A Starting Point

I went to the Doctor (continuing migraine issues) and they weighed me. It took a crane, of course. I weighed in at 321 pounds.

My goal for the year is two-fold.

"Reasonable" goal - 280 pounds. I have found that to be a cut-off. When I am under 280, I feel lots better and can do lots of stuff.

"Hallelujah" goal - 250. Keep hope alive.

I am joining Morningside College fitness center tomorrow. They have a pool, a jogging track and other fitness stuff.

I need some liniment

I survived the basketball game. But tomorrow and Saturday I am not sure I will be happy about it.

This Could End Badly

Dennis Gallagher just called - wants to play basketball today. I coach basketball. I watch basketball. I do devotionals at halftime of basketball games (at church). But it has been a long time (and a lot of pounds) since I have played basketball.

The other players are, of course, Dennis' boys (starters on high-school basketball team) and Ben, who could have been a good player had he not broken my heart and chosen singing and dancing over basketball.

If I do not blog for several days, weeks or months, you will know I am recovering from whatever I broke during the game.

My Beautiful Black Suit

I was going to wear it to the Christmas Eve service last night.

I was only about an inch and a half or two inches away from buttoning the waist.

Either need to get onto this exercise thing, or I need to buy a bigger black suit.

An Idea from an Unexpected Source

My son, Matt, is home for Christmas and he gave me an idea about weight loss. It is one I am going to try. Matt has never been a font of wisdom - his ideas have usually run more toward, "Let's blow this up and film it" or "Let's see what we have to do to get kicked out of Walmart" or even, "Let's stage a kidnapping at Hy-Vee and see how people react." (By the way, the answer to the last question was BADLY.

So, anyway, he mentions this website called sparkpeople.com which offers a lot of diet monitoring help. You enter your food intake and other information and it tracks your calories, fat intake, etc and makes suggestions (like, perhaps - "the fourth piece of turtle cheesecake was a bad idea." )

Anyway, I am going to sign up on Spark People and try to be faithful in entering my food intake. It might be interesting to see how many calories a day I am actually consuming.

Loser or Loser?

We spent the week at Ben's musical (he was fabulous in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"). I ate reasonably, but have not exercised at all. There just wasn't time. I am hoping that when his play and Madrigal (next week - I will be appearing in tights!) are over, I can get back to a reasonable schedule.

I am considering several exercise options, but have to stop thinking and start doing.

I want to be a big loser (of weight), not just a big loser!

Winter in Iowa

I have done a little better this week in terms of eating (though Outback just now was not a high point). I have not been eating as much junk food or as much food period. But winter hit Iowa this week. We had an ice/snow storm yesterday, and it is cold and windy today. Having fallen on my head a couple of times, I just don't exercise outdoors in the ice or snow. So, I have to figure out a plan B for exercise.

For me, neither exercise nor diet works alone. I have to combine the two. Living in Iowa makes that a challenge.

Progress!

Two good things happened today. First, I took a 45 minute walk in the woods with my daughter - again reinforcing how bad my physical conditioning is. But, still, I got the walk in. I need to to exercise about 4 times a week for at least 45 minutes to an hour to make a difference.

The second good thing was that the turkey ran out. I deep-fried a turkey for thanksgiving and ate the last turkey sandwich for lunch today. Hopefully, that officially ends the thanksgiving eating season, with minimal damage of around 5 pounds or so.

Now, I have a couple of weeks until the Christmas baking season takes hold.

The other problem I face is that I live in Iowa. it is probably in the low 40's, maybe high 30's right now. But soon there will be snow and ice on the road and temperatures below zero. I have to figure out a plan to exercise during winter.

How the Mighty (Big) Have Fallen

I just got back from a Thanksgiving, turkey-burning walk/jog. I went around a mile and a half. It was the beginning of my attempt to get back in shape and lose weight - post Turkey Day.

It reemphasized how far down I have gone in the last few months (read previous posts for my excuses). It is hard to believe that just 9 months ago, I marched/jogged 26.2 miles over a mountain and through the desert. My legs burn and my back hurts and I am badly out of shape.

