I've received a lot of messages asking me how I've managed
to lose weight this past year so I figured I'd create a post about it.
My
first piece of advice is that this has got to start with your mind before you
even think about going to a gym, working out , trying a diet or whatever you
are deciding to do.
My message to anyone in the same position I was a year ago
and afraid to go to the gym. I was very self-conscious
at the time, if I heard anyone laughing I’d think “Oh my God they’re talking about
me and laughing about your size” This is
blunt but you need to not give a damn about anyone thinks and realize you are
there to better yourself and get healthy.
Food & Diet :
First of all I used to eat horribly and a lot. Before I got married I ate even worse but my
wife and I did eat out a lot so we've cut that down to once a month we'll have
a treat night. I used to drink two XL
Tim Hortons 3/3s a day and a lot of pop.
At work I would frequently snack on chips (my kryptonite) and the
occasional Kit Kat Bar.
For breakfast every day I have a bowl of cereal and a piece
of fruit.
Lunch usually consists of whatever we had for dinner the
night before.
Dinner : Hasn't changed however I cut my portion size of the
potatoes and rice and doubled up the veggies.
Since starting this I have received a lot of people on fancy diets and
if that works for you great but it's not my thing. I always have a fear starting something like
that if I stop I'll gain all the weight back so I've just been working hard.
GYM & Workouts :
When I first started I started light. I would go to the gym one day a week and this
is my routine:
15 min warm up on bike I do four sets of ten on all the circuit training machines
at my gym. I started with light weights
and have worked my way up to heavier weights but I made sure that the lower
weights I had been using were not a challenge for me anymore. I finish with 20 min on treadmill
After a month I bumped this up to two days a week however at
my work I started doing little things differently. I take the stairs instead of elevator and if
I have a question for someone I walk to their desk instead of emailing
them. The biggest difference maker is I
have a 1.2 liter water bottle I drink every day.
I work a pretty weird schedule and also lucky enough to have
a gym at my work so in the past few months on my days off I do my two hours at
the gym. On the days that I work I get
up one hour earlier and just get on a treadmill on full incline for 40 minutes
before I start my work day.
Also as I failed numerous times in the past and needed a way
to stay motivated I made a personal pledge online that I would be donating $1
per lb lost to my favourite charities which on many days in the past year
fueled my fire to keep on going. The
two military charities I chose were Canpraxis and VETS Canada.
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| SouthPaw Boxing on Facebook |
Last week I had posted online about two guys who were at the
first gym I ever tried out who were mocking me from the machines behind
me. That at the time really messed with
my head but eventually I was able to use it for motivation. Warren Grenier & Jonathan Weal from South Paw Gym in Calgary saw my
story and were inspired by it and reached out
They graciously
offered me a membership for the next year and boxing classes to help me achieve
my end goals. They’ve also provided me
with a full meal plan which I’ll be starting soon
This place is like nothing I’ve ever seen the amount of
people that came up to me and saw my story and gave me words of encouragement
was incredible. I posted on their
Facebook page after my first day and the amount of messages I’ve received also
from other members there is like nothing I’ve ever seen. They are a family and I can already sense
that only being there a week.
For more updates you can follow my journey on Instagram @DaveMuryyc
Stay Tuned
