Recently, I decided that it was time to lose some weight. I was the heaviest I have ever been, and although I don't think most people thought of me as overweight, I was/am. At 6'4", I just carry it better, which means that it doesn't show as much on my frame, but I was nearing 250 pounds. Officially, I think my highest weight was 248 or so.
I started eating better (meaning less junk), and lost about 10 pounds over a couple of months. I also started exercising a bit more - mainly walking when I had time.
This past week, I made a bigger commitment, and set some tangible goals as well. I am doing the only things that have ever worked for me when it comes to weight loss. I am counting calories and exercising daily. Nothing overly hardcore, but enough that I should be able to continue to lose a pound or two each week. I think this will result in a lifestyle change, as opposed to rapid weight loss from Atkins or something similar.
I started the week at 237.6 (the joy of digital scales, huh?). This morning, I was 233.4.
I heard about an iPhone app that has been helping, called Lose It!. It enables me to easily track my caloric intake and to add exercise, which means I "earn" more calories. My wife, son and I are all trying to lose roughly 30 pounds each.
My goal weight is 210 or less. I'm not sure if I'll be able to hit this by late September, but my wife has a high school reunion event and I am hoping to be close when that happens.
This past week, I have been biking with my son, walking, some running, swimming, weightlifting, and doing calisthenics. Using another iPhone app, "100 Pushups", I have worked up to doing 32 real pushups over the past week. On the first day, I could do exactly 4. :) My longest set is 11 thus far.
One of my other goals is to be able to do 3 or 4 real pullups. I don't recall ever having done ONE pullup properly in my entire life, so this goal is far loftier than it may appear at first glance.
I've found so far that it's much easier to lose weight when we are supporting each other, and I've also discovered that I have more time to exercise than I thought. My energy level is much higher already, and I feel stronger and thinner.
If you actually read this far, you're probably wondering why I decided to share this level of detail. Two reasons:
- It will allow me to look back and track my progress
- I think it will be motivational and hold me accountable to know that many other people know my goals for this
Thanks very much for reading! I'm off to get another glass of water now. :)
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