Pumping It Up

Some time way back when I first made the decision to transform myself from the Pillsbury Doughboy to something a little less soft and fatty, I probably thought about joining a gym. That was back in the beginning and mostly at the back of my mind because at the start of this journey I was strictly focused on shedding pounds and not lifting them.

Last November after I’d dropped over 150 pounds of disgusting fat and was feeling much more energetic I finally decided to join a gym. At the time I was mostly thinking about being able to use the treadmill inside during the cold winter months with maybe some weight training thrown in for good measure. But that quickly changed as I did some research and got a taste for the rush of building muscle.

Cardio was my main activity for weight loss up until this point. Walking outside had helped to transform and shape the new version of me; sort of a “Mark version 4.0” if you will. I will always tell any obese or over weight person looking to start shedding pounds that walking was the key for me.

Taking a break at the gym.

Sure, cutting back on my calorie intake was a big factor as well but I had to burn calories as well and as a big guy I couldn’t run or jog, so I relied on walking...a lot. Almost every day for an entire year I would get out and do some amount of walking. I’d go anywhere from 3km to sometimes as much as 12km in one outing and I truly believe it saved my life.

After doing all that walking I was ready to branch off. I didn’t want to give up the walks all together and I’ve even added some cardio on the elliptical machine now as well. But the next logical step was to add weight lifting to my routine.

Lifting weights burns fat and in many cases you’ll replace a pound of fat with a pound of muscle. The numbers on the scale won’t change which can be frustrating for someone so focussed on dropping the pounds for so long but a pound of muscle takes up less space than the fat. So while you’re weight might not change, you will see changes to your body shape.

Aside from the weight loss and body shrinking, the other obvious benefit of weight lifting is the building of muscle and improvement in strength. I am in the best shape of my life and a lot of that is thanks to grabbing the dumbbells and pumping iron.

People ask me, “What changes have you noticed the most with your weight loss?”

There are too many to mention here but a few obvious changes include the shrinking body, dropping from size 60 pants to size 42 currently. I can actually feel my ribs now. My biceps, shoulders, back, arms, calves, hamstrings and pretty much every other muscle group I lift weights to strengthen have all grown and become much stronger and more noticeable. My aches and pains associated with being obese have all disappeared. They’ve been replaced by pains associated with muscle growth and hard work.

Now, when I go to the gym I see other guys lifting weights and doing exercises that I don’t currently do. I’ve set a routine for myself that gives me a good overall body workout five days a week. I’m not looking to become the Incredible Hulk. I just want to continue to improve my strength, grow muscle and burn fat.

For those who might be interested, this is my weekly routine. I’ll leave the actual weight amounts out but each exercise is done with 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

Monday (Upper Body)

Bicep Curl (Dumbbell), Triceps Extension overhead (Cable), Triceps Push Down (Cable), Side Bends (Dumbbell), Chest Press (Machine), Pull Down (Cable), Arm Front Raise (Dumbbell) and Bent-over Row (Dumbbell)

Tuesday & Thursday (Leg Day)

Leg Press (Machine), Calf Extension (Machine), Leg Curl (Machine), Leg Extension (Machine), Dead Lift (Barbell), Squats (Dumbbell) and Abdominal Crunch (Machine)

Wednesday (Upper Body)

Bicep Curl (Barbell), Lateral Raise (Double Cable), Shoulder Shrug (Dumbbell), Bent-over Row (Barbell), Seated Fly (Machine), Standing Fly (Double Cable) and Rear Delt Pull (Cable)

Friday (Upper Body)

Pull Down Triceps (Cable), Side Bends (Weight Plate), Upright Row (Barbell), Bicep Curl (Dumbbell), Bench Seated Shoulder Press (Dumbbells) and Lateral Raise (Double Cable)

And that’s it. Nothing too fancy or extreme but just enough to work most of the muscle groups I want to improve. I’m sure someone with a lot more experience would look at my routine and probably laugh at it for being so simple or missing something but I’m happy with the results so far. Some exercises I go for maximum reps and others I go for maximum weight to build big muscles. Well, I hope to build a few big muscles.

Now that summer is coming I might have to cut back to 3 days a week so I can golf more and take advantage of the nicer weather while it’s here. But I’ll try and increase my routines to include leg days on those days to make sure I still hit all of the muscle groups I need to each week.

So there you go. That’s what I do at the gym now that I’m moving from simply walking for my exercise to adding strength training. Of course my other favourite activity at the gym is to sneak the odd peek at the pretty ladies but just a peek only. I’m all business don’t you know.

Weight Loss Update: I now weigh 247.3 pounds and have lost a total of 171.5 pounds to date. So I'm still doing something right.

Weight Isn't Everything

As I continue to work towards improving my health I’ve been learning a few things along the way. Probably the most important thing I’ve learned is to not focus on the results when I step on the scale.

I think for those of us in my generation and older, we focus too much on weight and dropping those numbers. That isn’t to say that losing weight isn’t a big deal. In fact it’s a huge deal for many people suffering from obesity. But there’s more to achieving a healthier lifestyle than dropping pounds.

When I started on this road to increase my chances of living a longer life I was solely focused on the numbers that I saw when I stepped on my scale. My success or failure was based on seeing those numbers drop. The more the number decreased the happier I was and the more successful I felt about what I was trying to do.

There isn’t anything wrong with that…up to a point. Once I stopped just reducing my calories and walking and began making regular visits to the gym to lift weights and build muscle, my weight loss stalled. What the heck was happening?

I was still eating as I’d planned and I was exercising by walking, jogging on the treadmill and had recently started burning more calories by getting my heart rate up on the elliptical, which is my new favourite form of cardio at the gym. It’s tiring but easier on the joints and I think I actually burn more calories with a 35 minute workout.

So why wasn’t my weight still dropping. The fact of the matter is, by lifting weights five days a week I was adding muscle which weighs as much or more than fat. Building muscle burns fat as well. So even though my weight was maintaining at a steady number, my body was still making positive changes.
My waist, thighs, wrists, arms, neck, legs and butt among other fatty areas were still shrinking and in fact are still shrinking. My weight hadn’t changed a bit but my body shape is still transforming and improving. My new jeans I got for Christmas are already getting loose on me. My boxers that used to be really snug are fitting much better. The 2X T-shirts I bought that were a tad snug around the belly are now loose and hanging much better now. 
Lifting weights, building muscle and toning the body is just as important as a healthy diet. It took me some time to learn this but now I can’t imagine not lifting weights at least a few times during the week. I’ll slow down a bit in the summer months just because I’m more active then but during the colder seasons and currently I find myself at the gym working with weights a minimum of five days a week.

I still step on the scale and get a little disappointed when I don’t see my numbers dropping, mainly because I set a goal for myself when I started this journey and want to reach that number. But I’m trying to change my mindset to not focus on the weight but rather the results and my appearance.

I'm working at it!

Two people at 250 pounds can look entirely different in their body types. One could be obese with a huge belly and flabby limbs while another will look much thinner and more toned. They weigh the same but their overall health is completely different.

So I’m trying to learn that weight isn’t everything but that won’t stop me from working towards getting to my original goal of 250 pounds. That would mean I’ve dropped the needed 168.8 pounds to attain this goal I set for myself when I started.

And where am I currently in this endeavour? As of today I weigh 258.2 pounds for a total of 160.6 pounds lost. This leaves me a total of 8.2 pounds away from my goal which in all honesty, I doubted I’d ever have a hope in hell of reaching. But now even this king of all pessimists has to admit it can be done.