Obesity Discussion Forums

[NightMist]

Guess it's my turn to intro myself. I'm Jay. 30M. 6'1" @ 309 currently.

I work 12-14 hr nights (4-5 nights a week) and sleep the days. Hence the user name. I've gained about 10 lbs a year since the start of college and while my outward appearance to some doesn't seem too bad. I truly dislike the limitations to this extra 100lbs of lard on my torso. I've pretty much stablized the last 3 years at the ~300 range +/- 20LBS depending on time of year.

I originally found this site because MikeB posted his progress thread over on AZMC (I have a different user name there).

My large goal in life right now is to figure out how to juggle my work schedule, improve my sleep patterns and eating habits while trying to find the time to work out for at least 1.5-2 hrs a day. Before college I would work out from 2-3 hrs a day and was about 218 ~13%bf.

I'm trying to get a jump start into weight loss and working out again before my 2 month sabbatical from work comes around. I'll have off January-March. I'm going to do a little travel hopefully but mainly I will be working at fixing up my house and making going to the gym and taking care of myself my job during that time frame.

Well that's a quick but long run down... Would be nice if I succeed at my goal this time. Last time I made it back down to 260 before the wife sabotaged me with an easter basket and I lost all control after that...

Jay

[MikeB]

Welcome and thanks for coming! There's a few beginner's threads on the site, if you have any questions, ask away!

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by NightMist

Guess it's my turn to intro myself. I'm Jay. 30M. 6'1" @ 309 currently.

I work 12-14 hr nights (4-5 nights a week) and sleep the days. Hence the user name. I've gained about 10 lbs a year since the start of college and while my outward appearance to some doesn't seem too bad. I truly dislike the limitations to this extra 100lbs of lard on my torso. I've pretty much stablized the last 3 years at the ~300 range +/- 20LBS depending on time of year.

I originally found this site because MikeB posted his progress thread over on AZMC (I have a different user name there).

My large goal in life right now is to figure out how to juggle my work schedule, improve my sleep patterns and eating habits while trying to find the time to work out for at least 1.5-2 hrs a day. Before college I would work out from 2-3 hrs a day and was about 218 ~13%bf.

I'm trying to get a jump start into weight loss and working out again before my 2 month sabbatical from work comes around. I'll have off January-March. I'm going to do a little travel hopefully but mainly I will be working at fixing up my house and making going to the gym and taking care of myself my job during that time frame.

Well that's a quick but long run down... Would be nice if I succeed at my goal this time. Last time I made it back down to 260 before the wife sabotaged me with an easter basket and I lost all control after that...

Jay

Welcome!! Another AZ guy here too!

I feel your pain on the time constraints. I've been using HIIT cardio (not best for someone just getting back into working out) to help shave time off my workouts; I do no more than 20 minutes of cardio a day now where I used to do an hour. :eek4:

I even go and do supersets in the gym (doing two different exercises back and forth without rest in between), and that makes me get in and out quicker plus raises my heart rate.

My guess is your diet may need a little tweaking too, but we can help you with that as well if you're interested.

[NightMist]

Thanks for the welcomes so far. In all honesty most of my problems stemmed from just eating at fast food places for the past 10 years. Then being up all night long on my days off bored to death I would just snack. Every now and then I used to get a surge of motivation to snap myself out of it and eat healthy for 3 months and I drop weight pretty fast eating a normal amount of calories.

I have most of my eating under control. Actually I'm probably not eating enough right now. Kind of going through my cleansing phase. Just trying not to eat as much of the crap I used to.

I'll get my diet journal down soon. Still all over the place with a bunch of stuff I'm trying to get under control between work, home, finances and all that. My ultimate goal is to get back on day shift so I can have more of a "normal" life and be awake on my days off and use my time.

By next year I'd like to be able to do some sort of marathon. At least biking again. Might not be able to do too much running at my current weight. I busted up my ankle in 96 pretty bad and it hasn't been the same since. Just not sure if it can handle the pounding of running. Someone said jump roping will help strengthen my ankles enough to start.

Jay

[Irving]

Originally Posted by NightMist

Thanks for the welcomes so far. In all honesty most of my problems stemmed from just eating at fast food places for the past 10 years. Then being up all night long on my days off bored to death I would just snack. Every now and then I used to get a surge of motivation to snap myself out of it and eat healthy for 3 months and I drop weight pretty fast eating a normal amount of calories.

