Something From the Fat Boy

Yeah, that's me--the Fat Boy. I started out the year with the idea that I would lose 50 pounds by my 50th birthday. I even started out doing pretty well at working toward that goal. Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of the goal or just got tired of working at it and so June 13th came and went and the only thing that happened was that I turned 50 and weighed the most that I've ever weighed.

Aside from feeling like crap and either having to struggle to fit into clothes that are too tight or buy a new wardrobe, I also face the typical overweight health issues. I've noticed that my blood pressure is slowly on the rise, my knees get sore more often, stairs are a little bit more of a problem, ... you get the idea.

So along with a couple of the other fat boys that I work with, I'm back into the "be a better me" mode and we have a little contest to get us started on the way to a healthier weight. Our initial weigh in was eight days ago and the contest portion of my weight loss ends on August 31st. I really don't think that I'll be at my goal of 210 pounds by then, but that's the contest weigh in date.

We're all off to a good start with each of us losing 7-8 pounds in the first 8 days. While I fully expect these two guys to keep me on track for the first six weeks, I'm going to borrow from one of my Facebook friends and post a weekly progress report.

Week 1: minus 8lbs. (16% of my goal).

I've been eating better (and less) and trying to get a little bit of exercise. Although I think that increasing activity is more of my style rather than an exercise program. I'm taking my cue from Dr. Yoni Freedhoff at Weighty Matters, and from Lucy, the dog. Unfortunately, I don't do too much that is very active these days so I have been using the recumbent bike while watching a ball game...or watching a ball game while using the bike. I don't suppose it really matters which I'm doing with purpose and which is incidental. Although since the Cardinals have been playing like minor leaguers lately, I guess the main focus has been on the "activity" part!

I'm also going to try to get more sleep. I know that there is a correlation between weight gain and a lack of sleep. It makes sense that there would also be a correlation for a good night's sleep and weight loss. That's going to be harder than setting aside time to exercise!

In any case, we're off and running (so to speak). I'll keep you posted as to how it's going.

Oh yeah, I've also been drinking more water and tea and only had a couple of sodas in the past 5 days.

Soon to be the ex-Fat Boy,

John