First post in the fitness forum, so here's some background on my story thus far.  About a year ago I decided that I needed to reposition myself to either completely change my life or end it.  The planning stage took a long time, but I shut down my law office, shut down the gun store I was part owner of, and in the beginning of August I told my wife she could have the house and nearly everything in it, but I wasn't going to live there anymore and would file divorce papers as soon as I got around to it.

I never drank and never smoked but my lifestyle for the past ten years has been extremely unhealthy.  Eating was an entertainment event rather than something one does to survive.  Buffet meals would take more than an hour of heaping 3 or more plates with my favorite foods, then dessert.  My wife loved getting a big appetizer before ordering a medium rare steak, and I loved it too.

I was exhausted and in pain all the time but blamed it on depression.  Everything hurt and my joints popped constantly.  My Diet Coke habit was legendary among my friends, 4 or 5 cans a day was the norm but hey, it says "Diet" right there on the can, and besides the caffeine was a crutch to keep me awake.  Exercise? Not a priority, especially since I was already tired all the time and my feeble attempts to get my wife to exercise with me were met with guilt and resentment on her behalf.  August 9 I turned 34 years old, 5ft 6in tall and 210 lbs, having already lost five lbs since June.

So I decided that if I was going to give life another shot, it was going to be on my terms and nobody else's, and I was going to change every aspect of my life.  If I could purge my body of poisons and gain strength and stamina, that could only benefit my mental state as well.  The first step was to go cold turkey from my 40 mg / day Prozac habit.  Emotionally numb, intellectually confused, and sexually disfunctional is no way to go through your adult life.  Next came a toughie–– weaning myself off of soda and eventually caffeine, which resulted in a week long headache that felt like the back of my eyeballs were on fire.  I began to control my portions, then my diet itself, and started down a surprisingly long road to rehydration.  Forcing water down my gullet at every opportunity, I still peed yellow for almost a week after dropping my soda habit.

Next came exercise.  A friend who owns a bicycle shop across the street from where my law office was sold me last year's model of Trek road bike at his cost, as a favor.  I had been advised by others not to run at my current weight, but to strengthen my knees and joints first and lose some more lbs.  Other friends emailed me exercise regimens.  I was shocked at how weak I had become, how little stamina I had.  The new bicycle was amazing, but even riding 5 miles resulted in soreness for days.  I could only do ten pushups at a time.  I couldn't do a single pull-up. Not one.

Flash forward to the present day.  It has been nearly two months since I split with my wife and moved out, and I'm currently at 195 lbs and seemingly at a plateau.  The first ten lbs came off quick with the removal of the prescription drugs, soda habit, and portion control, the rest happened steadily until I leveled out at 195 a couple of weeks ago.  And here I have some observations and questions for those of you who have gone on a similar journey and lost a lot of weight.

1.  At what point does exercise hurt less and become enjoyable?  I have a friend who is basically addicted to the endorphine rush of exercise, he runs triathalons and such for fun, exercises for hours at a time and then raves about how great he feels.  Whether I'm lifting, doing cardio, or kicking my own ass with a cross training routine I got from a friend, I have to force myself to take every step, to do every rep, with my body absolutely protesting every second, and I feel  achy for DAYS after as I eat bananas and force even more water down my gullet.  I actually "ran" a mile ( I put this in quotes because it took 13 minutes) last week and was worried I had injured my right glute and hamstring because they felt on the verge of cramping up for days.  I'm trying to tell myself "Rome wasn't built in a day" and that it took me ten years to get this way, I can't fix it all in two months, but damn this hurts.  When will it hurt less?

2.  I'm trying not to get hung up on the scale because I suspect that I'm probably gaining muscle mass and losing fat, but the lure of the scale is that its something quantifiable and gives instant feedback.  Is there any other way I can use to chart progress aside from trying to lift more, run/bike farther, do more reps, and chart that stuff?

