M.lb. - Opening Day
This post is not (entirely) what you think it is. It is the start, I hope, of something new and exciting, and something that I hope those of you who read this blog will become involved in. In fact, I'll be urging your involvement as much as you possibly can as I begin this new endeavor.
First, some background. I'm sitting here on my couch, in a tiny, lonely apartment, waiting for the New York Yankees rain delay to end so I can enjoy the first game of the as-always-anticipated regular season. I've always loved the beginning of baseball season because it signifies to me the certain end of winter, a season I frankly abhor. It's cold, it's miserable, and you can't do anything that I consider fun, like go swimming or ride roller coasters or watch/play/attend baseball games. The baseball season is a crucial step in my emergence from hibernation and my dispatch of cabin fever. It's what really invigorates me again.
The winter this year has been especially cruel. Not personally, but mostly in a psychological sense. The delay of my fall papers, which have hung over my head for all but the past couple of weeks, did a great deal to increase the stress and dismay that I normally feel in the winter. It also hasn't helped that I've felt lethargic and sedentary for months, and that the motivation and inspiration to want to go to the gym and get myself moving has been hampered.
Above all, since I've been to grad school, though I came here with the desire to lose weight, I've actually gained. I'm not proud of this, but I have to admit it: back in junior year at Princeton, when I got sick and tired of being fat and decided I would start my 20s by trying to slim down, I successfully got myself down to the least I'd weighed since high school. It was still far short of my ultimate goal, but I was proud of what I was able to accomplish.
Unfortunately, since then, the stress of senior year, applications, and the adjustments I've made in grad school have had a terribly adverse effect on me. In the interest of full disclosure, which I feel I've got to start doing with regards to all this, I currently weigh more than I ever have before. And that's really scary to me. It's gotten to a point far beyond the mere compunction I'd felt at spoiling my good efforts of two years ago. It's time I put my foot down and said I've had enough.
Which is where you come in.
Today, I'm starting a new program that I've cleverly called Minus the Pounds, or M.lb. for short (get it?). I'm timing this with the beginning of the Yankees' season in the hopes that I can play the progression of the baseball season -- which is never a sprint but more of a marathon -- into my plan to patiently and progressively lose the weight I want to. It's also convenient that the last game of the Yankees' regular season falls on September 28, which is the weekend before my brother gets married. I promised myself I'd lose the weight for his wedding, yet I haven't been able to parlay that motivation into anything concentrated and successful.
Yet.
Starting with this post, I'll be posting weekly, every Monday, with a report of my current relative weight, my progress in terms of diet and exercise, and general musings about how I'm feeling. I ask you all to contribute whatever you can in terms of comments and exposure. Get on here and comment, sharing whatever you'd like: your own weight loss stories, your words of encouragement, even some creative jeers and jibes, if you will. More importantly, if you have a blog or know some people who tend to read these things, invite them to check this out and offer some words of encouragement as well.
Why am I making this so public? First of all, it's because, to a certain degree, I'm an attention whore. (I was going to get that accusation anyway, so I might as well handle it outright.) But this is about far more than merely having a whole bunch of people pat me on the back for losing weight. What I'm really hoping to get out of this is a sense of responsibility. Sure, it seems weird to ask the online world to expect things of me, but in truth, I have a traditionally hard time of doing things for my own good. I mean, if you think about it, this whole project is undertaken for the sake of my brother, so I don't look so fat in his wedding photos. It's not really about me at all, but I'm hoping with some build-up, I'll be able to turn this into something that I want to do for me and no one else.
But enough of this palaver! Let's get this show on the road!
------------------------
Day 1
March 31, 2008
Weight: x
Progress: After conceiving of this project last week, I decided to give myself the weekend as a head-start, both to give myself a good starting number and to try to get myself into the gym again to see how my body reacted to, you know, movement. So far, I'm happy to say that two days of the gym have left me neither sore nor excessively winded. I've also been trying to eat less, and only when I'm really hungry, though I allowed myself a little chocolate bunny yesterday, as I haven't touched it since Easter.
I'm going to, for the sake of a little modesty, define my establishing weight as x. All future updates will be relative to x, though I will have a notebook on me that will keep track of the true numbers. I don't have any particular goal right now -- I just want to start fitting into my clothes better and see what kind of weight loss rate I can establish and maintain. I'll start thinking in terms of goals once I leave State College for the year and head home for the summer.
So it begins. Once again, if you've got advice, suggestion, or mocking you'd like to share, hit up the comments and invite others to do the same.
Thanks in advance, and stay tuned!
First, some background. I'm sitting here on my couch, in a tiny, lonely apartment, waiting for the New York Yankees rain delay to end so I can enjoy the first game of the as-always-anticipated regular season. I've always loved the beginning of baseball season because it signifies to me the certain end of winter, a season I frankly abhor. It's cold, it's miserable, and you can't do anything that I consider fun, like go swimming or ride roller coasters or watch/play/attend baseball games. The baseball season is a crucial step in my emergence from hibernation and my dispatch of cabin fever. It's what really invigorates me again.
