The Battle of the Bulge
I'm an observer. Not only do I look at what's in front of me while I drive down life's highway, I take note of the ever changing landscape on either side of me. One of those landscapes that seems to be "evolving" is my body. I can think back to my senior year in high school when I was a wrestler, weighing in at 129 pounds of pure muscle and sinew. My waist was 30 inches, and my height...well, it was exactly the same as it is right now! My 20s were spent in mild but socially acceptable debauchery as far as my eating habits and "the drink", but I frequented the gym and catered to my craving for outdoor activities, so "the bod" stayed fit. I became a bit bulkier and began to get close to being able to "pinch an inch", but when my shirt was off I could still solicit a hoot now and then from a carload of passing girls. My 30s ushered in a career change from disarming bombs to programming, and thus 40 hours a week where the only thing moving were my eyes and fingers. I was dead center in the midst of my "family man" days, with seven kiddos ranging from 12 down to a few months, and the gym became non-existent to me. My only real exercise as I recall were the slow walks we took around our block with kids in tow and every other month when I had to replace a part on my very aged Chevrolet suburban.
It was February of 1994 when I really took note of "my paunch". I had been truly enjoying my immersion in the world of technology and was absorbing it quite successfully...but I was growing, physically. I blamed it mostly on home cooking (which means I told my wife at the time that it was her fault!), but in fact it was a combination of my sedentary lifestyle AND my age. From that epiphany onward I have been fighting what I believe may be a losing battle in the end: staying skinny. I've dieted enough now to know that that doesn't work for most people (including myself), mostly because it just requires too darn much resolve! The greatest successes I've had came at those times when I made room in my schedule for good old fashioned exercise. After all, staying skinny is a simple equation, right? Burn more calories than you take in and you'll lose weight. Exercise not only burns more calories, but there's some added benefits that come afterwards by way of endorphins, an awareness of feeling stronger, and a sense of accomplishment. Plus, I could still indulge in the occasional Corona or White Russian. Or Apple Martini. Or Long Island Iced Tea. etc.
My latest attempt at staying skinny has been going on for just about exactly one year now: I joined a gym. Not the first time I joined a gym, mind you, and there's nothing magical about having a membership that shrinks your waistline. This gym had something I learned to love in the military: racquetball, and I figured that by getting back into that I could also accomplish the whole shrinkage thing. I had finally found a place in my life where I could truly apply what I consider to be one of the wisest proverbs ever spoken, a proverb I very OFTEN cite to my children when they grumble about an assigned task. It was Mary Poppins who graced the world with what has to be the truest truism ever spoken when she said "In every job that must be done there is an element of fun; find the fun aaaaaaaannnndd....SNAP! The job becomes a game!" (Yoda is a close second when he said "Do, or do not; there is no try"). So, I made working out fun, and played racquetball till my waist began to shrink, and shrink it did. I lost my racquetball partner a few months later (don't worry, she didn't die; I told her to hit the road), so started diversifying my routine to include 20 to 30 minutes on the treadmill followed by another 30 minutes of abusing different muscle groups on the weight machines. Doing this between once and three times a week, to date I dropped about 20 pounds. Not nearly where I want to be, and I seem to have hit some kind of plateau which I'm attributing to my inconsistency, age, and love of apple martinis. Give up, however, I am not. I now have a new gym partner who helps make the job a game again, so I'm confident I'll be able to drop at least another 15 pounds before spring.
As far as progress at the gym, I went through some phases of discouragement where I'd work real hard but when I got on the scale I didn't see what I was looking for. Although it isn't new knowledge, let me share and reiterate a few things that may help you manage your expectations and stay encouraged during your own journey back to skinniness.
