17 days in the Asylum!

Seventeen days ago, I decided to take my Insanity training to the next level with Insanity The Asylum. The last seventeen days have been more brutal than the whole 60-day Insanity program.  But it's a whole different kind of brutal. With Insanity, you want to quit because your muscles and body tell you that you have exhausted yourself, in Asylum, you want to quit because your mind tells you, you can't take any more. It really is a whole different ball game.

The Asylum has a total of 7 workouts - Speed and Agility, Strength, Back to Core, Vertical Plyo, Relief, Game Day and Overtime. Back to Core is by far my favorite of all the workouts, due mostly to it focusing on lower back strength. Because of my low back problems, it provides not just a new challenge, but really has helped me on stabilizing those muscles. Game Day is great too, a full 60 minutes of balls to the wall cardio working drills from running, to wrestling and everything in between.

Relief has been the biggest surprise for me though. I am not normally a fan of stretching workouts. Normally they are boring, or go to a place that I just can't get. Also most are really long. Relief in the Asylum though is only about 20 minutes and really gives a nice slow stretch. Maybe I like it so much because I actually feel that my body needs this stretch in this program.

Either way, I am super excited to only have 13 days left in the Asylum. It has been great, and I can't wait to try out some hybrids with it next year.

Do you know your real competition?

As a human race, we thrive on competition. This holds true to everything we do, be it in our personal lives or professional lives. However, sometimes when on our weight loss journey, we find the wrong competition to fuel ourselves with. What do I mean by this you ask?

Often times when working out or starting to workout, we decide our competition is the person on the treadmill or weight bench next to us. We see what they can do, or how long they go, and we decide we are going to beat them. Sure, some people find this motivating, but there is a serious flaw to this logic. You can always be better than someone. Let's say the person you chose to beat today is just there for a mild workout. Let's say this person is just wanting to do a 30 minute job on the treadmill, you hop on when they do, you glance and their speed and increase yours by just enough to be faster. They hop off after their 30 minutes and you go to 35 minutes. But where is the competition? It's not there, you beat someone who wasn't there to compete. Or maybe let's say you pick someone who looks like they can lift a lot of heavy weights. Well what if they can't, maybe they are just starting to lift and have no real experience, there is no competition there. You are only half way satisfying a need. Sure you think you are fully satisfying it, but you aren't.

So who is your competition? You are your own competition. Yes, I said it. Your main obstacle is you. You can never do better than yourself. This is something I knew from the beginning of my weight loss journey and my journey to a healthier lifestyle. I set daily and weekly goals, as I met those goals, I increased them as well. My first day on the elliptical was to just survive, I barely made it 15 minutes, each day I did the elliptical, I made a goal to go one minute longer. I didn't care what my speed was, I wanted to sustain on the machine. When I made it to 30 minutes, I started working on distance to complete in 30 minutes and so on.

Now in my daily workouts at home, I push to make it farther in my workouts without nearly dying. I will never be satisfied with what I do in my workouts, and no one really should be if they are competitive with themselves. Sure I have days that I tell myself that I am going to take it easy, but I still go strong to compete with me. You are your biggest competition, you can never be better than yourself. Remember that next time you are working out or decide to take on a fitness journey.

Do you know your real competition?

As a human race, we thrive on competition. This holds true to everything we do, be it in our personal lives or professional lives. However, sometimes when on our weight loss journey, we find the wrong competition to fuel ourselves with. What do I mean by this you ask?

Often times when working out or starting to workout, we decide our competition is the person on the treadmill or weight bench next to us. We see what they can do, or how long they go, and we decide we are going to beat them. Sure, some people find this motivating, but there is a serious flaw to this logic. You can always be better than someone. Let's say the person you chose to beat today is just there for a mild workout. Let's say this person is just wanting to do a 30 minute job on the treadmill, you hop on when they do, you glance and their speed and increase yours by just enough to be faster. They hop off after their 30 minutes and you go to 35 minutes. But where is the competition? It's not there, you beat someone who wasn't there to compete. Or maybe let's say you pick someone who looks like they can lift a lot of heavy weights. Well what if they can't, maybe they are just starting to lift and have no real experience, there is no competition there. You are only half way satisfying a need. Sure you think you are fully satisfying it, but you aren't.

So who is your competition? You are your own competition. Yes, I said it. Your main obstacle is you. You can never do better than yourself. This is something I knew from the beginning of my weight loss journey and my journey to a healthier lifestyle. I set daily and weekly goals, as I met those goals, I increased them as well. My first day on the elliptical was to just survive, I barely made it 15 minutes, each day I did the elliptical, I made a goal to go one minute longer. I didn't care what my speed was, I wanted to sustain on the machine. When I made it to 30 minutes, I started working on distance to complete in 30 minutes and so on.