3.  How can I tell if I'm succesfully running a caloric deficiency when my meals aren't planned out every day by an expensive trendy diet food company.  I know I'm eating a lot less, I figured out the secret is to eat food that I hate.  Foods I hate that have no taste to them are better for me, plus I eat less because they taste like sawdust and grasshoppers.  But I don't know how much of those calories I burn through exercise or by just sitting here.

4. How can I boost my metabolism?  I read the big bombshell article about how exercising doesn't boost metabolism except while actually exercising.   How can I tell if I'm boosting my metabolism successfully?

5.  I have a hernia.  Not a big one, its about the size of a dime and just to the left of my navel.  I hate my belly,its the worst part of my body, but I don't want to tear it any more.  When I do crunches or traditional situps, my abs don't seem to get much of a workout but my hip flexors and neck hurt for days.  I do the situps / crunches with my hands folded across my chest and I don't have a partner to hold my feet down so I just hook them under the couch.  What gives, is there a better stomach exercise that won't rip my hernia open?  I have no doctor or health insurance so I really need to avoid injuring myself.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Well a good start might be to say I'm glad you made the better of the two choices!

No offense, but I'm going to be bluntly honest here.  Time will tell on that one,  and if this doesn't make any difference and my quality of life isn't better, say, a year from now, I reserve the right to not suffer through a 35th, 36th, or 37th birthday.  Part of my motivation is that I don't want to off myself before trying as hard as I can to make a life worth showing up for, but I don't believe that my life or anyone else's has more intrinsic value than the life of a dog or a snake.  If that life is stupid, pointless, parasitic and not useful, there's little loss in wringing the vermin's neck and moving on.

If this seems overly harsh, one of the tenets of my new philosophy is to be myself and be much more honest with people.  I was Mr. Nice Guy for years and all it got me was taken advantage of, stepped on, and a hidden anger management problem that wasn't so hidden sometimes.  I'm hoping that if I'm more overtly abrasive I won't be so covertly frustrated.


Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

I can't really tell you exactly when it will hurt less and become more enjoyable, but can give you some factors to consider.  Any new training program will make anyone sore (provided it is intense) for a week or so as they adjust.  Your extra weight and lack of conditioning is gonna make this a lot worse...

Lack of recovery time between workouts will prolong the soreness.  You are on the right track with the water.  I don't know what your routine is...but I would suggest working out 3 days per week with one day being easy to medium (50-60% effort) one day being medium (75-80%) and one day hard (90-100%).  Get plenty of sleep (7-9hrs), stick with the same routine for a month before you change it up.  

For weight loss, focus more on the nutrition than the exercise.  Less, and better quality, calories plus more activity will equal long-term weight loss.  Don't overdo it and quit.
I see you posted from a mobile phone.  I have a free iphone app called "lose it" that has tons of foods in a database and you can add custom ones to track calories.  It also has exercises you can track. I just messed with it for a month not trying to lose weight and lost 5lbs...the simple act of tracking what I was eating had me naturally start reducing my intake.  

Every 5-6 days have an overeating day where you eat 500-1000 more calories than your restricted weight loss level.  This will help your metabolism not go into starvation mode and slow way down as a response to the calorie decrease.  I plugged your #s into a metabolic rate calculator that I would use on myself if I was going to lose weight.  Based on your age, height and weight your maintenance level is about 2650/day.  To lose weight you should eat between 1650 and 2150/day. I'd personally start on the high side at 2100 and see how it goes.  Then 1X per week have your approx 2800-3100 cal splurge day.

