An Introduction:

Well hello members! It's been a while since I posted here! I hope everyone is doing well. Waaay back in Feburuary I started a journal cataloging my tales of working out. As mid-terms and finals approached I got busy and stopped updating, and as summer came and went I was busy with my summer job as a camp counselor. As such my updates fell away.

As it stands, I am a 19 year-old student attending college in Maine. I'm 6'0, and currently weight 176 pounds. I'm happy to say that I am nearly 20 pounds lighter than I was in February!

I'm now back at college, classes started yesterday, and as I settle in I'm ready to maintain my new weight and sculpt a better body.

A History:

As of May, 2007 I weighed 250 LBS. I was hospitalized with some unknown illness for two monthss and dropped down to roughly 210lbs because I wasn't eating.

After I was recovered I was sent off to college in Maine. The food being better here than what I was eating at home (go figure...) and my constant running from class to class and activity to activity allowed me to drop another 15 pounds with little problem, bringing me down to roughly 195 pounds.

This is where fitness.com enters our picture. I came here in January and began posting in February. I started learning a lot about fitness and health, and while working out on occasion and eating better slowly dropped a few more pounds, bringing me to 190lbs.

As the school year went on I took a job as a camp counselor at a summer treatment program for kids with sever psychological disorders. As a result I pretty much ran around after kids for 16 hours a day for 2 months. This brought me down to my new weight of 176 pounds.

This is where I currently sit, and now that I am back at college I'm hoping to take what I have, and possibly lose some more weight, and sculpt a bit of body to go with the new "skinny" me.

The Pictures

Biceps:
January, 2008



September, 2008



Back:
January, 2008



September, 2008



Side:
January, 2008




September, 2008



Front:
January, 2008



September, 2008

Diet:

My diet is currently up in the air. Switching from camp to college was busy and I have no excuse other than I dropped the ball and ate like **** for a week and a half. Now that school is starting to get swinging again I'm trying to figure out what I need to do. Some suggestions would be wonderful!

Breakfast:
- 1 or 2 pieces of Fruit
- Bagel OR Oatmeal
- Small bowel of cereal: Frosted Flakes of Frosted Shredded Wheat.
- Water

Lunch:
- 1 piece of Fruit
- Small Salad - spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, sometimes carrots
- Small (fist sized) serving of whatever is being served, possibly a sandwich, noodles, etc.
- Water

Dinner:
- Small Salad - spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, sometimes carrots
- Whatever is for dinner - I dont have much control over this, though I will eat 2 bagels or a bowel of cereal if the dinner looks unappealing

Snacking:
I generally try to carry around a green apple or two in my bag to eat between or durring my classes between breakfast and lunch.

Future Goals and Concerns:
CLEARLY I need some help with this. Ideas for better eating, better snacks, tips for getting around a bad dinner that's being severed, and quickly. I'm leading several clubs, and have 4 very busy and difficult classes so studying and volunteering and other obligations take up a lot of my time. I'd like to get this nutrition figured out now so I can have it habitiualized by the time my schedule picks up.

Fitness:

My main goal for fitness is a two-part idea. I'd like to either continue losing weight, but mostly I'd like to begin to sculpt my body. I'm not talking ripped abs and bulging biceps. I'm going more for the lighter side of things. Just some mild muscles showing when I have my shirt off would be great. I suppose that means that my main focus is upper body, arms and chest and abs.

I'm also wanting to make sure I'm working out for health. Cardio is important to me because if I'm doing all of this I want to be HEALTHY!

Now for the not-so-positive stuff!

I smoke, and I'm slowly, slowly quitting, but we'll see how that goes, and I also haven't been working out for the last week and a half now.

I AM, however, taking a Physical Education class this semester which meets for 1 hour, twice a week starting next Tuesday. The class is a mix between resistance training, aerobic training, yoga, and water exercise for a "total fitness experience." We will learn the principles of exercise and apply them as we develop an exercise program which meets our personal goals.

I'm thinking it sounds fun and will be really great for me. We have a gym on campus, and I'm considering using this class at 2 of my workouts, and adding another work out on Fridays. This would mean working out 3 times a week, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Other than that I don't have much in the line of ideas. Does anyone have suggestions on things to focus on for my goals of continued weight loss and beginning sculpting?

Update: 11/01/08

So, it has been a two months. I am still around 174lbs. The difference though is that I'm getting a lot healthier.

The physical education class gets me to the gym with weights two days a week. We focus mainly on upper body and core, though I feel like I need to work more on my core and back. I think my chest is getting a bit overdeveloped compared to my back muscles.

I'm also at a loss on how to get more defined. I dont want to be ripped, but with the extra skin I have from losing so much weight I feel like the muscles I do have are kind-of hidden. Gah!

I've also taken up dance class, so I'm dancing for anywhere from three to four and a half hours a week, I dance 2-3 days a week. I enjoy it a lot and it goes well with my gym time since with the two I work my legs and upper body.

I'd still like to lose about 15lbs and get to 160 pounds by next April (4/01/09).

The main reason for that is because that's when we start a time in college where we really have free time and can go out and do things in the sun. I'd love to show off something of a body.

I REALLY want to keep dancing. I'm going to find a way to carry that on for the next several years. It's something that just makes me happy.

I have to wonder if part of the reason I'm not losing weight is because I'm losing fat but putting on muscle from dancing and my gym class. I guess this is alright, I'd like to be a bit thinner though.

Future Goals
So, as I said, my future goals are to lose another 15 pounds, and get more defined in my chest, core, and arms. (Upper Body?)

I want to keep dancing and doing the things I enjoy, slower, but more permanent changes have seemed to work really well for me so far.

I'm also quitting smoking. It's a big deal, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

You've pretty much hit a plateau. It's probably not going to be 'easy' from here on out.

Your BMR has dropped along with your weight. Two options: drop your calorie intake or up your calorie usage. You could always combine those two, but I'd rather go with upping my calorie usage.

If you want to get chiseled without bulking you'll have to up your reps and drop the weight a little. Instead of doing like 3 sets of 15 reps, think more like 3 sets of 20 or even 30 reps.



Nice stretch marks by the way. You should see mine. I have a few (more like a dozen) that run from my arm pits down to just above my elbows.

Good work so far mate, keep it up, and good luck with the quiting smoking, all the best

I'd say you need to add more protein too. Your diet seems pretty carb heavy. Focus on the complex carbs (the oatmeal over the bagel, the veggies over the noodles) and add some lean protein. Even if that means all you find is cottage cheese! This is dorm life eh?

Thank you all for the support. Quitting smoking is going... complicated.

I've kind-of fallen off the band-wagon the last few weeks. Things got crazy busy with classes and I just didn't bother to keep up. I'm going to start trying to eat healthier this week.

Thanks for the tips. I'll look around and start trying to find more protein, I agree and it's been lacking lately.

I also am a bit surprised by the increase in reps. I feel like I've increased drastically this year from last. I'll look at ways to increase activity throughout the day.