Eat It

Hello,
I'm not going to start off with apologizing for not posting for a while. It just is what it is, at this point in my life I'm probably not going to post a lot. Eat it.

In any event, last time I posted back in September it looked like i was trying to get back on track weight wise. I got off that track. I don't know what I got up to weight wise and I don't think I will ever know, but it wasnt pretty.

I spent this past Christmas being the heaviest I've been since loosing 100 pounds in 2007-2008, I'm sure of that.

Like all of the other slackers, I started doing something about it Jan 1. Not as much because it's a new year, but more because I'd started a new job. A job with a gym, and job I could get back to cyclo-commuting to.

I also went on a sort of South Beach thing. Basically doing low carb, but not paying a lot of attention to volume or calories.

It's worked. I don't know exactly what I dropped because I didn't weight myself when I started, I couldnt take the number. Didnt need the dissapointment.

Now I'm right at 240 and still going strong. I've been getting some exercise here and there, but most of this has been diet.

My goal is to get to about 220, so another 20 pounds. My lowest weight was around 203 or so, but I really can't maintain that unless I'm doing lots of cardio all the time and eating spot on. 215-225 if more what works for me, and looks good. In fact if I put on more muscle like I want to it could even be higher.

but right now I want to get to 220 or so.

Things that are different this time than say, 2007, is that :

- I'm not weighing myself every day. Some people may agree with this or not, but at least during this phase I don't want to do it. I don't want to be obesessive, I just want to do my thing without having to "monitor" progress or stats all the time. I just want to be normal.

- Low carb not low fat - I did low fat the first time, but I also counted calories and everything else. I'm doing low carb just because. I don't know if one is better than the other, but I figured i'd try something new. I do think low carb or at least South Beach makes you lose weight fast at first, which is something I needed for a mental boost. Long term I think South Beach is crap and not realistic.

- less exercise - not on purpose, it's just that this time around life is different. Even though I can ride my bike to work it's twice the distance so more of a time commitment, and I have 2 kids as compared to none in 2007. I have to be more strict on diet.

- Build Muscle - I'm not doing this yet, but I really think I need to build more muscle otherwise I'm always going to be flip flopping like this. in 2008 when I weighed 203, I was fit but not toned. 220 with more muscle mass will look and perform way better than 203 and no tone. Cardio was what I did all the time because it was what was easier for me to do. I need to do more muscle building stuff this time. I havent started that yet.

- be normal - in 2007-20008 I was crazy. Posting on this blog daily, cario a few times a day, lifting 3 times a week (for a while anyway), eating spot on. But none of that really is what normal people do. It's what someone trying to lose 100 pounds does. And I did it, in 6 months. But this time I need to do this a different way. I need to just take my time, not worry about things as much, but just consistently be good with food and exercise.

I'm at a point right now, even at 240, that I feel pretty good about myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to lose another 20, but I at least don't feel like a failure, and a borderline fat slob like I did 2 months ago. Part of that is because I'm not obsessing over numbers. I truly don't care what waist size my pants are, or what the scale says today. My progress gauge is just, how do I feel? Am I happy with myself?

So the answer is yeah, kinda. I'm happier than I was. I'll be happier in another 20 pounds, and I'll get there.

So that's where I am right now. I probably need to switch up the low carb thing soon because I'm starting to get more workouts in, and I feel like my body is getting too used to low carb. We'll see.

One way or the other I'll get to 220. Definitely by the first day of Summer, if not sooner. Perhaps I'll post again then, if not sooner.