20 Pounds!

Serious progress.

Yo-Yo dieting, not me.

A long phone conversation with Sara Bernal during yesterday's hike (with my hood up to protect the phone since it was pouring). We discussed all sorts of things diet, health and exercise and she was worried about ill effects of yo-yo dieting. Possible worries are increased weight gain on the up cycles and some studies suggest that yo-yo dieting increases risk of elevated blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as risk of gall bladder disease. OK, that'd be uncool. My argument against being concerned that I have dropped and gained weight at times over the years, is that I don't fit what I think of as a worrisome profile. For me losing weight is much more a matter of eating right and exercising like a nut. I have never been into starving myself to lose weight, get fit, eat healthy and the pounds will go away on their own.

My, for now prodigious, gut tells me that this is a much healthier way to lose weight then throwing my body into starvation mode by not eating.

Anywho, time to go put another thirty miles on the bike that goes nowhere (though it actually moves about a half inch to the left whenever I ride it).

Slow week in the weight loss department, but...

All is certainly not bad news. I kind of expected a little lull about this far along. I've been eating very well, mostly fruits and vegetables, no pizza, McDonald's or other crap. Chicken instead of beef, salad for lunch almost every day. This change in what I am eating along with about two hours a day of exercise will keep me moving in the right direction. And so I tell myself that while I have hit a little flat spot for the last week, I am still moving in the right direction and this is, after all, a marathon not a sprint.

Onward and downward (and some totally unrelated photos)

Today was my physical, all went well. My blood pressure was much lower, blood sugar OK, Cholesterol below 200, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, all OK, but could be better. Bottom line is I am plenty healthy to start getting healthy.
The doc was a little dubious of my ability to lose weight, get fit and stay that way. I guess he sees a lot of good intentions gone awry. Well, I'll just surprise him and be one of the ten or fifteen, or three or whatever, percent who are able to pull off big lifestyle changes.






Yes, those photos I took while wandering Boston with the students the other day, have nothing to do with the blog. But, every blog needs photos. What a job, I actually get paid to walk around taking photos and talking photography with the students.

10 Pounds

Really a pretty good dent in a big project. This feels totally doable now. I have said that for me the trick is to have the time to do two hours of exercise a day. A luxury that most folks don't have. I'm lucky to not have to work sixty hours a week just to keep my head above water, and I'd be silly not to take advantage of my ridiculously relaxed schedule to get healthy.

And this is about health most of all. Yes, I'm as vain as the next guy, and I have not been at all happy about looking like Chris Farley doing the "Fat guy in a little coat" bit from Tommy Boy ( http://tiny.cc/cDaoB ) whenever I put on a shirt. But, the big worry is the heart disease and diabetes that run rampant in my family.