I’m back to being heavier than I want to be. I’m about 175 and 5’9”.
For most of my life I never needed to worry about my weight. I was usually active enough to stay in better than average shape. Then kids happened and work got busy. I would exercise for a few weeks and then get busy and quit. This happened for several years and in 2007, a combination of pants being snug and seeing 175 on the scale was enough motivation to get serious. Plus, the BMI said I was overweight and while I know that is not perfect if was enough to get me going. I was fortunate to have a small gym with shower in my office suite (I know, no excuse before).
I changed my diet during the week, and ate whatever I wanted during weekend. Most of the changes were to breakfast and lunch since my wife didn’t change what she cooked, but it was mostly healthy anyway. I did cut down on portion size. Lunch was changed to salad with a lot of different vegetables. Also changed snacks to fruits and veggies from crackers and ice cream and such. To help with cutting calories and increasing protein (wanted to build muscle – see next paragraph) I think I used this website,
Nutrition facts, calories in food, labels, nutritional information and analysis – NutritionData.com. I don’t remember it being associated with Self magazine, but maybe they bought it over the last five years.
For the exercise component I found a website that talked about High Intensity Interval Training. It said that a 25 minute workout would be better than longer cardio workouts. I liked the sound of that I used the stationary bike and started doing just 7 minutes and gradually increased to 30 minutes. I cannot remember how long it took to get to the full workout. I only did this 2-3 times per week. I think it was twice (Tuesday/Thursday) with a 5 mile run on the weekend. I also did free weights and found the program from Mark Rippetoe’s book Starting Strength. I never bought the book, but found the enough information on the web to put together a plan. I loved this plan and it’s great for beginners. Only three exercise every other day (Monday/Wednesday/Friday). I think after a year a new plan would be needed, maybe 6 months. I did have to bastardize it due to my limited equipment (only dumbbells up to 50 lbs.). My plan was to join a gym the second year, once I reached that limitation.
I kept notes on my weight and % body fat, but cannot find the file. I think I lost just over 20 lbs, but lost more fat and put on a little muscle.
Unfortunately, 2008 was very busy including me changing jobs and moving. I never got back into it. Fell back into the routine of running 3 days a week for 2-3 weeks and quitting. I’m now back to 175, I don’t feel fat, but the BMI calculation disagrees. I know I don’t feel as good as I used to and get winded easier. Coincidently, I exercised this morning for the first time this year. Hopefully, this thread helps keep the motivation. I was going to join the weight loss challenge, but didn’t for no reason except for the reason I got back to this situation – laziness.