Finding Any Kind of Shape
June 28th, 2006 by MikeO.K. so I’m gonna use the same excuse as millions of other husbands out there, I’ve gained 40 pounds since I started dating my wife. I’m not really delusional enough to actually blame it on my wife or our relationship making me fat. When I first started dating my wife I played basketball at least once a week, had two softball games a week during the summer, biked as much as possible and was working out at least 4 mornings a week. What happened? I got lazy, stopped playing b-ball, our company dropped the softball team and I stopped biking as much as I once did.
At age 24 I think I should be in the best shape of my life not the worst. I am smack dab in the middle of a family of over-weight people. My dad weighs over 300 lbs, his mom is over-weight, and my uncle is heading down the wrong path also. And with my son being born in a few weeks, I want to be an example to him, and a good one at that.
So, about a month ago I decided enough was enough and that I was going to lose weight. The workout that works the best for me is running, and coupling that with biking has been a great move. I’ve been waking up at 5:30 AM and heading over to Black Water Creek Trail at least 4 times a week. Black water has 6.5 miles of paved trail and quite a bit of singletrack. The singletrack is definitely classed as beginner to intermediate but after running it is a good challenge.
This combination has worked well so far. I’m down 20 lbs and up to running 5 miles. My breathing is better than it has been in a while and it is all helping my mountain biking. I’ve got 20lbs to go and I’ll be a great weight for my body type. I’m still working on my diet. That’s the hardest part for me. If anyone has suggestions they are definitely welcome. Hopefully I’ll be reporting back soon when I’m down to 200 lbs. That will be a great day for me.
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Hey that was great that you have started loosing the weight and don’t let that stop here only. Keep that continue till the time you don’t regain your previous fitness.
Thnx for telling me as well as my wife is after my life to reduce weight!
Congrats to you for your new born baby!!
Right on!
If your looking for inspriation or motivation you could read the book “Heft on Wheels”. Its about a guy who was 40 years old, weighed 300 lbs, smoked a pack a day and drank a case of beer a week. By the end of the book he is entering some of the most difficult bike races around. It really leaves you with the feeling that if this guy can do it anybody can do it. Its an inspiring book, but don’t expect to find any diet or training tips; its not that kind of book, but still worth the read.
Count calories and keep a food diary. Once you know what’s going in, you can better control it. I lost 35lbs (215 to 180)last year doing this (and eating better once I knew just how much I was eating). I didn’t even exercise other than an evening walk with my wife each day. I’ve put a few lbs back on, but some of that is muscle as I’m back at the gym and I’m back on the bike (6yrs off).
My motivation was learning that my blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglycerides were all high. Type 2 diabetes runs in my family, as does heart disease.
I LOVE to cook and eat. I’m a snacker, a glutton, a downright pig when it comes to food. It was tough in the beginning to cut my steaks into thirds, to not get that loaded baked potato, to not get the large slice of pie. It’s tough, but you have to retrain yourself. Good luck!
Chris
That’s hilarious!
A football playing a basketball. ):
Sorry…….!
I found that cutting out bread, and significantly reducing my meat intake helped me drop a lot of fat. Also, simple steps like only putting 6 sugars in my daily cup of coffee instead of 7 made a difference, too.
The hacker diet is well worth a read; it’s an online e-book by the founder of Autodesk (as in Autocad) on how he managed to lose weight and maintain his weight once he was at his goal weight.
Congrats on dropping the 20 Mike! Mountain biking is what did it for me… you remember the pictures of what I looked like before. I can’t believe you’re about to have a son! Dude, we’ve got some catching up to do. I miss Blackwater…. can I tag along with you sometime?