For various reasons some of us seem to have gotten a little bit out of shape.
Me? My lack-of-fitness started with an injury and that turned into depression and inactivity. I had a wake-up call almost 8 weeks ago when I hurt my back while ripping up the bedroom carpet. I realized that I’d let myself get terribly out of shape and I decided to do something about it.
Over the course of time, two years now, I have lead a sedentary life-style. I saw my weight balloon to 234 pounds. That’s way too much for me. I could probably hit 175/180 and not be ?too? thin. I have a goal weight of 180 pounds. I’ve been as low as 185 pounds within the last 5 years when I was really fit. I don’t know that I’ll ever be that fit again.
I started to diet and exercise after my wake-up call. I only weigh myself once a month on the 25th. My last weigh-in was 211, 23 pounds down from my worst weight. I’m on my way to meeting my goal and I expect to reach it around Christmas day. That will be my Christmas present to myself.
There are a lot of fad diets out there but for me it boils down to basic math. 3500 calories equals one pound of fat. I can hit 3500 calories thru burning some by exercise and eliminating calories from my diet. From what I’ve read it takes 12 calories per pound of body-weight to maintain your weight so everyone can calculate their individual calorie needs.
Do I stick to a diet everyday? No. There’s one day per week that we go out to dinner, a seniors dinner no less. I’m only 51! I eat my fair share of good nutritious food. I may slightly exceed my calorie count for the day but that’s what I do. I make up for it the rest of the week.
I cut out a lot of empty calories. Beer. I love beer but I haven’t had a beer in almost 5 weeks now. Before that it was only a six-pack a week. I look at it as too many calories to burn off. I’m thinking that after I reach my weight goal I’ll celebrate with a six-pack but I have enough self-control not to have a beer today. I’m serious about losing weight and getting into better shape. TiggerTwo’s walking has been an inspiration for me and has gotten me off my fat butt to walk more than once. I didn’t go as far as I wanted to today but I got out and did something. I’ve also ridden my mountain-bike and I do a small assortment of calisthenic type exercises. Getting into shape slowly and I’ve got the tight muscles to show it.
I know I can’t be the only one at TR that has the goal of losing weight and getting into shape. I don’t need a weight-watchers program for myself but it sure can’t hurt to have a discussion with other members about losing weight and exercising. That’s what this thread is all about. Run what you brung and maybe we’ll all be able to reach realistic goals and even better, have fun while doing it.
What are your goals? How do you plan to reach them? What do you do to reach them? What do you do about setbacks and cravings?