My goal is to get ready to do the Death March again, March 30, 2008. That gives me around 4 months to get this thing done.

Right now, I have my doubts.

It will take discipline - not my specialty.
It will take consistency - not my specialty.
It will take defeating procrastination - not my specialty.

Thanksgiving

I wonder how much actual weight I can gain in one day? Hope not too much. But, really, honestly, no kidding, tomorrow I get serious about dieting and exercise.

I Was Going to Write about my Biggest Problem

I am a procrastinator. I was going to write about that - about how I need to stop putting off exercise and diet till tomorrow.

But I got busy today.

I hope to blog about that tomorrow...

A Bad Week in Virginia

Actually, I had a great time, seeing the Trents, my son and his fiance, and taking my son and the other kids to "College for a Weekend" at Liberty (the only college any Christian kid needs to consider).

However, traveling just seems to be the pits for eating and exercise. It was a bizarre week. We left Wednesday at 1, drove through the night and got there at 3 on Thursday. We spent Friday and Saturday hanging around Liberty, and hanging with Josh and the Trents. Then, we left and drove through the night again. Just got home around 10:30 this morning.

Lots of eating, a little exercise (walking around Liberty), but not a good way to start my commitment to become a big loser.

Oh, well. I will do better this week.

It's Time to Turn It Around

What a year this has been. On September 13, I turned 50. It was a lousy day. I was barely able to get out of bed because I was sick with the West Nile Virus. And it has only gone downhill from there. I don't feel 50. I feel 80.

The year started with lots of physical promise. I finished the "Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon" in late March. It is a 26.2 mile race through the desert and over a mountain at the White Sands Missile Test Range north of El Paso, TX. It was brutal, but inspirational.


Then, everything started going downhill. Soon after the marathon, I began to get cluster migraine headaches on an almost daily basis. I finally went to the doctor, who put me on something called Topamax – also known as the Devil Drug. After a couple of weeks of this drug, I started having dizzy spells, losing my balance and falling over. I felt horrible all the time. The doctor sent me to have my head examined (really, not metaphorically) – and after 6000 bucks worth of tests, they couldn’t find anything wrong. Finally, she suggested I go off my Topamax. Within 36 hours, I felt fine. Fortunately, I have only had a couple of minor clusters since the first of June.

But then, sometime in the summer, I guess I got bit by a critter who carried the West Nile Virus (or one of its near cousins). I was very sick for several weeks, and I still haven’t got my energy back in the month and a half since I got well.

Three weeks ago tomorrow, I woke up and got out of bed. I followed my normal routine, and suddenly my back began to hurt. By Wednesday, I couldn’t stand up straight and was in horrible pain. I have had bouts of this in the past, but never one that lasted 3 weeks.

So, why all the whining? Simple. I am 50, going on 80. And it all comes down to one root cause. I am a fat pig. I am around 6’4” and weigh somewhere between 310 and 320 pounds.

And the fact is, if I don’t do something about the weight, I am going to have a constant battle with asthma, with back problems, sickness – everything. The fact is, if I don’t do something soon, I won’t be around to worry about it. I am a 50 year old with a high stress job and I am morbidly obese. I am a heart attack waiting to happen.

So, I am going to lose over 100 pounds. I am going to blog about my weight loss, and will add pictures.

I am going to try to avoid gimmicks like the Atkins diet (though I may use it for a month or so in the winter here in Iowa, when exercise becomes a little more important). I am going to try to develop physical discipline to eat a little less and exercise 3 or 4 times a week for at least 45 minutes or an hour.

I have come to realize that this is really a spiritual battle. It is not my thyroid or hormones that is the problem. It is my lack of self-control and discipline. So, it has to stop now. I have to get it together now, or it will never happen.

I appreciate your prayers and your comments.

By the way, I walked and ran a little more than 2 miles tonight (37 degrees with 30 mile an hour winds – brisk!), so I am getting off my fat backside and going for it.

With hope, anticipation and trepidation,

Dave