It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about personal issues with myself. But I thought I’d share this little tidbit that may or may not surprise you. For a long while last year, I was quite depressed about a lot of things. I was stressed, lonely and I overworked myself like silly. This and a huge amount of other factors caused me to sink into a deep depression that I felt I was not ever going to get out of. I know a lot of you were being too nice to me by not pointing out that I had gained quite a bit of weight over those months (weighed in at 160 pounds again at one point). I tricked myself into thinking I wasn’t gaining weight but in reality I was ballooning really quick and then it snowballed and got my confidence and I wasn’t quite the same energetic PChan anymore. A joke made by a co-worker that would normally roll off of my shoulders I was suddenly taking to heart. Everything was affecting me on a personal level.

The picture above is from July 2008 and it is pretty obvious that I gained weight. I didn’t take many photos during that period because I was rather embarassed with myself. I used to take care of myself but I let the stress of life just slowly eat away at me. I was a shell of the person I once was. Then finally, I snapped out of it. I snapped out of it really hard.

I started going to the gym with my co-workers and my soccer team that I play with on Sundays. They kept me motivated and focused. It was really hard training at first and getting into the routine because your body just wants you to give up. But with the help of my friends I pushed on through and kept going. Now I feel the need to go everyday because I absolutely love the feeling after a good work out… it’s like an addiction.

The most common question asked now is “PChan, have you lost weight?” and of course I will respond with a resounding yes! My co-workers probably haven’t noticed the weight loss much because they see me everyday. I go months without seeing certain people and it is a common point everyone makes and believe me, I’m happy to hear it. So it is now July 2009 and I continue to live a healthy lifestyle by watching what I eat and exercising everyday. I play Soccer 3 times a week (sometimes only 2 depending on weather).

The picture above is the most recent which is taken with one of my closest friends, Jenneh! It’s really funny how she can always notice when something about me changes. So it was no surprise that she commented almost instantly when I went to go pick her up.

Does life still stress me out? Absolutely… But now I know I need to face it straight on rather than sit in a corner curled up into a ball. I won’t let things like girls get me too down because I know eventually I will find the right one… just the waiting part is killing me =P.

Now I will give some of my advice to those who want to change their lifestyle a bit. It is very rough at first… When you start going to the gym your body will just want to quit and you won’t enjoy yourself. I started small; running on the treadmill for 10 mins at 5 mph. I was so badly out of shape I couldn’t even move after that. I didn’t want to do any weight lifting, I just wanted to go home. But I kept going anyways with that clear goal in mind and of course having friends around you can help a lot! I was extremely sore the next morning after a work out but again you just need to push past it. After 2 weeks of constant agony I was beginning to notice how easier it was starting to get. I slowly began increasing the intensity of my work out routines so that now I can run 30 mins at 7 mph. I can also benchpress my own weight (~148lbs) 3 times with ease. So the key to all of this is persevere and take it slowly. Whatever you do, don’t give up it will get easier!

As for dieting… You don’t have to change what kind of foods you eat. You can eat whatever you like honestly but be mindful at your calorie intake. A typical male can eat about 2200 calories (or 2500 I can’t remember exactly) and not lose or gain weight. So if you decide to have McDonalds do a count in calories… Big Mac is 576, medium fries are 360 and a medium coke is 220 (All numbers are taken from McDonald’s nutrition calculator). In total you’re eating 1156 calories. Not bad if you work out and eat a light breakfast and dinner. Check labels on the foods you eat because some foods claim they are healthy when they are actually not. It is a lot of work but you’ll naturally get into the mindset of balancing it all, it’s honestly easy. Eating stuff like steak and veggies is very good on calorie intake and provides healthy proteins to help you rebuild your muscles.

I hope I wasn’t being too self indulgent and I hope you find some of this information useful. I would be more than willing to help anyone who wants to try changing their habits =).