Help for a further push

DamoRed

Hi all,

In late 2009 , I had a conversation with a man I’ve known for a number of years who told me he'd recently been diagnosed with diabetes, through lack of exercise and bad diet. That was my kick-in-the-arse moment, right there. I recognised myself in all he said, and panicked and said to myself that I did NOT want to end up with diabetes, or heart disase, or any other illness that was within my power and control to avoid. So I decided to become pro-active and do something about it before being given the “...or else” chat by a doctor in the ICU of our beloved healthcare establishments.

At the end of 2009, I was at my heaviest of 16 stone. Not good for a man of only 5’9”. At that time, I was 42 and wearing 38” trousers. I was a bit of a mess. And then a friend of mine gave me a picture she’d taken of me back in May, and that really put the tin hat on it.

So I started searching lots of places on the net for info, and one of the places I was directed to from a google search was here. I’ve got so much from this forum already, particularly Transform, here as well as his own website, where there’s everything one could need to be aided in living an actively fit and healthy lifestyle. The generosity of spirit of someone who is so successful in his profession, that he doesn’t have to give his knowledge freely and with such good grace to those who are not paying clients. Dominic, we all, that is anyone who reads this forum and your website, whether occasionally in passing or as a regular, owe you a debt of gratitude.

Other regular contributors such as G’em, Dragan, Hardtrainer, Metamorphosis and others all make vitally valuable contributions to the bottomless well of knowledge to be found here.

I was a regular junk eater. Pizzas and pasta were my most common, along with an obligatory 500ml 6 pack at least one weekend night. Any time I wanted a snack, usually at night, it was a sandwich, and whatever there was available to put on the inevitable white bread that made it up. After meals, both lunch and dinner, it was a reflex action rather than any need, that made me reach automatically for biscuits, cakes or other sweet stuff. Without fooling anyone, I was addicted to sugar, simple as that.

Another defining moment for me was when early in my research, I read that processed food has zero nutrition. Before, I hadn’t thought about it. It just went in my mouth and fed me when I wanted to eat. I had already vowed to cut out the habits of the weekend pizzas and beer, purely for the habitual side of it. However, from that point, any and all processed food that I regularly consumed, also took a trip west. White bread, which I recently saw here referred to as the ‘cocaine of the food industry’ was a goner. Processed food, whether for main meals, sweets or snacks would have been around 60%, possibly even more, of my everyday diet. Now if it’s 5%, it’s a stretch. Mostly whole fresh food, with lots of fish, chicken, fruit, nuts and good fats. My dark chocolate now accounts for most of that 5% Can't make paleo bars without it.

And so, here I am 16 months later, 56 pounds lighter having drastically changed my diet and my activity levels and getting brave enough to introduce myself and ask for advice. From the 16 stone, 38” waist that I was then, I now inhabit 32” waist jeans that I hadn’t worn for 20+ years. I’ve shed 4 stone, and I’m feeling fitter and better than I ever have in my adult life. There have been plateaus and the somewhat inevitable increase at Christmas. However, within 3 weeks of the new year, I was back to my pre-christmas weight without any real special effort, just going back to my normal routine. This, as much as anything, told me I was doing things right.


When I started my campaign, first off was walking. Then the bike got taken out and I’d alternate days. Then further along, I learned about HIIT, and incorporated that into my cycling routines. After that came the influence of Transform’s videos and metcons became part of the weekly exercise cycle. Usually crunches, squats, lunges, bad form press-ups (sorry, Dominic, I know that's one of your pet hates) I’m getting there, but slowly on the press-ups. Core work as well. I can hold position in the plank for a minute. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve added a 16KG kettlebell and have used that for a variety of exercises. Jaysus, the lunges and squats have now taken on a new dimension. Yowza!

I still have that picture, and while in some ways I hate looking at it and seeing the state I was in then, it’s good to have it to show the massive difference there is today. A real measure of my progress, along with my narrower waist jeans and large instead of XL or XXL shirts.

But while I’m looking and feeling better, I’m still carrying a little ‘passenger’ that I’d like to get rid of. Some midsection bodyfat remains and from everything I’ve read in the past number of months, I know I now need to hit the weights. From height/weight charts, the ideal weight for my 5’9” would be around 11-11.5 stone. So from that, I probably have about 7 pounds to lose - most of it abdominal bodyfat. Psychologically, and every other way, that’s a whole lot better starting point than needing to drop 4 1/2 stone.

I do realise that when I start progressing on the weights, that my weight may not go down, and may possibly even go back up. At that point, it really won’t be an issue. If I’m within a healthy defined range and have got rid of the ‘passenger’ as I call it, the weight will be neither here nor there, as long as I’m healthy and fit enough to carry it. Losing the remaining extra inches is far more important than whatever weight I am. That, and getting strong. As it stands now, I'm embarrassingly weak.

So the advice I seek, is what weights should I be starting off on for the main compounds? Starting with the usuals: Deadlift - Squat - Press - Bench Press - Power Clean. Most likely I’ll be just working with the bar alone to work on proper technique initially. So what should I be starting with, and then progressing to, in say, a couple of months? I’ll be joining the ‘St Bernard’ Gym as it’s currently €125 for a year, and there’s no way I could even think of buying, storing and doing up my own set-up for that, so it’s a no-brainer as far as that’s concerned.

I asked for advice today on a guest pass and understandably, they don’t want to spend time with anyone until they’ve actually become a member. I was however pointed towards the machines, which I politely accepted then ditched when the staff member was gone back to their area. There’s enough written on here about the merits of free weights vs machines for me not to want to get into using them. What advice they give after I shell out, is anyone’s guess. Possibly the ‘cookie cutter’ as it’s been called, and so this is why I come here and seek the advice of those I trust and can believe in.

Plenty done, but plenty more still to do. I'm not foolish enough to think that it will be 'the end product' when I get to my target weight or size in another few months. Thank you for reading and once again, thank you for helping me get this far. You’ve helped me to help myself

Damo

DamoRed

Bump...


Can anybody give me any help on this? I'd be especially appreciative of the advice of the experienced lifters, such as Transform, Hanley, G'em, and whoever else has experience in this area.

Thank you.

DamoRed

Anybody? Nobody?

Additionally, can anybody advise on where I can go to get some coaching in lifting techniques? As stated above, I'm not sure I'd want to put my trust in the instructors at the gym, but rather someone whom I'm confident they know what they're doing.

Thank you