No more scales?

Okay, I’ll admit it – it’s been at least a month since I weighed myself.

After months of hovering between 160 and 170 pounds, I’ve stopped checking. At this particular moment, I don’t know if I’m still in the target zone or not, but I feel like there hasn’t been any significant changes to my weight in the past 30 days.

Sure, I’ll admit that my love handles are still there, but I don’t know if they’re bigger than they used to be or not. I’m kind of digging not knowing right now – just living, and trying to keep it as healthy as I can. I know that I still fit all of my ‘skinny’ clothing, so if there have been any changes that have snuck in since I stopped weighing myself, they haven’t been drastic or visually measurable.

Just thought I’d share, since it had been soooo long since my last post!

Winning! How tiger blood and Adonis DNA can help you lose weight

Okay, I’m sorry. I’m totally hijacking Charlie Sheen’s recent Twitter comments and crazy interview quotes to get your attention and glean a few hits. Weak SEO, I know. Google’ll probably catch it and filter my site right out of existence. But I do want to make a comment related to crazy Charlie.

No, I don’t think your ability to trace your ancestry back to Greek gods is going to help you lose weight, nor is partying all the freakin’ time. That might be what Charlie Sheen calls “winning”, but the rest of us would disagree, I think.

But if you take what Crazy Charlie says about winning in general, and apply it to a desire to lose weight, you might actually get (gasp!) something useful. Sheen talked about how he claims to have kicked his drug and/or drinking problems – rather than going to AA, he simply used his own willpower to stop doing bad things, and start “winning” at life. Ignore for a minute the implications regarding drug use here, and look at the idea of being so completely enamoured with your ability to bring about positive results in your life, by sheer (or Sheen) willpower. He honestly seems to believe in how amazing he is, and by that, has been able to kick some pretty nasty habits.

So, if someone as batshit insane as Charlie Sheen can do that, why can’t you? You might not have tiger blood, but you have just as much willpower as he does. If you want to lose the weight, a big part of it is going to be believing that you can do it.

Sheen recently tweeted that all you have to do, to get around any excuse or obstacle in your life, is plan better. As much as it might kill us to do so, he might just be winning at giving good advice…

Your Resolutions Suck

Okay, let’s get this out of the way. I expect that this site will see a bit more traffic in the coming days, due to the ridiculous tradition of coming up with resolutions for the new year.

Yes, I used to be one of those people who would come up with some far-fetched and unrealistic goal for the upcoming year, and yes, like most people, a few of those years, my goals involved weight loss. Guess how long they lasted?

The new year is not the time, in my humble opinion, to try to make some sort of drastic change and overhaul your entire life. Everyone may be doing it, and you might feel like you will have company, but it will be the company of quitters, in the long run.

You’ll hit the gym on January second, and it will be packed. Heavy folks in new workout gear, getting very red in the face and hitting the showers as quickly as possible. Weights will be abused, machines will be misused, classes will be overbooked, and the regulars will sigh and shake their heads. They know the onslaught will only last for a few weeks, but it doesn’t make it any less annoying.

So, if you’ve come here for tips on how to stick to your resolutions, sorry. You won’t find such advice here. I think this is the time of year to focus on friends and family, not on magical waves of self-improvement.

If you are serious about losing weight, you were serious about it over Christmas. You watched your portions, didn’t go back for seconds or thirds too often, but you still enjoyed yourself. You got some exercise. You didn’t drink your face off.

Willpower doesn’t suddenly show up one minute after midnight into the new year. So, if you want to lose weight, and you’re serious about it, don’t make it a resolution. Instead, just do it. At the time I wrote this, there are still two days left in 2010. Why not start now? Why not start by ramping up your workouts now? If you haven’t worked out much in the past, get outside for a walk today. Tomorrow, go again but go further. When you get home, have a big glass of water – make it hot water if it’s cold enough outside.

If you’re going shopping today, make a list and stick to it. Skip the colas and chips and chocolates. Get fruits that you love instead.

The point is, if you wait until the new year to start, you’ll never get going. If you stand up RIGHT NOW, you’re already ahead of the game.

Winter bulk

Well, the weather outside is certainly frightful here – plenty of snow, and some seriously chilly temperatures. It’s winter once again, and that brings about two issues of bulk for a lot of people.

The more obvious one is, of course, the body fat issue. Whether you believe that it’s a throwback to some sort of shared gene with hibernating animals, or you think that we bulk up to protect our vital organs from the lower temperatures, it’s all the same blah-blah-blah in the face of a hearty winter meal full of thick sauces and big desserts. No matter your basing theories, winter does offer up more fattening foods, and with the cold temperatures limiting the outdoors activities and exercise for a good portion of the population, that equates to putting on a few holiday pounds.

