Im Not Big Boned
Im fat.
I took a look at the first post I ever wrote the other day. Entitled Battle of the Belly – Day 1, it proclaimed my desire to lose weight. Then I looked at my second post, Where Have You Been? Or The Continuation of Fatness where I continue to discuss weight loss.
When was it posted? 42 days after the first one. Ouch.
Then over the next 3-4 months, I continued to post about losing weight. Mostly when things were good. Then silence on the fatty side. What happened?
I quit losing weight. I stopped fighting. I failed.
And, instead of standing up and talking about it, I shut the hell up.
For a person that talks a lot about failure, its surprises me a bit that I failed to share in my failure.
Why does all this matter? Well, lemme tell ya!
Im back at the weight loss stuff. I learned over the course of the past year or so that being bipolar made weight loss difficult and weight gain easy. Apparently, most people who are bipolar tend to be addicted to food, drugs or sex. I choose unwisely and ended up being addicted to food and drugs. (If I had only known the choices!)
While its not easy to break an addiction to drugs, its really a binary decision. You either do drugs, or you dont.
I cant stop eating. Well, cant stop for long.
Recently, I found that I am insulin resistant. Due to that, I have started taking a drug called Metformin which is supposed to help my body become less insulin resistant. (BTW, a horrible side effect is it jacks up my stomach. Sometimes really, really badly. Add that to the standard Jewish disposition of having horrible stomach/GI/etc issues, its really, really not fun.)
Over the course of the past few weeks, I am losing weight naturally. Which means, if I want to get serious about losing weight, now is the time.
What’s my plan?
First and foremost, I am using Daily Burn. Daily Burn was a Techstars company last year, and has been doing phenomenally with some great investors. Along with an iPhone app, they allow you to track all your caloric intake (nutrition), workouts and the effect the nutritional choices and workouts have on your body (my belly). What I like about Daily Burn is the addition of social features, which are paramount to success (no one is in this alone, even if you are alone.)
The only benefit of Daily Burn is the ability for me to post most everything I am doing publicly. Here is my Daily Burn Locker Room. Its public. Enjoy. Occasionally it will tweet out achievements and other fitness related information.
I will use Nike+ for when I walk my dogs, or spend time on the treadmill. Again, I will post it on my blog (in a handy dandy widget). I am going to take pictures of myself now and again, and post them to a flickr set on my account. And, finally, I will record videos here and there, and post them to LearnToDuckTV.
Finally, I will ask everyone who knows me to keep me on track. If you think I am slippin’ just ask, or kick in my…butt–doubt you could miss it.
And, of course, periodically, I will write a post about where I am at.
As my mom used to say to me when I pretended I wasnt listening to her, “This time I am not fucking around.”
I want to lose about 100 lbs. Ive given myself about a year to do it.
And…here we go.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Micah–
Lisa (my wife) has expertise in these matters and loves educating people on how simple changes in diet can cause big changes in health. First, she always recommends these two books:
1. The Glucose Revolution. For any person with insulin issues, and who wants to lose weight, this is a must read. It talks about how simple changes in food combinations can yield different results in insulin production.
2. The False Fat Diet. It talks about how there are foods that we are not allergic to, but to which we have resistance or sensitivity, can cause weight issues due to water retention.
In addition, she also gives these two simple pieces of guidance:
1. Follow a “whole foods” diet. Stay away from anything that doesn’t actually grow out of the ground (or wasn’t an animal). You’ll have to find a whole foods coop (in Boulder I’m sure there are many) because places like Safeway are really hard to shop this way.
2. Start by cutting out corn syrup. You may know this, but corn syrup causes huge insulin spikes. Excess is then converted to fat…the Glucose Revolution talks about this. Ditch corn syrup and you’ll be making huge strides. (In my view, corn syrup is going to be the tobacco of the 21st century.)
Lisa would be more than happy to help you out, let me know and I’ll put you in touch.
Scott
Good luck!
I have been thinking about my own weight issues over the last few months.
My achilles on both feet have been bothering me off and on over the last year and a half, which makes it difficult to go for long walks or other exercises. The walking would help get the weight off which would most definitely make the achilles better to.
It’s now time to start eating better and reducing my portion size to start, that and adding more veggies to the diet. Going to try more salad with chopped or sliced meats on them so they seem more interesting.
So for the record my last weight of a few days ago was 322 lbs. I guess I’m winning if you can call it that.
What I would like to do is be down under 300 lbs. by Christmas and then to 285 by my birthday and under 275 by SXSW.
No, need to rush this and figure I will end up with better long term habits by doing it slowly. A little bit at a time first with portion control (smaller meals and no seconds, unless fruits and vegetables), then getting into walking longer and exercise. Got to get weight down so achilles, joints, etc. don’t trip me up.
Wouldn’t mind getting down to 225 in the long run too. Going to work on smaller more managable goals to start.
Good luck to you and I will be watching you, kind of in a non creepy kind of way (twitter and blog).
Micah -
I really dig your honesty and commitment to creating a healthy body. It might seem odd to say it, but it’s pretty easy for me to imagine you getting back to being a badass lacrosse player. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help out. Fitness is about community as much as altering habits around food and exercise.
Rich
@heyrich
http://us.mbt.com/Home/Collect.....rey-W.aspx
Micah try a pair of these on in a store the Sport Model they take a while to get used to but for walking when you are on a diet they work all leg muscles etc only buy them in a store where they know how to fit shoes-I Break em in slow or you may take a tumble ! Marshal Sandler I bouught em after my friend Lev Selector the information Guru Recommended them http://www.selectorweb.com/ you can write him at selector@pipeline.com or call him at 917 331 8658 they cost a little under $300.00
Fleet Feet
2624 Broadway
80304 Boulder
I used to have a pair of those. Really stretched the achilles tendon. Very interesting…
I applaud your goal and can’t wait to ask you on a daily basis around the office how you’re doing with that goal…although I hope to see the results firsthand.
I’m using DailyBurn as well…http://dailyburn.com/locker_room/tarable
And I just bet you can’t wait to add me as a buddy on there!
Thanks for the great post, and good luck!
In the end, all you need is a healthy lifestyle, which not only helps you lose weight, but also helps you escape from various diseases, like cancer or others. As long as you pursue a good online weight loss program your physical appearance will improve, and let’s not forget the importance of working out. Armed with these weapons, you can't go wrong.