Gone, Daddy Gone!

Three months ago today I began something I would end up calling - to nobody but myself - "Watt Fit 40" - an effort to regain some physical fitness before I turn 40, this month! Now, it didn't start out so lofty, it started out because my damn wife had to replace our damn scale and I was stupid enough to give it a try. I was pretty suprised when I read 159 lbs on the scale. Now that might not sound like too much but for a 5'8" guy who's always had a target of about 145 lbs, that was way too much. And I was not going to be 160. So that night I decided that I finally needed to get off my ass and do something about it. Cut to the chase - After just a short 3 months, on a good day, I have lost 20 lbs, this morning, in fact, I was 140. That's over 10% of my body weight. My resting heart rate has lowered by 10-20 points, which has increased my heart rate reserve by about that much. And none of my pants fit me anymore. How I did it - Not ever having had to watch my weight before it took a little bit to decide on a plan, but it essentially boiled down the a two pronged effort all aimed at creating a caloric deficit to force my body to burn fat. First off, aerobic exercise in the form of the treadmill 3 times a week. At first I could barely do a 30 minute, 1.5 mile program peaking at 4 MPH, now I can easily do a 50 minute, 3.7 miles program peaking at 6 MPH. And the second prong, a meal program - ok you could call it a diet. For pretty much the last 3 months (except for Thankgiving), its been a breakfast bar in the morning, sandwich and salad for lunch (now just salad), and chicken or fish with steamed vegetables for dinner. I gotta say though that my body was not ready to give up the pizza, beer & ice cream. For the first 2-3 weeks I felt pretty crappy. Like I was trying to break an addiction. But I managed through it, and very quickly after the initial period, my body flipped the other way and started to crave exercise. The downside - Well, not much except that my wife is pissed at me because apparently I'm violating some rule she has where I must weigh a certain number of pounds more than her. Oh, and she's also mad that I am finally interested in eating well, something she's been pushing for a long time. Next steps - Maybe, just maybe, I'll start going with Will and Rama to the gym to start toning and muscle building - If they are still doing that. But that won't be until after the party in Vegas.

(2006-12-05 13:51:49.0) Comments [5] // Permalink