Now in my daily workouts at home, I push to make it farther in my workouts without nearly dying. I will never be satisfied with what I do in my workouts, and no one really should be if they are competitive with themselves. Sure I have days that I tell myself that I am going to take it easy, but I still go strong to compete with me. You are your biggest competition, you can never be better than yourself. Remember that next time you are working out or decide to take on a fitness journey.

 

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Leaving everyday Insanity for THE ASYLUM!!

It's crazy thinking that this time last year I was still the shape of a ball, well more a football, but a ball none the less. I could barely workout, and what I was doing was just barely pushing myself. Fast forward to just a couple Sundays ago, and I finished one of the most intense workout programs on the markte! Yes, I finished my 60 day Insanity program! Ok, so if you have been following my blog, you know it was more than 60 days that I have been doing Insanity. In fact, I started Insanity back in May 2011, but due to some medical issues, I was unable to complete the program. After trying and trying to start from where I left off, I decided to do a full reboot. This was one of the best things I could have done. While I still had issues along the way with my back and at the end of the program my shoulders acting up, I finished.

Pushing play with Insanity was sometimes a chore, I admit it. It is a hard workout and really makes you question your sanity for doing it. Shaun T tells you to "Dig Deep" and sometimes it's hard to do when you barely have the energy left to stand on your two feet. But it has been so worth it. The best part, is I have my proof that I finished Insanity with my T-shirt that I earned! But I'm not done yet.

Last Monday I started Insanity The Asylum! I again have been humbled by Shaun T. I knew it was going to be tough, but I figured I would fair well with the program. It feels like I am starting Insanity for the first time ever! I am digging deep and powering through, but my body has not been through this kind of workout before. It is exciting though. I am already noticing changes in my legs after just 9 days in the program. I feel stronger and can jump higher. So far my favorite workout is Back To Core. It is one of the few workouts that I have found of any of the programs I have done that gives my low back a good workout. This is important to me because of my low back issues from the past.

I am down to just 20 days left in the Asylum, and I'm looking to earn another shirt. I am pushing myself even further, and will be doing Asylum a few times over in the future. But there is another Program on my list, and that is P90X2...Oh yeah, I am insane!

The Home Stretch

It's amazing sitting here thinking, that my journey with Insanity is almost over. Granted, I have had some rough times with it, and technically I could have finished it 3 times at this point if it weren't for some health issues. But it's finally almost over. When I was doing RevAbs, I thought 90 days went by nice and steady, but this last 60 days of Insanity have flown by. I have had some great results so far too. I feel great, though I still struggle through the workouts, and I know that Shaun T is going to have some more hurdles for me in Asylum.

Oh you haven't heard of the Asylum, then check this out!

To be honest, I am scared to death! But it is going to be amazing at the same time. Often times when I workout with Insanity, I hit a point in my workout where I feel like I'm not even in my body. It is truly INSANE! So if you think you are ready to join me, let me know or purchase Insanity at http://beachbodycoach.com/cdharris

Hitting the mark

One thing we often do in life is set high goal for ourselves. We will set goals that we know we can't achieve, just for the reason to fail. Think about it for a minute. If you fail, most times you won't try again. This is our way of saying we did something and moving on. But what if we kept striving to accomplish our goals?

That's what I did when embarking on my weight loss journey. I set a near impossible goal of losing 30 lbs in one month. But I kept pushing. That fire from that goal kept burning inside me. I kept pushing and pushing. Now look at me, I have lost 140 lbs and I feel great. Think about that next time you are satisfied or are ready to quit. It's all about pushing yourself. Don't take failure in stride, strive to always do better. Never be satisfied with accomplishing something, you can always do better, push hard, play harder!

Hitting the mark

One thing we often do in life is set high goal for ourselves. We will set goals that we know we can't achieve, just for the reason to fail. Think about it for a minute. If you fail, most times you won't try again. This is our way of saying we did something and moving on. But what if we kept striving to accomplish our goals?

 

That's what I did when embarking on my weight loss journey. I set a near impossible goal of losing 30 lbs in one month. But I kept pushing. That fire from that goal kept burning inside me. I kept pushing and pushing. Now look at me, I have lost 140 lbs and I feel great. Think about that next time you are satisfied or are ready to quit. It's all about pushing yourself. Don't take failure in stride, strive to always do better. Never be satisfied with accomplishing something, you can always do better, push hard, play harder!

