So obviously, I missed some days. Today is Tuesday, 12 January 2010. After a fairly long weekend I stepped on the scale and weighed in at 252.2 pounds. I'm 11.2 pounds down and just 19 from my birthday goal. I know it'll begin slowing down even further, but I'm enjoying the loss while it lasts. To be honest, I wasn't sure how I'd be doing since I snacked some this weekend. I didn't eat anything horrible, but I had a small handful of white cheddar cheez-its. Then I was at safeway yesterday and they had JUST taken some bagels out of the oven. I've never had one of them that fresh before and the Jalapeno and cheese one looked too good to pass up. So I got a blueberry one for my son and the jalapeno myself. Despite that, I stayed on track and kept losing.
Now, to the reason we were at safeway yesterday morning. My oldest son had a follow-up doctor visit to discuss the results of the questions his teacher and I answered. Once she tallied up the scores of the provided answers it was clear, even to a layman, there was a very strong possibility for ADHD. He scored very high in struggling with impulsivity and hyperactive behavior on both assessments, while getting a 0 from both myself and the teacher on any questions implying any willful disregard for rules or other people.
After reviewing the scores and likely cause we began discussing how to address the issue. He's been in counseling a couple times and is still going, but that's only having a little, if any, success so far. I've tried multiple ways of dealing with his behavior myself and met with varying success personally. However, that doesn't help if he just reverts back when I'm not there. And in this day and age, teachers aren't authorized to dull out corporal punishment like they could when I was in a Christian school. It's amazing what just knowing the threat exists can do for your behavior. However, that's another topic for another time. Finally, we got to the topic of medication. As anyone who knows me or has read this blog knows, I don't like this idea. However, in the research I've done on the topic and people I've spoken to (including two doctors, and parents of adhd kids) the possible results can't be ignored. The one she was interested in starting him on is Concerta. After a detailed discussion, we decided to give it a try. What it really came down to was that it will help his ability to focus. It might make him lose a bit of his appetite, but I don't have to give it to him every day. If I decide I don't want to give it to him on weekends, there's no weening period. He takes one pill early in the morning, before school, and that's enough to last for about 8 hours, which should be enough to get through school. Today is his first school-day on it, so I'm really anxious to find out how he's doing. Good or bad, I'll have it on here.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Day 5 - Shouldn't have had that Chicken Stir-Fry
Welcome to Day 5. I weighed in at 254.2 this morning. That's 1.2 down from yesterday and 9.2 overall. Hopefully, by this time next week I'll be under 250 and on my way to tackling 240.
A couple of my co-workers decided they were going to go to a Teriyaki place for lunch and invited me along. I wasn't going to eat anything, but wasn't able to grab my lunch I brought before we left so I was pretty hungry. I got the Chicken Stir-fry with white rice. It was really good, and I figured it couldn't be that bad for me considering it's a stir-fry, but I sure don't feel great right now. Let's hope it's the sodium from the teriyaki making me feel worse. I knew I should stay away, but it looked really good and was certainly healthier than most of the menu.
This is probably a good time to confess the biggest obstacle I've ever had to getting my ideal body. Once I actually start doing the things I know I need to do to get in shape, I've always been able to drop body fat and build muscle pretty easily. Then I'll get to a point where I'm feeling much better about myself internally and externally and decide it's ok to let off the gas a little. It might start with a burger, a slice of pizza or a drink. But I wind up getting stuck in the "just one meal isn't going to kill me" mentality. And it's true. One meal or drink won't kill you. However, when that one meal doesn't make you feel like crap and you use that as internal justification for doing it again, you end up in the same place you started. Fortunately, I'm nowhere near feeling good about the way I look and feel so the odds of this meal leading to any type of relapse is remote. But it's always in the back of my mind. Many diet strategies will advise you to "cheat" once a week or so. The thinking is that you'll not miss the foods you love most and therefore be less likely to fall back into the habits. That's never worked for me. I do best when I never cheat. You train your body to eat a certain way, and eventually, it doesn't crave those other foods. Another way to look at it is this: The way you eat is a habit, typically formed over many years. Often we become somewhat addicted to certain types of food. Our body becomes accustomed to them and you'll sometimes find yourself physically craving something even though you know it's not good for you. This may sound extreme, but what's the difference between that and a tobacco, drug or alcohol dependency? Have any of you ever heard of a rehab clinic that tells their clients "throw down a couple shots on Sunday, and you should be good for the rest of the week" or "Just snort one line on the weekend when you're not at work so you don't have to worry about needing it during the week"? I haven't. Food, sloth and the race for the easy fix has turned our society overweight to the degree it's now an epidemic. Yet we're still treating it as a small change to our routine that we can take a momentary reprieve from at will and then we wonder why so many people experience the yo-yo effect.