So, how do we avoid this? Beats the hell outta me. Remember, I’m no expert – I’m just some guy who managed to find a way to make it work for me. I can’t give you any real advice, beyond my own highly personal experience. For what it’s worth, I’ll share.

For me, there is nothing better than winter foods. Hot meat pies, delicious gingerbread, and warm rum drinks. But I suppose my difference (from when I was heavier to today) is how much I eat, when I eat it, and what I do with the calories afterwards.

I don’t eat as much as I used to. Call it a shrunken stomach or just good training of the belly brain, I get full a lot quicker than I used to. That might be that I actually listen for that full feeling, as opposed to eating until I feel like I’m going to explode. But when I was heavy, one of those personal-sized pizzas was a good first course. Now, I can’t finish one alone in a single sitting – or if I do, it’s because I was REALLY hungry. But I eat slower than I used to, too – but I know, you’ve heard that before. Slow down, chew every bite, savor the flavor, and pay attention to the full feeling. For me, that wasn’t a conscious decision to do that – it just happened. If you can make it happen, by choice or by accident, I’d bet money it would help.

As far as what I do with the calories I bring in, I am still far more active than I used to be, winter be damned. There is nothing better than getting out and enjoying the great winter outdoors, as long as you are suitably attired. I love going for long runs in the winter, followed by nice, relaxing (and hot) baths with a good book. Simple pleasures, but helpful to keeping the pounds off, too.

The other type of bulk? Winter layers! I have an old winter jacket that I can’t bear to part with, despite it’s ability to turn me into a round ball of warmth. It’s an old tarmac parka for airline workers, and it’s fifty years old if it’s a day. But it’s warm and in great shape, even if it offers a terrible shape.

In my bigger days, it was of no concern, as it did a pretty good job of hiding my gut. But now that I have a much smaller stomach, the coat is still giving the impression of the same amount of bulk.

I know that being overly concerned with such impressions isn’t healthy, but I think the fact that I ain’t replacing the jacket for something slimmer and more fashionable means I’m not too far gone yet. Or at least, that’s the hope.

Doing less

It’s funny, I haven’t updated this blog in sooo long… and in the in between time, I haven’t exactly been working all that hard to stay in decent shape, either. Sure, I walk around a lot, and my job keeps me on my feet all through the shifts, but I haven’t been lifting weights, running, going to yoga… just nothing but walking.

Luckily, I haven’t suffered for the lack of activity all that much. Weight wise, I’m still around 165 pounds, give or take a few. I haven’t really fluctuated much more than five pounds either way over the last few months, no matter what level of activity I’m involved in. It’s been comforting, and it’s meant I haven’t really been all that concerned about it, and can, y’know, just do my thing and not obsess about the scale.

I have had a recent injury that has kept me from getting much in a way of a proper workout, which is almost healed enough at this point that I will be able to venture into the gym again and get myself back from a soft 165 to a more defined 165. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Running

Today was a pretty special day for runners all over the world. It’s a day where we take time out of our schedules to do a little fundraising, and no matter the weather, we go do a short run in memory of someone who attempted something phenomenal.

We remember you, Terry Fox. We were out there, running, hoping that some day,  we would achieve your dream, in your name. Ending cancer.

Clothing woes

One of the things I found hardest about losing weight, surprisingly, was the wardrobe adjustment. I had been at a fairly consistent size for a goodly number of years, so my clothing was pretty well set. I wore size 42-46 jeans, had a few very nice and quite expensive suits that fit well and hid a bit of my belly girth, and I knew that shirts needed to be an XL for a comfortable fit and a large for a more, shall we say, snug fit?

But now, I have several very nice and quite expensive suits in my closet that are so big as to be completely useless to me. Within a size or two, a skilled tailor can take in a suit… but when you’re talking ten sizes, the general consensus seems to be that there is no decent way to decrease a suit that far without basically taking the whole thing apart and starting from scratch.

The suits are the only items of clothing that I haven’t been able to bring myself to get rid of; everything else that fit me back then has long ago found it’s way to a donation bin somewhere. My big jeans, bulky and bulk-covering sweaters, my XL tee shirts… all gone.

I still remember when I finally decided to toss the last of my big oversized shirts, and do a bit of shopping. I naturally grabbed a large, thinking a one down sizing would be sufficient. It wasn’t – I was still swimming in it. The medium was only a little better, but to my utter shock, it was the small that fit the best. Sure, it was more snug than I was used to, but form fitting was suddenly not such a horrible thing. Don’t get me wrong, the six pack is still a ways off.

