A couple of weeks ago someone saw that picture and asked if it was taken when I was in high school or college. I had to inform them that it was taken about six months ago when I weighed under 230 lbs. and looked and felt as healthy as I had in a really long time. I managed to get myself all the way down to about 226, and I was in the middle of the 17 Day Diet, a low carb program that I had figured out a way to work within. Fast forward eight months and here's a picture of me hitting up downtown Minneapolis:
The difference is really quite striking. Part of the reason that I had gotten so low last year was because I was regularly playing basketball and was in a challenge with some of my co-workers. We decided to start this challenge back up at the beginning of this semester and if it was a college course, I'd be getting an early alert call from my academic advisor to discuss my failing midterm grade. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only guy in the challenge who has managed to gain weight over the past four weeks. Since we weigh in for the challenge every Tuesday, I will report my data on here every Tuesday. We have a pretty high-tech scale, so it gives these neat little printouts that list a whole bunch of information that I don't get. I'll give you that information, too. Without further ado:
Height: 5'10" (I'm working on getting to 6' by my wedding)
Weight: 261.8 lbs (wow, only a 35 lb weight gain)
BMI: 37.6 (hey, only double normal!)
BMR: 10006 kJ or 2392 kcal (I assume BMR stands for Big Meaty Rump)
Impedance: 467 (I would have guessed it would have said McDonald's)
Fat %: 42% (good to know 42% of me is delicious lard)
Fat Mass: 110 lb (well, yeah, that's basic math)
FFM: 151.8 lb (probably stands for Fat From McDonald's, most likely my fat free muscle)
TBW: 111.21 lb (definitely stands for Taco Bell Weight)
I guess there's some good news/bad news in these numbers. Because I'm the eternal optimist (insert snarky comment here), we'll start with the good news. The good news is that I've got lots of opportunity to get better. The bad news is I let myself become a marshmallow man again. A new feature will be three obtainable goals for each week to try to get this ship righted. Here's this week's goals:
1) No fast food this week. I need to put together seven solid days without stopping at McDonald's for breakfast. We are going out of town this weekend, but I'm going to insist on eating at restaurants where we can sit down and I can have the opportunity to make good decisions. With that said, I just had Chinese buffet for lunch. These goals start riiiiiiiiiiiight....now.
2) I'm going to work out for at least 30 minutes on four of the next seven days. Again, this one will be tough because we're going out of town, so I won't be in my regular basketball routine. Still, I can ball Wednesday and Monday, so I just need to stick in a half hour on the elliptical or go for a walk somewhere in between. Baby steps.
3) Two cups of fruit and three cups of veggies a day, no exceptions. For Pete's sake, they've been pounding the damn food pyramid into my head since I was four. How can I still forget to eat these things? Speaking of food pyramids, evidently the hot new thing is called MyPlate. Instead of trying to figure out servings, the powers that be are saying that when you get a plate of food, half of it needs to be covered in fruit and vegetables. That's a pretty simple idea. There appears to be numerous helpful resources that the USDA has put together to help me learn this concept. Their website appears to be aimed at your average third grader, but since I would quantify my current nutrition abilities at somewhere near a pre-K level, I think I should probably check out their useful charts, graphs, and whole grain finger puppets.
As far as the overall goal of the next 284 days, I'm shooting for under 200 lbs. Look, I went from 270 down to 240 and change in two months. I then went from 250-ish down to 226 in about two months. Unfortunately, I've been at the 260-265 weight long enough now that it isn't artificial like it was when I jumped up 10 pounds post Thanksgiving last year, but I've got nine months to lose 60 pounds. If I put forth even a little effort, getting back to 230 should be obtainable by February. That leaves me 30 pounds in five months, or six pounds a month, or a little more than a pound a week. This is the suit I'm going to fit into on my wedding day.
I'll even be rocking the look of cool indifference while I'm secretly trying not to pass out between the tremendous stress of the day and the stifling July 27 heat. I will not be buying this suit from a Big and Tall store. I will be buying one that requires a completely average amount of fabric. I will buy pants in the 30's and a coat in the 40's. I will be bringing sexy back.
That's all for now. Watch for upcoming posts about things that everyone has and that all stink (no, it isn't *insert body part here*) and the scam that is wedding day transportation.
Peace be with you (and also with you (but especially with you)),
Jeff
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