Alright, I'll get off that soap box for now.
As a follow-up to yesterday's post, I did take my oldest son to his pediatrician yesterday. It was a really good appointment. We went over his medical history, his behavioral history, home life, etc.. While her and I don't share the same opinion of whether or not ADHD is over-diagnosed (She's a doctor, so I consider it intelligent to defer to her opinion on that for the time being. At least until I author some type of case-study or something with my Ivy league-educated medical staff. That might be a little bit down the road; or never.) We do share an opinion with treating it when it is properly diagnosed. She looks at how the disorder is effecting the child's self-esteem, social life and academics. If it's not causing a negative impact on any of those things she sees no reason to pursue any type of aggressive treatment. However, if it is negatively imapacting those things (as it is already with my son) we can discuss possible treatments. She gave me two questionnaires to have filled out. One is for me and the other for his kindergarten teacher. Once those are completed we'll go back, review the answers and discuss what we're going to do from there. So we shall see.
I can't think of a whole lot more to write at the moment. This weekend should be full of cleaning the house and watching the NFL playoffs. However, I'll be sure to update this. Hopefully I'll be able to get both boys to take a nap at the same time and can sit down and relax for a minute and do that. As any parent of young children can surely attest, getting multiple kids to actually take a nap at the same time is disturbingly satisfying. The whole house goes quiet. Then, a while later.... you hear a cry. Then, a second later, you hear another... and it gets louder as you realize it's you... because the peace is gone until bedtime.
A couple of my co-workers decided they were going to go to a Teriyaki place for lunch and invited me along. I wasn't going to eat anything, but wasn't able to grab my lunch I brought before we left so I was pretty hungry. I got the Chicken Stir-fry with white rice. It was really good, and I figured it couldn't be that bad for me considering it's a stir-fry, but I sure don't feel great right now. Let's hope it's the sodium from the teriyaki making me feel worse. I knew I should stay away, but it looked really good and was certainly healthier than most of the menu.
This is probably a good time to confess the biggest obstacle I've ever had to getting my ideal body. Once I actually start doing the things I know I need to do to get in shape, I've always been able to drop body fat and build muscle pretty easily. Then I'll get to a point where I'm feeling much better about myself internally and externally and decide it's ok to let off the gas a little. It might start with a burger, a slice of pizza or a drink. But I wind up getting stuck in the "just one meal isn't going to kill me" mentality. And it's true. One meal or drink won't kill you. However, when that one meal doesn't make you feel like crap and you use that as internal justification for doing it again, you end up in the same place you started. Fortunately, I'm nowhere near feeling good about the way I look and feel so the odds of this meal leading to any type of relapse is remote. But it's always in the back of my mind. Many diet strategies will advise you to "cheat" once a week or so. The thinking is that you'll not miss the foods you love most and therefore be less likely to fall back into the habits. That's never worked for me. I do best when I never cheat. You train your body to eat a certain way, and eventually, it doesn't crave those other foods. Another way to look at it is this: The way you eat is a habit, typically formed over many years. Often we become somewhat addicted to certain types of food. Our body becomes accustomed to them and you'll sometimes find yourself physically craving something even though you know it's not good for you. This may sound extreme, but what's the difference between that and a tobacco, drug or alcohol dependency? Have any of you ever heard of a rehab clinic that tells their clients "throw down a couple shots on Sunday, and you should be good for the rest of the week" or "Just snort one line on the weekend when you're not at work so you don't have to worry about needing it during the week"? I haven't. Food, sloth and the race for the easy fix has turned our society overweight to the degree it's now an epidemic. Yet we're still treating it as a small change to our routine that we can take a momentary reprieve from at will and then we wonder why so many people experience the yo-yo effect.