Your metabolism will pick up as your activity level and muscle mass picks up.  It is not true that you only lose calories at a higher rate while exercising...it depends on how you are exercising.  High intensity interval training (also called HIIT) does not burn a lot of calories during the workout because it is short, but the intensity jacks the metabolism up for hours after and the net effect is up to 6 times more fat loss than traditional cardio.  You probably couldn't handle these workouts now, but can work up to them.   Right now, circuit weight training with light to moderate weights working on improving form and decreasing the rest between exercises will be good.   You definitely shouldn't push hard w/ a hernia and no medical.  Focus on diet and light weight and/or body weight circuit style workouts.  Also the bike.  When you can get health care, get the hernia taken care of and get cleared for more intense exercise.  By then, you will be lighter and fitter already.

it sounds stupid, but in "most" grocery stores, most of the "good for you" food is on the outer perimeter of the store (produce, meats, dairy, etc.).

http://www.calorieking.com/ - to look up nutritional info

http://www.fitday.com/ - to track diet & exercise

there's several similar websites but i can't think of them right now. most lifestyle changes such as the one you're involved in take 8-12 weeks to start making noticeable changes, so you're at the hump now. traditionally it begins with a rapid loss of some weight, then a gradual slowing down (which is where it sounds like you are), followed by a steady drop as long as you stick with it. AGW spoke of consistency; it is vital. stick with your portion control, and hit your daily calorie needs.

as for the pain associated with working out, there are many days when i'm limping or just chilling in the recliner after a heavy lift day. sometimes the workouts are no big deal, and sometimes they kick your ass. the saying at work is, "pain is weakness leaving the body." the more you endure now, the more it will pay off later (but don't ignore the hernia).

you can help your metabolism along by eating smaller meals several times throughout the day. for example:

1) 2100 calories/day split between breakfast, lunch, and dinner is probably a 500/600/1000 split. (approximately)

2) 2100  calories/day split between breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a few snacks in between 400/200/500/200/600/200. same total calories & same amount of food

good luck, and welcome

Great tips so far guys and they are reinforcing what I'm already doing.  I've cut out snacking almost entirely and when I do snack its on something like baby carrots or unsalted peanuts, and even then I watch my portion size.  I've had to re-educate myself about the food labels and realize that all the "diet" processed foods take away from one thing but make it up somewhere else.  At first I was terribly ignorant, thinking "is 35g of sugar a lot?  Probably not since it has 550g of sodium, that sounds like a lot compared to the sugar".  LOL!  But I have been educating myself.  My portion control has been successful enough that my stomach has stopped expecting so much food, I can eat just one plate of food and I'm completely overstuffed, often I just eat half and take the rest home.  Buffets are no longer a good $ value for me at all (and I don't go anymore anyway.

My whole digestive tract is working differently now that it no longer constantly has acidic soda in the stomach.  I go much longer between shits but when they come the smell is much more powerful.  Anyone know why?  

But I have another question about all this.  Am I supposed to be hungry all the time?  Cause I am, and I don't know if that's good or bad at this stage.

Re: the hernia, I've had it for many years and back when I had insurance I had it looked at and they said it was too small to operate on, but if it tore then they would have to go in and fix it.  I'm not terribly concerned about it but its something to look after, I'm not going to blitz 50 crunches while holding a weight on my chest or anything like that.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

no telling.  first thing is to find something that you enjoy or at least don't hate.  i was a fat kid (and am heavy now as a result of injury and poor dietary choices), but lifting was the thing that got me off my ass when i was a kid.  these days, i don't care much for the gym, but would rather ride my bike than do just about anything else.  i also enjoy running and tris.  some folks are motivated by getting big, some by getting small, going fast, or just the camaraderie of group exercise.  experiment and find your thing.  it might be cycling, running, hiking, lifting, crossfit, tae bo, or even yoga.  join a group for positive reinforcement.  beginner triathlon groups and running groups can be wonderfully supportive.

for me, it gets more fun as i see progress.  running farther/faster/easier, weight dropping off.  don't try too much too fast.  an easy to moderate workout that lets you return to training in a day or two is superior to a session that leaves you hobbled for days.  as far as the cramping goes, that's probably due to lack of fitness.  start your "running" by doing some brisk walking with short 1-2 min run breaks mixed in for ~ 30 minutes.  gradually shift to shorter walks and longer runs.



those are all fine, but don't obsess over daily weigh ins.  you make progress by being consistent over time.  



