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Day 003: Progress

03 Jan

I’d like to be the person I could have been but never was.  George Bernard Shaw, when asked on his deathbed, What would you do if you could live your life over again?

Weight 284.8   Calories 1924 of a possible 1930

Down eight pounds so far.  Obviously water weight.  That has been the problem with dieting in the past.  The first week I lose ten pounds and then I get discouraged down the road.  This year will be different.  I’ll be doing this the entire year.

One thing that I’m doing that I haven’t done in the past is drink a lot of water.  Seems to make a difference as far as hunger goes.

Water

 
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Posted by on January 3, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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Day 002: And So It Continues

02 Jan

The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.  Muhammad Ali

Weight 287.8  Calories 1853

Today is my wife’s birthday so I took the family to Texas Roadhouse for a steak.  Thanks to MyFitness I was able to order my food and keep track of the calories, keeping it under my 1930 cap.

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog.

I used to be an avid cyclist.  Unfortunately that was in my twenties and early thirties.  Unfortunately work took far too much out of me.  Here is a pic of me at twenty-two, a lifetime ago.

Before I porked out

Youth and fitness

 
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Posted by on January 2, 2013 in Photos

 

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Day 001: And So It Begins

01 Jan

The secret of all success is to know how to deny yourself. Prove that you can control yourself, and you are an educated man and without this all other education is good for nothing.  R. D. Hitchcock

Weight 292.8  Calorie Intake 1330

bv3d

Ok, so my goal in 2013 is to lose 100 pounds.  That means I have to lose, on average, 0.27 pounds a day, or 1.9 pounds a week or a little over 8 pounds a month.  That doesn’t seem that hard.

Online calculators say I can eat up to 2600 calories and still lose two pounds a week but MyFitnesPal say I need to eat 1930 calories.  I’m going to go with MyFitnessPal and go with that.  As time goes on I’ll make adjustments.

Today I ate 1330 calories.  I was at a poker tournament most of the day (I came in second) and it occupied me. So I have an additional deficit of 600 calories.

One thing I’ve learned from past weight loss failures (and there have been many) is that I will drop a bunch of pounds quickly, then plateau, then get frustrated and give up.  This time I will not give up.  I am giving it an entire year.  I will be mindful and keep at it.

Meanwhile, back in 2012 I attended a fantastic banjo camp, yes I play banjo, and five of us took a picture together (I’m second from the left).  Looking at it I am stunned at my absolute porkiness.

The-Crisfield-Five-1024x708

 
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Posted by on January 1, 2013 in Photos

 

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The Perfect Quote Before It Begins

31 Dec

Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor — Alexis Carrel

 

I am the guy on the right.  The goal is to be the guy on the left in 366 days.

FatDavid

 
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Posted by on December 31, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

The Plan and Getting Ready

29 Dec

For months things have been happening that have kept me from my goals.  My brother’s colon cancer and death and then my mother finding she had lung cancer soon after.  The summer of incredible heat. Falling off the bike due to stupidity.  All have conspired to keep me from my goals but no more.  Things must change.

As of January 1st I will have been retired for 14 months.   My weight has been consistent, moving from 290 to 295.  This is insane.

.  This is the plan.

DIET:  Plan to juice.  Juicing will help give me vital nutrients.  I plan on documenting everything I put in my mouth.  I’ll be using MyFitnessPal to keep track of calories.

EXERCISE:  I joined a gym so I need to get there as often as possible.  Cycling will be a big part of this change so as soon as the weather breaks I will be on the bike as often as possible.

I have a lot of plans for my retired life.  Being morbidly obese is hampering them.  Things must change.

 
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Posted by on December 29, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

Metrics

10 Dec

Planning on using a couple apps for my iPhone/iPad to keep track of weight.  The first is Weightbot.  It is a slick looking app and the other is Fatwatch.  Both do the basic keeping track of the weight but they differ in how they parse the results. FatWatch uses mathematics to compute a moving average and your daily energy deficit/surplus. I like both and will be posting the graphs from both.

Another iPhone app I will use is Everyday.  It takes a picture of you every day and then creates a movie.  Assuming I actually lose the weight it will be an interesting way to show the progress.

