Day 24 – I’m Baaack!

Three things I have never been good at keeping up: dieting, exercising and journaling. So here I am doing all three! I guess I figured that, whether you succeed or fail, do it spectacularly.

My absence over the past few days mostly had to do with my laptop being in the shop. (I hate viruses.) But in the meantime I have kept up my (somewhat) healthy eating and my (moderate) exercise regimen. And what do I have to show for it?

On the downside, I am repeating week three of the 100 Pushup system. I could not keep up with my final reps last week, but on Friday I did manage over 100 pushups over the 5 reps. I am slightly ahead of last week’s pace, so I am optimistic that I will move on. On the upside, I lost another pound, meaning that I am down 5 pounds since I began. All in all, I feel pretty good. A slimmer, stronger version of me is being sculpted every day.

Day 17 – The Wall

What do Pink Floyd and Robert Frost have in common? A wall, of course. Although the wall we finished today was outwardly more like “another brick in the”, functionally it was more like “good fences make good neighbors”. And trust me, with three English majors in the family, we had some Frost discussions over these past few days.

For a 55 year-old wall it was really not in bad shape. It partly fallen down in a few places, but it needed repair, not replacing. Some things just need fixing, not tearing down. Which is sort of how I feel about myself. This focus on weight and exercise and journaling is about fixing up, not tearing down. After years of neglecting a wall or two, I am trying to set them right again.

And how am I succeeding? Well, this morning my pushup reps were 14-18-14-14-20; that is 80 if you are counting. Tonight I get some rest so tomorrow I can work on my walls again.

Day 15 – Exhaustion Test #2

My pushup program says that at the end of two weeks I am supposed to take an exhaustion test. When I started I was able to do 23. Now, two weeks later…36! That is still a long way from 100 by week 7, but I am definitely going in the right direction.

I may have sweat off a few ounces helping my brother-in-law Joe lay bricks in the 90 degree heat. I know a lot more about mixing mortar and laying a straight line than I did yesterday. Anyway, the wall is looking good and our neighbor is very happy.

Our big event today was going to the Museum of Biblical History in nearby Collierville. They are about to open a great exhibit on the St. John’s Bible, the first commissioned hand-scripted and illuminated Bible in hundreds of years. We got a sneak peek, and the prints we saw were outstanding! If you are unaware of the project, see their website; your time will be richly rewarded.

Day 7

And the magic number is…182 pounds. That is 2 pounds down in the first week. I know better than to get excited about this. First, my home scale is the old-fashioned spring-based model, so I am trying to read the little hash marks. Second, I could probably regain the weight by dinner if I tried. But I am moving in the right direction, so all is good.

Here is what I have changed: 1) I cut way back on the Cokes. In the last 7 days I have had four, which is down from a typical 10-14. I am still not drinking enough water, but one thing at a time. 2) I have cleared out my snack drawer. Usually I have something sweet in there to munch on while I work. I may get some pistachios there eventually, but for now it is empty. 3) I focus on proteins over carbs, especially at breakfast. 4) I cut back on my nighttime snacking. Usually I like a bowl of ice cream or a brownie, but I decided I can do without most of that. I often have a few hunger pains when I go to bed, but I can live with that easily enough. 5) I started the 7 Weeks to 100 Pushups plan. Exercising 30 minutes per week won’t drop my weight by itself, but it may reshape what I have and, just possibly, get me motivated to do other things as well.

Speaking of pushups, this was the end of week 1. Today’s reps (with 120 second rest intervals) were 11-15-9-9-max (at least 13); my final rep was actually 17, so I think I did pretty well! Now I take a few days off and start fresh on Monday.

Day 5 - Deluged by Diet Books

Pushup day again! Today it was 10-12-8-8-max (at least 12) with 90 seconds between. I did 14 in my last rep, putting me up to 52 total for the day. The good thing is that I am not as sore afterwards as I have been. Let’s see how I am doing on Friday.

I went to Books-a-Million yesterday to check out the section on diet books. Wow! I knew there would be a lot, but there were conservatively 150 titles jammed on the shelves. (Someone jokester had wedged a copy of I’m OK, You’re OK in among them!) Being neither a nutritionist nor a speed reader, I can’t offer any significant insight on them other than to say that most seem to fall into one of two categories: cut calories or cut carbs. There were also the random books promoting weight loss through hypnosis, veganism or grapefruit, but carbs and calories still top the list.

One book that did catch my eye was James Beckerman’s The Flex Diet. I liked it because it is not so much a diet (despite the title) as a lifestyle change. He recommends 200 ideas from journaling to restricting eating after dinner to wearing a pedometer. You choose the ones that fit best with your own lifestyle and start down the path to weight loss. His ideas are more common sense than groundbreaking, but I suspect that is true of most diet books. Despite generations of research, there seems to be no consensus about how the human body should go about losing weight. I am inclined to think that never has so little insight been packaged in so many different ways.

Day 3

I started off the day with a green smoothie. Leanna and I have one for breakfast 2-3 times a week. It’s not the most low-carb friendly breakfast, but it’s healthy nonetheless. Now I was ready for my pushups!

Speirs’ website recommends exercising three times a week for ten minutes at a time. A workout consists of several pushup reps with a break between each. Today’s reps were 10-12-7-7- max (at least 9) with 60 seconds between. I was still sore from my test two days ago, but I managed to get through with two pushups to spare. Next time the reps and the rests will both be upped.

So does the soreness ever go away? (You can tell I have never done regular exercising!) I guess it’s no pain, no gain. Anyway, I like having a specific goal of reaching 100 pushups. I’m not out to have a ripped body (like that would ever happen), just to tone up what I have.

Day 1 - Exhaustion Test

My official starting weight is 184. That may not seem like much to some people, but it is 7 pounds more than I weighed four months ago and 20 pounds more than I weighed a little over a year ago. I am going up fast. I want to start my weight loss now before I reach 210 and my path is more like a mountain than an steep grade.

My friend Doug recommended a book by Steve Speirs called 7 Weeks to 100 Push-ups. Since I am on the road to becoming that hollow-chested guy with a pooch over his belt, this seems like a good place to start. I am cheap by nature, so I am working from his website instead of buying the book.

Speirs says to start with an initial test by seeing how many pushups you can do in one stretch before dropping into a sweaty heap. I made it to 23, which is better than anyone in my family thought I could do. (So there!) According to the chart, for my age range that puts me at level 3 out of 7.

Now I have to wait a couple of days before starting Week 1. It is a three day per week program to help you reach your goal. That will give me a couple of days to research eating regimens.