Two weeks in again

Well, back in May I started Insanity. I only made it two weeks before I was forced to quit because of medical reasons. I attempted to get back into the grove in june and august, but just couldn't keep up and was getting discouraged. So about 3 weeks ago, I decided I would just Re-boot the program and start fresh. I just finished up week 2 again, and I am so pumped to knock week 3 out!

I am doing things a bit different this time around too. I decided not to do the fit test the first week or at the beginning of week 3. While I know these numbers are important to see how I'm progressing, I also find it important to not let myself get stuck on these numbers. I will resume my fit test in month 2 though to see how I am coming along then. I will be finishing Insanity on November 5th and that following week I'll be starting Insanity the Asylum. I am so pumped, I can't wait.

1 year of healthy living

It's hard to believe that it was one year ago today that I decided to take my life back. It all started with me weighing in at 332 LBS! Sadly that wasn't my heaviest, but after endless health issues with being sick and my back always hurting, and some major nudging from my doctor, I knew it was time to do something.

It hasn't been an easy year. Even today I struggle with eating right and working out on a regular basis. Heck, I'm human and I am still adjusting to my new life. After 28 years of horrible habits, it is going to some time to break all those bad habits. But what I have accomplished in just 1 year is what many would say is truly amazing. I went from 332 LBS, 43.6 BMI and 47% body fat down to 197 LBS, 24.89 BMI and 11.9% body fat. That is in one year. I have gone from being morbidly obese to being average in weight.

The hardest part I think about all of the weight loss is convincing my family that I'm not anorexic though. They are so used to me getting second and thirds, and filling up my plate or eating massive amounts of food, that when I eat healthy I get accused of having an eating disorder. This actually sets me back quite a bit because I find myself bingeing on food just to prove that I eat, and I end up eating way more than normal. Were I normally eat 1 serving size at lunch, when with my mom I actually eat 3 - 4 servings sizes (restaurant dinner portion plate). So this obviously sets me back. Even this last week I have struggled with massive weight gain because of this very reason.

All in all, I am very pleased with my results. I still want to lose the rest of my gut, but again, I have gone from a 52 waist pant to a 34 waist. I just really want a flat stomach, and be able to look good shirtless.

One year of Healthy Living

It's hard to believe that it was one year ago today that I decided to take my life back. It all started with me weighing in at 332 LBS! Sadly that wasn't my heaviest, but after endless health issues with being sick and my back always hurting, and some major nudging from my doctor, I knew it was time to do something.

It hasn't been an easy year. Even today I struggle with eating right and working out on a regular basis. Heck, I'm human and I am still adjusting to my new life. After 28 years of horrible habits, it is going to some time to break all those bad habits. But what I have accomplished in just 1 year is what many would say is truly amazing. I went from 332 LBS, 43.6 BMI and 47% body fat down to 197 LBS, 24.89 BMI and 11.9% body fat. That is in one year. I have gone from being morbidly obese to being average in weight.

The hardest part I think about all of the weight loss is convincing my family that I'm not anorexic though. They are so used to me getting second and thirds, and filling up my plate or eating massive amounts of food, that when I eat healthy I get accused of having an eating disorder. This actually sets me back quite a bit because I find myself bingeing on food just to prove that I eat, and I end up eating way more than normal. Were I normally eat 1 serving size at lunch, when with my mom I actually eat 3 - 4 servings sizes (restaurant dinner portion plate). So this obviously sets me back. Even this last week I have struggled with massive weight gain because of this very reason.

All in all, I am very pleased with my results. I still want to lose the rest of my gut, but again, I have gone from a 52 waist pant to a 34 waist. I just really want a flat stomach, and be able to look good shirtless.

Rough time getting in the groove

Ok, so here is the deal, I should pretty much be done with Insanity. But I'm not! In the second week of the program, I started having some pain in my butt. Yes, I know this is overshare. Any ways, so yeah, pain in my butt. I worked out with it for the week and then ended up having to stop the program because the pain became too much.

Turns out I had two issues, I had a massive hemorrhoid flare-up and I had a fissure. I will let you look up fissure on your own. Both have been treated, though I still have one more appointment to get the last hemorrhoid lasered. It isn't a pleasant process, but it has helped a bit with the pain. I keep making plans to do my workouts, but each time, I end up having to back out due to pain. The plan is to get back at it no later than the first week of August, though I want to get back sooner. After that, I am going back to RevAbs to work more on toning my abs, then hitting Insanity the Asylum.

Yes, my goal is to kill myself. Well, not really kill myself, but I am going to have a hard body by next summer.