Alright, I'll get off that soap box for now.
As a follow-up to yesterday's post, I did take my oldest son to his pediatrician yesterday. It was a really good appointment. We went over his medical history, his behavioral history, home life, etc.. While her and I don't share the same opinion of whether or not ADHD is over-diagnosed (She's a doctor, so I consider it intelligent to defer to her opinion on that for the time being. At least until I author some type of case-study or something with my Ivy league-educated medical staff. That might be a little bit down the road; or never.) We do share an opinion with treating it when it is properly diagnosed. She looks at how the disorder is effecting the child's self-esteem, social life and academics. If it's not causing a negative impact on any of those things she sees no reason to pursue any type of aggressive treatment. However, if it is negatively imapacting those things (as it is already with my son) we can discuss possible treatments. She gave me two questionnaires to have filled out. One is for me and the other for his kindergarten teacher. Once those are completed we'll go back, review the answers and discuss what we're going to do from there. So we shall see.
I can't think of a whole lot more to write at the moment. This weekend should be full of cleaning the house and watching the NFL playoffs. However, I'll be sure to update this. Hopefully I'll be able to get both boys to take a nap at the same time and can sit down and relax for a minute and do that. As any parent of young children can surely attest, getting multiple kids to actually take a nap at the same time is disturbingly satisfying. The whole house goes quiet. Then, a while later.... you hear a cry. Then, a second later, you hear another... and it gets louder as you realize it's you... because the peace is gone until bedtime.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Day 3 & 4
So I hit day 3 and already had a whole day without posting. Tuesday was supposed to be a day off for me, as I wrote in my previous post. I took off with my girlfriend and headed to Gig Harbor, WA to relax for a while sans kids. It was going quite well until around 11:45 in the morning when I got a call from my older son's school:
Apparently he was given the opportunity to be leader of the day for his class. He's in Kindergarten, and he generally really enjoys these bits of responsibility that are awarded him at times. However, this time he began stomping around the room for no apparent reason. His teacher then told him if he didn't stop, he'd be fired as the leader of the day. At that point my son lost it. He began throwing tantrums and acting up. When another staff member came to take him to the office, he kicked the staff member. Suffice it to say, I had to go pick him up, so there went my vacation day. While this behavior is in no way acceptable nor age appropriate, it seems a good opportunity ti provide a small backstory. My boys' mother and I separated in August of 2007 and are now divorced. He was just barely 3 at that time. Since then he hasn't had a lot of consistent contact with her, which hasn't always sat well with him. Previous teachers of his have expressed their concern that he was emotionall younger than his age. When that concern is paired with my knowledge of everything that happened in his young life, it seems he stopped emotionally developing around that time. We have made progress in catching him back up, but it is an ongoing issue. To top all of that off, there seem to be fairly obvious signs of ADHD in him. I hate typing that. To this day I have a firm belief that ADHD in this country is grossl over-diagnosed. I believe that as a society we're doing all we can to absolve anyone of any personal accountability, so it couldn't possibly be that you can barely even spank a child anymore that causes them to feel they can act out, right? ADHD is, in my opinion, a way of many parents blaming someone else for what they're doing, or not doing as it might be. Now that I've gotten that out, I do believe it exists. For the last few years, people have brought it up to me as a possibility and I've put it away in the back of my mind. One of my downfalls is that I have an extraordinary amount of confidence in my ability to fix any situation, given the time and opportunity. Most of the time it's one of my favorite traits about myself. On occasion it can bite me in the ass. Being that I'm aware of that though, I try to prevent it from doing any harm. I say that because I have to at least recognize the possibility that my son might have ADHD. If I recognize that possibility, I also have to recognize the potential ways to treat it. I tend to be even more against the medication than the diagnosis to begin with. But I've also read countless stories to this point about kids who didn't get medicated, but wished they had, or did get medicated and it changed everything. He's developing a negative reputation amongst his classmates because of his erratic behavior and it's going to begin effecting his self-esteem, assuming it hasn't already. Therefore, we have an appointment with his pediatrician tonight to begin the process of a hopeful diagnosis one way or the other.