The winter this year has been especially cruel. Not personally, but mostly in a psychological sense. The delay of my fall papers, which have hung over my head for all but the past couple of weeks, did a great deal to increase the stress and dismay that I normally feel in the winter. It also hasn't helped that I've felt lethargic and sedentary for months, and that the motivation and inspiration to want to go to the gym and get myself moving has been hampered.
Above all, since I've been to grad school, though I came here with the desire to lose weight, I've actually gained. I'm not proud of this, but I have to admit it: back in junior year at Princeton, when I got sick and tired of being fat and decided I would start my 20s by trying to slim down, I successfully got myself down to the least I'd weighed since high school. It was still far short of my ultimate goal, but I was proud of what I was able to accomplish.
Unfortunately, since then, the stress of senior year, applications, and the adjustments I've made in grad school have had a terribly adverse effect on me. In the interest of full disclosure, which I feel I've got to start doing with regards to all this, I currently weigh more than I ever have before. And that's really scary to me. It's gotten to a point far beyond the mere compunction I'd felt at spoiling my good efforts of two years ago. It's time I put my foot down and said I've had enough.
Which is where you come in.
Today, I'm starting a new program that I've cleverly called Minus the Pounds, or M.lb. for short (get it?). I'm timing this with the beginning of the Yankees' season in the hopes that I can play the progression of the baseball season -- which is never a sprint but more of a marathon -- into my plan to patiently and progressively lose the weight I want to. It's also convenient that the last game of the Yankees' regular season falls on September 28, which is the weekend before my brother gets married. I promised myself I'd lose the weight for his wedding, yet I haven't been able to parlay that motivation into anything concentrated and successful.
Yet.
Starting with this post, I'll be posting weekly, every Monday, with a report of my current relative weight, my progress in terms of diet and exercise, and general musings about how I'm feeling. I ask you all to contribute whatever you can in terms of comments and exposure. Get on here and comment, sharing whatever you'd like: your own weight loss stories, your words of encouragement, even some creative jeers and jibes, if you will. More importantly, if you have a blog or know some people who tend to read these things, invite them to check this out and offer some words of encouragement as well.
Why am I making this so public? First of all, it's because, to a certain degree, I'm an attention whore. (I was going to get that accusation anyway, so I might as well handle it outright.) But this is about far more than merely having a whole bunch of people pat me on the back for losing weight. What I'm really hoping to get out of this is a sense of responsibility. Sure, it seems weird to ask the online world to expect things of me, but in truth, I have a traditionally hard time of doing things for my own good. I mean, if you think about it, this whole project is undertaken for the sake of my brother, so I don't look so fat in his wedding photos. It's not really about me at all, but I'm hoping with some build-up, I'll be able to turn this into something that I want to do for me and no one else.
But enough of this palaver! Let's get this show on the road!
------------------------
Day 1
March 31, 2008
Weight: x
Progress: After conceiving of this project last week, I decided to give myself the weekend as a head-start, both to give myself a good starting number and to try to get myself into the gym again to see how my body reacted to, you know, movement. So far, I'm happy to say that two days of the gym have left me neither sore nor excessively winded. I've also been trying to eat less, and only when I'm really hungry, though I allowed myself a little chocolate bunny yesterday, as I haven't touched it since Easter.
I'm going to, for the sake of a little modesty, define my establishing weight as x. All future updates will be relative to x, though I will have a notebook on me that will keep track of the true numbers. I don't have any particular goal right now -- I just want to start fitting into my clothes better and see what kind of weight loss rate I can establish and maintain. I'll start thinking in terms of goals once I leave State College for the year and head home for the summer.
So it begins. Once again, if you've got advice, suggestion, or mocking you'd like to share, hit up the comments and invite others to do the same.
Thanks in advance, and stay tuned!
posted by Dave at 3/31/2008 01:27:00 PM
2 Comments:
Sorry to hear that you're at a new high weight, but it's great that you're starting round 2 of healthier living. I also got caught up in the no-exercise-eat-everything spirit of thesis and then med school apps, but the now 4 months since I decided to try and break out of it have vastly improved my quality of life even though my measurable progress has been slower than I had hoped for. I look forward to getting weekly updates of your progress. =)
My current recommendation (though I suppose this is based merely on what is currently working for me, which has a tendency to change) is to find some measure along which you can compete with yourself. Such motivation tends to increase my getting-mad coefficient, which is good motivation.
I'm currently locked in an epic struggle with my one-mile run time (8:41, I'm proud to say, 6:30 is my eventual target), my two-mile run time, and various random weight-lifting numbers. These constitute an Excel graph on my hard drive, which provides good self-ass-kicking material.
Post a Comment
<< Home