3.  you can research caloric content on the web and keep meticulous track of every calorie you consume by measuring everything you eat and writing it all in a logbook or you could follow some generic guidelines about what to eat and portion size.  fresh veggies and to a lesser extent, fresh fruit should be the bulk of what you consume.  a small, palm-sized portion of lean protein, and the remaining 25% of your plate can be whole grains (brown/wild rice, quinoa, tabbouleh, etc)

4.  the bulk of the evidence suggests that you can't significantly boost your metabolism.  some studies show possible "afterburn" effects, but the amount is much smaller than what you read in fitness mags, somewhere around 1/6 of calories burned during exercise.  weight loss is much more about calories in than calories burned.  this winter i put in a solid 8-10 hours/week of intense cycling, driving myself to a very high fitness level and getting good results in races, but i dropped very little weight b/c i was eating too much.



no advice here.  maybe the best thing is to avoid ab-specific work.  i don't jnow

You eat less = you shit less.  
I noticed this going from a strict pasta and cheeseburger diet to a balanced diet about 5 years age.  I took me a year to go from 230lbs to 175lbs, daily diet is a four egg white wrap for breakfast, baby carrots at 10, 4 chicken nuggets and reduced fat Triscuits for lunch, baby carrots or brussel sprouts at 4 and smaller dinner at 7.  The nights I workout I get sliced deli turkey as a snack.  Friday or Saturday I get a free night and we go out.  
You will also notice changes in the quality of your shit as you consume more or less fat and carbs.  High carb high fat meals lead to big floaters.  Low fat high protien diet leads to solid sinkers.  I went from pooping 7 times a day to 2 or 3.
I also hit a stretch of about 5 weeks where my weight loss stalled around 195, I was still taking in my pants but not losing weight so I attributed it to muscle gain.

Mindset is the biggest key.



It will suck until you want it to stop sucking.

The is no pill to take to make you younger.  There is no magic cure for obesity, save diet and exercise.  You mind is your biggest enemy.  You are still giving yourself and out by saying you reserve the right to kill yourself.  You have not truly embraced a full catharsis yet.  It is much more difficult to LIVE than to die.
You cant simply change directions after 30 years of behavior and expect miracles.  You have to look at your lifestyle as the same as an alcoholic.  Change will come slowly and may be difficult.
Dont push it with the exercise.  Fitness should and can be enjoyable, and change comes as a result of this.  I hope you have met with a primary care physician about your choice, as it does not sound like you have all the information you should have before embarking on this journey.  
Try for 3 hours of exercise a week.  Exercise can be walking or a light jog.  Spend one day a weekend out doors - take a light backpack and water.
Eat several small meals a day - vegies and healthy stuff.
See a nutritionist.
See your doctor about cold turkey quitting your meds.  
Meds combined with exercise and diet can help you change your mental disposition.

Since guys are still posting in this thread I will update it for you. Aside from what the scale says, I have some tangible progress to report. Last week I traveled to Breckenridge, Colorado for a few days and took a couple of hikes with a friend who is a female bodybuilder (now offseason but she's in great condition). BTW she's a lesbian so no hanky panky on my part, she doesn't play for my team anymore. Tuesday was a warm-up hike, sort of a "powers test" to see how well I held up in the high altitude, and Wednesday was an epic climb (by my standards).



Stats from her hand held GPS:



Total time 6 hours, 4:40 moving and 1:20 not moving (stopped 2/3rds of the way up at a log cabin to eat some chicken wraps for lunch)

Total distance 8.6 miles

Average speed while moving 2.2 mph

Elevation gain from bottom to top 3,124 ft

Max elevation 13,000 ft almost on the nose



I managed to keep up with my bodybuilding friend quite well and was shocked that my lungs did very well at the high elevation! My athsma was not a factor and I even caught my breath once at the top. I took a bunch of photos but labeled these two. We used hiking poles which were a huge help and probably helped prevent a turned ankle.



The first picture is taken from the abandoned log cabin.







The second picture is taken from a bluff in front of the Upper Crystal Lake.







