Disclaimer: the number in this post isn’t what bothers me. I don’t want to hear bitching about numbers (mine especially or yours), unless you’re unhappy about yours and want to do something about it.
I hopped on the scale recently (something I’ve never owned before, and still rarely step on), the other day, and saw a number that was new to me: 167.5.
This is the most I’ve ever weighed, topping my post-Katrina expansion. And I don’t really care about that, because it’s all relative. I don’t care that I weigh that, I care that my BMI is high. I also care that I wasn’t able to button a pair of pants.
The problem is I have become sedentary. I’m traditionally used to a much more active lifestyle, and that just isn’t happening these days. Between the day job, the design/development LLC that Bea and I formed, the housework, and the less-than-happy knees, I just haven’t been exercising. And I /need/ to. I want to.
I just have to make the time. And I am. My friends Chum Dumpster and Everything Butt Sex have been meeting up at NOMA M-W-F at 6am-ish to run 5k. Chum and EBS are hashers who have been concentrating on the drinking part of hashing over the running part. While they run a slower pace than I do, they’re doing the hard part: getting up and doing it. This is what I need. So, Mondays I plan on bringing one dog, and Friday the other, leaving Wednesdays to myself. The pups need exercise too, especially chubby little Indy.
And as for the knees/etc, I’ve already taken the first step, so to speak: I went to the Louisiana Running Co to get fitted for a new pair of shoes: K-Swiss K-Ona C. They’re meshy on top and drain out of the bottom! THE BOTTOM! I really liked that place, too. Just a two-person startup, and I didn’t feel like I was being “sold to” – he just wanted to help me run how I wanted to (no races / half-marathons / full marathons). I definitely recommend them.
Now, obviously running won’t fix the problem alone. I have plans to mountain bike (at least a few laps at the spillway) every few weeks, and do Wii Fit on an almost daily basis.
There are of course dietary concerns, and all I’m going to say is that I’m already making a concerted effort to eat better, and especially cut out as much high fructose corn syrup / crap foods overall. I also understand that it’s just not practical to go whole-hog on that effort, so it’ll be within reason. The last thing I want to is stress out about what I’m eating. If you are (or if you aren’t) familiar with the next handful of months in NOLA, then you should read Pistolette’s excellent rationalization on eating and goals in NOLA.
And as usual, she has inspired Bea and I with our life this year. We have a list of goals, broken down into months, for the year. We’re gonna get a lot of shit done that we’ve been putting off. We’re tired of a project being 85% done.
What a cool post! I never read posts. I don’t know why I looked at yours – prosthetically hip I think. Anyway I don’t know much about guys’ weights but when I read 167.5 I thought that seemed a lot but then I saw your pic and you look fine!. I love the stuff about month goals too. How do you test your BMI? I want to eat kale but it scares me.
BMI is basically your fat percentage. There are ways online to ballpark your BMI – just ask Google. “Losing weight” isn’t so much about dropping pounds, but losing fat / creating muscle.
And sure, I’m not fat, but I have a belly I don’t want. It may not be a huge belly, but it’s there, and I aim to make it go away.
I had this happen to me recently, also. My BMI is higher, and so is my weight, although I’m still dead sexeh. I would love to lose 50 pounds, but set my sights on a realistic 30 pounds. Divided that by 12, and my goal is to lose 2.5 pounds per month. I can’t set stringent goals for myself, and I have to break things down into small bits. Otherwise – I know me, I’ll just rebel against anything stringent and balk at anything that seems too hard to do.
I think breaking into mini-goals is the way to go. One way to look is if you get stalled, but are okay with where you are, you could have reached 6 of your goals instead of 60% of one (incomplete) goal.
Lotta small wins instead of one fail. Glass half full/empty.
Congrats man. Very admirable goal and I wish you the best of luck.
I’m actually a bit envious; I too have fallen off the bandwagon recently. It’s gotten so bad that I’ve only run ONCE in the past two months!! And that’s after September, when I was running 5 or 6 times a week! Just goes to show, life can get real busy, real sudden. And when it does, if you don’t make time, fitness goes right out the window.
I know what you mean. I gained a solid 10 pounds over the holidays (mostly due to my “fuck it. It’s the holidays” attitude) when I already felt like there was a few pounds over what I usually weigh. I’m with you on the weigh not being the important issue. I’m more concerned with getting in racing shape and looking good in my birthday suit. I may make a trip to BR before too long to ride Commite. If you’d be interested in tagging along whenever that happens let me know.