What are the signs of progress? A shrinking waist, being influenced less and less by gravity, and the way you feel, both physically and mentally. The mental benefit of working out was one of the first I was able to reap. There were times when I was feeling a bit blue when I went to the gym, but by the time I left it was as if I had taken some kind of anti-depressant. There's also the overall feeling of "being strong" that you have after a workout on the weight machines that in itself is a strong source of self-confidence, progress, and hope of achieving your goals. Less stress on the scale and the shrinking waistline...these are effects that will come somewhere between two and four weeks of consistent work, typically, and even then you won't notice a lot of difference. For me, it took almost a month of consistent work to get to a place where I could actually see some significant weight loss and feel my pants getting looser. Why did it take a whole month to "see" progress? Because for that first month, the progress came in ways that we can't see outwardly. Here are a couple of things I wish someone would have told me when I first embarked upon my journey.
First of all, you must be aware that bulk isn't just on the outside: it's inside, too. All around our organs and even in the midst of our muscle itself we have fat. Ever cut into a thick prime rib, All marbly with fat? Well, human meat gets marbly too, and that fat is part of what will get used first during your journey to skinniness. You won't see it being used up, you just have to trust that you are becoming leaner.
Another thing to bear in mind is that being overweight means that a lot of things are out of sorts. Not only are you having to wear larger pants, but your metabolism is at a certain end of the spectrum, your internals are all cramped and embedded in fat, your habits are not conducive to a healthy lifestyle, and likely your very mindset and opinion of yourself are probably not very encouraging. Working out regularly WILL get all of these things back in order, but it will take time.
As with any worthy project of substantial size (no pun intended!), results come as you exercise patient continuance and will not be immediately visible. This fact is what you need to bear in mind as you begin and continue on your journey toward skinniness in order to remain encouraged. Manage your expectations, do your part to make this happen (be consistent), and without a doubt there is NO WAY that it CANNOT work! You will lose weight, you will get skinnier, and you will feel a thousand percent better both physically and mentally. Remember too those immortal words of Mary Poppins...find the fun, my fellow fat friend, aaaaaaand...SNAP! The job becomes a game!
Doug out :0)
It was February of 1994 when I really took note of "my paunch". I had been truly enjoying my immersion in the world of technology and was absorbing it quite successfully...but I was growing, physically. I blamed it mostly on home cooking (which means I told my wife at the time that it was her fault!), but in fact it was a combination of my sedentary lifestyle AND my age. From that epiphany onward I have been fighting what I believe may be a losing battle in the end: staying skinny. I've dieted enough now to know that that doesn't work for most people (including myself), mostly because it just requires too darn much resolve! The greatest successes I've had came at those times when I made room in my schedule for good old fashioned exercise. After all, staying skinny is a simple equation, right? Burn more calories than you take in and you'll lose weight. Exercise not only burns more calories, but there's some added benefits that come afterwards by way of endorphins, an awareness of feeling stronger, and a sense of accomplishment. Plus, I could still indulge in the occasional Corona or White Russian. Or Apple Martini. Or Long Island Iced Tea. etc.
My latest attempt at staying skinny has been going on for just about exactly one year now: I joined a gym. Not the first time I joined a gym, mind you, and there's nothing magical about having a membership that shrinks your waistline. This gym had something I learned to love in the military: racquetball, and I figured that by getting back into that I could also accomplish the whole shrinkage thing. I had finally found a place in my life where I could truly apply what I consider to be one of the wisest proverbs ever spoken, a proverb I very OFTEN cite to my children when they grumble about an assigned task. It was Mary Poppins who graced the world with what has to be the truest truism ever spoken when she said "In every job that must be done there is an element of fun; find the fun aaaaaaaannnndd....SNAP! The job becomes a game!" (Yoda is a close second when he said "Do, or do not; there is no try"). So, I made working out fun, and played racquetball till my waist began to shrink, and shrink it did. I lost my racquetball partner a few months later (don't worry, she didn't die; I told her to hit the road), so started diversifying my routine to include 20 to 30 minutes on the treadmill followed by another 30 minutes of abusing different muscle groups on the weight machines. Doing this between once and three times a week, to date I dropped about 20 pounds. Not nearly where I want to be, and I seem to have hit some kind of plateau which I'm attributing to my inconsistency, age, and love of apple martinis. Give up, however, I am not. I now have a new gym partner who helps make the job a game again, so I'm confident I'll be able to drop at least another 15 pounds before spring.