The stats on time would have been much better except that the last thousand feet of climb was extremely rocky and difficult. This picture shows the condition of the trail leading up to the upper Crystal Lake.







Here's a picture of me standing in a stream in the wooded area, halfway up from the trailhead to the treeline. I didn't get my feet wet. Speaking of feet, despite having excellent (expensive) Bates boots, I developed some pretty serious blisters on my left heel on the way up and both my little toes on the way down. Had to throw away my socks, they were too bloody to save. First time I have EVER developed a blister wearing those boots.







And here's a bonus pic of me in front of a pretty road with some nice aspens in their fall colors.







The point of me sharing all these pics is, regardless of what the scale says, I could NOT have done this hike even two months ago. My legs, arms, back, core, in fact my entire body was tested on this hike and I passed the test and was rewarded with some beautiful vistas and some great pictures. Was I sore the next day? Hell yes, but I've had worse the day after some of my workouts back here at home. In fact, the entire time I was climbing in that hike my lungs were never hit as hard as I've hit them riding my bicycle or doing my cross training exercise in the thick soupy Missouri air. Guys I was tremendously proud of my physical performance and it was great to see the work I have put in pay real dividends like that. Compared to the photo above, here's a pic taken about a year ago of me at a baseball game. There's no way the guy in the photo below could climb 3124ft to a 13,000ft max, and average 2.2 mph.







Don't look now, but I think I may be losing one chin and gaining one jawline. I just went and weighed myself at 193.8, so I'm hoping that I've broken through my 195lb plateau. Can't fall off the wagon now!



EDIT: The exercises are starting to suck less, both while I'm doing them and afterwards. And I've been working my way up on situps/crunches without bothering that dumb little hernia, I don't think it is going to be an issue as long as I don't overdo it. There are other signs that my ligaments and joints are getting stronger. I'm still doing relatively low weight and high reps when it comes to weights, but I think I may add some weight to the dumbells soon.

As cliche as it is, my mantra really has become "embrace the suck."
Mindset is king.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

 

 

Duke,

First, I am very glad that you are set on improving yourself and motivated to do so and starting to see positive results.  You saw the before and after pics of me from the body transformation competition last year and I can tell you, it can get to where it not only doesn't suck, it can get flat out addicting.  Lifting was one of the things I looked forward to the most everyday and after my shooting deal, not being able to lift was actually very depressing for me.  I'm just on my second week of getting back in there myself after almost a year and I'm already feeling better.

A couple of things you can do to help your body adjust to the change is to take some good supplements.  Find a good multivitamin, I personally like the Mega Men Sport from GNC.  Also, for recovery and helping build the muscle, look into amino acids like L-Carnitine (helps metabolize fat), L-Glutamine (helps with the building of the muscles) and L-Arginine (reduces healing time, good for lowering blood pressure and is a precursor for NO).  I've also found that taking a tribulus supplement to promote testosterone helps me recover faster as well.  The last may just be a placebo effect, I don't know.

Now, about the other stuff you said.  I swear, if you start talking about ending it and don't take the time to call one of your friends to talk it out, I will find you and I will kick your fucking ass.  That's a bunch of fucking bullshit and you're a better and stronger person than that.  Fuck the gun business, fuck the law practice and fuck whatever problems you were having with your wife.  That shit won't amount to jack in 5 years but you won't know that if you're not around.  Don't worry, if you call, I'll do what I can to listen and empathize but I'll also tell you when you need to suck it the fuck up.  You can fucking do it and I believe in you.

Your Friend,
Justin

Keep up the good work.  Put the effort in, consistently, and the results will come.

RE: meals and calorie intake.  It's not just how many calories you eat but what kind of calories and how often you eat.  Fire up your metabolism by eating smaller meals more frequently through out the day.  Take the number of hours you plan to be awake and divide it by 3.  That's the number of small meals you need to be eating every day.  Doing so will keep your metabolism stoked all day, it will stabilize your blood sugars levels, and you will no longer feel hungry.  

