I have mentioned before that I have previously undergone a couple of weight loss programs, losing 40 pounds in my late 20s and 50 pounds in my mid thirties. I think that is evidence that I really need to watch what I eat and get exercise to maintain a healthy weight. Neither time did I use a fad diet -- I vauguely watched calories and focused on exercise. This time I have a plan on calories and that is my primary driver, but I am also working out, or at least I have been until the last few weeks.
The first time, I went from 230 to 190 and the second time, I went from 255 to 205. This time I'm attempting to go from 285 to 200. The top end number has gotten bigger, *sigh*. This has to be the last time, though. This is the biggest weight loss I've ever done and today was the first time that I have been at a weight that is in the window of all three weight loss programs (i.e. I dropped below 230). So, yeah, after all this, I'm at a weight at which I was so angry about my weight that I dropped 40 pounds. That was 20 years ago, of course, but still, my weight needs to be down in the 200 lb. range.
I will be home now for the next 14 days and I have a weightloss goal during that time. I will reveal it later, but it will necessarily involve daily trips to the gym. And hydration, lots of hydration.
Ultimately, I would love to get my body fat down to about 15%, which would be in the lean, mean, fighting machine range. My scale told me this morning that I'm at 26.1%, which means I have about 11% to trim away yet. If my weight goal is 200 lbs., I do believe that I will have to add some muscle to be at that weight and have that body fat percentage. I don't know how much muscle a man in his late 40s can add, but that's the weight where I will shift the focus. I intend to work with a personal trainer at that point and start developing a plan to incorporate weight training into my workout routine.
Day 114
Weight: 228.7 (2.8 pounds less than yesterday, damn that heavy scale!, but also I lost 3.3 pounds on that trip, which is most excellent)
Total Loss: 55.8
Percentage of Goal Achieved: 66.04
Tuesday at the gym, I flexed my abs on a lift and felt a very odd sensation near my right hip. Luckily, I was at the end of my workout, so I called it a day and went home. After consulting with my EMT sister (a FB chat and an emailed picture), I have "herniated something or other in there" and need to see someone with more experience than her in such matters.
"herniating" something or other is not what I'd call a good thing. Welcome to the inexorable slide toward death, Magoo.
I posted pics to the Bobsled tumblr if anyone's feeling like they need to see for themselves.
St. Joseph's track run tonite: 6 x 400 at tempo pace, easy 200 jog between sets. Cool out (46F). Last track run of the year, pick back up in March.
Source page: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/statistics/
This figure shows the remarkable impact of sedentary lifestyles and bad diets on Americans as they age. Type I diabetes is quite rare (about 0.2 pct of children ten and under have been diagnosed with diabetes, almost all of whom were diagnosed with Type I; the prevalence of Type I in the population isn't much higher than that).
"Overall, the risk for death among people with diabetes is about twice that of people of similar age but without diabetes."
"Medical expenses for people with diabetes are more than 2 times higher than for people without diabetes."
Think about it. An estimated 0.26 pct of Americans under age 20 have diabetes, but 11.3 pct of those 20+ have diabetes. Essentially all of the difference is attributable to Type II diabetes, and a very large share of that difference is attributable to behavior.