Over the past year, I have overcome a demon in my life: my weight. I really don't want to take the time to weave a long narrative (Hannibal Ad Portas deserve a quick and painless end), so I am just going to give the interesting numbers and complain about things that weight loss didn't resolve.
Late August 2009: I start working-out daily with no goal other than lose weight. Scale reading: ~315 pounds. Waist circumference: ~ 48-50 inches. 30 minute moderate to high intensity elliptical machine sessions with occasional weights and stationary bike to break the monotony.
Today: I've thought about training for a half-marathon, but running for that long seems terribly boring. Instead I pursue less serious goals like beating the trainer in the Wii Fit Plank Challenge (broke through 300 seconds last week) and doing my first pull-up (not even close...). Scale reading: ~190 pounds. Waist circumference: bought new pants yesterday -- 34 inches. I do weight training + 30 mins on a stationary bike 3 days a week then run on 3 of the non-weight training days. 1 bonus day for baseball or stationary bike or a run depending on how I feel. I try to do between 2 and 5 miles whenever I go running.
My mother worries about me not eating. Honestly, the only dietary changes I have made are minimizing fast food (McDonald's/BK/Wendy's meals happen maybe every month or two), portion control (4 slice limit on weekly pizza nights), and avoid non-diet soft drinks like the plague.
At this point, you might be asking "what does he have to complain about, aside from the lack of Angus Burgers and pizza gluttony?" Shopping for new clothes is immensely painful and expensive, especially when it comes to dress shirts and winter clothes. It is virtually impossible to find dress shirts with the right neck width and sleeve length that aren't super baggy around the mid-section. All I want is to not look like a marshmallow and not asphyxiate.
My other pertinent complaint comes from my knees. I really enjoy going for runs and I would do it daily, but lately my knees have started getting sore if I run on consecutive days. No doubt the years spent north of 300 lbs. were not good for my knees.
Now the irrelevant things that weren't magically resolved:
- Jobs are still hard to find
- Ice hockey gear in Kalamazoo, very stinky, very bulky, probably doesn't fit, but I really want to get back into hockey.
- Women: This could turn into a treatise... I figure time, persistence and self-image realignment are the only cures. Self-image realignment is the most interesting part. It is very difficult to change how you picture yourself in your mind. I have trouble wrapping my mind around new pictures or what I see in the mirror. I generally feel more confidence and less self-conscious, but it is still difficult. I suppose the whole endeavor would be much less interesting if it were easy.
^^^ Not a treatise!!! ^^^
Hannibal has left Italy. Please join me at Danimal Ad Portas for less personal yet equally insightful content.
P.S. 8.9 stones, 3.9 slugs, 2.98 * 10^-26 Jupiters
1 comment:
Wow Dan, congratulations are in order!! When I came to visit you and Jackson in March I honestly didn't recognize you at first. A long post deserves a long comment. :-P
That's far more impressive than my (currently non-progressing) progress. The best I was able to manage was to lose 25-30 lbs in undergrad by not eating dorm food and going to the CCRB 2-4x a week. Alas since then I've gained back 10 lbs or so. >.<
Shirts are annoying to shop for, I can attest. But once I discovered my size, it wasn't too bad. Might you want to look for the "fitted" shirts? I find that while they can be on the snugger side, they do fit a lot better. (Also, wrinkle-free is key when I don't have an iron.)
As for the knees, that's just how things are. Taller people tend to have more joint issues. You could look into those cloth knee braces (or whatever they are), as they help keep your knees aligned and reduce the impact somewhat.
I look forward to reading your new blog (and I should jump-start my own again)!! Also, I have a new target now - to reach 5 mi when running. I got as far as 3 mi at a stretch last year, but I've gotta work my way up again.
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