I have most of my eating under control. Actually I'm probably not eating enough right now. Kind of going through my cleansing phase. Just trying not to eat as much of the crap I used to.

I'll get my diet journal down soon. Still all over the place with a bunch of stuff I'm trying to get under control between work, home, finances and all that. My ultimate goal is to get back on day shift so I can have more of a "normal" life and be awake on my days off and use my time.

By next year I'd like to be able to do some sort of marathon. At least biking again. Might not be able to do too much running at my current weight. I busted up my ankle in 96 pretty bad and it hasn't been the same since. Just not sure if it can handle the pounding of running. Someone said jump roping will help strengthen my ankles enough to start.

Jay

you az people are running rampant! are you getting your 8 hours of sleep? undersleep contributes to weight gain as well and it sounds like that could be an issue for you.

i think you are on the right track and have a good mindset. i am sure you will do great!

[NightMist]

Honestly no. Last 7 years I slept 3-5 hrs max. It's been hell letting your career take over your life.

Recently I've been trying to sleep from about 9am to 3:30-4ish. Been more successful but my off days are a complete waste. Can't make any noise at night because the wife is sleeping.

I think a HUGE part of it is the lack of sleep. That just sets the whole day off wrong if you don't get any sleep.

[Irving]

you should read all the studies we have here in the sleep section. there is a big correlation between less sleep and gaining weight

[NightMist]

Yeah I've done a little reading so far on it. Tons of info on this site through links and what not. I'm kind of at a point to where I need to make a decision on whether or not I am going to quit where I work because they keep making excuses not to send me to days.

I know the last 7 years of my life has been a blur and I really haven't been living my life the way I want and I'm getting extremely tired of it. Literally...

[Audrey]

Originally Posted by NightMist

Yeah I've done a little reading so far on it. Tons of info on this site through links and what not. I'm kind of at a point to where I need to make a decision on whether or not I am going to quit where I work because they keep making excuses not to send me to days.

I know the last 7 years of my life has been a blur and I really haven't been living my life the way I want and I'm getting extremely tired of it. Literally...

That's a big decision. Are there other job opportunities in your area?

Being happy is what everything boils down to. If you're not, then it's not worth it, and it's time for a change

[NightMist]

Not really sure of the opportunities. My field is pretty specific and the company I work for pays well. I just have no real life outside of work.

I really want to get more out of my time off then sleeping the day away until my wife gets home. A large portion of my problems are purely related to me working a night shift position.

I've been working for my company for 7 years. They promised me day shift repeatedly. It's even gotten to the point to where I'm supposed to start the new shift the very next week and then they end up firing someone and I get stuck on nights again. I'm pretty sure they are just keeping me there because they know I'm not the type to claim some sort of discrimination. I have to reclaim myself at some point even if it means a complete change in life. Just trying to determine whether this is the right time or not.

[Audrey]

Originally Posted by NightMist

Not really sure of the opportunities. My field is pretty specific and the company I work for pays well. I just have no real life outside of work.

I really want to get more out of my time off then sleeping the day away until my wife gets home. A large portion of my problems are purely related to me working a night shift position.

I've been working for my company for 7 years. They promised me day shift repeatedly. It's even gotten to the point to where I'm supposed to start the new shift the very next week and then they end up firing someone and I get stuck on nights again. I'm pretty sure they are just keeping me there because they know I'm not the type to claim some sort of discrimination. I have to reclaim myself at some point even if it means a complete change in life. Just trying to determine whether this is the right time or not.

Maybe just the action of you giving your notice will make them realize that if they want to keep you, they've got to keep their promises.

The only problem with giving you job an ultimatem (change this, or I quit!), is that you've got to be fully prepared to quit if it comes down to that.

It sounds like you're in a slump though, and this will be the change that gives you a positive outlook again (and kick starts your new healthy lifestyle!).

I wish you great luck Let us know what you decide and how everything turns out.

[NightMist]

Thanks for the positive notes so far. They are helping me keep my head up. Trying not to get too negative about my work/sleep issue. Trying to work around that. Just been super exhausted since I got an infection last year that wiped me out for 2 months straight. I ended up gaining 30 lbs after working really hard to get it off. I figure I wasn't eating enough of the right foods and is what probably did me in. I notice that sleeping seems to play a major role on my outlook. no sleep = cranky negative me. Sleep = me on top of world an motivated all day long.