That was most of what went on Tuesday. I woke up Wednesday and weighed 255.8. So that's another 3.4 pounds down. Again, I'm positive it's mostly water weight and my body flushing itself of the crap that was in it, but it feels good nonetheless.
Wednesday I got off work and went to pick up the boys. I had a good discussion with my older son's teacher. He didn't have a great day, but it wasn't horrible and he didn't throw any fits or hit anyone. She was happy I was taking him to see the pediatrician. She couldn't say "ADHD", but made it fairly obvious that's where her concern was. For the first time I felt she was truly concerned about him. Her and I have had conversations before about him, but it always just felt like problem solving and I wans't always convinced she was concerned for him as much as she was the class. However, last night she continually reiterated what a sweet and brilliant boy he is, but that he just doesn't seem to have the capability to stop himself sometimes. Anytime he does something wrong, he's immediately remorseful and knows exactly what he did and why it was wrong. She used an example of the classroom learning to read a book. It would be someone's turn to read a word and instead of waiting he'd just blurt it out. It's a small thing, yes, but demonstrates that he just doesn't make the connection between what his impulse wants to do and what he should do, until immediately after doing it. I hope this conversation, combined with the new diet I'm creating for him, his counseling and the doctor's appointment he has tonight can be a turning point for everyone involved.
After leaving his school, I went to my girlfriend's house to help her pick up and organize some things. Her kids had been at their dad's house for a couple weeks and were coming back so she wanted things as clean as possible. Once we did that, she took off for the airport to get them and the boys and I went home. We read some stories and then they went to bed.
This morning, I weighed in at 255.6. Sadly, I can't keep losing 3-4 pounds a day. =) I know I'll have days it might even go up due to muscle growth, the plateau effect and so on, but as long as it keeps going down, I'll take it. So that's almost 8 pounds so far. One day at a time ladies and gentlemen.
I know, this is becoming more about my life than the weight loss, but honestly, it all ties in. Things always try to get in the way. You just have to decide whether or not you'll allow it to happen.
Apparently he was given the opportunity to be leader of the day for his class. He's in Kindergarten, and he generally really enjoys these bits of responsibility that are awarded him at times. However, this time he began stomping around the room for no apparent reason. His teacher then told him if he didn't stop, he'd be fired as the leader of the day. At that point my son lost it. He began throwing tantrums and acting up. When another staff member came to take him to the office, he kicked the staff member. Suffice it to say, I had to go pick him up, so there went my vacation day. While this behavior is in no way acceptable nor age appropriate, it seems a good opportunity ti provide a small backstory. My boys' mother and I separated in August of 2007 and are now divorced. He was just barely 3 at that time. Since then he hasn't had a lot of consistent contact with her, which hasn't always sat well with him. Previous teachers of his have expressed their concern that he was emotionall younger than his age. When that concern is paired with my knowledge of everything that happened in his young life, it seems he stopped emotionally developing around that time. We have made progress in catching him back up, but it is an ongoing issue. To top all of that off, there seem to be fairly obvious signs of ADHD in him. I hate typing that. To this day I have a firm belief that ADHD in this country is grossl over-diagnosed. I believe that as a society we're doing all we can to absolve anyone of any personal accountability, so it couldn't possibly be that you can barely even spank a child anymore that causes them to feel they can act out, right? ADHD is, in my opinion, a way of many parents blaming someone else for what they're doing, or not doing as it might be. Now that I've gotten that out, I do believe it exists. For the last few years, people have brought it up to me as a possibility and I've put it away in the back of my mind. One of my downfalls is that I have an extraordinary amount of confidence in my ability to fix any situation, given the time and opportunity. Most of the time it's one of my favorite traits about myself. On occasion it can bite me in the ass. Being that I'm aware of that though, I try to prevent it from doing any harm. I say that because I have to at least recognize the possibility that my son might have ADHD. If I recognize that possibility, I also have to recognize the potential ways to treat it. I tend to be even more against the medication than the diagnosis to begin with. But I've also read countless stories to this point about kids who didn't get medicated, but wished they had, or did get medicated and it changed everything. He's developing a negative reputation amongst his classmates because of his erratic behavior and it's going to begin effecting his self-esteem, assuming it hasn't already. Therefore, we have an appointment with his pediatrician tonight to begin the process of a hopeful diagnosis one way or the other.
