This weekend I am trying to ease into the plan, all and all it was a mixed bag. Saturday I went to a wedding and not much else, pretty sedantary and I had 2 pieces of wedding cake, one chocolate and one white with cherries. I also drank several beers.
Sunday was better and not only have I avoided eating many bad things I also mowed our expansive lawn and weed-eated. Once finished with that I needed a swim so I put in a good twenty minutes of vigorous swimming. I felt the burn in my arms and pectoral muscles.
After all that I ventured out to Walmart to buy a scale, an outdoor clock and thermometer so I can time my swims, and some more healthy groceries. I didn't go crazy with the health food, just tried to eliminate the junk food. I got a bunch of peanut butter and apples to be my "healthy" snack at the office rather than the junkfood they graciously provide.
Once home I put the scale to work, it's a fancy one that does BMI so:
I weighed in at 252.4 lbs
Programmed in my 6' height and it told me I had a BMI of 25, which the paper thin instruction manual says is the bottom range of overweight. I'm not buying that 24% body mass index is considered "normal" as the scale would have me believe.
Regardless I just need to get pictures up then you can judge for yourself.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Developing a plan
I know I have to be realistic in my fitness quest. Someone might think that quitting smoking shows I have strong will power, actually I don't. It was still difficult to quit, but once I found out my Dad had cancer I just didn't want to smoke any more. I have never been the type to be successful in self denial so I know that any diet plan that leaves me hungry or feeling like I can't have the things I want is destined for failure. The upside is that my body seems to respond fairly well to exercise and eating anything resembling eating healthy.
So that is the two pronged approach I am going to take, start exercising and stop eating utter crap. When I say crap I mean the empty calorie stuff like cookies, candy, chips etc. My meals I will try to avoid fast food but hamburgers and pizza will still be in play. Maybe some portion control, but mostly just eliminating crap.
Another big source of empty calories for me is booze, now I know any plan that means I have to give up booze is also a problem. In my last foray into fitland I had success by substituting Jack Daniels and diet coke for beer. A typical beer is 120 calories or so, my beer of choice Shiner Bock is 142 calories. I usually drink 4-5 shiners in an evening so that is an extra 710 calories. A Jack Daniels and diet coke is about 60 calories so the same 4-5 is 300 calories.
As for the exercise bit I canceled my gym membership, and I will have to think about reinstating it but I am going to begin with using the things I have available to me. This are a stationary bicycle, dumbbells, and my swimming pool. We just bought the house with the pool and with the weather I have only been able to swim in it twice so far but the weather is warming and I intend to try to use the pool to full effect.
So that is the two pronged approach I am going to take, start exercising and stop eating utter crap. When I say crap I mean the empty calorie stuff like cookies, candy, chips etc. My meals I will try to avoid fast food but hamburgers and pizza will still be in play. Maybe some portion control, but mostly just eliminating crap.
Another big source of empty calories for me is booze, now I know any plan that means I have to give up booze is also a problem. In my last foray into fitland I had success by substituting Jack Daniels and diet coke for beer. A typical beer is 120 calories or so, my beer of choice Shiner Bock is 142 calories. I usually drink 4-5 shiners in an evening so that is an extra 710 calories. A Jack Daniels and diet coke is about 60 calories so the same 4-5 is 300 calories.
As for the exercise bit I canceled my gym membership, and I will have to think about reinstating it but I am going to begin with using the things I have available to me. This are a stationary bicycle, dumbbells, and my swimming pool. We just bought the house with the pool and with the weather I have only been able to swim in it twice so far but the weather is warming and I intend to try to use the pool to full effect.
Hello Mr. Fatty
I am creating this blog for one simple reason, I have gotten fat and I am tired of it. It is my intention that this space will serve as an online diary of my attempt to get fit again, whether it ever gains a readership or not is completely secondary to my desire to shed unwanted fat and gain muscle mass. I intend to be as blunt as possible and post all the embarrassing details including pictures along the way. No sugar coating this one (because I might eat it if it is sugar coated).
Now a bit about how I got here.
I am a 32 year old male, married for 4 years with a brand new baby boy. Probably the last time I was in really good shape was my early 20's. The last time I was nearly in good shape was about a year ago. I had hit what I thought was my breaking point at about 240 pounds and finally started to exercise and watch my diet and had gotten down to a muscular 220. I still had a ways to go but I was starting to feel good about how I looked in jeans and a tee shirt. In June of last year my father was diagnosed with lung cancer and this finally gave me the motivation I needed to quit smoking. My father passed in August coincidentally the same day I found out I was to be a father.
The combination of quitting smoking and having a pregnant wife turned out to be too much for my diet plans. I soon had thrown it all out the window and was back to eating junk, indulging my wife's ice cream cravings and having a nice big bowl myself. This has progressed to today where I believe I am now around 260 lbs and sick of it.
Now a bit about how I got here.
I am a 32 year old male, married for 4 years with a brand new baby boy. Probably the last time I was in really good shape was my early 20's. The last time I was nearly in good shape was about a year ago. I had hit what I thought was my breaking point at about 240 pounds and finally started to exercise and watch my diet and had gotten down to a muscular 220. I still had a ways to go but I was starting to feel good about how I looked in jeans and a tee shirt. In June of last year my father was diagnosed with lung cancer and this finally gave me the motivation I needed to quit smoking. My father passed in August coincidentally the same day I found out I was to be a father.
The combination of quitting smoking and having a pregnant wife turned out to be too much for my diet plans. I soon had thrown it all out the window and was back to eating junk, indulging my wife's ice cream cravings and having a nice big bowl myself. This has progressed to today where I believe I am now around 260 lbs and sick of it.
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