Tuesday, June 28, 2011

270 to 220: Getting Back Down to Fighting Weight

Here goes.

Starting tomorrow, June 29, I am beginning my comeback. I'm sure I've written about this somewhere, but I'll go ahead and do it again. Here are the milestones through the years:
  • 180 -- Sophmore year at Cornell (1982)
  • 198 -- Summer I left for Nashville (1986)
  • 228 -- Working at Saturn after Josh was born (1995)
  • 230 -- Moved to Houston (2004)
  • 240 -- Diet bet at Biogen Idec (2006)
  • 259 -- Lowest weight, reached several times, in last 3 years
  • 270 -- Current weight
  • 282 -- Highest weight ever
Here's the plan:
  • 1800-2100 calories/day
  • Roadwork 5 times/week
I'll keep you posted.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Lean, Mean...Softserve Machine?

Two sixty-eight.

For the past two or three years I have been in a rut. On the high end of the rut is 270, the low end 260. I work out and diet and sweat and run away from ice cream, and I slowly and painful drop to 260. I relax, even a little, eat a second (or third or fourth) slice of pizza, break off half a cannoli (and then a quarter and then an eighth, before repeating the process with a second or third cannoli) and before I know it I am once again knocking on the door of 270.

I've been lifting (see "Pumping Iron -- The Musical") which, in addition to a constantly aching right shoulder, has given me a little of my musculature back, but the fact remains: some guys have a six-pack, but I've still got a pony keg.

I have to bite the bullet and go cardio. Walking is actually very effective for me. I walk 30 or more minutes a day, and the number on the digital scale starts to fall. Eliptical, treadmill and other gym machine cardio is good, but it bores me out of my freakin' mind. I like jumping rope -- and have a zillion different kinds -- so that's good. I love P90x, but can't find the DVDs. (They're somewhere, I know it.) I like working outside, and I have always been fond of good, old-fashioned, Marine Corps calisthenics. So I have a lot of options.

What I need is a plan.

Okay, then. Here's the plan that begins from this moment on:




  • 30 min. morning roadwork (walk/run) or ropework AND/OR


  • 30 min. lunchtime cardio (eliptical/class/etc.) AND/OR


  • 30 min. evening walk/run/calistenics.


At minimum, I will do 30 min. of SOMETHING everyday. If I miss the morning, I shoot for lunch. If lunch doesn't materialize, then it has to happen when I get home. In short, I can't go to sleep until I've done my 30 min. NO EXCEPTIONS.



It is June 20, so I will shoot to weigh 250 (loss of 18 pounds) by August 30.



Motivational comments welcomed!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Pumping Iron -- The Musical

My new philosophy of fitness can best be summed up by quoting Apollo Creed's former trainer, Duke, talking to Rocky in the sixth and final installment of that franchise:

"To beat this guy, you need speed - you don't have it. And your knees can't take the pounding, so hard running is out. And you got arthritis in your neck, and you've got calcium deposits on most of your joints, so sparring is out. So, what we'll be calling on is good ol' fashion blunt force trauma. Horsepower. Heavy-duty, cast-iron, piledriving punches that will have to hurt so much they'll rattle his ancestors. Every time you hit him with a shot, it's gotta feel like he tried kissing the express train. Yeah! Let's start building some hurtin' bombs!"

I don't like running. The treadmill and eliptical are boring. What I have always liked, though, is picking things up and putting them down.

So I've been lifting weights. It's a challenge, given my shoddy rotator cuffs, but I have to say, it's fun. I used to be strong. Real strong. And now, slowly but surely, I can feel it coming back.

I just bought a used copy of Joe Weider's Ultimate Bodybuilding. It's great because it lays out some simple plans and principles to follow. So I guess I'll fool around with this for a while.

Anyway, time to fix me a protein shake and flex in the mirror. :-)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

"I Used to be Fat"

Have you ever seen that show on MTV, I Used to Be Fat? I am not usually a fan of the extreme weight loss reality shows (like Biggest Loser), since people who lose weight and keep it off typically lose 1-2 pounds a week -- as opposed to 90 pounds is 100 days. But something about this show reminds me of the single-minded determination I used be able to muster.

My plan is to get to 211. I weighed 266 at the end of 2010, so that means I need to lose 55 pounds. Now I could go on I Used to Be Fat and lose it in a month and a half, but I'm thinking I'll take it a little more leisurely than that.

I will eat 2400 calories a day--600 calories for each of the three thirds of the day: 6-12, 12-6, 6-bedtime. I'll do the 100 Pushups plan and cardio on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and I'll lift weights Tuesday and Thursday.

I'll divide it into three phases:
  • Phase One will be from 266-250.
  • Phase Two will be from 250-225.
  • Phase Three will be from 225-211.

I'll write about each phase once I figure out what each will entail. :-)