That was most of what went on Tuesday. I woke up Wednesday and weighed 255.8. So that's another 3.4 pounds down. Again, I'm positive it's mostly water weight and my body flushing itself of the crap that was in it, but it feels good nonetheless.
Wednesday I got off work and went to pick up the boys. I had a good discussion with my older son's teacher. He didn't have a great day, but it wasn't horrible and he didn't throw any fits or hit anyone. She was happy I was taking him to see the pediatrician. She couldn't say "ADHD", but made it fairly obvious that's where her concern was. For the first time I felt she was truly concerned about him. Her and I have had conversations before about him, but it always just felt like problem solving and I wans't always convinced she was concerned for him as much as she was the class. However, last night she continually reiterated what a sweet and brilliant boy he is, but that he just doesn't seem to have the capability to stop himself sometimes. Anytime he does something wrong, he's immediately remorseful and knows exactly what he did and why it was wrong. She used an example of the classroom learning to read a book. It would be someone's turn to read a word and instead of waiting he'd just blurt it out. It's a small thing, yes, but demonstrates that he just doesn't make the connection between what his impulse wants to do and what he should do, until immediately after doing it. I hope this conversation, combined with the new diet I'm creating for him, his counseling and the doctor's appointment he has tonight can be a turning point for everyone involved.
After leaving his school, I went to my girlfriend's house to help her pick up and organize some things. Her kids had been at their dad's house for a couple weeks and were coming back so she wanted things as clean as possible. Once we did that, she took off for the airport to get them and the boys and I went home. We read some stories and then they went to bed.
This morning, I weighed in at 255.6. Sadly, I can't keep losing 3-4 pounds a day. =) I know I'll have days it might even go up due to muscle growth, the plateau effect and so on, but as long as it keeps going down, I'll take it. So that's almost 8 pounds so far. One day at a time ladies and gentlemen.
I know, this is becoming more about my life than the weight loss, but honestly, it all ties in. Things always try to get in the way. You just have to decide whether or not you'll allow it to happen.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Day 2
Yesterday wasn't a great day, but for reasons not having anything to do with the motivation behind this blog. I did get off work early, which was nice. However, I get off work early every Monday so I can take my oldest son to Counseling. It's not a whole lot of fun to be told of things you're doing wrong as a parent. That doesn't mean the advice isn't sometimes valid, but sometimes it's just irritating. While there may certainly be some fundamental things I could do differently, often I'm left wondering how someone who has met my son 5 or 6 times can debate the effectiveness of the way I react to him sometimes. I know, we all see our children as unique and unlike any other child when, in reality, most children at that age will respond in a similar fashion. However, that doesn't detract from the differences in personality from child to child and that's where I have difficulty fully committing to what I'm being told. I realize you reading this might look at what I'm writing as another parent being over-protective in one way or another. I might sometimes feel the counselor doesn't fully understand my son and how to deal with him in specific situations. Likely, the resolution and truth is somewhere in the middle.
I also had a bit of an argument with my girlfriend last night. Actually, I don't even think argument is the right word. There was just something off and I'm not sure what. Her and I are actually both supposed to be taking the day off today, so hopefully we can still do that. It's been a while since we've really had any time to do something with just the two of us, so it'd be a really nice break.
Anyway, now that I'm done with the "poor me" section of the blog: I weighed in at 259.2 pounds this morning. That's a loss of 4.2 pounds on the first day. Granted, the majority of that is going to be water weight, but it feels like a good start nonetheless. I actually weighed myself 4 different times and the 259.2 was the highest number read, so I know the scale wasn't sitting on something or anything like that.
I'm on my way to work and hoping to get out of there soon so I can take some time with my girlfriend, so I need to get some work done. I'll check back in a while.
I also had a bit of an argument with my girlfriend last night. Actually, I don't even think argument is the right word. There was just something off and I'm not sure what. Her and I are actually both supposed to be taking the day off today, so hopefully we can still do that. It's been a while since we've really had any time to do something with just the two of us, so it'd be a really nice break.
Anyway, now that I'm done with the "poor me" section of the blog: I weighed in at 259.2 pounds this morning. That's a loss of 4.2 pounds on the first day. Granted, the majority of that is going to be water weight, but it feels like a good start nonetheless. I actually weighed myself 4 different times and the 259.2 was the highest number read, so I know the scale wasn't sitting on something or anything like that.
