The Urge to Purge
Anyone who knows me from my late teens and early 20’s can remember a time when I was full of energy, constantly active, and pretty fit. Somewhere around age 23-25, I started putting on the pounds. This was due to several environmental changes. Instead of working outside as a contractor or in retail chains where I was always on my feet, I moved into web development and worked behind a desk for 8-10 hours a day. Since I was new in this field, I would go home and placed more hours behind the screen(some things never change). To make things worse, I worked next to an all-you-can-eat Chinese Buffet. My once active body started bulking up.
It wasn’t just the buffet. I was single and going out a lot. I would throw back some brews almost nightly and by some, I mean many. When you’re 25, you think to yourself, “I can lose these pounds easy, just a couple weeks of hitting the basketball court or playing some sport will whip me into shape”. To make things worse, I was a cigarette smoker too. I know, what a combo right? My cardiovascular health deteriorated rapidly. When I would attempt to play some of the sports I once loved, I would be one of the first to raise my hand for a substitute. This was not me. As I grew older, there were less opportunities to join that pick-up game I one could have. Not only is your schedule tight with family and work, but so are your friends.
Then the excuses and denial pile on to make things worse. I sometimes think that I am still that 20-year-old athletic guy, but I am no-where near. I look in the mirror and say things like, “I think my face looks better a little rounder”. “These pants must have shrunk in the wash” and “man it is hot in here. Is anyone else hot?” are sayings I have been using way to long. Things need to change.
As I was struggling to tie my shoes the other day (because I am not as flexible as I was and my stomach is getting in the way), I decided it is time to really lose the weight and get as close to the Jeff in the past as I can. I’m not looking to be 130lbs again, but it would be nice to fit back into my 32-33 pants sizes. One thing about men’s pants sizes. Size 38 pants are made for people who are like 6’5”. When you are 5’5”, you have to hem or fold every pair of pants, unless you special order. No one makes 38”width and 29” heights.
So today is the first day in a serious attempt to recapture my health. I quit smoking over 6 years ago. That was hard and took a while, but I finally did it. I know this will be the same. I think losing the weight may not be as hard as keeping it off. However, I have a plan and it is simple. Eat healthier and smaller portions, exercise every morning, and track my caloric intake vs. my calories burned. I have some tools to help me accomplish this.
I just bought the Mac OSX version of the CalorieKings Nutrition and Exercise Manager. This is a great program for tracking what you eat and how many calories you burn off with exercise. It was only $45 and I feel it is money well spent to track my progress. The program even charts your progress out for you.
Another tool is my Elliptical. I bought this in an earlier attempt to shed the pounds, but I never gave it a shot. This is great in the wintertime, but once the spring comes around, I will probably hit the pavement and take in some fresh air while jogging. I used to love riding my bike long distances too. Right now, I am nowhere near the condition I need for this adventure. I hope to be there soon and when I am, I will be treating myself to a new bike.
I have some hefty goal. I plan to lose 40lbs in 4 months. I want to be 160lbs by July. At weigh in this morning, I was a little more than I thought. I was estimating I was around 200lbs, but came in at 208lbs. At 5’5”, I am considered obese and I feel like it. It will be tough to accomplish. I know I should start with small obtainable goals, but I don’t want to kid myself. I need to do this for my health and for sanity.
I will be publicly placing my weekly weigh-ins and progress on this site every Monday. I will also keep a running tab on the sidebar. I may take a before picture tonight, just for reference, then post a comparison every month to show my progress.
Wish me luck and any encouragement would certainly help.
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February 25th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Good luck, man.
I feel everything you are saying. And at 6′3″ and obese myself, I couldn’t take up more space if I tried. Everything is better when you are in shape from your attitude, your energy level, sleeping…
On my end I’ve decided to replace most of my beverages with water and get out there a little more with the dogs every day. We go about 3 miles a day, but I think I need to get that up to 5 or 6.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
I will be trying to hit the elliptical every morning for 30 minutes, though I can’t do that yet. I will be taking the dog on a little hiking adventure once all this snow is gone and the ground is a little less muddy.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Having dropped a butt load of weight several times in my life (and about to try again myself) - take my advice, strip down to a pair of shorts and take a before shot now. It helps to be able to look back when you hit plateaus later on. And besides - the after shots always look better next to a really beefy before
Good luck!
-Mac
August 4th, 2008 at 6:09 am
How did that go?
At 43 years old, I am finding it impossible to lose weight. I tried various diet changes and exercise routines with little to show for it weightwise. I do however feel really good, energetic, strong and flexible. I’ll keep trying to eat healthy and be very physically active, but I have little hope that will affect my weight. At this point in life, my metabolism seems to be in hibernation.