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!