I'm on my way to work and hoping to get out of there soon so I can take some time with my girlfriend, so I need to get some work done. I'll check back in a while.
Monday, January 4, 2010
And So It Begins....
Today is Monday, 4 January 2009. I'm officially beginning today, and not a moment too soon. I weighed in today at the most I remember weighing since high school. And at least back then I had the excuse of lifting weights 6+ hours per week. I'm at 263.4 pounds. Honestly, I never imagined I'd be up that high. I still wear the same clothes I have for a while, though they obviously don't fit as comfortably. I also meant to take overall body measurements during this process, but I didn't have time to do that this morning.
While I find myself more than a little depressed, I'm glad I finally just stepped on the scale for the first time in the last few months. It was a nice dose of reality. That being said, I'm also considering being more aggressive with my goal now. Ideally I had wanted to be around 220 by my birthday on April 2, assuming I was closer to 250. While I'll likely keep my official goal at 30 pounds before then, I'm going to shoot for 40.
I'm sick of feeling so unhealthy and generally pride myself on being in pretty good shape. I've let that get away and I need to get it back. I also have a bet to win. My friend and I have a bet. He wants to get under 175 and I want to get under 220. Whoever does it first gets a best buy gift card. He doesn't have as much to lose as I do, but he also drinks more than I do, so I'm counting on that to help. What's irritating is that just over a year ago I was at 222. I could have just taken a laxative and won the bet. However, at least it gives me a little additional motivation now. =)
So, between that and being back to work for the first time in a week and a half, today kind of sucks so far.
According to livestrong.com, I need 2,149 calories per day to meet my goal. And considering that I do best on high protein diets, that should be a relatively easy number to stay under. As I said in my original post, I'm doing a combination of Nutrisystem and my own custom diet.
I can't wait to get back in shape the way I should be.
I'm sure I'll have more to type later, so I'll check back in then.
While I find myself more than a little depressed, I'm glad I finally just stepped on the scale for the first time in the last few months. It was a nice dose of reality. That being said, I'm also considering being more aggressive with my goal now. Ideally I had wanted to be around 220 by my birthday on April 2, assuming I was closer to 250. While I'll likely keep my official goal at 30 pounds before then, I'm going to shoot for 40.
I'm sick of feeling so unhealthy and generally pride myself on being in pretty good shape. I've let that get away and I need to get it back. I also have a bet to win. My friend and I have a bet. He wants to get under 175 and I want to get under 220. Whoever does it first gets a best buy gift card. He doesn't have as much to lose as I do, but he also drinks more than I do, so I'm counting on that to help. What's irritating is that just over a year ago I was at 222. I could have just taken a laxative and won the bet. However, at least it gives me a little additional motivation now. =)
So, between that and being back to work for the first time in a week and a half, today kind of sucks so far.
According to livestrong.com, I need 2,149 calories per day to meet my goal. And considering that I do best on high protein diets, that should be a relatively easy number to stay under. As I said in my original post, I'm doing a combination of Nutrisystem and my own custom diet.
I can't wait to get back in shape the way I should be.
I'm sure I'll have more to type later, so I'll check back in then.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Setting up the Blog
Good evening to everyone, or no one. This is my introductory post. My name is Jeremy. I'm currently 29 years old and living in the Seattle, WA area as a full-time single father to my two young sons (5 and 2).
I'll be turning 30 exactly 3 months from today. My entire life I've struggled to stay in shape. As a child and teenager I was always a big guy. Despite playing all the sports I could and truly enjoying lifting weights once I got into high school, I always fought the extra body fat my body seemed to love carrying around. While many of my family and friends would dispute the degree to which I need to lose weight, it always comes down to how we feel about ourselves, doesn't it?
I understand as well as anyone the danger in placing a specific number on an ideal weight since no two bodies are identical. However, I've become familiar enough with myself to know that I can easily stand to lose 30 pounds. That being said, 30 is by no means my end goal. Once that number is achieved I'll then reassess what I feel I need to do. However, since I have just 3 months before turning 30, I wanted to choose an aggressive, but possible goal. Over the years of fighting body fat, I've learned a lot about proper nutrition, supplementation and exercise. I will be using this knowledge to hopefully push me over the edge.
