Get Fit Slowly

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I can’t believe we’ve been doing this for a year already.  My wife would say I don’t stick with things for very long and that I have lots of (expensive) hobbies that I give up on.  But it seems that my fitness “hobby” has stuck–a fact that makes me really happy.

I know that my weight loss has stalled recently.  In fact yesterday was the first day that I’ve been under 192 in over a month.  And I know that I still have some more to lose.  Last year at this time I decided that I couldn’t wait until after the holidays to start losing weight because I didn’t want to have to lose the extra weight associated with said holidays.  For a lot of people, the end of the year is a time to slack off on fitness.  But for me, it’s a time to get re-motivated.  Last year I didn’t want to dig my hole any deeper and this year I don’t want to slide back down into that hole–not even a little bit.

So let’s take a look at just how far I’ve come in a year.  On November 1st of last year, I weighed in at 221 pounds and 30 % body fat.  I hadn’t done any real exercise since June of 2005.  In fact, the only exercise that I was getting–basketball with the guys at school three mornings a week–wasn’t working.  At the time, I used that exercise as an excuse to not be doing more.  But since my weight (and my body shape) was ballooning to its highest point ever it obviously wasn’t enough.  I wasn’t counting calories and I was eating and drinking whatever I wanted.

I decided that I needed a lifestyle change for myself, and for my family.  I didn’t want my kids to see a fat dad.  I didn’t want them to be made fun of at school because they had a fat dad.  I didn’t want them to be ashamed of a fat dad.  I knew my wife still loved me, but I wanted her to be proud of me for recognizing a problem and taking care of it.  This morning as I was putting on my jeans she called me skinny.  I don’t feel that skinny but it still felt really nice.

So, a little more than a year ago, JD and I started this site.  Along with my friends and family, GFS (Get Fit Slowly) helps me to feel accountable for my actions and keeps me motivated for staying fitter and healthier than I used to be.  I want to make good choices because it’s easier to write about the good things than the bad.  I have all of you guys to thank for that.

I’m proud to write that today I weigh in at 191 pounds and 24% body fat.  I lift weights 3 mornings per week and I get up at 4:45 to do so.  I also use the elliptical and/or treadmill at least 3 times per week.  Even when I’m not at the gym, I’m much more active with my kids and family then I used to be.  TV watching has decreased and active play time (both inside and out) have increased significantly.

I know that 30 pounds and 6% body fat decreases in 12 months aren’t huge numbers by today’s weight loss standards–it breaks down to a little bit more than a 1/2 pound per week.  But I’ve lost huge amounts of weight quickly in the past.  And the weight has always come back just as quickly.  My new lifestyle is about slow and steady weight loss and fitness gains and I think I’m achieving this.  I’m all about sustainability now.  And even though I haven’t dropped any weight in the last 3 months, I haven’t gained any either–that’s a huge positive for me.  It means that I’ve successfully altered the details of my life that at one time made  it difficult to maintain a healthy weight.

So where am I headed?  I’d like to get out of the maintenance phase and back into the weight reduction phase.  To point me in the right direction,  I’ve set two short term goals for myself to help me with this:

• Weigh 185 pounds by January 1st.  That’s a 6 pound drop in 8 weeks and should be very doable at .75 pounds/week.  It’s going to take more effort than I’ve been putting into my calorie reduction plan to achieve this goal, especially considering that we’ve got two major eating holidays and a trip to Southern California to visit my family coming up before January.  So it’s back to fitday.com for me.  Seeing the calories add up as I eat them each day is the only way that I’m able to reduce my intake enough to lose weight.  I’m able to maintain without it (which is a huge positive step) but I need it to lose weight.  If you’d like to keep track, here’s a link to my fitday profile.
• Run 90 miles in the month of November.  I’ve secretly had this goal in my head since the beginning of the month.  But I wanted it to be out there for everyone to see so that it would force my hand a bit.  My original goal was 3 miles/day without a day off.  But I’ve modified it a bit to give me a little wiggle room.  Now, I want to average 3 miles/day so that if I want to take a day off it’s ok as long as I make up the miles on other days.  So far the running has been good.  I feel good while on the treadmill.  My back hurts a bit while I’m warming up and then is fine.  It’s also a little sore after I cool off.  I’m stretching and keeping it limber and the pain isn’t getting worse.  Again, if you’d like to keep track, here’s a link to my weendure profile page.

What about long term goals?  Ultimately, I’d like my body weight to be under 180 pounds and my body fat % to be about 15.  The first goal is pretty easily attainable.  I’m not so sure about the 15% body fat however.  Right now, I have about 46 pounds of fat on my body.  If I weighed 180 pounds at 15% body fat, I would have about 27 pounds of body fat.  That means I have to lose about 19 pounds of fat while gaining about 8 pounds of muscle.  That seems like a tall order for someone who gets hurt every couple of months while lifting weights.  But, I’m going to start working out with a trainer again as soon as my back pain is totally gone and that should help.

There’s no doubt that in the past year, I’ve become a healthier person.  Yes, I’m leaner and fitter, but more importantly, I’m also happier.  I like who I am as a person more now than I did a year ago and it’s not just because I look better–my life is closer to being in balance than it ever has been.  No one can argue that I’m getting fit slowly.  I intend to keep on keepin’ on!