If there is anything I am going to learn from this whole experience, it is this… Losing weight is NOT the primary lesson here. The primary lesson is a LIFE LONG commitment to doing what is healthy for your body and for your life! I thought before this week that my diet in general wasn’t that unhealthy. I had cut out some things before now, for example eating a half pint of chocolate ice cream in one sitting, stuffing a bag of potato chips. Eat until my tummy little felt like it was going to explode, etc.
I have found myself on many occasions this week reaching for something telling myself that it isn’t allowed anymore. The body knows how to kick and scream for it, sort as in food withdrawal! However, it is comforting to know that I didn’t die yesterday. My body still survived on it’s roughly 1650 calories and all was well. Knowing this is roughly 1/2 of what I was used too in a given day, this is a tremendous accomplishment.
I slacked yesterday on my water intake and the timing of my food intake. I also only had 3 meals yesterday not including the shake so I could have used one or two other snacks during the day. So the metabolism wasn’t burning continually.
With all that in mind, I still weighed in at 291.8 this morning. So, 4 tenths of a pound from yesterday I will take.. And be happy!
This weekend will be a very interesting challenge. Tomorrow night my wife and I will be going out on a date to a local restaurant. It will NOT be Golden Corral thank goodness (even though I absolutely LOVE the place and even now want to go immediately), but nonetheless it will be interesting to see if I can make wise choices in some ways “blind” and on the cuff. If I can maintain at least a positive direction this weekend, we have to declare at least a small step of victory.. If I can get over the big hump, the blessing is just on the other side!! A thinner, healthier, and happier ME..
Michael
I have always heard the expression that ROME was not built in a day. Well, that’s definately true for those who are overweight. All of us never started out that way, and it took quite a lot of McDonalds Chicken McNuggets and Quarter Pounders to get there.
Today’s weigh-in was 292.4, up a little over a 1/2 pound from yesterday. Since I added a protein shake everyday that has consistently put me 200 calories ahead per day since. The dramatic tumble in pounds came when I was eating consistently 1800-1900 calories a day. Yesterday was 2104. So, I guess I found roughly where I need to be to either lose a few pounds in a couple weeks to where I will loose up to 5 lbs a week.
They are offering at our fitness club something called FIT CAMP. Its a 2,3, or 5 day a week class with the trainer, much like a Biggest Loser thing. The major difference is that it is NOT The Biggest Loser, and it doesn’t last as long. For 8 weeks hard core it’s over $200, so not as economical for some of us as for others. However, this next week they are offering it as a trial (since it’s just starting in this new format) for FREE!!! Well, time to sign up in a hurry! This will give me the opportunity to fine tune what I am doing and make sure I am on the right track to success this year.
More tomorrow..
Michael
Well today is the day when men are strong and boys are weak. It’s the day that the rubber meets the road or spins off into the ditch.
Why do I submit on my blog these progress reports? Honestly, it’s to keep myself accountable with myself and with all those who will read. I am 33 years old right now, and I have lived most of it overweight. I have always been the “gomer pile” if you will, bringing up the rear when it comes to health and fitness. At this point it’s not just a matter of feeling better anymore. If I want to live beyond 50 years old with any kind of quality life; not going to doctors every week and be hooked up to whatever kind of machine or injecting myself, I will get off my duff now and “pay it forward”. All of us have to pay a price in one way or another. In all parts of life, a price is required. To have the anointing placed on your life and walk in it, a price is required. To be healthy and the right weight, and not a tugboat, a price is required, especially in this society of overindulgence and obesity.
Today’s weigh in was 291.8 — with a goal of 285 by the end of the month. I started at 300 on Christmas day, so I think one could say that’s tremendous progress. I know the plateau is coming, that point in time when my body says, “now wait a minute, we shouldn’t be loosing this much this quick, so I am going to hold on to all I can”. The first to go is water weight, which could go even better with me if I was to drink my water daily as I am supposed too. If anyone has any ideas what to put in water that doesn’t provide any calories to make it taste better let me know.
Until tomorrow, keeping the eyes on the prize,
Michael
Well day 2 was MUCH easier than day 1, but I know that I have a long way to go. Twenty minutes on the treadmill going faster than I have ever went. Before long, I will have to start jogging to go up. Inclines can only get you 1/2 way there. Followed it up with 20 minutes going hard on circuit weights for the lower body and a few free weights for the arms. I am still not 100% on what sequence to do with the weights, but the concepts are there. Then to the ab room where I did 3 sets of 15 ab crunches using the ball. Finally to wind it up 5 minutes worth of bicycle sprints to really get that heart pumpin’ as hard as it should go!! Sweat, sweat, and more sweat… Sweat is my friend.. At 5am what other friends will be up with you??
Then there was the motivating weigh in this morning. How bout this for day 4 of this adventure, 293lbs!!! This is the lowest I have been since July 2010. The next milestone regarding weight is what I weighed when I returned from Kenya in 2009. That was 284lbs. This is one lb shy of my January goal. Lets go, lets go!!
I know that it isn’t as easy as this sounds. Believe me, if people could do this as easy as just go to a gym 30 minutes every 3 days and eat just a little bit less EVERYONE would be doing it. I know this road will be long, and at times I will want to quit. But I can’t quit. Just as I pushed through and achieved an Associates Degree even after “college” in my early 30′s, I will push through this until I achieve the goal. Not only of weight, but of lifestyle change to maintain and BUILD my body into a healthy vessel of the Holy Spirit (I Cor 6:19-20).
Michael