2 weeks of Insanity....DONE!

It's been two weeks already with insanity. I haven't noticed much change in the actual workout if it's getting easier or not. I can tell I can push myself further, but the whole thing still is very brutal. I'm supposed to do the my fit test again today, but because of a road trip and some stress that came up with it, I am going to take today as another rest day and get things done tomorrow.

It will be interesting to see how my numbers have changed in just 2 weeks. I will keep you posted!

Don't fall victim to the cleanse

Over the years there have been many fad diets. The producers of these fads spend their time trying to convince you that this is the best way to kick start your weight loss. The funny thing, is some of these people have also stated in the past that there is no need to do a cleanse/reset. They were right to begin with!

Here is the problem. Right now there are 3 really popular cleanses/resets. Jillian Michaels detox and Cleanse, Bob Harpers Smart 7 day Cleanse and Beachbody's Ultimate Reset. While the first two are the cheapest alternative, they brand themselves are what have people convinced that these are viable things that need to be done!

Lets start with the first two on the list, shall we. Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper, the worlds toughest trainers. These two are responsible to zapping the fat off of millions across the globe. Both have great at home workouts, both were and one still is part of the most popular weight loss show in America, and both talk a good game. Lets face it, Jillian at this point will do anything for a buck. If you watch her on old episodes of Biggest Looser or even as recent as The Doctors, she talks about nutrition and "gags" at the thought of fast food and soda. Yet this woman endorses an at home Soda making machine where you buy syrup and make your own cola! What? Yeah, so anything she has to say is null and void!

How about Bob? He is the more respectable of the two trainers. Bob has several books out and several DVD's. He knows his stuff. He sells his DVD's for $5 a piece on his site and happens to have the best kettlebells on the market (that's just my opinion). All around, I think Bob is a pretty decent guy. I honestly can't find any fault with him, other than he pimps a cleanse!

Oh, but I haven't forgotten the one most people will be shocked I'm posting about here. That's right, it's Beachbody's Ultimate Reset. The most expensive of the three coming in at a whopping $229.95. This is a 21 day reset/cleanse that promises lower cholesterol and the usual detoxify your system lines. Nothing like 21 days at $229.95 to make you homeless right?

Here is the point though. Our bodies are designed to cleanse and reset themselves. This is something our bodies would do often if we treated them right. Do you want a real reset/cleanse? Try this. Eat clean for 21 days. Yep, it's that simple. Eat natural clean foods, no processed garbage. I'm talking Veggies, Fruits, high protein meat, lots of water and you can have some whole grains. In the first week, you will start noticing a huge change, you will probably even lose a few pounds. Within the 21 days, you will find yourself to be feeling better, being more regular and craving less crap. All this is attainable without spending outside of your regular budget. There is no scam to the proven method that I am offering you. No pyramid, no celebrity trainers, just you, natural clean food and your health of the future.

First week of Insanity...Done!

It has been a crazy week. I started Insanity on Sunday and have pretty much died every single workout. The funny part is, I thought the fit test would be moderately easy. Boy was I wrong. I was pouring sweat after the warmup, and of course that made things quite a bit more difficult. But that seems to be the theme with Insanity. The warmup is truly insane.

When I was doing RevAbs, it would be around the middle of the workout before I would start sweating, and it wouldn't be a massive amount of sweat either. Within the first 10 minutes I am pouring sweat with Insanity, and that is just the warmup. Then I'm expected to actually do the rest of the workout!

I know it sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm not. I actually love the program, and love that it pushes me to the limits. Shaun T is an amazing trainer, and he really pushes you to go harder, even it if is through the tv. He also knows the workout is hard and tells you to take breaks if you need them. Even the people on the program are taking breaks and they have been through the workout a few times.

Even though it's only been a week, I do feel stronger. It's strange to say that, but I feel I have much more power in my core and legs. My abs feel much more solid as well. But thank goodness, that today is a rest day. I'll be jumping back on the workout tomorrow and trying not to keel over.

Insanity is coming

Ok, well Insanity is already here. However, I officially start my next journey in my new life with Insanity next Monday!! I am so excited. But I did jump the gun a little bit. Yes, I was a bit too excited and decided to go ahead and workout to Insanity: Fast and Furious. I was humbled by the workout. Never in my life do I remember sweating so much.

So sweating, big deal right? Well I was pouring sweat in just the 5 minute warmup. Yes, the warmup was a workout in it self. By the time the real deal came around, I was gasping for air trying not to die. Keep in mind Fast and Furious is only a 20 minute disc. It's meant for those times that you want to do your Insanity workout, but don't really have the time for 45 minutes to an hour.

