Hit the weight down

432 words written by dylan
Posted September 17, 2006 @ 07:30 PM
6 comments

I stood on the scale at the start of the month.

265 pounds.

15 pounds from morbidly obese (at my height), 85 from what in this country is considered "normal."

Meanwhile, I was down to exactly one pair of pants I could wear to work -- and it was starting to look like something an 80s rock band would wear to work at a biz casual place.

And then, well, there's sex. I felt like it was horizontal sumo wrestling. I also had no energy -- what little I had Annabel was running out of me.

Something had to give. And I didn't want it to be my pants or my heart.

So, I made some changes. I am back to counting calories, ideally 1500 a day, but no more than 2000. I also joined a gym.

Now, those of you who have known me since the Ancient of Days know that gyms and I go together like the Republican Party and a gay pride parade. I have no idea how to lift, what's too much, or any of that. And I'm just not the gym type, really. I've never been pretty or muscular, save my years in high school when I swam and had massive shoulders.

But, I'm going three days a week. I discovered that most of the people there are in their 30s and aren't stick figures. And I go in the mid-to-late evening, when the club is (relatively) empty. And oh, I hang around the treadmills and elliptical trainers and stairclimbers. They generate estimates of how many calories I've burned, which is perfect, because then I know exactly how much lard I'm burning off my body. Right now I'm aiming for 600 calories a 40-60 minute workout; I'd like to eventually raise that to 1000 per, but considering I was just aiming for 300-400 at first, I'm doing pretty well.

Working out was painful at first. Fat legs chafe. Luckily, there are compression shorts. And muscles that hadn't been asked to work in years filed voluminous formal protests against the abuse they were taking. I didn't listen. I just kept working.

After two weeks, I'm down 9 pounds. Yeah, it's mostly water right now, but I'm now 75 pounds from "healthy weight" land. The goal now is 180 by my 35th birthday -- September 22, 2007. (Yes, my 34th is Friday, if you haven't already figured that out.) I'm feeling a bit better, a little more wired, a little less depressed. I hope it keeps getting better. I hate feeling like a beached whale when I lie down.

Comments

  1. Good for you! Depression and weight can be a vicious cycle. I'm glad to see that you're tackling this head-on.

    And happy birthday. :) (same as my father-in-law, btw.)

    Posted by: Elaine | September 18, 2006 01:37 PM

  2. I'd say good luck, but there really is no luck involved. With lots of hard work and determination, I'm sure that you'll do it. Having done it myself in the last 13 months (78 pounds in 399 days), all I can say is slow and steady get you to the end of the race. My suggestion: create one heck of a data set.

    Posted by: Kat | September 18, 2006 03:49 PM

  3. Proud of you! Will send your birthday present soon...hope you CASH it!

    Love,
    gramma

    Posted by: Gramma | September 19, 2006 11:24 AM

  4. Congrats on a great start. It's hard to get into going to the gym but once you do you don't want to stop. The great thing is you don't have to lose all that weight - you can turn some into muscle (which for a man, if you eat right, is actually not that hard).

    Good luck!

    Posted by: Dave | September 21, 2006 09:53 PM

  5. If you have any questions about working out, let me know. Menshealth is also a wealth of knowledge. -Nathan Stone, gunns65@hotmail.com

    Posted by: Nathan | September 27, 2006 03:42 PM

  6. i thought your web site was wonderful. nice to see great family love and support

    Posted by: julie | November 1, 2006 04:42 PM