Chapter 1: The Fat Kid from IT, American Beauty

Well I think I may be doing it right and for real this time. If you're here, chances are you've been on a diet before (probably 5 or 6 times!), had some success, but didn't maintain that success and need to do it again. Maybe you're looking for motivation, exercise ideas, diet ideas, or just a funny story. I think you've come to the right place. This is post number 1 of hopefully many to come; as I make being healthy a bigger part of my life I feel like it will be more natural to maintain.

I've been overweight all of my life. From the smothering grandparents who thought eating a lot was the means to being happy to the idea of finding comfort in food instead of playing or exercise, I've struggled with eating and having a sedentary lifestyle. Lacking any real ambition or motivation to change didn't help any either :) I've been in decent shape a couple times in my life, but it never really lasted.

What changed? Well, I guess I grew up. All the reasons I've always had started to be important. Oddly enough, this is centered around an event I had never really put much emphasis on - turning 30. It just so happened that around the same time I got a grown-up-person job at a large, somewhat consevative company and a new(er) car - I have more responsibilities and they're good ones that I'm proud of.

My motivations are simple - there are two major ones and one minor. The two major ones are attracting the opposite sex and participating in certain sports or hobbies that have always been interesting to me. The minor reason is my overall health (I'm still too young to be overly worried about that one I guess).

You might think that losing weight to attract women seems shallow, and while I won't necessarily argue that point - I don't care. I'm attracted to athletic women with breasts and hips and pretty faces, soulful eyes, shiny hair. I'm also attracted to women who are intelligent, creative, and funny. But, they have to look healthy. This is part personal preference and part evolutionary - I instinctively want someone who looks like she will effectively propagate the race (and someone I would like to try to propagate the race with. often.). So knowing that I want that, it seems perfectly reasonable to look like a healthy specimen myself. And like Kevin Spacey said in American Beauty, when the runner asked him what his weight loss goals were - I want to look good naked! It's also significant to point out that when I say I want to attract women, I'm at a point in my life where I don't just want to pull some random chick at the bar; I'm interested in a relationship and want to present the highest quality me to the high standard of woman I'm interested in.

As for sports/hobbies go, I want to do things like rock climbing, bicycling, kayaking - all on a regular basis. And if I do this recreationaly and socially, I'll have to be able to keep up with others that are athletic. Plus it is important to do these things safely - if I can't reach around my stomache to get a hand hold I'm not exactly in a safe position!

So, inspired by a group of friends on Traineo.com, as well as the image of the fat kid in IT running until he pukes, I'm changing my life. I love to eat healthy so I'm taking the time to plan meals and shop (I'm about to go shopping now), I'm taking daily vitamins, and I'm working out and doing cardio 3-5 times per week. Or at least I'm starting to get into the habit of working out 3-5 times per week.

I'll update with some of my workouts and what I've been doing for the past few weeks getting into this.

Do it right or don't do it.