mars220's Fitness Profile

About Me

I've never been super fit in my 40+ years. Back in 2006 I weighed in at 298 lbs, a double cheeseburger and fries away from 300, I immediately joined WW and got down to 225 by end of 2007, I lost my focus and allowed life's events to distract me from my goal to be fit. I was staring at 265 lbs after a Sunday feast to celebrate my mom's birthday back on January 24th of 2011. I finally decided that now is good a time as any to become extremely fit. I define super-fit as 15% body fat - I am fairly muscular and I project that would take me down to 190 lb. range. My goal is to get to 190lb.s by summer 2011 (June 21 - to be exact), after summer I will increase weight bearing exercises so as to get back around 200. I'm using the Withings scale, it has been great, very unforgiving and holds me accountable. I plan on employing the RICE diet, with a few modifications as I see fit. RICE diet is highly calorie and protein restrictive; my version will increase the calories and protein on the diet twice over, never exceeding 2,200 cal. I'll revert to RICE diet strictly when at a sticking point for a month at a time, month of May through June 21st. I've laid out a good nutrition plan as well as excellent exercise regimen that I hope will get me to my goal and keep me there with ease. TIME TO PAY THE PIPER. When Warren Buffet was asked his "SECRET" used to amass such wealth, Mr. Buffet blew everyone away, "There is no secret." His plan is to simply analyze companies on simple fundamentals and he sticks to that plan, rain or shine. Everyone is so versed in "common sense," that they can iterate the various aspects for any particular topic at a drop of a dime. Buy low and sell high, fasten your seatbelt, don't cry over spilled milk, eat less and you will inevitably will lose weight. Well we all have an idea of the simple solutions, but we all turn to the gimmicks out there to do whatever is on the agenda. Trust me, I know. From African Mango to Hoodia, to Yohimbe extract. Well here's the secret, "there is no secret." Bottom line, if calories burned, including exercise and BMR (basic metabolic rate) exceed calories consumed (in all forms) you will lose weight, the bigger the difference the faster the weight loss. No gimmicky pills required. Be it Atkins, Paleo, 4 hour, RICE diet, or South Beach, if calories out exceed calories consumed you will lose weight. Look up "Twinkie Diet," if you still have doubts. My approach is to use complex carbohydrates with low levels of fat and protein, for now. The Twinkie diet is not as filling as one full of complex carbs, keep in mind that one can choose to eat a single Oreo cookie or a full pound of spinach, both options have the same amount of calories. I intend to get comfortable eating high quality carbs amounting to between 1,800 and 2,000 calories per day, until I reach my goal of 190 lbs. Here's the plan start with a 2,200 calorie max and weed out high calorie dense foods in favor of complex carbohydrates and/or protein to get down to 1800 calories. If hunger persists then need to go further down the food chain to get more bulk and less processed foods. Plateaus are not possible as you will always be eating fewer calories than you expend, even without exercise. I'll modify for maintenance after. Whatever approach anyone else chooses keep the one major thing in mind, WRITE IT ALL DOWN. Keep a journal and track calories eaten, more important than tracking workouts, and stay to your computed goal to lose the lbs. Cheat days are not counter to the goal; over the span of your transformation your overall goal is to lose more calories in total over that eaten. Feeling self empowered, I know I will get to my goal and I know I can stay there. Best of luck.