It has been a rough journey but I kept at it. To think, one year later and I am still working out. Granted, my regiment has not been as strict as it was in the beginning, but I am STILL working out. My diet has changed up quite a bit. I no longer frequent many of the drive-thru restaurants like I used to. Sorry Burger King, McDonalds and Whataburger. I knew thee well. We had some good times. I still stop by from time to time but now it's only once a month or less. Nowadays the only "fast food" restaurant I regularly frequent is Subway! They have some very delicious sandwiches.
The thing for me was not the eating out, but eating in. I knew when I started last year that I could do the exercise. I did it once before and lost about 60 lbs. But I was not eating right, plateaued and gained it all plus a whole lot more. I knew my cooking habits at home were going to have to change. Being that I am a fan of the TV show "The Biggest Loser" I picked up one of their latest books,
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As for the workouts, I knew I would have to do them at home. I really couldn't afford a gym membership and I'm not really a gym type of guy. I tried Gold's Gym once and it just didn't appeal to me. Plus it was all the way across town and took me about 20 minutes just to get there. By that time I would have been done with one of my workouts. So I picked up some weights from Academy, some of The Biggest Losers DVDs from Best Buy and Barnes & Noble, and started working out. In the beginning I even used the dreaded elliptical machine, until it broke on me. Then I switched it up to a punching bag out in the garage. (Thank you, Geoff). That really worked up a sweat, especially the way I train. When I workout I suit up. I put on shorts, sweat pants, shirt and a long sleeved zip up hoody. If after one workout that shirt is not soaked thru and thru, I zip it back up and do another workout. I don't feel satisfied until that shirt is completely drenched.
Another plus has been with my clothes. My wardrobed has doubled in size. I held on to a lot of shirts and pants that either didn't fit at all or were too snug. A lot of them are size XXL. At my heaviest I had to wear a XXXL shirt and pants size 54" waist. Now I've dropped an "X" from my clothing and my pants have gone down to a 46" waist! And the best part is that I can now buy clothes at normal retail shops! I had to buy all my clothes from Casual Male Big & Tall where a shirt and a pair of pants can run me about $75. Now I can buy Wrangler's jeans and a t-shirt at Wal-Mart and Target and spend $30 tops! Oh, this is so grand!! I can buy a plain t-shirt for $10 where Casual Male would charge at least $25. So long, Casual Male!! Hello Target and Wal-Mart!!!
The best part of all this has been hearing and reading all the compliments from my friends and family. My folks have been so proud of all I've done. My coworkers keep pushing me along and giving me new nicknames like "skinny" and "flaco". And thanks to facebook, I can keep in instant contact with all my friends near and far who I inspire and in turn inspire me. Some of them have been inspired to get up and get moving after reading my posts. One of my cousins in Houston asked me about my workouts because he like reading my inspirational posts. He said he started working out because I helped motivate him. Paying it forward like this is such an amazing feeling.
I will keep fighting this on going battle of the bulge. I will not give up until I reach my goal of at least 250 lbs. My resolution for 2011 will be to reach that mark by my next birthday on June 15. Thanks again to all who have supported me on this journey. I couldn't have done it without your kind and loving words of encouragement. Thank you and God bless!
