Year 60; week 9

Damn!
No progress on the weight loss.
I have been walking. I said I'd walk 5 days per week. I figure Sunday will always be a day off because the mornings are pretty full. Last week I took Friday as my second day. This week I took Tuesday because I was feeling an occasional twinge of pain in my left knee. I'm not sure what was causing it (other than the fat guy putting too much stress on it!) but I figured the day off to be a good thing.
The walking pace is coming back, but I'm just going to work on the distance and not worry about the time for the next week or so.

I have not been faithfully tracking food intake and probably need to. I've thought about a mini-fast or something to jump start the weight loss, but I'm not sure that's the route I want to go. I'm really more interested in a maintainable way of life. I'm not sure if not-eating-so-much-food is something that's maintainable after a lifetime of overindulgence, but that's what I'm faced with.

With two months of the year in the books, I'm now at needing to lose 6 pounds/month. Still easily attainable, but it's time to get serious.

John
Note: I realized that this is actually year 60; week 9, and so I went back and changed the title of the previous posts.

Year 60, Week 8

Ugh!
I know it's my first weigh-in in a few weeks. It's not good.
258
That means I'm nearly back to where I started. The -60 by 60 goal is still intact and I think I've finally got my head into it, so I should be seeing some positive results in the coming weeks. I'm back to walking and working on adding a little running to my walks. I'm also trying to get back in the habit of logging foods.

Yesterday was day 3 of walking. I thought I was going to give myself an easy day since I had just finished mowing the lawn and already had a good share of my steps in for the day. Instead, I felt pretty good and added a little bit of light running into the walk.
To be fair, by light running I mean really light running. My light run now isn't much faster than my brisk walk of 5 years ago. In any case, I was down to 53 minutes at the 3 mile mark.

Today will be an easy day. I'll get my distance in, but not worry about the time. Tomorrow will be a day off since I've got a few things scheduled in the morning. It is supposed to rain on and off all day today. I walked about a quarter mile in the rain yesterday. I don't think it will be a problem.

Other than just being too damn fat, I don't feel bad. I've never had a problem with cholesterol, high blood pressure, or other typical overweight maladies. I definitely feel the extra weight in my knees and ankles, and I'm either going to have to lose the weight or start buying fat clothes for the winter months.

I'm looking forward to a better update for Week 9.

Be well,
John

Keeping it real

So I've missed a couple of weeks with updates and it's not quite to Thursday for a week 8 update, but here is where I am.

I've been doing a pretty crappy job of working towards the -60 by 60 goal. I have been eating a little better but still tend to overindulge in sweets. I haven't done anything in the way of regular exercise.

Being around some of the healthy people in my family this past weekend has inspired me (and shamed me) into doing better.
This morning I took my first long walk in quite some time. I walked 3.1 miles (5K) in 56 minutes, 46 seconds. I was at 55:06 at the 3 mile mark. I'm going to use this as my baseline and set a couple of goals. The first is 3 miles in 45 minutes. Realistically, that means I'm going to have to start mixing in some running with the walking. Then I'll increase the running part until I'm at 3 miles in 30 minutes.

I know I should put a time frame for each step, but I really have no idea how well I'll respond to the activity. Past experience tells me to go slowly or risk some knee/ankle pain. My plan to start is 5 days/week and just look at getting a little better each time out. I should be able to reach the first goal by September without trouble. I should have a better idea of timelines for the rest of it by then.

John <><

Year 60; week 5

No weight loss.
Lazy week.
Diet wasn't too bad, but also wasn't great. Mostly need to scale back on portion rather than change foods.
Still need to find the exercise groove.

Year 60, week 4

I missed a week. I guess 4th of July and a not so great week were probably contributing factors, but I need to keep up just for the personal accountability.

So the week four weigh-in is 254.
That's -6 pounds since June 13th and -11 from June 1st.
It's not a great deal but it is on pace for the -60 by 60 goal.

I haven't really been doing anything in the way of exercise. I've been busy and active with packing and pitching as we are trying to sell our home. The big weight loss (5 yrs ago) I didn't really start regular exercise until I had lost 15-20 pounds. I don't plan on waiting this time. I just haven't got started yet.

On the diet front it's been more healthy foods and smaller portions. I haven't been restrictive of anything and still manage a milkshake or ice cream treat a few times per week. I am more mindful of what I'm eating (and when) and need to get back to logging foods and macros.

I may be moving slowly, but at least I'm moving in the right direction, I took me five years to gain this weight back. Giving myself a year to lose it seems reasonable.
(at least that's what I keep telling myself)

John

Year 60, week 2

So the end to week two comes around and the scale says I dropped another pound. That makes -3 of 60 -- a little off pace but still moving in the right direction.

I know it's not much and I haven't done much in the way of exercise, although I've had some pretty active days. I've also not been real strict on diet. I am eating more healthy foods (for the most part) and keeping to moderate portions (again, for the most part). We have discovered the orange cream shakes at a nearby Arby's and that has been an occasional indulgence. As one might expect, I am a little more conscientious on the few days before weigh-in day!

It's a new week -- Week 3!
I'm looking for -2 (minimum) to give me -5 for a three week total.
Should be the proverbial piece of cake!

John

Year 60, Week 1

So it's actually 1 week and a day since I let this slip my mind yesterday.
I did weigh in at 258 this morning. That's -2 for the week and keeps me on pace to reach -60 by 60.
Diet has been decent with a few indulgences. I've made a few healthy dinners -- a meatless Monday portabella mushroom sandwich, a shrimp, potato, corn, asparagus dish, an easy chicken salad.

Exercise hasn't been very regular -- a couple of walks and a little stretching and light calisthenics.
I need to do better.

Overall, I'm not disappointed.
Week 2 is underway.

Be well,
John

Sixty by 60: the journey begins

A couple of weeks ago, I reported on my other blog about how I have managed to regain all of my lost weight (and then some), and on how I am going to recommit (again!) to get it off.

Tomorrow I turn 59.
The simple goal is to lose 60 pounds before I turn 60 one year from now.
Because I would like to be at 200 pounds (or less), and because I began the month of June at 265 pounds, I needed to get started and lose 5 pounds before my birthday tomorrow.

This morning's weigh in read 260, so I'm all set and off to a good start. I don't plan on sharing this daily on my Facebook page, but will probably share it on Twitter. I'm not sure what or how often I'll post just yet. It may just be weekly weigh ins.

Be well,
John

Jan 10, day 41

Bad report day.
No exercise, but I did buy a new pair of walking shoes.
Diet wise I did okay so pretty much a neutral day -- no real gains, no real losses.

John

Jan 9, day 40

Pretty normal day.
I did only walk 3 miles, so I won't make my 12,019 steps today.
Food wise -- I ate well, but will probably be close on calories.
Not stressing over a medium/decent sort of day.

John