It’s been a slow process, but I am beginning to re-build my shattered wardrobe back to the point where I have nice things that fit and make me feel like I’m looking… well, about as good as I can.

Two months, no coffee?

That’s right – it’s coming up on two months since my unhappy little hospital visit, and since that time, I have not had a single cup of regularly caffeinated coffee.

Have I noticed a difference? You bet I have, and I don’t know that I like it all that much. Lately, when I get tired, I get tired. There is no putting it off or postponing it – I am ready to crash, and there’s no stopping it.

But otherwise? I can’t say that I’ve seen that many changes. Getting up in the morning is about the same – I am incredibly hard to drag out of my sleep when the sun comes up. Before, I would use coffee to perk me up and get me going; now, I use water. I think it was more about the ritual of coffee than the caffeine that really got my engine going in the mornings.

I’ve never been one to have an overly addictive personality. I smoked for a while in college, but was able to quit cold turkey and never looked back. I can have a cigar every now and then, but I can’t say that I have ever craved a cigar or really needed one to get through the day. Quitting coffee was pretty much the same. I had a few headaches for the first few days, but no real pull back to have just a sip, ya know?

Sure, I have had my share of decaf coffee since, and yes I know, decaf does contain trace amounts of caffeine. But you’re talking to a guy who was drinking multiple coffees every day, usually with three to four shots of espresso in them. Whatever minuscule dose is left in decaf wouldn’t even register on my system, I think.

But health wise, I don’t know that it has had any real effect on me or my heart. I suppose the only real test of that will be, at some point, to go back and try some caffeine and see what the results are… but at this point, I’m in no rush to get back on that particular bandwagon. We’ll see what time brings.

Body image amongst the modded

I’ve often found myself near people of a much larger size than I ever was who, I was convinced, never worried about negative body image. These guys and gals would range from slightly to very overweight, but what made me think that they were comfortable with their respective bodies were the tattoos and piercings that they adorned themselves with.

To my eyes, these body modifications were a way of drawing attention to their appearances. Anyone who would do that, I figured, would be very comfortable in their own tattoo’ed skin.

But today, I read an article online that suggests that, perhaps, people with mods are just like the rest of us. Some of them don’t think about body image at all; some have highly distorted ideas of their own body image; and some even judge or look down on those who are “fat” – which, I’ve tended to find, means anything heavier than they are. A 250lb man might not think himself overweight, but will mock the 300lb man for being a “fat ass”.

Color me surprised. I though the mod community would be filled with more understanding and acceptance, as well as healthy and realistic impressions about their own and others body images. Guess it just shows, tattoo’ed people are just people after all.

(Oh, and for the record, I have several tattoos, and have been pierced at several points in my life. So don’t think me a ‘hater’ of the mod scene – I just don’t consider myself substantially modified to claim entrance to their ranks.)

Exercise: Running

Yes, I finally went out and tied on the old sneakers again. After sitting around on my keester for the past month and a bit, I finally couldn’t take the inactivity any more.

Now, one of the reasons for the lazy layover has been my own concerns about my heart’s condition. That last bout of hospital-bound heart trouble occurs soon after a bit of skating, which in the past, would not have phased me in the slightest. But I wondered, thanks to the lack of any sort of proper diagnosis, if perhaps I might have injured the ol’ ticker running my last marathon. Stupid me, I trained not at all for the big run, to see what sort of time I could post with absolutely no prep behind it. While I was able to finish with a respectable time that, including the bathroom break at the 17th kilometer, was mere minutes from my first marathon time (run at a considerably higher weight), I think I might have done some damage. As a result, I’ve laid off the physical stuff for a while.

But I can’t stay away from running forever. There’s an event on the east coast in November that I really want to enter, but it will mean some serious training in order to prepare for it. So, today I went down to a nearby wooded park, and put myself through a very light run. Only fifteen minutes in length, I might have run a kilometer or two, but no more.

And man, do I feel great right now! One thing that might have helped, other than the light pace and low distance, was the route I chose to take. Instead of pounding the pavement along the bike paths, I stepped off onto the cross-country trail, following a meandering and rolling course through the grass and around the trees, down by the creek and back again. The path required a great deal of concentration on my part, and even featured a few fallen trees across the way for leaping over. By the end, I knew I had run, but felt no where near as tired as I do when I can let my mind wander and pay more attention to the exertion of my muscles.

Tonight and tomorrow will be the test to see if I overdid it, but I think I’m still within the safe zone. Up next, I consider adding in some serious weight work to my exercise options…