As far as progress at the gym, I went through some phases of discouragement where I'd work real hard but when I got on the scale I didn't see what I was looking for. Although it isn't new knowledge, let me share and reiterate a few things that may help you manage your expectations and stay encouraged during your own journey back to skinniness.
What are the signs of progress? A shrinking waist, being influenced less and less by gravity, and the way you feel, both physically and mentally. The mental benefit of working out was one of the first I was able to reap. There were times when I was feeling a bit blue when I went to the gym, but by the time I left it was as if I had taken some kind of anti-depressant. There's also the overall feeling of "being strong" that you have after a workout on the weight machines that in itself is a strong source of self-confidence, progress, and hope of achieving your goals. Less stress on the scale and the shrinking waistline...these are effects that will come somewhere between two and four weeks of consistent work, typically, and even then you won't notice a lot of difference. For me, it took almost a month of consistent work to get to a place where I could actually see some significant weight loss and feel my pants getting looser. Why did it take a whole month to "see" progress? Because for that first month, the progress came in ways that we can't see outwardly. Here are a couple of things I wish someone would have told me when I first embarked upon my journey.
First of all, you must be aware that bulk isn't just on the outside: it's inside, too. All around our organs and even in the midst of our muscle itself we have fat. Ever cut into a thick prime rib, All marbly with fat? Well, human meat gets marbly too, and that fat is part of what will get used first during your journey to skinniness. You won't see it being used up, you just have to trust that you are becoming leaner.
Another thing to bear in mind is that being overweight means that a lot of things are out of sorts. Not only are you having to wear larger pants, but your metabolism is at a certain end of the spectrum, your internals are all cramped and embedded in fat, your habits are not conducive to a healthy lifestyle, and likely your very mindset and opinion of yourself are probably not very encouraging. Working out regularly WILL get all of these things back in order, but it will take time.
As with any worthy project of substantial size (no pun intended!), results come as you exercise patient continuance and will not be immediately visible. This fact is what you need to bear in mind as you begin and continue on your journey toward skinniness in order to remain encouraged. Manage your expectations, do your part to make this happen (be consistent), and without a doubt there is NO WAY that it CANNOT work! You will lose weight, you will get skinnier, and you will feel a thousand percent better both physically and mentally. Remember too those immortal words of Mary Poppins...find the fun, my fellow fat friend, aaaaaaand...SNAP! The job becomes a game!
Doug out :0)
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Re: The Battle of the Bulge
I thought you meant "Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down".
Over the years, we as techno weenies have watched while other people were fascinated with diet books and we hardly ever left the Technology section of the bookstore.
We wondered why girls were so enamored with finding the right mate, while we worked on the fasted sort algorithms.
Now in mid-life years (hopefully), I see the value in being interested in your own body.
I see the importance of finding the right spouse.
Exercise: It's the one thing you can't hire someone to do for you.
Some have been told that if you walk the stairs that might be a good substitute for exercise. Let me tell you something - there's no exercise like exercise.
Just jog a few hundred yards to quickly judge how out of shape you are!
Over the years, we as techno weenies have watched while other people were fascinated with diet books and we hardly ever left the Technology section of the bookstore.
We wondered why girls were so enamored with finding the right mate, while we worked on the fasted sort algorithms.
Now in mid-life years (hopefully), I see the value in being interested in your own body.
I see the importance of finding the right spouse.
Exercise: It's the one thing you can't hire someone to do for you.
Some have been told that if you walk the stairs that might be a good substitute for exercise. Let me tell you something - there's no exercise like exercise.
Just jog a few hundred yards to quickly judge how out of shape you are!
Posted by psenn on August 10, 2007 at 1:46 PM