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I've just found this site and it looks like a good motivational tool to help finish the job that I started about a year and a half ago.
After many years of neglect, I'd gotten very out of shape and my weight had crept steadily up to 215, which was too much. Two factors made me finally wake up. First, my 40" waist jeans were too tight, and I either had to move up to a 42, or lose weight. Second, I found out that my BMI now put me in the "Obese" category. That was when I decided something had to be done. I didn't want to be that way.
So, over the course of the next year, I dieted. I wasn't doing anything in particular, and I wasn't very knowledgeable about nutrition. I also didn't have the motivation to do much exercise. But I figured even I was that lazy, I could at least not put the calories in my mouth in the first place. And, the weight steadily came off. By January 2010, I was finally back down below a BMI of 25 and into the "target" weight range. I kept going until I hit a low of about 162 in February or March. Then I eased up a bit and by October, I was back up to the mid-170s. When the scale read 179 one morning, I realized I wasn't maintaining well enough, and it was time to make another serious push to make long-lasting changes to my nutrition, diet, and overall health, including some exercise more than just the walks around the neighborhood that I'd been doing during the warm months. Since I live in the upper Midwest, I needed to find something to replace that walking, which was no longer really an option by November....
So, here I am now. With the help of an Xbox Kinect of all things, I've been getting regular and increasingly intense exercise since November. I've been learning a huge amount about nutrition, and my diet has improved tremendously. It's really just been in the last 4 or 5 weeks that I've made the changes that should have been made long ago. Knocking on the door of middle age, I'm finally eating right, and getting regular exercise - although I still have a long way to go before I can actually think of myself as "fit." I don't know if it's too late to undo all the neglect, but it seems to be paying off already. I feel much better overall, with better stamina and energy. I may be starting to see some more differences too, which is nice...I need those little rewards and incentives to keep going. I also need to find a way to keep my knees intact - they've been the least cooperative body part when it comes to the new routine.
Anyway, today I weighed in at 166.6, which is thankfully back down below the (arbitrary) 25 BMI, and back close to 50 lbs off of the maximum from 2008.
My ultimate goal is to shed about another 15 pounds of body fat, which will hopefully get rid of that lingering inner tube around the gut, and then up my calorie intake with protein and exercise - the idea being to burn off as much of the remaining fat as possible, then rebuild with some muscle.
It's been a long haul already, and I'm joining late in the game, but I know I'll need all the motivation I can get to stick with such an ambitious long-term plan.
SO, with all that said, today's update:
After 25 straight days of cardio, usually about 30-40 minutes each morning and evening, I feel like I'm running out of steam and need a break. But I dragged myself through it this morning and am feeling a little sore again. At least Xmas will probably force me to take a day off and recuperate, if I haven't by then.
Still getting caffeine-withdrawal headaches after about 24 hours, and I'd like to cut the last of the diet soda out of the diet, in favor of water. Overall, though, that's still going well.
Diet Calendar Entries for 22 December 2010:
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1640 kcal
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Fat: 54.38g | Prot: 110.23g | Carb: 200.78g.
Breakfast: pineapple, nonfat cottage cheese meijer, skim milk, GOLEAN Cereal, Hard-Boiled Egg. Lunch: Healthy Request Chunky Sirloin Burger with Country Vegetables, aunt millie's light whole grain. Dinner: Spanish Rice, lettuce, meijer refried beans, ground beef, kraft mexican cheddar jack, Flour Tortillas (Fajita Size). Snacks/Other: meijer wheat squares, pineapple, meijer nonfat cottage cheese, celery, whole grain goldfish, cocoa roast almond. more...
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2546 kcal
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Activities & Exercise:
Walking (slow) - 2/mph - 25 minutes, Driving - 40 minutes, Desk Work - 7 hours, Kinect - 1 hour and 25 minutes, Resting - 8 hours and 15 minutes, Sleeping - 6 hours and 15 minutes. more...
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