Introduction

Greetings, I am a 22 year old Male, and I live in Lousiana. I weigh 258 LB's and too much of it is comprised of fat. The purpose of this blog is so I can record my journey from being fat to, being in shape and looking good. It is also so that I can obtain a form of accountability that will keep me on track. It is also going to help me track my progress.

so to start I will

1. List everything I eat during the day every day.
2. List my workouts as I do them. I will use resistance training as opposed to cardio
3. Put photos once a month
4. Have a blood work done to see certain parameters such as cholesterol as another way to track progress.
5. Weigh in once a week.
6. Take BF% measurements once a week.

Hopefully other people will see this and realize its not that hard. Also I hope I can show the people I know and love who are not in shape that they have no excuse for the way they are. I also want to prove to people that you don't HAVE to do cardio to lose fat, and to do that I will not perform any sort of strenuous cardio exercise. I hate cardio anyways.

My thoughts on America's obesity situation and weight loss

I would be more than willing to bet my next paycheck that if you are reading this you are probably fat. No I have never seen you, and probably never will, so how could I know that my paycheck will remain safely in my pocket if I actually took this bet.
Well lets see according to the National Center For Health Statistics sixty six percent of adults are over weight, and thirty percent are obese. Use this link if you wish to see for your self.

Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Adults:United States, 2003-2004

You see that's a problem because if you are fat and you have children there is an increased chance that your children will be over weight as well. Nineteen percent of children between the ages of six and eleven are over weight. If your kids are overweight at that age there is a great chance they will DIE earlier than they would otherwise. Twenty seven percent of the total number of deaths in America during the year of 2004 were from heart disease.

Now I want to take this a step further, please bear with me. Imagine you, and your child are in the gym, where your child attends school, with one hundred other couples just like this. Lets examine the gym a little better, can you remember what a school gym is like. The smell of the bleachers, the way sounds echo and bounce off the walls. Every sound magnified by the large expanse and acoustics. Parents quietening their children. Some children are obedient, some aren't. See in your mind a group of children playing and laughing like you did at one time. A few are anxious looking around with big doe eyes, trying to understand what's going on. However every single one of these children are precious and special. The door to the gym opens, and everyone hears it. A loud clang resounds throughout the gym, throughout the parents hearts as it closes. In walks a lady. Dressed in a black business suit, she approaches the crowd with a determined look upon her face. A pack of cards resides in her hand. Everyone is silent now, wondering at this new spectacle, this new occurrence. Eternity, if you could measure it, would be the amount of time it took her to open the pack of cards, and begin to pass them out to the parents. The last card is in her hand and she holds it out to you. There were only twenty seven cards. On the back is the name of a child.

Is it your child or does that name belong to someone else? Does it really matter? The answer is no because if this trend continues unabated, there will only be more names on more tombstones for the sake of something really, really, stupid. For the sake of convenience, laziness, "Not enough time". Tell me what is time to a dead man, please give me a decent answer to that question.

You might say, "It won't happen to me, or my child". I hope it never does, but why should it happen at all. There really is no excuse for America's Obesity Epidemic.

There are major obstacles to prevent you from leading a healthy life. That's no excuse. You work hard all day to provide a good life for your family, whether you stay at home, or have a job. Why should all your hard work be for naught? Why should you work so hard for something and not take the extra step so that you can be healthy and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Not only that but being healthier will end up making you have to work less, and give you more energy and time to enjoy yourself.

I want you to stop here, and read my introduction, in case you have not yet. I want you to understand that I am fat, if your fat, then we really aren't that different. Well I am going to change. The reason I am saying this right now is because I am about to encounter the obstacles that you will face. I want you to understand that as I write this, I am prepared to face and overcome those obstacles. If I can do it you can to. Your situation might very well be more difficult than mine, you have to find the wherewithal to achieve.

The biggest challenge you will face is your own mind.

We will go over what frame of mind it takes to finally take the plunge, into a better life. For one you can't have a weight goal, such as, "I want to lose twenty pounds". Remember the goal is a LIFE STYLE change. That means what you weigh no longer matters near as much. Sure its a good way to track progress, but it in no way shape or form determines what kind of person you are and how you are living your life. All it does is determine the kind of person you used to be and how you used to live. Change must come from within first. You have to do it for the right reason. The main reason you want to change should be for yourself and the ones you love. The most important thing in your life should be your health. A number on a scale should not determine how healthy you are. Your body fat percentage is the best way.