The type of calories you're consume make a big difference, too.  You can categorize food under one of three macros categories –– proteins, carbohydrates, or fats.  Depending on your goals, you should be getting a 40/40/20 macro ratio for optimal weight loss.  That 40% of your calories from protein, 40% from carbs, and 20% from fats.  A key to weight loss for MOST guys like you and me is to eliminate simple carbs and sugars from our diets.  That means any high glycemic carb should be avoided.  Avoid foods containing processed flour and sugars (breads, pastas, donuts, pastries, pizza, etc.), limit fruit juice intake to pre or post workout, and eliminate simple starches (white rice and potatoes).  Do some research on this kind of eating OR look into the "paleolithic diet plan".  Either method is simple, sustainable, and I guarantee you'll feel 100x better after a few weeks of eating this way.

Good luck to you and please post back with updates.

Ok, tonight I had my first workout where I actually felt better AFTER the workout than I did before.  Yes my muscles are tired, they are supposed to be, and yes I am sore, but I'm not HURTING in terms of joints or bones or tendons just crying out in agony.  Tonight was an "experimental workout" night, which I like to do every once in awhile to change things up, test myself, and generally try to have fun instead of making working out a chore.  I do standard workout stuff as well but throw in some "experiments".  So, for example, tonight I only ran one mile on the treadmill, but I ran it barefoot (which I have read is good for you once in awhile if your running surface is smooth, i.e. a treadmill) and I held my (unloaded) Polish underfolder AK at port arms the entire time.  Then I did the rowing machine, then pushups, then after I couldn't do any pushups anymore I did more pushups but while on my knees, effectively lessening the weight I was lifting per pushup and allowing me to get a few more reps in.  Then I did pullups and situps, and then I invented "super situps" which totally suck, I could only do ten of them.  These are traditional situps, touching my chest to my knees, but with my arms outstretched over my head and my hands together, like an NFL referee signalling a "safety".  This effectively increases the weight I have to lift per situp, and makes sure that I can't use my arms or hands to "cheat" in any way.  Try 'em!  



Anyway, I just hopped out of the shower and although my legs are rubbery and my abdomen knows I did my situps, I'm actually more alert and awake now, and feel like I could strap my shoes on and run another mile or so.  This is totally NOT how I would have felt when I made the first post in this thread.  BTW I convinced the scale to give me a 192 the other day although it read 193 again this morning.  I think I'm past my 195lb plateau.  



Oh, and speaking of fitness issues, off and on over the weekend I devised a thread to test the average arfcommer's faith in fitness vs. gear.  The resulting post, crafted on MS Word and cut n pasted to GD this morning, has been a gold mine of hilarity for me, and I think it will give you guys a chuckle as well.  http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=1100723

Well, its the day after the above post and I'm plenty sore.  Arms, legs, core, back, you name it. I thought maybe last night's "feel good" vibe might have been because I was being too easy on myself, but I don't think I was because I'm definitely feelin' it today.


Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Nice job.  Keep it up.  How's the diet coming along?  Made any other changes?

I've had a couple of "cheat" meals recently but managed to keep the portions down at least.  As far as diet, I'm not snacking at all and I've discovered that Quik Trip actually has a little bit of reasonably priced healthy food, so if I need an "oh shit I'm in a rush" meal I go there instead of fast food.  Haven't had fast food in weeks now except chicken wraps at Sonic a couple of times.

I'm making slow but steady progress.  Scale usually hovers around 193, I think the day I hit 192 I was a bit dehydrated.  Aside from the scale I feel much better, when I'm awake I'm more awake and when I'm asleep I'm more asleep.  I need to add more cardio to my regimen but at least I'm at a point where doing so is realistic and doable (instead of, say, running one 13 minute mile and aching for days like I was when I started this thread).

All in all, I'm encouraged.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Sounds great Mike, stay at it.  





Also, if you're not aware, if you're going at it pretty hard with the lifting, try to do just 10-15 minutes of the cardio right after your workout.  That way, you're already sweating, got your heart rate up and will get that extra calorie burn.  I was also told that it helps flush the lactic acid build up out of the muscle group that you just worked out.
 