For cycling I will use Cyclemeter.  The app uses GPS to map out where I’ve ridden.  It tells me distance, average speed, max speed, and elevation.  This allows me to post the actual rides that I’ve been on. It’s easy.  I just toss it into a ziploc and turn it on, stuff it into my back jersey pocket and ride.  When I’m don’t I stop it and examine my workout

The technology will help, I’m the only one that is holding back.  I need to get my ass in gear and HTFU (Harden the Fuck Up).

 
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Posted by on December 10, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

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Reboot: Transformation

09 Dec

Recently we watched a documentary of an Australian guy who went on a juice fast and lost and astonishing amount of weight and got in shape.  Of course he was rich and had all of the resources a person could have.  But in that same vein, I retired with enough money and time that I could do a similar thing.  Here is the trailer for the film, Sick Fat and Nearly Dead.

We bought a fantastic juicer.  It is a masticating juicer the Omega VRT350.

I tried it out and it works quietly and really extracts the juice.

So the idea is to do a juice fast and now about exercise.

Cycling is and needs to be the basis of that.  It is easy on the joints and with the MUP (Multi-User Path) from Kipton to Elyria and the Metro Parks I should be able to do this.  Plus I just got an iPhone 4s so I can use the GPS feature and keep track of the rides using Strava.

The key will be to make sure I do it EVERY DAY.

The plan is to start Monday and document everything.  Ideally I’d like to do P90X but I’ve never made it more than a few days.  I have to focus on the positive and do this.

My brother Terry died back in May at 47.  I don’t have time to waste.

 
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Posted by on December 9, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

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Got a New Bike

08 Dec


I got a new bike in June, a Specialized Secteur Sport Compact.

I got clipless pedals and of course a wireless bike computer.

Took it for a spin just as the neighbor to the west was taking his bike out.  We rode about a mile and he quit.  He was panting like a dog and he looked at me and said, “I can hardly breath and you aren’t even breathing hard!”  Then he said, “And you are twice my age!!”.  I looked at him and asked  how old he was, he said thirty-eight.  Hmmmmmm

Riding the bike will work.  I can do this.

 
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Posted by on December 8, 2012 in Cycling, Exercise

 

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The Catalyst

03 Dec

For a long time I’ve been fooling myself into thinking that even though I was heavy I carried it well.  I’m pretty good at fooling myself but this was pushing it.

Last year my whole family went to Myrtle Beach and after driving all night we arrived but found we couldn’t get into the room for a couple hours.  We were hot and tired and just had to wait around.

I fell asleep in my mom’s wheelchair and my brother took a picture of me.  I didn’t know about it at the time and months later he had the picture enlarged and framed.  It is without a doubt the worst picture of me ever taken (including the Halloween picture of me as Boy George).

I love this picture.  In my right hand is a video camera but at first glance it looks like a tin cup, pathetic.

This picture has forced me to look in the mirror.  The guy in the picture doesn’t carry his weight well.  In fact he looks downright unhealthy.

I’m grateful to my brother for taking this picture.  I’m going to get rid of this excess weight and get healthy.  I deserve better.

I’ve printed out a bunch of copies of this photo and taped them everywhere.  They are my motivation.

 
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Posted by on December 3, 2012 in Photos

 

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Why Chubby For Life?

01 Dec

I’ve been fat since my thyroid problem around thirty and have tried everything.  I’ve gone on Adkins, I’ve tried the cabbage soup diet, etc.  About a decade ago I tried Body For Life

Body for Life uses weight lifting and nutrition to get in shape.

On the front and back covers of the book are photos of people who have done radical transformations in 12 weeks.  It was what I needed.

I joined a gym, printed out the workout sheets and started.

My middle-aged body rebelled but I continued.  By the tenth day I was beat on my feet from overdoing it.  In the middle of the workout I was so miserable I said to the guy next to me, “If this is how I feel having a body for life I’d rather be chubby for life!”  That’s how the phrase was born.

I’m fifty-six now.  I’m a reasonably intelligent person.  I’m tackling this in a reasoned manner.  It’s going to happen.

Eventually this site will be called. Chubby For Life Not.

 
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Posted by on December 1, 2012 in Exercise

 

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