Weighty matters

I went to the track this morning to do some intervals (3 fast laps around followed by one recovery lap), as I try to do about every two weeks.   There were a few other people there walking, including a few who appeared to be exercising to lose weight, a goal I am very familiar with.  Seeing them walking made me think about my own transformation, and my obsession

I .....   was never a small man.  There are a few dates and weights that stick out in my mind very clearly.  Junior year in highschool, when I found out that I weighed more than 200 pounds.  October 1994, when I lost a bunch of weight to get to 225 pounds for my wedding.  January 3, 1996, I weighed in at 264 pounds, at the start of a 'biggest loser' contest long before they were popular.  April 1996, when I lost nearly 30 pounds in that contest (but still lost).  September 1998, I was back to 249 pounds, and started Weight watchers.  A year later, I was back down to 225 for the first time since that wedding 5 years earlier - this was the start of my running career.

Skip forward to 2006, and I remember weighing in at 200 pounds after years of struggling in the 200-210 range.  In 2009, I dropped to my lowest weight ever, at 182 pounds.  At my height, I would hit my non-overweight BMI of 25 at 177 pounds; I never made it there.  But I was in size 33 jeans (after wearing 42-44 in high school and college, and never thinking I would be out of the 40s) and still felt great, even after putting on a few pounds. 

Then I returned to the US from my 5 years overseas.  And that's when the weight came back on.  It wasn't long after I returned that I was back in the 190's, and then the high 190's.  I actually have records going back to about 2003 with all of my weekly weigh-ins, but only in the last two years have I kept a detailed spreadsheet (with graphs!).  200 pounds was my Rubicon - I abjectly refused to get above that weight, and came close more than once over the past two years. 

Why did this happen?  My guess is that suddenly, I was able to get to my comfort foods, many of which were processed, sugary, claimed to be low-fat or low-sugar or high-fiber, all of which I wanted, but I forgot that to minimize fat or sugar, you have to add more of the other to make food palatable, and my calorie intake still increased.  Overseas, we had less access to that, so we ate more 'real' food, and kept caloric intake down as well.  It also helped that we walked and biked a lot more when in Shanghai than we do here - it's just not feasible where we live.

So why all of this data?  It's my obsession (admit it, you have one too, right?  I'm not crazy or weird?)  My weight maintenance is a big deal to me, and it's just as much about feeling good and being healthy as it is about looking better.  I'm really much happier when I'm active, and on a good diet, and have the energy and flexibility and strength to do active things with my family.  It's why I run, lift weights, walk, and try to get some degree of exercise every day.  It's why I started Project 31, because that daily reminder of exercise helps me to keep my eating in check - it's too much work to lose weight, and I'm reminded of the required work all of the time.

And yet, project 31 isn't kicking in the way I wanted.  It's probably just because this week was the wrong week to start - my schedule is chaotic, the demands on my time are high, and my days start very early, so morning actions are a bit harder. 

After nearly touching 200 pounds again as recently as April (at the END of a biggest loser contest, believe it or not - I GAINED weight), I decided to get really serious.  I've been strict on my diet for a month (which has certainly helped me) and my running has kicked in hard, so I'm down eight pounds and header further down.  Yes, I weigh in every day, and maybe that's not healthy, but I also use that to track my water loss on my runs, so there's another reason. 

It's my problem, it's my obsession, but ultimately, it's my own life I'm helping.

One week down (and out)

So today was supposed to be day 8 of Project 31.  So much for that.  The only thing I've learned so far is that it's really hard to start a new habit, even one that you've been slowly creeping into for months.  Requiring yourself to do something that's new every day takes more getting used to than I appreciated.

Granted, this may not have been the best time for me to start, but I had to start somewhere.  Day 4 (Wednesday) was a holiday, and I fell out of my normal routine, so I 'accidentally' skipped for the day.  That's okay - happens to everyone, right?  Well, Day 6 wasn't better - I only did half the pushups I needed to, and didn't do any ab work at all.  Day 7?  I don't remember day 7 well at all, but I'm quite sure nothing was done.  Now I'm here on day 8, with no pushups to my day, no abs, no pullups, and this is my blog post for the day. 

So what else have I learned?  1) get your mandatories done in the morning - by the time noon hits, my schedule is too chaotic.  2) recruit some team members - my son will now join me in pullups, so maybe they'll get done.  3) Blogging at the end of the day dilutes my creativity - that should also happen before lunch.  4) I need more sleep.  :-)

So today is Day 1 again.  Project 31 starts over, and I bet that if I start now, I can get some abs done before I go to bed.  Just as soon as I finish this one other job....oh, and that one....and I need to get milk....and, oh dear.

Just (barely) getting it done.

Took off for the 4th of July, but did all my stuff today.  Even did the 10 pullups straight (which I never do).  Now on to 15 minutes of reading before bed.

Day 3- Not quite there yet

So today is day 3, and I woke up thinking I would go for a run and do my daily exercises in the morning before things got too hectic.  Got up, went on what became a really slow run, and got back to the house just in time for a shower before my first conference call.  That ran 1/2 hour long, so I headed right out to the office to put in a full day.  Wrapped up as early as I could and went home to spend a few hours with my family.  As soon as I walk in the door, I remember that I didn't do ANY of my new habits today.  *sigh*

So now it's almost 9:00 - I've got 70 pushups and 10 pullups done, and I need to do the rest on a tired body.  I also doubt that I'll get that daily phone call in, given that it's late, and I will need to stay awake long enough to read.  New habits just aren't that easy.

But I'm going to stick to it, and try to make my habits morning habits.  In theory, I'm more awake then, and also more likely to do the things I want to do.  I'm a late-day fader, so if exercise isn't done by 6:00 in the evening, chances are it won't be done at all. 

As an aside (or really a big thing), I'm signing up for the Cape Code Chowdah challenge in October.  It's a half marathon on Saturday (which my wife will also do) and a full on Sunday.  It's crazy, but I ran back-to-back 11 milers last week, and that went fine (the second was better than the first).  After this past weekend, I realized that I MUST EXERCISE EVERY DAY in order to keep my legs in shape.  After two days of not running and not walking any distance, my legs today felt like dead weight.  If you learn something every day, that's my thing for today.

Day 2

.....Not much of a post tonight either, as it's been a long day at work, so let me tell you this.  Project 31 is going to be my attempt to develop a few new habits:

- 100 pushups a day
- 100 situps a day
- 10 pullups a day
- Read for 15 minutes per day (pleasure, not work)
- write one blog post per day
- (already broken) talk to a member of my (extended) family every day.

That's right - it's day 2, and I've already broken one of my new 'habits'.  *sigh*.  it's worth doing, so I'll see if I can start that day 1 tomorrow.  After all, it takes at least a month to develop a new habit fully.  I wouldn't be surprised to see this become project 91 after a short while. 

Project 31 begins

Today, I start a new project. A daily habit project in which I commit to doing a series of things every day for a month this is based on project 365 which I heard about on the run run live podcast. I am including a daily blog in my list, even of I have to do it on my iPhone like now. Situps, pushups, Pullups, blogging and personal phone calls are on my list for his month. More tomorrow when I have a real keyboard