Sick of being a disgusting fat body...

Welcome to BT! This is a great place to learn.

a) YOU are not a disgusting fat body. You are an incredible fit, happy, motivated person inside what right now (appears to you to be) a disgucting fat body.

b) you have come to the right place! So many of us on this site are in the same spot. We were athletes, were fit, etc and then suddenly we woke up and felt old and fat. My motivation was totally about fitness (vs loving to swim bike and run) and I know a lot of us are in this for health and vanity(!)

c) you don;t ever have to race if you don;t want to (I hate it) but you will always compete, with yourselves, and with your BT friends, there are all kinds of ways to set challenges and goals for yourself, and that's KEY (for me anyway) you must set mini attainable goals all along the way.

d) then you fall totally madly obssessively in love with sw/bk/rn, and you can;t wait to cheer on newbies.

So. What you need to do. become a paying member and import a plan into your logs, then follow it! If you aren't ready for that, make a goal to take a walk every day for a week. Tell yourself 20 min, 30 min, whatever, and just do it for 7 days, no stress, no speed, just build the habit. Go to your public lib and get some books on fitness and tris. (you can find plans in books and on the web for free, but if you pay here, you get a coach, Mike Ricci, to rely on, and teh plans import into your logs really nicely.)

you will hear lots more I am sure....

Welcome!

Hey Kevin,

Welcome to the site!

I'm fairly new at Tris myself, just started “competing” this year. But, I will tell you this, you have come to the right place! This site has been incredibly helpful in getting me from a 5’7", 240#er in May of '04 to having completed several Tris, including an OLY, as well as many road races, including a ½ Marathon. And, I have made some good friends along the way.

First things first, I'm glad to read that, "Competition is not a goal just yet." I think that is important! I mean, you didn't wake up one morning and find yourself in the shape you are in now, it took time to get there and it will take time to get back in shape. No sense setting yourself up for failure by thinking you're going to go out there are win your age group!

Although you don't have to join the site, there is a TON of great stuff you'll have access to if you do--importing a plan is just the beginning. But, why not start out by taking a look around and reading the wealth of info here. I'm sure many of your questions will be answered as well as new questions formulated. Post them and I'm sure they will be answered.

Remember: Take it slow, be smart with your training, and ask others who have traveled the road before you, including your IM acquaintance, and you'll be on your way to becoming a Triathlete!

All the best,
Rob

Welcome aboard, we always want more clydesdales

bts

So many people will add more comments to inspire you so I'll keep mine brief. Most of us come from a similar background to you and are somewhere between where we started and where we want to be (I guess that's a pretty obvious statement, duh!). What I mean is we can all understand where you're at and what you're going to be going through. We're with you, man. There are two suggestions I want to give you. First, throw yourself into this site and use it like a tool. It's more valuable to me than any single piece of excersize equipment that I use. Second, change your eating habits as much as you are going to change your excersize habits. I see people who work out like crazy then eat tons of garbage and wonder why the are not getting any thinner. They may be getting stronger, but not more fit. Working out is only half the equation. So much for "brief" comments.

Good luck and remember, there's a six pack in there you just need to get rid of the cooler.

Welcome to BT!

It sounds like we are in the same boat. I was big into weights from early teens and it showed but after college it just went down hill and it showed. I started running out of despiration and actually kind of liked it. I thought maybe riding a bike would be good cross training but if I am going to run and ride I might as well swim too.

I use the idea of Tri's as motivation to keep working. Not to beat others but to actually complete one. It was a mental shift from I'm working out to I'm in training that makes all the difference to me to keep at it.

Welcome and good luck training!

Welcome, Kevinator & Reidchi both!

As has been said, you've come to the right place! Sometimes in the early days, especially with running, I had to remind myself whatever little run or walk I did or whatever was 100% MORE than I would have done if I hadn't put on my shoes and walked out the door.

You sound really determined - stick with it, and you'll get there!

Edited by CitySky 2005-11-07 3:05 PM

Be carefull and build slowly. With your weightlifting background you may have the strength and fitness to really hurt yourself doing new activities where some of the stresses are different. There is a lot of information in the articles and forums on BT here and tons more available from following links in the BT directory or using search engines like google or yahoo. Good luck and have fun.

Hi Kevin!
We have a bit in common! I am a smoker who is quitting tomorrow and they say that smoking and being over weight can make for more of a challenge because we have so much to change. I have begun by tekking my friends and family that I am quitting and to make sure I don't gain weight I have purchased my "fix" snacks like raw baby carrots, more water and am throwing out my red meats and caffine products. Good luck to you and I am sure we will talk more!

New start

Hi New Start! Congratulations on your new lifestyle! You'll find health kind of addicting after a while, too.

Thank you! I am looking forward to it all! It will be tough but I will prevail!

Welcome fellow clyde. As a cyclist recently getting into tris, my best (and only) advice is to take it easy with the running. I'm using the BT running program (I think it's called "couch to 5k") to get started.

Bill

Being here is the best first step you could have taken- you will find motivation-training-and community here- (and a good slap when you need it too !)
So you've decided to let the best part of you emerge....enjoy the journey!!!!
Welcome!