I turned 38 on February 7th, 2024. I weighed in at 348lbs with a slew of health issues. Safe to say, I’m in the worst shape I have ever been.
I recently challenged myself to record a build-in-public YouTube video each day for 30 days. I didn’t think I would be able to do it, but I hit the goals for the most part. I did miss about 2 days because of important life issues, but I am happy with the result.
I think my next challenge is going to be to get my health under control.
What My Plans Are for this Health Challenge
For the past several years, I’ve been focusing mostly on work, which is challenging and time-consuming. I also have a few side projects. I’m not lying when I say I could spend 16 hours per day sitting in front of my computer typing away. Not every hour was productive, but the point is, I’m not moving.
I will focus on a few things for the rest of this year. As I mentioned, I started this journey at 348 lbs! My goals are to focus on diet, exercise, supplementation, and test some “bro-science” things. When I say “bro-science,” I mean the latest trends like cold plunging and Wim Hof breathing techniques, and other bullshit.
My goal for about 12 months from now is to be at 240 pounds. That breaks down to a rough estimate of 8 pounds per month over the year, roughly 2 pounds per week. It sounds possible when I break it down to that level.
I’m a bigger guy, and 240 pounds is decent for me. The lowest I have been in my adult life was about 210 lbs, and I was too skinny, in my opinion.
How Did I Get to the Position I am In?
All my life, I’ve been focused on weightlifting. It’s one of my hobbies and passions. However, I still struggled with weight control. When I was around 20 years old, I used to run 3 miles or so a few times per week. That helped to keep my weight under control. I was around 220lbs at that time and could handle the runs.
I’m in software, which means I live a pretty sedentary life. Plus, when I worked in an office, everyone always wanted to go out for lunch, so I made poor food choices. I work from home now which means I have easy access to the fridge at all times.
Fast forward to around age thirty, and I am staying around 270lbs. I yo-yo diet and bounce between 270-300 for a few years.
When things started shutting down due to the COVID epidemic, I quit going to the gym. I focused much more on work. Since I worked from home, I could sit for 16 hours straight on some days.
My eating habits got worse. I started eating more takeout and sugary/starchy junk. Over time, I ballooned up to 348lbs. It’s one of those things that just crept up on me.
One day I just looked in the mirror and thought, what the actual fuck happened here?
I also suffer from a range of health problems:
- Bipolar 1 disorder
- Severe anxiety
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- High triglycerides
- Low testosterone
- High liver enzymes
- Myalgia (pain throughout my body)
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- GERD
There are probably things I am forgetting, but the point is I’m in bad shape. My health is so poor that I couldn’t even get an additional life insurance policy on my own. I can only get them through employer-sponsored plans now.
I guess that means the insurance companies expect me to die before they would be able to profit from the policy.
My Plans Moving Forward
I’ve already started this journey. I wasn’t sure if I would share it publicly, but I think it might help hold me accountable.
So here is the plan:
- Keto diet
- Be Active
- Lift weights
- Ride my Peloton
- Do enough outside yard work that I get a significant workout
- Supplements
- Bro-science tricks
- Cold plunge
- Wim Hof breathing technique
I might be crazy, but I’ve already started the above and feel much better. I’m also down 10 lbs in about 3 weeks.
I am going to use a mostly clean keto diet. I’ve tried different diets over the years. I’ve found that keto is difficult, but the one that works for me. I’ve tried a Mediterranean diet, Weight Watchers, the Calibrate program (mounjaro and ozempic), and traditional calorie counting. Being in ketosis seems to be the best for my body.
When I did keto in the past, it wasn’t healthy, though. I would eat processed shit like pepperoni or pork rinds, to give you an idea. This time, I’m focusing on real whole foods that are low in carbs.
I’ve also found that eating carbs before working out can make me sick. I’ve even blacked out on occasion. I believe it has something to do with blood sugar rising from eating the carbs and dropping very fast during the workout. I’ve never gotten an exact medical diagnosis of this.
No one has ever really found the root cause of any of my issues, but they have been treating the symptoms. I’m hoping that improving my overall health will start to improve these conditions.
I’m also going to try to focus less on my online side hustle and more on my health.
Summary
I’m thicc AF boi. I’m in the worst shape ever, but I’m doing this health challenge to help keep me accountable. My ultimate goal is to be in the best shape of my life by age 40. That gives me nearly 2 years.
I’m probably also your stereotypical white dude with a beard who works in software and does cold plunges. I might be your next Instagram thottie influencer who slangs supplements. 😅
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