I caught myself a few times sitting out just to catch my wind and jumping back in. I can see that this is going to be a huge challenge for me, and I welcome it with open arms. With Insanity being a 60 day program, I expect to get my butt handed to me the entire 60 days. That being said, Shaun T is an amazing trainer on this set. He pushes you, and it feels like he is there pushing you. It was also nice to see that he dies during the workout as well.

So keep checking back on me with my progress and my journey. You can follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook

90 days with RevAbs has passed

So Wednesday was my last official day of RevAbs. The 90 days flew by, but I have to admit, I got some great results!

Starting Weight - 256 lbs

Starting Body Fat % - 21.9%

Starting Waist - 46"

Ending Weight - 219 lbs

Ending Body Fat % - 15.7%

Ending Waist - 38"

All of that in just 90 days. I feel great, I look great and I'm ready for the next step in my journey.

The last day is here

So I'm writing this post at 3:30 in the morning while getting ready for work. Today marks a day that I have been waiting for though. No, not getting to quit my job, the last day of the RevAbs program.

It's hard to believe that I started this workout program 90 days ago. It's also hard to believe the results I have gotten so far. I have noticed through all the workouts over the last 90 days that my body has truly changed. Not just physically though. I have changed mentally. The way I go through these workouts are insane. I get a mindset that I can't quit, or that I need to go harder every time. I've said this before, but I truly couldn't have completed this program without Brett Hoebel. His training style is great, and I feel that if I don't do my workouts to my potential, that I'm actually going to disappoint him. Yeah, I'm going to disappoint the man in the DVD. I know it sounds really strange. This workout has become a huge part of my life.

But what's next? Well first off. After today, I will continue to do this program. I am working on building my own workout calendar for this program to continue getting results. But there is another workout in my sights. I'm ready to get insane. Yes, that's right, in the next month or so , I'm looking to start the Insanity workout program. So you will just have to stay posted to see how that goes.

I will be posting my full body results from RevAbs either later today or tomorrow, so keep an eye out, and follow the blog. Thanks all.

Gearing up for the last days

Wow, it is hard to believe that there are only 10 days left to the RevAbs program I have been doing. It seems like I just started the 90 day program last week. I will also admit, that I didn't know how well it would work, but my results have been amazing.

Before starting the program I was going to the gym nearly everyday. I was running 1.5 miles on the treadmill and that was about it. Sometimes I could pull 2 miles, but not often. A couple weeks ago I went back for the first time and ran 3.4 miles straight through with no problem. It felt great. I thank Brett Hoebel for that. If it weren't for him pushing me through the RevAbs program, I don't think I could have pushed myself to run.

But besides running, I have noticed several other changes, not in just my body either, but my ability to push even harder than I did before. While I still have to modify sometimes on some of the workouts, I push myself to the absolute limits of my body. When working on key ab workouts, I push until my abs cramp up, then push even longer.

I have also managed to hit my goal weight with the program. 225 LBS seemed like it would be a near impossible goal, but I kept working toward it, and have managed to hit it. Sadly, I am not quite at my bodies ideal weight, but I can tell that I am super close to it. The weight is much harder to drop now, and maintaining has been an adventure of its own.

Here is to the next 10 days, and I can't wait to see what's in store for me after RevAbs.

45 days of RevAbs

It's hard to believe it has been 45 + days since starting the RevAbs program, but I am just getting into Phase 2.

When I started the program I was at 254 LBS, 22% body fat and 46" around my waist. I fought hard through every workout, and I tell you what, I was so sore the first week, I didn't know if I would make it through the whole thing. But I kept on trucking along doing my 6 workouts a week. Workouts designed to make me work my abs, fire my abs and burn calories, and it has paid off. By the end of the last week I was actually sad to see that the workouts I had grown so accustomed to were coming to an end, but excited to see what was coming in phase 2.

As I start on my journey to phase 2, I have a whole new body already. Currently I am weight in at 235 LBS, 18.5% body fat and 41.5" around my waist. It's incredible to see the change and I am so close to goal weight it is unbelievable. I have already completed two workouts on the second phase and needless to say, they are kicking my butt. But if feels so good. I honestly don't know if I could do it without Brett Hoebel as the trainer. He is so motivational the whole time, he makes you want to keep working and reaching to your maximum potential.

These next 45 days are going to be hard, but I know that I am going to make myself proud and Brett proud. Rev it High people!

