Clean Slate

INTRODUCING...

For those of you who aren't aware, this is not my first weight-loss documentation. Back in November of 2006, I weighed 366 pounds, and was on my way to an early grave. My wife had just given birth to our second daughter in September, and she decided to make some changes. By Thanksgiving, she had lost 10 pounds, and I was getting motivated by her new attitude.

By July of 2007 - less than a year later - I had dropped to 272, losing a total of 94 pounds, and I was well on my way to my "ideal weight" of 240 pounds. I didn't have a gym membership, had no personal trainer, not even any weights in the house. I did it all through finding ways to stay active - family walks, playing catch, doing push ups, etc. I was 32 pounds away from my goal, and then I let life get in my way.


I felt pretty good about myself for losing the 94, so I let up. Then stresses from work and family hit me, and while I maintained for several months, I was weakening. Before I knew it I was back over 280, and eventually, I climbed back over 290. I was within reach of 300 - a number I never wanted to see on that scale again.

After several weeks of hovering in the mid 290's, I'd had enough. So here we sit today. My new goal, as you may have guessed, is to drop the Big 5-0. Fifty pounds from now, I'll be the lightest I've been since college.

But why a new blog? We'll just say that others who lost weight similar to mine didn't do such a great job of keeping things in perspective. Their tones went from support to judgmental. If I wasn't doing it THEIR way, I wasn't doing it right. If I was maintaining while dealing with some major family issues, it wasn't good enough, and I was making excuses.

I didn't need the attitudes and comparisons to the way they did things. Plus, I don't want to lean on my previous weight loss as a badge of honor. In fact, this will be the last time you see me mention my previous weight loss on this blog.

This is a new journey, with new goals. I need to lose 50 pounds, and I'm starting today.

THE PLAN

I'll be using a band workout based on THIS STORY in an older issue of Men's Health. I know it doesn't seem like bands will do much, but I've done this workout before, and I can assure you that it's pretty intense. I'll be doing this for 45 days, and then I'll switch things up. What to, I'm not sure. I'll also be slipping in some agility ladder work, and some heavy bag work along the way, just to keep things interesting.

Calorie-wise, my goals are simple. I will not cross 2,200 daily calories more than three times each month. I'll be keeping track of my intake HERE, just to make sure I stay on top of it all.

THE BLOG

The look will change quite a bit over the next week or two, as my talented graphic designer of a wife will help me tweak it and customize it. I'll try to post at least 2-3 times per week, but it might be tough, as I'm in the process of starting a new business. When I do post, I'll post it all: successes, failures, thoughts, funny stories, sad stories, and so on. I think you get the idea.

Feel free to leave comments anytime. And please subscribe to the feed so you can keep tabs on me. This is going to be a tough 50 pounds, so I can use all the support I can get.

Alrighty, then.

Here...
We...
Go...