As for my work I have already told them when I come back from sabbatical I don't intend to keep working nights. In so many words my manager said well it would suck to loose you... Large corporation = heartless.

At this point in my life I'm just tired of sleeping my life away and not being able to do things when I'm awake at night. I feel bad if I'm making noise in the house when my wife is sleeping.

I tried to go to bed early last night to wake up early to actually get something done. Slept from 1am-4am. Got out of bed at around 5am. Stayed up until 10am and then finally tanked out again until 5:30. Makes me feel bad I wasted my only Saturday off. I get every other Saturday off with my schedule.

I'll be up all night tonight and sleep tomorrow away before work. Which isn't too bad. Would just be nice to have enough energy to motivate myself and my wife. She is in need of motivation and wants to loose the weight she's gained as well.

I figure she has about 20 to loose while I have my 100. We're both very unmotivated at this point. So I'm trying to be the motivator.

Just when I don't sleep it's hard to get up and say lets go to the gym... woo hoo ready to go.

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by NightMist

Thanks for the positive notes so far. They are helping me keep my head up. Trying not to get too negative about my work/sleep issue. Trying to work around that. Just been super exhausted since I got an infection last year that wiped me out for 2 months straight. I ended up gaining 30 lbs after working really hard to get it off. I figure I wasn't eating enough of the right foods and is what probably did me in. I notice that sleeping seems to play a major role on my outlook. no sleep = cranky negative me. Sleep = me on top of world an motivated all day long.

As for my work I have already told them when I come back from sabbatical I don't intend to keep working nights. In so many words my manager said well it would suck to loose you... Large corporation = heartless.

At this point in my life I'm just tired of sleeping my life away and not being able to do things when I'm awake at night. I feel bad if I'm making noise in the house when my wife is sleeping.

I tried to go to bed early last night to wake up early to actually get something done. Slept from 1am-4am. Got out of bed at around 5am. Stayed up until 10am and then finally tanked out again until 5:30. Makes me feel bad I wasted my only Saturday off. I get every other Saturday off with my schedule.

I'll be up all night tonight and sleep tomorrow away before work. Which isn't too bad. Would just be nice to have enough energy to motivate myself and my wife. She is in need of motivation and wants to loose the weight she's gained as well.

I figure she has about 20 to loose while I have my 100. We're both very unmotivated at this point. So I'm trying to be the motivator.

Just when I don't sleep it's hard to get up and say lets go to the gym... woo hoo ready to go.

I agree that you need more lsleep and I for one can sympathize with corporate america being heartless; I used to work for a Big 4 accounting firm which didn't care at all about my personal life and schedule. I got out and left for a smaller company for that very reason. I used to travel 100% of the time and did so for 4.5 years. Imagine how that messes up your schedule!
I too don't sleep enough, I'm in the same boat as you.

[William Wallace]

Hmmmmm. and Arizona guy who likes fast cars and never sleeps. OD, is this your brother? Welcome to the group NightMist!!!

[NightMist]

Thanks...

Yeah, I'm up all night.

I'll be the resident vampire here. Just gotta get my arse out and work out while I'm up all night. I think the wife would get suspicious of why I'm out every night though. Now that its cooler it will be easier to get the motivation to go out.

[William Wallace]

Originally Posted by NightMist

Thanks...

Yeah, I'm up all night.

I'll be the resident vampire here. Just gotta get my arse out and work out while I'm up all night. I think the wife would get suspicious of why I'm out every night though. Now that its cooler it will be easier to get the motivation to go out.

That's why you go workout at an indoor gym

[Merle]

Is there some secret Arizona advertising campaign going on here?

[Dustin]

Thanks for checking us out, Jay!

Welcome.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by Merle

Is there some secret Arizona advertising campaign going on here?

I'm on various AZ car forums and when weight discussion comes up or as I give status updates to my blown up wife's car I include a weight loss blurb and direct them here.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by Merle

Is there some secret Arizona advertising campaign going on here?

I'm on various AZ car forums and when weight discussion comes up or as I give status updates to my blown up wife's car I include a weight loss blurb and direct them here.