17 days with RevAbs

Wow, I can't believe it has been 17 days already. The RevAbs workout seriously kicked my butt the first week. It is still kicking my butt, but at least there is no pain involved. So far in 17 days, I am down 4 LBS, 3 inches around my waist and 2% body fat! It is amazing. I imagine it wont be much longer and I'll be buying new pants...AGAIN!

I am only in phase one of the program right now, but I feel it working. If that even makes sense. I can feel my abs forming under my belly, and I can see my legs growing from all the lunges and squats that I do. It truly is amazing what you can accomplish in just a few weeks time. I can't wait to get to phase 2 though. I know Brett is going to kick my butt even harder, and I'm going to see these results jump into high gear. I will take some body shots at the 30 day mark and post on here, so keep checking back.

And if you want to find out more about RevAbs just goto http://beachbodycoach.com/cdharris

Don't get habits confused with genetics

We hear from every source these days that obesity is a "genetic" disease. However, I completely disagree, and I know there are more people that disagree.

First let's look at obesity in your family. Are both your parents fat? Yes? But were they obese when they were younger? or did it occur as they got older? Are your grandparents overweight? Yes? Again, ask the same question about your parents.

In my case, you could say I was morbidly obese because my father is obese. Well that's what the "experts" would say at least. But lets go back to 1974 when my dad graduated high school and married my mom. My dad graduated weighing in at a whopping 119 LBS. But how can he be obese now? Oh his family must be morbidly obese right? Wrong. My dad's whole family were a bunch of bean poles. But what about me? I picked up my dad's eating habits.

That's right. It's not genetics, it is picking up your parents habits. My dad for as long as I can remember has been a snacker. When my dad would be off duty and would be home with me, he would snack. So, I would snack. It eventually turned into a thing that when I was bored, I would snack, because that is the habit my dad passed on to me. It's like with healthy eating. I wasn't raised around eating healthy or restricted portions. If I wanted a second helping, I could have it. This all led to my being morbidly obese.

Sadly though, parents and their children don't want to take the blame for their own problems. They would rather blame a non-existent genetic disease on their problems than admitting that they have just passed on and excepted bad habits.

I've changed my bad habits. No longer do the days exists where I mindlessly snack because I'm bored or watching TV. Do I still snack though? Yes I do! But I snack healthy, I eat either an apple, banana, celery stalk or brocoli. If I'm not eating those, then I have 8 almonds for one snack, and 14 almonds for a second snack. I do this only once between meals. I mostly only do this to keep my metabolism going. I survive the day just fine and no longer feel phantom hunger at bored times.

Make a change in your habits, and stop blaming genetics if you are obese.

Don't get habits confused with genetics

We hear from every source these days that obesity is a "genetic" disease. However, I completely disagree, and I know there are more people that disagree.

First let's look at obesity in your family. Are both your parents fat? Yes? But were they obese when they were younger? or did it occur as they got older? Are your grandparents overweight? Yes? Again, ask the same question about your parents.

In my case, you could say I was morbidly obese because my father is obese. Well that's what the "experts" would say at least. But lets go back to 1974 when my dad graduated high school and married my mom. My dad graduated weighing in at a whopping 119 LBS. But how can he be obese now? Oh his family must be morbidly obese right? Wrong. My dad's whole family were a bunch of bean poles. But what about me? I picked up my dad's eating habits.

That's right. It's not genetics, it is picking up your parents habits. My dad for as long as I can remember has been a snacker. When my dad would be off duty and would be home with me, he would snack. So, I would snack. It eventually turned into a thing that when I was bored, I would snack, because that is the habit my dad passed on to me. It's like with healthy eating. I wasn't raised around eating healthy or restricted portions. If I wanted a second helping, I could have it. This all led to my being morbidly obese.

Sadly though, parents and their children don't want to take the blame for their own problems. They would rather blame a non-existent genetic disease on their problems than admitting that they have just passed on and excepted bad habits.

I've changed my bad habits. No longer do the days exists where I mindlessly snack because I'm bored or watching TV. Do I still snack though? Yes I do! But I snack healthy, I eat either an apple, banana, celery stalk or brocoli. If I'm not eating those, then I have 8 almonds for one snack, and 14 almonds for a second snack. I do this only once between meals. I mostly only do this to keep my metabolism going. I survive the day just fine and no longer feel phantom hunger at bored times.

Make a change in your habits, and stop blaming genetics if you are obese.

Change your life the healthy way

These days we have a lot of things that promise quick results. Every thing from diet pills, so crazy diets and even surgeries. The problem with all of these things, is you are putting a bandaid on the bigger problem.

