sgc

Stopped by LA today. It was pretty busy. They gym looked nice but their appeared to be waits for some machines. There seems to be a lot of hate for Planet but mostly from bodybuilder types. Seems biggest complaints are not enough heavy enough dumbbells and no deadlifts. That's fine since I'm too inexperienced to do that anyways. It's not the gym that makes you fit but the person.

I'm also at a loss for how to go about strength training. I want to focus on the whole body and there are about 8 to 10 different exercises I want to do. If I do about 10-12 reps of each, that's probably only about 30 minutes. Is that enough? Should I do two sets of each exercise?

The pizza thing doesn't bother me. Planet has some cheesy things, but I'm just there to lift. Weight is weight. LA Fitness near me wants $30 a month plus a $100 fee. That's basically the entire year contract at Planet in one month. LA Fitness here is a lot busier than Planet. There isn't a YMCA close enough. Checked the Gold's Gym website and there isn't one within 25 miles. I've narrowed it down to LA, Planet and my city rec center. Planet is the cheapest and the best location. LA isn't far either but more expensive and busier. The city rec center is also more expensive. I've heard good things about it but it is smaller and does not have long hours.

I'm assuming for this free tour I just pop in? I've been looking online but I may just go there. The one near me is offering $15 a month with no commitment. I wonder if I could do that for a month and then switch to $10 a month on a commitment?

I may have to give Planet a try. It's the most conveniently located. LA Fitness is close by but I don't need all the extras. Plus I don't think many 400 pound people would go to LA Fitness. I also didn't see a one day pass on their web site? Not sure I want to commit for 12 months yet and I don't like this gym.

I'm not overly concerned about being self conscious. I'm more worried of fitting in the machines.

So the first woman I was talking to do just didn't seem right and our conversation just dried up. I was talking to a second woman and it was going well. She asked me if I was Christian and I gave her an honest answer. Haven't heard back from her so I guess she didn't like my answer. The third woman is finally the charm. We have a date set up and I don't know what to do. She wanted to meet at a local coffee shop. First thing is I hate coffee. Second I do not how to make a first impression. How do I greet a woman for the first time? What is the protocol on requesting a second date if it goes well?

She's also only 25. I think she was more into just flirting then starting a serious relationship. The flirting was nice in the beginning, but I wanted to move a little farther. I know I changed a lot from 25 to 30 both physically and emotionally.

Seems like our conversation fizzled out before pictures were exchanged. We went from emails to texting and it seemed to go downhill. I get the feeling she was hiding something. One of the red flags was that her area code didn't match the city se supposedly lived in.

I ended up uploading my picture to my profile here. I also uploaded what I looked like before. Not going to show her the previous me.

I don't have a weight loss date. I've thought about surgery but I have lost 45 pounds in about 9 weeks so I want to see if I can lose without surgery. If I need it I will get it. I gained 200 pounds in five years. I never really had to deal with this sort of obesity and I'm struggling with my body image.

It's not the quality of pic but just the size. I like how we were able to talk before seeing each other. Hopefully that will help her look past my size.

That's the problem. I never liked having my picture taken so I don't have a picture like that. I also don't have many friends.Post some on here and we can judge the best one. We are in the same boat, well, close, not exactly. But after losing 76 pounds so far I'm a lot more willing to put myself out there, not ready to go on match or jdate yet but maybe at 100 I will be. I walk around the gym locker room now without a shirt on, I wouldn't do that at 485That's the thing. I only have one pic of myself I took myself.

That's the problem. I never liked having my picture taken so I don't have a picture like that. I also don't have many friends.

I hung my largest shirt and pair of pants on the wall in my exercise room. Motivation I guess.

I think we are going to exchange pictures soon. This is the moment I am most nervous about. Our conversations have been going exceptionally well. She likes my corny jokes and there has been a little flirting via email. What should I say about her picture? I would want to tell her she is attractive but not sound like a sexual deviant or that I'm trying to put the moves on her. I'm also worried about sending my pic. I keep wanting to preface it with something.

My nose is one of the few things that isn't large on me so I'm good there. I really like the way the conversation is progressing with this girl. Don't want to get ahead of myself. Going to get my hair trimmed and some better fitting clothes. Even if it doesn't work out I'll still need the clothes.

I don't have to worry about it being too hot in October in Michigan. At my size I wouldn't want to walk around in the heat.

I'm talking to a woman who I met on eHarmony. Its progressing pretty well. We haven't exchanged pictures yet. I don't want to move too fast but if the picture exchange goes well, how do I know when to escalate this to an actual date? Some people suggested a walk as a date which gave me the idea of taking her to the zoo. Women like zoos right? It's a public place, we can walk a bit, and at least could talk about the animals. We both live very close to the zoo. Her profile says she likes animals.

I have good relationships with the women at work. I seem to get along better with the women than men. It seems like when trying to approach women as a possible dating mate, it where I get lost. I don't know what to ask a woman? I'm not a good conversation starter.

I have seen a doctor and am on some anti-depressants. Seem to be working OK. I would say the real me is a thinner me. I didn't struggle with obesity until the past five years. In high school I was 220 and averaged about 250 through college. I was overweight but it was manageable. Then at age 25 it just fell apart, and before I know it, I'm 470 pounds.

I think I have decided to wait until I lose more weight. It's not so much about attracting more women, but being to do things with them that I cannot do now. I'm still not sure if I would fit in a movie theater seat, at least comfortably, and I have to worry if I will fit in a booth at a restaurant. Maybe by next summer I'll have lost enough weight to do these things.

I haven't gotten surgery yet. I'm going to try losing weight without surgery first. I currently weigh 470 pounds and it seems impossible to find exercise equipment for people my size. I have a recumbent bike that is rated for 250 pounds. I have used it and my inner thighs get tired. I'm not sure if this is because I'm not used to riding, or I'm too cramped on the bike? I can only last 10 minutes before my legs get too tired. It's frustrating because I'm not out of breath and my heart rate isn't that high. If I ride 3 times a day at 10 minutes, would that be effective? I'm hoping with weight loss I'll fit better on the bike and can ride longer. My caloric intake per day is roughly 1500 calories. I would ultimately like to do 3 sessions of 30 minutes a day. I also want to make sure the fatigue in my thighs is not something I should worry about and am just getting back in shape.

Since creating this thread, I'm up to two 30 minute sessions a day. I have even upped the resistance on my bike. It was really my legs were just not used to the exercise.