Some motivation about my progress after 1 month

[LeanMachine]

I started my training again on June 8th / 2015, i felt heavy / low energy / always wanting to sleep, at first i needed a little push so i had to take pre-workout.

(In the past 13 years i have been on and off training non-stop repeatedly, with Fitbit and challenge groups (for my P90X groups and Fitbit Challenges) it's helping me stay more accountable.) 

Starting stats: 272.2lbs @ 29.2% Body Fat

A month later now today: 258.7lbs @ 26.2% BF

Goal: 215lb @ 10% body fat

By next month i would like to be in the 240 bracket with 22 - 23% BF.

Workout: At first i started with P90X and jogging 25 - 30km a week. I felt drained and exhausted on 3rd week. I stuck to my P90X routine (swapped out recovery week with walks + jogs) and started Sprint intervals every other day. Sprint 100m and fast walk 300m, for 16 laps (Saturday 26 - 30 laps). with @Heybales advice, i have upped my calories by 400. 

Food: I noticed before watching what i eat on MyFitnessPal,  i was eating between 5000 - 6000 calories  a day with fat accounting to 40-50% of the food. You would be surprised how fast it creeps up on you, when you are at home with nothing to do, you tend to snack more often. I am now eating 1800 - 2400 calories a day (some days i am not as hungry), 40% protein / 40% Carb / 20% fat
It was hard at first to reach that much protein (i started eating Tuna / Hardboiled Egg whites / Haddok / Protein chips + protein bar for snacks and Protein shake double scoop).

What i cut out: ALL BREAD / ALL MILK / ALL YOGURT / ALL PASTA / ALL SWEETS / (and especially McDonalds Breakfast: which is insane amount of calories if you calculate it) Sausage + Egg McMuffin + Medium double double and a muffin = just over 1200 calories.

Keep pushing, and always show up. It counts.

My biggest motivator: A friend died at the age of 48, all his organs shutdown while he was sitting in a chair watching TV after work. He was moderately active with no medical issues but he was eating very high fatty foods.

[Raviv]

Sounds like you're doing really well!  Congratulations! 

[SunsetRunner]

Congrats!!

I have motivation to keep healthy too... My Dad died at 52 third heart attack, my brother #1 had a heart attack at 48 and bi pass surgery, brother #2 has had stints (he eats no fats, no cheeses at all). My mom & sister are smokers with high cholesterol... Me: Healthy, just fluffy. 🙂

One step at a time... keep it up! 

[WendyB]

Sounds like you are doing great!

Keep us posted!

[Raviv]

One of my motivating factors is actually quite the opposite.  My ancestors and family members usually live to be in their mid- to late-90s.

I'm 50, and I figure I've got another 40-50 years left to go.  I sure as heck don't want to spend them in bad health, visiting doctors once a week... or worse.

[quickster47]

It is a long slow process to lose weight properly.  You must modify your eating habits and that sounds like what you are doing.  Keep up the hard work and it will pay off in the long run and that is what we are in it for.

Carl

[TurbochargeLife]

You can do it! 🙂

[Heidiho610]

I started on June 8th too.  Sounds like you are doing great.  Congratulations.

I took a couple of weeks to play around with it.  Focused on steps some days and just felt frustrated that I couldn't seem to motivate myself to be active on others.  It all kind of clicked for me over the weekend of July 4th.  That was when I start doing challenges with family members that had one and finally put together a strategy to be active.  I work from home and really find it tough to get up and move around once I sit down at the computer to start working.  So my strategy is to head to the park at 6:00 am each day and get in those 10,000 steps before I start my day.  It has been life changing.  I've lost 3 pounds since then and also have a new focus and attitude towards my day - that morning walk gives me a chance to reflect on things and focus my energy and I just feel better.

I don't have a lot of weight to lose but as I get older I know I need to stay active if I want a good quality of life and the fitbit is really helping me do that.

Best of luck to you on your journey.  It sounds like you are really on a good path.

[TurbochargeLife]

That's awesome! You are so blessed to be able to get out and walk in the morning. It's so important to have time for yourself to reflect, enjoy nature, and get centrered. Weightloss it just a bonus from your early morning walks. Great job!

[criley]

Your story really motivated me....and I need it!

I just completed my 1st month with Fitbit & overall changes to my health/fitness routine too. I think I started with too much focus on the # on the scale, but--I've never been into taking measurements with tape measure etc. Over the years I've started & stopped a number of routines--Bikram yoga, P90x, running etc.

Since getting the Fitbit a month ago, I've been doing cardio (45 min-1 hr, interval training-running/walking and boxing) every other day and strength training (bowflex) followed by about 20-30 minutes of light cardio on the other days, 5 days per week. I'm still not doing great with my food in the evenings. I don't have a ton to lose--about 15 pounds, but they are a STUBBORN 15 pounds!! My mor eimportant goal should be long-term health, but I do get fixated on that number.

I'm vegetarian, but not always healthy about it. Here's my current rountine:

-GNC Lean shakes  for breakfast

-FIberone 90 calorie bar for mid-morning snack

-GNC lean shake or bar for lunch with yogurt

-string cheese for afternoon snack

-Dinners vary. TOfu & veggies some nights, sandwiches other nights, salads, fajita....but then I get cravings. Salty foods, icecream. I've tried switching to blending up a frozen banana for icecream, but the urges are overwhelming!

I need a better, more long-term meal plan to sticks to my vegetarian diet, but meets other health goals. As an added aside, I'm allergic to nuts, coconut & tomato...which makes life fun 🙂

I'd love any suggestions/motivating ideas etc.