Take surgery for example. The popular things to do for weight loss is Liposuction, Gastric Bypass and Lap Band. These all promise fast results, but most of these are for cosmetic purposes only. You hear on the radio all the time about Lap Band surgery. It's probably one of the biggest fads right now. The problem is you are having surgery to lose weight that isn't going to stay off unless you change yourself. In my opinion no one should have Lap Band surgery.

Gastric Bypass in most cases is a end of the line surgery, or at least it used to me. You're doctor would suggest it to you if you were morbidly obese and you absolutely had to have surgery to save your life and make changes. Now, you can go to a plastic surgeon and get this procedure done without having to be obese hardly at all. At 250 LBS myself, I can qualify for Gastric Bypass. But again, if you don't change your eating habits and exercise habits, you will gain the weight back, just like a Lap Band patient.

Liposuction is the old school way of doing things, you still hear about people having it done though. Back in the day it was mostly a hollywood thing though. You would hear of an actress having it done to get rid of a little bit of fat on her butt or hips. However now it is for any one that wants to drop a quick 20 LBS. Again, most people put that weight back on.

My whole point to all of this, is these surgeries are taking the easy way out. These surgeries in most cases is a lazy persons way to lose weight. These are the same people that think of exercise and diet as punishment. That would rather sit at home and watch their favorite TV show instead of going for a walk or would rather wake up an hour before work instead of 2 hours so they can hit the gym.

I've completely changed my life by implementing diet and exercise into it. You can ask any one that has known me for a while, I was always lazy. My idea of working out before I changed my self was lifting a fork full of pasta to my mouth. Now I work out 6 - 7 days a week, sometimes multiple times a day. I feel better about my life, health and future than I ever have. My weight is less likely to come back because of my lifestyle change. If you have taken to the easy way out, you will most likely be back in your fat pants with in 5 years. So change your life for the better.

Change your life the healthy way

These days we have a lot of things that promise quick results. Every thing from diet pills, so crazy diets and even surgeries. The problem with all of these things, is you are putting a bandaid on the bigger problem.

Take surgery for example. The popular things to do for weight loss is Liposuction, Gastric Bypass and Lap Band. These all promise fast results, but most of these are for cosmetic purposes only. You hear on the radio all the time about Lap Band surgery. It's probably one of the biggest fads right now. The problem is you are having surgery to lose weight that isn't going to stay off unless you change yourself. In my opinion no one should have Lap Band surgery.

Gastric Bypass in most cases is a end of the line surgery, or at least it used to me. You're doctor would suggest it to you if you were morbidly obese and you absolutely had to have surgery to save your life and make changes. Now, you can go to a plastic surgeon and get this procedure done without having to be obese hardly at all. At 250 LBS myself, I can qualify for Gastric Bypass. But again, if you don't change your eating habits and exercise habits, you will gain the weight back, just like a Lap Band patient.

Liposuction is the old school way of doing things, you still hear about people having it done though. Back in the day it was mostly a hollywood thing though. You would hear of an actress having it done to get rid of a little bit of fat on her butt or hips. However now it is for any one that wants to drop a quick 20 LBS. Again, most people put that weight back on.

My whole point to all of this, is these surgeries are taking the easy way out. These surgeries in most cases is a lazy persons way to lose weight. These are the same people that think of exercise and diet as punishment. That would rather sit at home and watch their favorite TV show instead of going for a walk or would rather wake up an hour before work instead of 2 hours so they can hit the gym.

I've completely changed my life by implementing diet and exercise into it. You can ask any one that has known me for a while, I was always lazy. My idea of working out before I changed my self was lifting a fork full of pasta to my mouth. Now I work out 6 - 7 days a week, sometimes multiple times a day. I feel better about my life, health and future than I ever have. My weight is less likely to come back because of my lifestyle change. If you have taken to the easy way out, you will most likely be back in your fat pants with in 5 years. So change your life for the better.

The Ab Revolution has started

So on Monday February 7th, 2011 I started the RevAbs workout. While that was only yesterday, I feel every bit of the workout. When just watching it, it looks easy enough, but actually doing it is a different story. My body feels like it has been through a car accident. I know, that shouldn't be too different since I have spent a portion of my life as a wrestler, but it's crazy. I could barely move this morning when I woke up, the slightest movement brings on muscle pain.

I had another workout this morning which I did, I barely kept up with it, but I did finish. I can tell that RevAbs is going to change me, and I am looking forward to that change. Hopefully by this time next week, my body will not be hurting during the workouts though. While I don't mind the burn, it's going to get annoying when I have to work with it.