Keep it up!
No one can take from your your fitness or your education.
Determination + Information = Success.
I look forward to reading about your progress and measuring it against my own.





I peruse this thread when I need a inspiration bump... if you ignore the "Brah" talk and just look at the various folks who made massive changes it's very bookmark worthy





http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=113690821




 
 

I was just coming into this thread, so apologies for the delay.  However, I still can't help but address this (rather sad) point you made earlier.
I think your honesty with yourself and realism is admirable.  The world would be better of if more people took that humble, unentitled view.
That said, something that will help you, IMO, is finding things worth living and fighting for.  You've already accomplished a lot, and it sounds like you've punted a lot of it already.  You're obviously a capable, talented person.  So use that for good.
I can only speak to personal experience here.  Degrees, jobs, and the standard "living" have never done it for me.  Sure, we get them to stay on the right track, but it's not what motivates me.  In my head, it basically all boils down to securing the things I love.  People I care about, freedom, our country - that's what moves me.  Sure, nice things are nice, but most decisions involving money go to "How can this help my family?"  Working out and staying healthy isn't "Damn I love looking sweet," it's "The lives of people I care about may need this some day," whether that's literal or just a me-being-there thing.   Succeeding isn't about me, it's about contributing to the communities I love and influencing them for the better.
Basically, that mindset sounds like you're being unselfishly selfish.  You don't feel like you deserve anything special, which presents motivation barriers to rising, but you also haven't expressed a desire to rise for anything but yourself.  Even when you want nothing, there's still so much you can do.  We - the decent people in America - at the very least, can use another friend, another voice of reason, another vote for freedom and justice.  You have all eternity to be dead.  Even if here sucks, do something good, because we don't know if there's another chance for it.  Like 2111 said, embrace the suck - it's all we're guaranteed.  Who knows, maybe it'll cease to be suck.
All that said, it looks like you've made good progress since your good post.  You've put some thought into your diet, seem to have purged your system of a lot of its artificial dependencies, and are engaging in a lot of varied and motivating fitness.  Per the above - thinking about others - you've already made my day.  I'm always proud to know (or, in your case, sort of know/know of) people who overcome challenges and succeed through their own strength.  Personal responsibility isn't just for those dealt a good hand.  You own it, and you're controlling it.
Just to address your initial points:  
Exercise kind of always sucks.  :P  I would say maybe 1 in 5 workouts I'm actually "excited" about.  I rarely want to run just for the sake of it.  But usually, at some point during it, I enjoy it.  And then I'm sore or tired or whatever.  I'm not a regular for the "endorphin high."  However, I will tell you, without a doubt, I can tell when it's been too long since a workout.  If I'm really busy or traveling or something, and I go a week or more without a workout, I am more tired, crabbier, and generally less tuned in.  So it works different for all different people.  Some people are lucky and get an instant bump.  For me, it's a more longterm thing, but I absolutely feel it.
As far as the scale, it makes no sense for me either.  I can't relate entirely, but throughout my fitness history since high school I've been anywhere from 145-200 at my same height.  I don't sweat it too much so long as I'm working toward fitness goals and making discernible progress.  Planning is an important part of workouts.  I hit a lot of plateaus when I'm not focused on what I'm doing.  Even if a certain level feels hard, make sure that over time you vary it and focus on improvement by going faster, increasing weight or reps, etc.  Unless you're paying attention to what you're doing, you won't figure that stuff out.  Once you do, just do it 'til you get bored there, and then change it again.  Don't sit in one identical routine for too long.
As far as diet and metabolism, I wish I could help.  I sometimes pay attention, but for the most part, the missus is a health food nut, so I just trust what she feeds me.  I still do make an effort to avoid obviously crappy food when I'm out, and focus on healthy/good workout food on the occasion that I snack.  I almost never eat eat unless I'm hungry or aware that I need something for a particular nutritional reason.
And as a fellow dude with no health insurance for now, I get where you're coming from on the hernia.  And if you can work around it toward a big picture right now, do so.  You probaly can build muscle/endurance and lose weight without worsening it.  But really, plan to get that fixed.  In my small experience, weakness and injury have ways of manifesting at the absolute worst times.
Anyway, thanks so much for sharing your story, and keep the updates coming.  You're already kicking ass, and the nice thing about that is once you get started there's always more to kick.
 

