I've Lost 31 Pounds - Now What?

I’ve never thought of myself as being fat, or even “heavy” – so when I weighed myself on December 31 last year, hitting a hefty 204 pounds, I thought a little.  I’m not a huge guy.  I’m just a hair short of five foot nine.  I’d climb ten stairs and be, well – kinda breathless.  Not good!  I’d lumber around the gym from time to time, workout and then come home to a beer and a heaping plate of high-carb pasta.  You get the picture – going nowhere backwards – and in fact – just increasing the daily bloat.

I just felt the urge to lose weight, setting myself a somewhat arbitrary goal of losing 30 pounds by July 1, figuring in 6 months, 30 pounds would be reasonable.  Not easy, but reasonable – and maybe even doable.  Maybe!

If you know me well, you’ll know that I am an all-or-nothing kind of guy.  I play to win – not come second.  My methodology?  Simple!  Eliminate all pizza, pasta, rice, bread and potatoes.  Yes, I cut it out completely.  And work out for at least 60 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week.  It’s not an easy commitment.

Six months and 16 days later -    I’ve lost 31 pounds and skipped a total of 9 days this year in working out.  Yup – of the 196 days of 2013, I have been in the gym 187 days – no kidding.

I don’t deserve medals, accolades or even admiration, but nevertheless, I am damn proud and along the way learned … not only about myself, but about others – and that’s what’s most important to me.

• Don’t like squats?  All the more reason to do them!  Hate lunges?  Then do 30 minutes of them - everyday.  There’s only one way to reduce hating a certain exercise – and that’s to do it.  The reason why you hate a specific exercise?  That’s because you suck at it – and the only way to not suck at it is to practice
• Engage with your trainers.  Training people can be lonely.  People show up at your class and grumble. Then they do your class and grumble a little more.  And then they go home.  They don’t share their trials and tribulations either – and trainers don’t like that.  They want to know when they’re too hard or too soft on you. They want to know they’re delivering results and they want to know when a particular class was either very good or bad.  So tell them.  Get to know them.  Tell them you enjoy their classes (or not) – but engage.  It’s good for their morale – and most of all, it’s good for your morale
• Working out seven days a week doesn’t mean a hill-o-beans if you come home and demolish three beers and a pound of potato chips for dinner.  Matter-of-fact --- do that and you’re going backwards.  It’s been said that losing weight is 70% eating and 30% fitness – don’t forget it.  Repeat - losing weight is 70% eating and 30% fitness

So, I’m 31 pounds lighter now – can do a hard 60 minute boot camp with people half-my- age and enjoying life more than ever – and I think that’s a good thing.  

Carpe Diem! 

Ahem - would love to know what my readers have done lately - let me know