Checking In!

SPROING! I swear the scale creaked, groaned, and whimpered when I stepped on it. In reality it may have been me, or my knees. I looked around my over-sized belly to see the number 196+. I stepped off the scale, dressed, and walked away. How did I let this happen!?

Once upon a time, I tipped the scale at well over 240 lbs. I was half way through life, and on my way to being an American obesity statistic. I wore size 40 pants and huffed and puffed with even mild physical activity. One day my wife took a picture of me at an archery tournament where we had 5 left handers in a row. One of them had this enormous belly hanging over his belt buckle. I stared incredulously at the picture realizing the fat dude was me. But that was a long time ago. I printed that picture and taped it on the pantry door and hung one on the refrigerator. Running, cycling, swimming, and healthy eating became part of my daily life. I shed some 70-80 lbs. and turned into an endurance athlete. At age 48 I was as fit as I’ve ever been in my life and stayed that way until the COVID pandemic.

Somewhere along the way, my nutrition and exercise got derailed. I used 1,000,000 excuses to eat sugary junk, drink too much, and overeat in general. Exercise, meanwhile, dropped to a minimum. The pool closed. I sold my bicycles, and I suddenly began to loathe running. With all this, my weight quickly climbed and my belly got large.

Finally, in February I experienced a bit of a health reality check. In hindsight, it has turned out to be almost nothing but, as I said in my previous post, it was a reminder that lots of bad stuff can happen as we age that is out of our control and I’d better start controlling the things I can. So here we are 3 months later and I thought I’d check in.

After that 196+ lb. occurrence, I went in to a bit of denial and stayed away from the scale for a week or more. Plus it hid in the laundry closet every time I walked in the bathroom. While I hadn’t yet committed to “doing something” the approach to 200 lbs was scary enough that I at least began to think about what I was consuming. A couple years ago I gave up squeezing in to size 34 jeans and bought 36s that, along with my largest running shorts, were getting pretty tight. I’m too cheap to spend money on a new wardrobe and with the whole blood irregularity thing, suddenly changing my diet seemed a lot more appealing. I dusted off the Myfitnesspal app, and coaxed the frightened scale out of the corner. I also resolved to find the joy in running again.

Before we talk about this anymore, I realize many out there are anti-scale and say weight is “just a number” and that you should use the mirror more than the scale. Well, I can tell you the picture in the mirror wasn’t very pretty either. Where a pretty fit, healthy looking, 50 year old had been, there was now some old, grey dude with a giant spare tire and flabby body.

One of the most often made mistakes with a plan to lose weight and get healthy is an expectation of instant success. I’ve been down this road before and, realizing it took about 5 years to steadily pack on some 20+ lbs, it wasn’t going to come off in a week or two. I set a goal of 1 lb/week. That would put me back at a reasonable, healthy weight by late spring or early summer.

Now the plan was in place. What is the course of action? One can’t talk about being healthy without considering what one shoves in their pie hole. That is always step one. There is an old saying in the running and fitness community that you can’t outrun a bad diet and it is 100% spot on. With this in mind, I set myself up for success. I work at home and the kitchen is just a few steps away from my office. My workday involves sitting at a computer and I bounce between boredom, tedium, and great stress. Munchies and eating are going to happen. For the last 5 years, that has taken the form of chocolate, candy, cookies, and peanuts. Each day would be topped off with a glass of wine. Or 2. Or 3. And with the wine would inevitably be some cheese or other nibbles. Fundamental changes had to occur. Step one: The alcohol was unnecessary and immediately eliminated. I then hit the store and splurged on an abundance of healthy, lower calorie snacks. I stocked up on veggies, fruit, and some sugar free candy to kill cravings. I also shopped salad dressing which is a huge source of crazy, hidden calories. I found “Skinnygirl” branded dressings which offer a nice variety of flavors with extremely low calories. My favorite so far is poppy seed.

One thing to be clear about on the exercise front, I have never quit working out. In fact, I’ve been to the gym nearly every day since the beginning of 2024 after my employer added Gympass (now Wellhub) to our benefits. I can look back and say that many of those workouts left a little to be desired as far as intensity. That has now changed. I’m never going to be just an endurance athlete again. I do want to become a good runner again and I’d like to race again. The post tibial tendon dysfunction from scoliosis says I can’t really run marathons anymore but 5Ks are fun, and there are some other races I’d like to do. It can’t be just about running though. Dad suffered from osteoporosis as he aged. It is not just a female disease. Dad shrunk throughout his 70s and 80s and suffered multiple debilitating and painful compression fractures as his vertebrae crumbled. A solid weight lifting regimen has become and will remain a permanent part of my life. I won’t be the next body building champ or competing in shows anytime soon but that isn’t my goal. Muscle burns fat, and weight training strengthens bones.

The biggest challenge to changing one’s lifestyle to be more healthy is commitment. Those donuts in the bakery case look awfully good. The M&Ms my wife can’t leave in the store seem to call from the pantry. That glass of wine seems like a great idea at the end of a stressful day. And why not have one more spoonful of pasta? These are all urges to be overcome and having alternatives is a must. Ultimately, it comes down to will power. It helps when you have the realization that even if you eat that handful of peanut butter M&Ms, you are still going to be hungry. Just get started, stay committed, and progress will happen.

This is where the scale comes in handy. For some, the scale is the source of evil but for me, success shows up on the scale before it shows up in the mirror. That tiny, day to day downward creep tells the truth and gives hope. After a few weeks of success on the scale, I finally could visibly see results in the mirror and notice a looser fit at my waist line. Suddenly, when doing curls at the gym, my belly wasn’t protruding through my shirt. With success comes encouragement and confidence to stay the course!

I’m happy to say, I’ve run a calorie deficit every day since February 19th. I’m not starving myself. Yes there are times I am hungry but I satisfy those pangs with things like carrots, or maybe a midday snack of brussel sprouts or a handful of cherry tomatoes. Clementines are another awesome, easy-to-eat fruit that act as a fixed portion, and a nice sweet treat. The produce section of the local grocery store is full of colorful, delicious, healthy snacks that fill the belly and are low in calories.

One thing to be cautious of is there will be daily fluctuations in weight. I can actually predict when my weight will be up from the prior day and it usually involves the evening meal. We had pizza a week or so ago. I ate one moderately sized slice. The calories were negligible but the salt in the ingredients will cause the body to retain water and the weight the next day will show it. The same is true if you eat out a lot. Restaurants thrive when food tastes good. To that end they use tons of salt, creams, etc. Go ahead and eat out! Just choose wisely from the menu and don’t get discouraged when weight is up for a day or two afterwards. Don’t get hung up on day to day weights. I weigh myself each morning and jot the result down on a slip of paper. Every 3 days I get the average and that is what I log.

So where am I now? As of this morning, I recorded an average weight of 179.2. This is 14 pounds less than my starting average weight and I am extremely pleased and encouraged with the progress. There is still some work to do but after 2 months the healthier habits have become ingrained and it gets easier from here. I’m not missing alcohol or its associated cost, and I have stopped craving sweets all the time.

As my weight has come down, running has gotten easier and more fun again. No longer do I struggle to run up even a moderate hill. I’ve gotten my paces to consistently below 10 minute miles which is a far cry from my old easy paces but those paces were more than a half-decade ago. It is unreasonable to think that at almost 60, I’ll be able to run the same speeds I did when I was a spry lad of 50. I have told my running friends, that once I hit 179 I will sign up for my first race in a long time. I guess the first race report in quite a while will be following soon!