Dog FOOD and Exercise

How would you feel if you carried around four 20-pound bags of dog food all day? DOG TIRED! 2 years ago, I used to weigh 80 pounds more and that’s how I felt. Run down. Exhausted.

Now I feel marvelous. Did I take a quick-fix pill or follow a fad diet? No, I just ate less and exercised more. That’s the only thing that really works.

Now that Beth is off to England, I’m getting back to business. I have 30 more pounds to go. It’s time to get busy.

I’m tweaking my exercise routine.

-- Monday and Wednesday, I’m on the treadmill.
-- Tuesday and Thursday, I take Pilate’s. It’s not as tough as last fall. I’m improving … slowly. When we’re on the mats, I can even touch my feet to the floor above my head. Not bad for 55.
-- Then (weather permitting), I’m walking 4 miles a day on Saturday and Sunday.
-- I get Fridays off. (I LOVE FRIDAYS!)

I want to push myself further on the treadmill.
First 5 minutes … 15% incline … 3.7 mph
Second 5 minutes … 15% incline … 3.8 mph
Third 5 minutes … 14% incline … 3.9 mph
Fourth 5 minutes … 14% incline … 4 mph
Fifth minutes … 13% incline … 4.1 mph
Last 5 minutes … 13% incline … 4.2 mph

Not bad for someone who used to be ready to die at 3 mph on the flat.


Monday, August 10, 2009

270 Pounds of FAT




In mid-January of 2008, I weighed 270 pounds. Yes, 270. Well, at least that’s what I think. When I first got up the courage to step on the scale – after dieting and exercising for 6 weeks – I weighed 265.


I cried.


For the first year of this multi-year diet, I lost 5 pounds a month, so I’m guess-timating that I weighed 5 pounds more when I started.


Only a couple of people know the actual number. It's not like it was a secret. I've seen pictures. I looked my weight. But saying it ... that's so out-there-for-all-to-see. I don't want to watch their expression. And the comments ... I can just imagine. "You weighed how much!" "Really, I thought it was more." I'm not ready for that.


I'm dealing with it to a degree. I've lost 72 pounds -- roughly 3/5s of the way to goal. But this is about more than loosing weight. I need to confront why I gained over 100 pounds. Otherwise, I can slip back into my old ways and put it all back on. I need to change.


The picture above is me in December 2007. It rotates with all the staff pictures in the lobby where I work. Even though I've lost part of that weight, I can't escape the great white neck picture. I hate it, but it's part of the reason I quit procrastinating.


I plateaued in early in 2009 and broke free … and now it’s happening again. I need to refocus and I hope blogging will help.


I'm fine with total strangers reading this. If you're going through something similar, maybe this will help. You're not alone. But will I tell my friends and co-worker? I'm not sure. Maybe not.


But there’s more to my life than weight loss – hence the title – Fat, Family and Other F Words.

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