How my journey began

I've always been a fatty. I was a fat kid with hopes of losing the fat through school. Sadly I became a fat adult though. At a certain point, you just stop caring. I remember in school making fun of myself so other kids wouldn't make fun of my weight. I wanted them to see it didn't bother me, so why should they waste their time.

Fast forward to October 7th 2009. I had went to

bed the night before and noticed that my back was acting up quite a bit. I can see why, I was 372

LBS at the time. But I didn't think that when I woke up on October 7th, that I would be in excruciating pain and barely able to walk.

The next 10 months were brutal. My back would start to show slight signs of improvement, then go back to the way it was or worse. In March of 2010, I had to take a month off for medical leave. I was working from a wheelchair half that time, and when I wasn't allowed to use the stores wheelchair, I had to manage to get around myself. The pain would make me pass out, throw me into severe muscle

spasms and I would cry for hours.

By this time, my lack of mobility and muscle spasms actually helped me to get down to 332 LBS. Still, way to heavy. I was told by doctors that I wouldn't be the same and I needed to lose weight. I knew I needed to lose weight, but it's a hard thing to do when any movement at all hurts and throws you into massive muscle spasms.

To help with the pain, I did 5 visits a week to a chiropractor, this helped a decent amount, but was normally only a fix for a few comfortable hours. I also took pain pills and muscle relaxers of all kinds. But those would work for either a couple hours, or not at all. I was damaging my liver with what I was taking. I did start taking vitamins, but I'm not sure if those did anything

for my back or not.

At the end of March 2010, I received my first Epidural injection. This is a process where they take a huge needle and insert it into your spine to help with the inflammation of the damaged disks. These actually worked wonders for me. I was able to actually sleep for more than 2 hours a night, and could move with some comfort. Walking or standing for too long was out though.

I went back to work in April 2010, and was on light duty until the end of July. In that time period, while I was at about 75 % of recovery, my back decided to go out again. Luckily this time we were able to get it back on track within about a week. I was also doing spinal decompression and cold laser therapy at this time.

Finally in August of 2010, I was able to move and walk almost like a normal person. I didn't have to take regular breaks every 15 minutes any more and was feeling pretty good. But I knew

that I needed to lose weight.

Still weighing in at 332 LBS, I knew I had to start doing something. This was when I started doing research on a diet and supplement called HCG. I had been hearing about this for a while, but was really skeptical about due to the low calorie intake. Let's face it, I was eating about 6,000 calories a day, and on HCG you cut down to 500 calories a day. But after talking to a few people about it, and one great friend from Brightkite. I decided to take the plunge and give it a go. What could it hurt, it was a $89 supplement and I didn't have anything to lose but weight.

The first week of the diet was horrible. I was hungry, and I couldn't eat what I was used to

eating. I couldn't eat breakfast, My lunch and dinner was always the same meal for the most

part and things were boring. But I stuck to it. After that first week, and already seeing results, I knew I had to stick with it. By the end of the program (30 days) I was down to 300 LBS. Yes, I lost 32 LBS in 30 days.

So at the end of September I did the unthinkable. So happy by my weight loss, I wanted to continue, so I joined a local Anytime Fitness. I became addicted to the gym. I would sometimes workout 6 - 7 days a week. I continued a low calorie diet of 1000 calories a day, but was happy to do so. I started really watching my body change and couldn't be happier. Life was getting good. I was feeling better, I was working out. I was also eating right and had the will power to turn down food that wasn't good for me.

Fast forward to today, January 31, 2011. I am 259 LBS now and in the best shape of my life. I couldn't have done it without the support of all my friends and family. My goals have gone from

getting to 300 LBS, to 280 LBS, to 260 LBS and now I have decided that I want to make it to 225 LBS. I want to make my last goal by the end of June 2011. I have made a complete lifestyle change. Every single day I hear people say that I am an inspiration, that I have helped them take that step to getting healthier. It's a good feeling knowing that you can change the lives of people by one simple act that any of us can make. I am hoping now that as my life changes, I can make more changes in the world. I hope to become a certified personal trainer and I would love to be able to speak at schools and youth clubs about the importance of getting into shape at a young age and living an active lifestyle.

Another way that I am using my change for good and helping others is by becoming a beachbody coach. These are the people behind P90X, TurboFire, Insanity, RevAbs and Shakeology. You know, the stuff you see infomercials for in the early AM. They have products that I can stand behind and I am even starting RevAbs this week. I look forward to sharing my progress with the readers and anyone who happens to stumble across this blog. If you want to read up on the BeachBody products read up at http://beachbodycoach.com/cdharris