Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Over Two Weeks In
We're over two weeks into our 90-day challenge and as of yesterday, I was down to 210.2 lbs from a starting weight of 219.8. So 9.6 lbs in just over two weeks. Not bad, though I do expect that kind of weight loss in these early stages. I'm feeding my body just enough calories to have what it needs and I'm severely limiting carbs and going much higher on protein. This was actually the only weight-loss method that ever worked for me (back when I lost 46 lbs in 2003), but now I've got a wife making sure I actually eat fruits and veggies, too. Oh, and I'm also working out six days a week so that can't hurt, either.
One of my buddies is convinced I won't lose a lot of weight but rather will "move the weight around," meaning I'll bulk up and tone muscle. While I agree with this to a certain extent, I still do have weight to lose -- so I think there will wind up being some medium ground where I would lose more weight with diet and cardio work alone, but since I'm also building muscle it will be somewhere in the middle.
God, this is exciting, isn't it?
One of my buddies is convinced I won't lose a lot of weight but rather will "move the weight around," meaning I'll bulk up and tone muscle. While I agree with this to a certain extent, I still do have weight to lose -- so I think there will wind up being some medium ground where I would lose more weight with diet and cardio work alone, but since I'm also building muscle it will be somewhere in the middle.
God, this is exciting, isn't it?
Labels: fatness, gym, P90X, working out
Sunday, January 04, 2009
You Know I Don't Like Resolutions
Welcome to 2009. If you know me at all, you know I think resolutions are stupid. Yet I seem to have some semblance of them every year. The truth is, though, I just know my fitness and motivation and general patience all are tested in the last couple months of the year and so it's time to start fresh.
This year, the same issues abound. I'm fat, and it's time to do something about it. I joined a gym when we moved down here but once my wife and I started commuting together, I had a convenient excuse not to go in early to the gym. Plus I like food.
So when a couple of our friends here saw tremendous success in getting into the best conditions of their lives via a workout regimin called P90X, a larger group of us decided to do the same. So we all begin the 90-day lifestyle change on Monday, January 5, and it will continue for 90 days. Unless some of us bail out. You work out six days a week in varying workouts, and follow a typically strict but reasonable diet. At the end of the 90 days, for those who stick to it, you'll no doubt look and feel amazing. I'm a believer, having seen what it did for our friends. The question will be sticking to it. But the thing is, none of us are getting any younger and if we think it's hard now, it's nothing compared to how it will be in a few more years.
And so off we go. I'm beginning at 219.8 lbs, so we'll see where we wind up. Updates to come.
This year, the same issues abound. I'm fat, and it's time to do something about it. I joined a gym when we moved down here but once my wife and I started commuting together, I had a convenient excuse not to go in early to the gym. Plus I like food.
So when a couple of our friends here saw tremendous success in getting into the best conditions of their lives via a workout regimin called P90X, a larger group of us decided to do the same. So we all begin the 90-day lifestyle change on Monday, January 5, and it will continue for 90 days. Unless some of us bail out. You work out six days a week in varying workouts, and follow a typically strict but reasonable diet. At the end of the 90 days, for those who stick to it, you'll no doubt look and feel amazing. I'm a believer, having seen what it did for our friends. The question will be sticking to it. But the thing is, none of us are getting any younger and if we think it's hard now, it's nothing compared to how it will be in a few more years.
And so off we go. I'm beginning at 219.8 lbs, so we'll see where we wind up. Updates to come.
Labels: fatness, gym, P90X, working out
Friday, April 11, 2008
Ode To Fatness
I went back to the gym this morning.
It was the first time I've officially worked out in a gym since I was laughingly preparing for my wedding by going to the gym to be in shape for my Hawaiian honeymoon. What? You didn't realize I did that? You don't remember me going all the time and getting trim and fit and devastatingly handsome to wow the polynesian ladies of Maui?
Yeah, I don't remember it, either. But I'd say it's been roughly a year since a set foot in a gym.
I had to hitch a ride in to work today with a friend of mine here and he goes in at ungodly-early hours to work out at a gym connected to our office building. So I decided I was officially out of excuses and that I should just go with him and work out. Rather than, you know, pretend he was just giving me a ride in and that getting to my desk at 6:45 AM was normal.
I remember the sensation of working out... and it kind of sucks. And I only feel really good about it during the hour or so after I shower and head into the office. I feel energized, I don't feel like a slug and I feel productive and focused. And then, a short time later, my body remembers that I got up at 5:30 in the morning.
I'm certainly not "old" by any means, but a am a decade older than a person I manage... and can a decade make a difference in your ability to do things? Sure. The mind can achieve what the body can concieve? Not necessarily.
I remember pushing myself at the gym back when I actually used to go... maybe 2002 was the last time I went with regularity. And I turned 27 that year. I don't think I necessarily pushed myself real hard this morning, but the sad (very sad) part is that.... well... you know how normally after a hard workout, your body really "feels it" the next day? Well, I felt it by about 11 AM.
My muscles hurt, my legs and arms are achy. I imagine I will need my wife to pull me out of bed tomorrow morning.
I hope to continue with this, though, because, really... being fat is funny sometimes and makes for good jokes when I get together with my co-editors at Boiled Sports... but it's no way to go though life. Dean Wormer told me that.
It was the first time I've officially worked out in a gym since I was laughingly preparing for my wedding by going to the gym to be in shape for my Hawaiian honeymoon. What? You didn't realize I did that? You don't remember me going all the time and getting trim and fit and devastatingly handsome to wow the polynesian ladies of Maui?
Yeah, I don't remember it, either. But I'd say it's been roughly a year since a set foot in a gym.
I had to hitch a ride in to work today with a friend of mine here and he goes in at ungodly-early hours to work out at a gym connected to our office building. So I decided I was officially out of excuses and that I should just go with him and work out. Rather than, you know, pretend he was just giving me a ride in and that getting to my desk at 6:45 AM was normal.
I remember the sensation of working out... and it kind of sucks. And I only feel really good about it during the hour or so after I shower and head into the office. I feel energized, I don't feel like a slug and I feel productive and focused. And then, a short time later, my body remembers that I got up at 5:30 in the morning.
I'm certainly not "old" by any means, but a am a decade older than a person I manage... and can a decade make a difference in your ability to do things? Sure. The mind can achieve what the body can concieve? Not necessarily.
I remember pushing myself at the gym back when I actually used to go... maybe 2002 was the last time I went with regularity. And I turned 27 that year. I don't think I necessarily pushed myself real hard this morning, but the sad (very sad) part is that.... well... you know how normally after a hard workout, your body really "feels it" the next day? Well, I felt it by about 11 AM.
My muscles hurt, my legs and arms are achy. I imagine I will need my wife to pull me out of bed tomorrow morning.
I hope to continue with this, though, because, really... being fat is funny sometimes and makes for good jokes when I get together with my co-editors at Boiled Sports... but it's no way to go though life. Dean Wormer told me that.