This likely sounds a lot like what many people today struggle with. So, what's the point in the blog? Just as I know a lot about my body, I know even more about my psyche. I have always had trouble finishing things. I love to procrastinate. While I don't believe in astrology, you could read about an Aries and find a lot that does apply to me. I am really good at the planning process. Whether it be at work, or life I thoroughly enjoy the art of identifying a problem, and designing a plan to address it. Where I find myself lacking is in the ability to see that plan through. That's the reason for this blog. My hope is that this provides me with some level of accountability to both myself, and you, even if you are only the one or two people I tell about this blog.
So, here's the plan I have so far:
I will actually be beginning on Monday, January 4th 2010. Yes, my birthday is April 2nd, but there's something about starting on a Monday, particularly since it's after the holiday break, that makes it feel like the right time. On Monday morning, I will wake up and weigh myself. That will be my starting weight, and I will post it on Monday. I will be using a combination of the custom diet I've created and supplement that with Nutrisystem at times when I have no time to prepare something. I do have a membership at a local gym, but being a single father with two young children doesn't leave me with a lot of time after work to go there. Therefore, my workout plan will center around the P90X program. It's the first home workout I've ever found that is truly entertaining for someone who wants to do more than just some more boring Cardio.
I'll do my best to post updates at least daily. I will do my best to be forthcoming, introspective and real through my posts. For those that know me, this will probably be hard to believe. My pride usually gets in the way of allowing anyone to see my weaknesses. However, since this is supposed to be my own self-imposed therapy, I figure I might as well go all in, or why bother?
Thank you again. I'll try not to make everything else so wordy.
I'll be turning 30 exactly 3 months from today. My entire life I've struggled to stay in shape. As a child and teenager I was always a big guy. Despite playing all the sports I could and truly enjoying lifting weights once I got into high school, I always fought the extra body fat my body seemed to love carrying around. While many of my family and friends would dispute the degree to which I need to lose weight, it always comes down to how we feel about ourselves, doesn't it?
I understand as well as anyone the danger in placing a specific number on an ideal weight since no two bodies are identical. However, I've become familiar enough with myself to know that I can easily stand to lose 30 pounds. That being said, 30 is by no means my end goal. Once that number is achieved I'll then reassess what I feel I need to do. However, since I have just 3 months before turning 30, I wanted to choose an aggressive, but possible goal. Over the years of fighting body fat, I've learned a lot about proper nutrition, supplementation and exercise. I will be using this knowledge to hopefully push me over the edge.
This likely sounds a lot like what many people today struggle with. So, what's the point in the blog? Just as I know a lot about my body, I know even more about my psyche. I have always had trouble finishing things. I love to procrastinate. While I don't believe in astrology, you could read about an Aries and find a lot that does apply to me. I am really good at the planning process. Whether it be at work, or life I thoroughly enjoy the art of identifying a problem, and designing a plan to address it. Where I find myself lacking is in the ability to see that plan through. That's the reason for this blog. My hope is that this provides me with some level of accountability to both myself, and you, even if you are only the one or two people I tell about this blog.
So, here's the plan I have so far:
I will actually be beginning on Monday, January 4th 2010. Yes, my birthday is April 2nd, but there's something about starting on a Monday, particularly since it's after the holiday break, that makes it feel like the right time. On Monday morning, I will wake up and weigh myself. That will be my starting weight, and I will post it on Monday. I will be using a combination of the custom diet I've created and supplement that with Nutrisystem at times when I have no time to prepare something. I do have a membership at a local gym, but being a single father with two young children doesn't leave me with a lot of time after work to go there. Therefore, my workout plan will center around the P90X program. It's the first home workout I've ever found that is truly entertaining for someone who wants to do more than just some more boring Cardio.
I'll do my best to post updates at least daily. I will do my best to be forthcoming, introspective and real through my posts. For those that know me, this will probably be hard to believe. My pride usually gets in the way of allowing anyone to see my weaknesses. However, since this is supposed to be my own self-imposed therapy, I figure I might as well go all in, or why bother?
Thank you again. I'll try not to make everything else so wordy.
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