My 2008 New Year's resolution was, and still is, to not drink alcohol in the calendar year of 2008, excepting only medicine (which, I don't drink NyQuil, et al to start with, I'm just sayin it's fair game). However around mid-to-late 2007, I talked (mostly privately) about losing weight.
Last night was kind of a shocker, more of an eye opener. I started feeling big. The scale told me something I did not want to see. As of last night, I weigh about 330 pounds. I'm 6'0" with a medium frame. Most of my weight is an oversized pot belly, but I've started to notice enlargement in my arms and legs.
Food is a big problem for me. I love to eat, and I love to cook. I love to outdo myself either on the Foreman grill, or with a skillet (frying). While I'm not out making obscenely unhealthy stuff, it's not exactly healthy - more middle of the road. One reader of this blog informed my mother (a technophobe who has probably never seen it), that all I write about is food. Hey, RL. ;-) Obviously the blog speaks for itself; while there is a lot of other topics covered, I have covered some food I've made and eaten. But I know now I need to cut back.
Some might say the backlash is going to prove to be too much, but I think I can stick with it. I'm attacking my weight on three related fronts. First, I'm going to adopt a low-fat diet with a target of 45 grams of fat a day, or 15g per meal on average. I love me some generic Nutrigrain bars which are 3g/f each, two of these make a good snack. I'm going to start eating the Healthy Choice, Michelina's Lean Gourmet, etc. frozen meals at work - or bring in sandwiches. I'm talking, bread, turkey breast, lettuce and tomato - no cheese, no mayo. Believe it or not, I like that stuff. Maybe not as much as a 2/3lb. Fuddruckers Bacon Cheeseburger, but I will adapt to lowfat foods, because I want to be healthy more than I want good taste.
Second, diet pills. The new Alli diet has proven effective for Jen, my wife. She's lost about 37 pounds on it since September. She's already adapted to the 45g lowfat diet I'm talking about, so rather than us eating different stuff and different quantities, we'll be on the same page. I've already bought my Alli starter kit, I'll start taking the pills this weekend or perhaps Monday. Alli requires you to consume 45g of fat or less, or you find yourself unable to control your bowel movements, as it were - it's a nasty ordeal I can't say for the sake of my marriage's good health whether I've witnessed this or not, but on heresay alone it's a significant warning. And I need to be on the lowfat diet before I start taking the pills, naturally. And I just ate a DiGiorno pizza yesterday (yes, by myself; yes I know that's very bad) so I have a lot of fat currently in my system. But after a couple days, it'll all have cycled out so I'll be good to go.
Third, exercise. Jen and I just today signed up for a year's membership at a local gym over in Washington, NC, just 8 miles away. Actually, it's a little closer to work than home as the crow flies, and I can just take Hwy. 264 outta Greenville, where I work third shift, head straight to the gym (it opens at 5:30am, I'm off at 6am, and I can be in Washington at 6:30am), work out for an hour (it'll be more but I have to build up to that) and then I'll head home, hopefully be in bed by 8-8:30am. I intend to warm up on the treadmill for 10 minutes, move to the stairs thingy for 10 minutes, and spend 10 minutes on the bicylcle. Then I'll make my way around the weights. I'll check out the ab stuff, since it's my belly I need to target, but I intend to show a lot of love to the free weights. I know I'm good with bench and leg presses - in weight training in high school, the only thing that gave me trouble was the military press. But I'm not looking so much to build muscle and strength. I want to build a little strength, but my goal at the gym will first and foremost be weight loss and fat burning.
Like I said above, I currently weigh 330 pounds. I turn 29 in September, so I'll be 30 in September 2009. My long-term goal is to be under 250 by the time I'm 30. I don't know how quickly I'll lose the weight, but it seems like a long time. Hell, we're planning our second California trip around that time. It's a long ways off. But I'm not just shooting for a long-time goal. I have three stages I intend to do this in. I'm currently in Stage 1, which will take me down to 300 pounds. Stage 2 will bring me to 275, and finally Stage 3 will take me down to 250. I have no idea how long each stage will take. I intend to reward myself - though not with food - for every stage, possibly for getting halfway through a stage.
And, of course, I can track my progress with the blog, but also with pictures. I intend to report in about once a week, with pictures once a month. I know the casual reader of this blog doesn't want to see my enormous gut - I'm wearing a shirt, but it still ain't pretty - so what I'll do is post links. Click the links under the weigh-in information to see them, if you like. They won't mean much now, but next month I'll link back to these as well.
So it sounds like I have this all planned out, right? Well, I'm sure there will be a lot of bumps in the road. I'm sure this will be a challenge. I have no illusions that it's easy, but I'm also ready to put my full weight (pun intended) behind this, so I'm sure I can do it.
Stage 1
Starting Weight: 330
Current Weight: 330
Target Weight: 300
Pictures: Front Side
1 comment:
Hey DR, Sickchick here. I just wanted to wish you luck in your weight-loss goals, and also tell you a few things I've learned from experience. First, 10 mins on the bike and treadmill is a good start. As you get stronger, you can add 2 mins at a time. The starirs are a different story though! Those stairmaster machines are HARD to ease into. I find whenever I re-start at the gym, I can only do like 2 or 3 minutes before my leg muscles are screaming. I think you need to build up slowly on that one, but if you can get 10 minutes right away I'm impressed. A better option is those elliptical machines, the motion is smoother and you can adjust the resistance easier.
Also, I know you said muscle bulk isn't really a priority, but the fact is that the more lean muscle you build, the more calories your body will burn all the time, even at rest. So as you get stronger, the pounds should drop faster, at least for a while.
Anyway, good luck!!
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