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Transforming myself from fat to fit!!

I was very active in sports in High School and as a result was pretty fit. My weight was remained pretty even through the early years of college. After my wife and I married while still in college, the play time started to decrease as the responsibilities started to increase. Fast forward a few years later and I'm a father, working full time, attending school full time, commuting 60 miles each way, sleeping very little and eating $0.99 Whoppers for lunch every day. My life was busy, but it was not active. I started packing on weight. The only exercise I got was running from class to class, parking lot to parking lot. By the end of school I was being fueled by caffeine and a determination to provide for my family.


Over the years, the hours at the office (and not on the field) took their toll. I started running dozens of times, only to injure myself and tell myself I'm too fat to run. I tried racquetball, but couldn't sustain a singles game and had to conceded to doubles games with the 'older' guys. My lifestyle was sedentary, but it was hard to admit. Now in my late 20's and after years of urging from my loving wife to visit the doctor for an annual exam, I finally agreed and went. Upon reviewing results of my blood work, he told me that I had to lose weight and get regular exercise. If I didn't make a change, he would have to put me on cholesterol medication. We made an appointment 3 months out and I never returned.


I did my best to lower my weight and get active again. I joined a gym, started lifting weights and tried to stay active. I would get stronger, but not leaner and had no idea why. I'd add lots of cardio to the programs hoping to burn the fat off. It never worked. After months of doing this, I felt better, but didn't look better, didn't lose any weight, and eventually gave up. I repeated the process a couple of more times, this time buying dumbells to workout from home to save on gym membership dues. I started lifting again and running every morning, but still no success. Repeat. Defeat. Repeat. Defeat.


Now fast forward to Winter '06. My sister-in-law Alissa, a Certified Personal Trainer, was training for a half marathon and convinced me to run it with her the next spring. I committed to do it. I scheduled my training. To no surprise, I started and stopped multiple times. March came around and I had only trained the equivalent of a few of weeks. I ran it anyway and at least finished it without walking. WOW! The feeling of accomplishment was incredible! I had run over 13 miles! This time I wasn't defeated! That day I had conquered the sedentary Todd! Running was my new-found cure to weight loss. I was committed to running because it made me feel great! I woke up the next day and could barely walk. I could barely use the stairs and felt horrible. The soreness continued for weeks and my glorious plans to use running for weight loss quickly diminished.


The months passed. I was beginning to think I could never change myself. Negative thoughts dominated my God-given will-power and determination to do anything. I decided to give myself one more chance. I learned of another half marathon four months later in Jan of '08. I was going to do this one no matter what and I was going to do it correctly. I was going to train and I was going to lose weight in the process. I scheduled out my training. I made a calendar and posted it in my garage, my office and a few other places. Each workout got a big red X. Each day I ran and each red X I marked fueled my excitement for the next day. My confidence increased tremendously. I was controlling my life, it was not controlling me. I ran in January and knocked over 30 minutes off my previous time. I felt so good during the race that I finished the last half of the race in negative splits, meaning each mile got faster. Crossing that finish line almost made me weep. Not only had I beat my previous time, I had accomplished something I had planned, trained for properly and executed beyond my expectations. Something I thought was impossible. A tremendous change was occurring in my life and I was the one making the change.


I'll admit one major disappointment about training for the race. I didn't lose weight. In fact, I gained weight. I couldn't figure out why. How can I burn many thousands of calories a week from the runs and still not lose weight? I had no idea. It didn't compute.


One night, I was talking to Alissa again. I was telling her about my inability to lose weight no matter what I tried. She got pretty bold and told me straight up. "It's your nutrition. You can't lose weight if you eat the way you do." You see, I figured that if I was running and burning all those calories, I could eat 5 pieces of pizza instead of 3! I could eat biggie fries instead of larges. I could drink 5 cans of soda a day instead of 3. I was wrong.


She told me that the best nutrition program she knows of for proper weight loss while exercising is P90X. She told me how she had clients buy the program just to follow the nutrition program. It was simple, thorough and very effective. She gave me a copy of the nutrition guide, explained how it worked and told me to read it, re-read it, then re-read it again. She promised the answers I was searching for were inside.


I spent about a month reviewing the information. I researched it online. I started learning about nutrition and it's role in fueling our bodies. I found the Beachbody message boards. I read thread after thread and post after post. I learned from everyone's experience. Then I found Scott Rupp's, Simple Rules thread. Here was a guy with 4 kids, sat behind a desk all day, started at a similar weight where I was. He was just like me! --But he had a six pack! Is that possible? I read every post. I read what he ate and what he struggled with. His feelings of accomplishment. I eventual