overweight, but that was just excess skin I had. I took a serious look at myself and the thinning hair I had and realized I needed to eat a better diet and tone down my cardio.
I did this, but I soon became too relaxed in my diet, but always off-set that with cardio. I was looking better, but I wasn't satisfied. I needed muscle.
Once again, I wish I knew these forums at the time. I had no idea how our bodies worked or how muscle is gained. I just thought that the more that you lift, the more you'll get out of it.
Needless to say, I probably hurt myself more than I gained. At the moment I'm 18 years old and 5 feet 9 inches. Considering the things I did, I think I should be fortunate to even be this tall.
Thankfully, my mom's personal trainer saw me and told her the danger of my workouts. She told me and I became furious. I hated that trainer. I thought everyone was against me. I was so wrong.
Let's skip to a few months ago. Here I am with a strange diet, a strange cardio regimen, and some body-weight exercises. I was under the impression that lifting in general stunted your growth, so I just did body-weight workouts in excess. Once again I'm making the same mistakes over again with almost no results at all.
Over the last few months I've been reading and researching. My diet and workout are totally revamped.
For breakfast:
Lunch and dinner are both the same:
Snacks in-between meals are either oatmeal or wheat bread penut butter sandwiches.
A few weeks ago, I developed a bi-weekly full body workout regimen. I've also planned to never do more than 15 minutes of cardio in a day.
I feel so guilty and bad when I don't overdo it. I may or may not be addicted to exercise, but with my goals in front of me I can definitely fight it.
I'm trying to get at least 8 hours of sleep a day. I used to be one of those miserable "late to bed, early to rise" high schoolers. All I can say is, now that I'm a freshman in college, it is much easier to get sleep.
I've become very, very strict with my diet. If I go to a party, I never eat anything - keyword: eat
I've been taking multi-vitamins and I began using Whey Protein. Hopefully I'll see some progress. I've been looking into creatine monohydrate, but I'm not sure whether I should use it or not. My mom thinks it prevents you from growing; but then again, she pretty much thinks everything prevents me from growing. I'll have to look into it some more. I've also been looking into things like L-Leucine, L-glutamine, and omega-3 fatty acids.
So that's pretty much it for now, besides school work, going out, and fighting acne. I guess I just tend to not give up, which has begun to work out for me now that I'm more aware of my body.
Can't wait for christmas
I've spent the last few months doing alot of research on fitness, and I mean alot. I would say that I've spent almost more time reading articles and advice from here and other places than I have in studying for my school subjects!
Anyway, I've realized that I made too many mistakes. A good chunk of this part of the journal actually serves as a warning to beginners like me.
Because I wasn't educated (fitness wise), I did alot of stupid things. I also apparently have no self-control. I can only hope my body can forgive me.
Like I said in my intro awhile ago, I was once very overweight - about 230 lbs. at my 16th annual checkup. At that time I was about 5 foot 7 inches.
What I didn't mention in my intro thread was how I went about losing that weight. I'm not sure what inspired me, but I began doing cardio - in excess.
It was great at first, because I had so much energy (from all the fat I had). I jogged and jogged and jogged.
Soon I began to use other machines, like the bicycle and eliptical (sorry if I mispelled those). Without any knowledge whatsoever in fitness, I knew that I needed to break a sweat in order to lose weight.
I began spending 10 minutes each on every cardio machine there was. I was a soaking mess by the time I was done. I felt so good that I was burning away the years of fastfood I ate.
Over time, I began increasing the speed, the resistance, and the time of my cardio workouts. I became compulsive and obsessed. I went from an unhealthy fat boy to a healthy normal boy to an unhealthy and underweight boy.
I was paranoid. I felt that if I didn't sweat like a horse, I would accumulate fat and explode. To make things worse, I used the gym as an escape. I felt massive relief from cardio when I absorbed myself in my world of weight-loss provided by the appealing gym and my iPod.
By 2005, people were getting concerned. My mom desperately tried to get me to eat more as a result of the E-mails she got from my worried teachers. I looked like a holocaust victim, but that didn't phase me. I just kept going and going and going.
Finally, I realized that I honestly wasn't fat anymore. I felt overweight, but that was just excess skin I had. I took a serious look at myself and the thinning hair I had and realized I needed to eat a better diet and tone down my cardio.
I did this, but I soon became too relaxed in my diet, but always off-set that with cardio. I was looking better, but I wasn't satisfied. I needed muscle.
Once again, I wish I knew these forums at the time. I had no idea how our bodies worked or how muscle is gained. I just thought that the more that you lift, the more you'll get out of it.
Needless to say, I probably hurt myself more than I gained. At the moment I'm 18 years old and 5 feet 9 inches. Considering the things I did, I think I should be fortunate to even be this tall.
Thankfully, my mom's personal trainer saw me and told her the danger of my workouts. She told me and I became furious. I hated that trainer. I thought everyone was against me. I was so wrong.
Let's skip to a few months ago. Here I am with a strange diet, a strange cardio regimen, and some body-weight exercises. I was under the impression that lifting in general stunted your growth, so I just did body-weight workouts in excess. Once again I'm making the same mistakes over again with almost no results at all.
Over the last few months I've been reading and researching. My diet and workout are totally revamped.
For breakfast:
- I make an egg-white omelet with a tiny portion of ham and cheese
- TOTAL whole grain cereal with skim milk
- banana
- oatmeal
Lunch and dinner are both the same:
- Big bowl of salad with no dressing
- bowl of veggies (brocolli, cucumber, tomato, carrots)
- several pieces of grilled chicken
- whole grain pasta
- whatever beef the school is serving that day
Snacks in-between meals are either oatmeal or wheat bread penut butter sandwiches.
A few weeks ago, I developed a bi-weekly full body workout regimen. I've also planned to never do more than 15 minutes of cardio in a day.
I feel so guilty and bad when I don't overdo it. I may or may not be addicted to exercise, but with my goals in front of me I can definitely fight it.
I'm trying to get at least 8 hours of sleep a day. I used to be one of those miserable "late to bed, early to rise" high schoolers. All I can say is, now that I'm a freshman in college, it is much easier to get sleep.
I've become very, very strict with my diet. If I go to a party, I never eat anything - keyword: eat
I've been taking multi-vitamins and I began using Whey Protein. Hopefully I'll see some progress. I've been looking into creatine monohydrate, but I'm not sure whether I should use it or not. My mom thinks it prevents you from growing; but then again, she pretty much thinks everything prevents me from growing. I'll have to look into it some more. I've also been looking into things like L-Leucine, L-glutamine, and omega-3 fatty acids.
So that's pretty much it for now, besides school work, going out, and fighting acne. I guess I just tend to not give up, which has begun to work out for me now that I'm more aware of my body.
Can't wait for christmas