If you want to feel the abs more, mix up the core workouts a tad. Crunches/situps really aren't great core exercises.







 
 
 
 

Sounds like good progress.  Glad you're past the 195 shelf.  Next up, 34" pants.

Actually, I was in 34 inch pants when I was 215 lbs.  30s would be nice.



Scale gave me a 191 yesterday morning.

Hey guys, I either underestimated the progress I've made or underestimated how long I was out of shape.  I renewed my CCW permit today and got a new I.D. to put in my wallet.  The permit expires every 3 years, so I compared the new one to the old one and I swear my face looks thinner now than it did 3 years ago!  Same hairstyle, same scraggly goatee that is now out of style, but in today's pic I have a jaw!

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Kickass!




 
 

 

Awesome pictures!  That looks like a great hike.  Theres not many thing that do it for me more than going for a good hike.  My inspiration to exercise has always been to be able to go faster and farther in the outdoors.  Ive mountain biked, climbed, hiked, snowboarded, snowshoed, kayaked, and dirt biked in the past but havnt been able to get out but about once a year in about the last 6 years.  It sucks and puts me into a funk, but thinking about some of the great times and things ive seen over the years always cheers me up.  Hopefully not, but chances are your going to fall out of the habit of exercising and fall into a funk again but just use the motivation of staying in shape enough to get your rear end back up that beautiful mountain again.

Thanks for the motivation!  Ive decided to get back in shape over the winter again and just busted out some squats here  in the bathroom at work and came close to passing out (I forgot how much fun ringing ears were).  Ive got a long ways to go before im back into shape enough that exercise wont suck and actually start to be enjoyable again.  Im kicking my butt into gear and setting a goal of never falling away from exercise again.  Thanks again for the motivation and good luck!

Update:  I continue to build strength and stamina.  Yesterday myself and PolytechKID ran 2.8 miles of his very hilly neighborhood in 30 minutes, and today I did another 18 mile bike ride with my bodybuilding cohort.  I haven't run more than one mile at a time all year, so I was pretty pleased to do nearly three, and then today my pace on the bicycle was hugely improved over the first time I did the 18 mile ride over the same course.  My legs are pretty damn sore but I'm real proud of the ability to do those two exercises on back to back days.



On the other hand, I'm still weighing in at (sigh) 195 lbs most days and my physical looks dont seem to be changing much.  I'm doing enough crunches and plaform exercises that my abs hurt when I laugh or breathe hard, but I still have a huge flabby gut bordered on each side by a generous fat handle.  Argh.  



At least I'm getting more "fit enough to fight" which is one of my goals.  If I keep going, maybe I can one day run 3 miles of hills not in shorts and tennis shoes, but in body armor and carrying a carbine.

If you can run 3 miles and bike 18 then you are definitely increasing your shape. You not seeing the loss in weight is typical. One other thing I would suggest is step on a scale once a week not once a day.  



 

Don't focus on the scale, focus on how you look naked.  You're probably gaining muscle to offset the fat loss, so your weight is staying the same, but you should be looking better.

Every guy looks disgusting naked. From that picture I will tell you there is very definite noticeable improvement in your physical appearance. Keep it up!  





 

So after talking with a couple of people who have had success by cutting carbs I'm going to try that for awhile.  I'm also increasing my water intake as much as possible and drinking nothing BUT water, yesterday I drank 3 quarts and seemingly had to pee every 5 minutes.  My goal is to drink a gallon a day.  The good news is that the scale gave me a 190.0 this morning in an extremely hydrated state.  I haven't weighed in the 180s in over a year so that will be a big milestone for me.


Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile