End of Week 5

This has been another difficult week. I am actually posting this from work during a break. Even without regularly exercising, I have lost another 0.5 pounds, bringing my current weight to 242.8 lbs. I need to carve out more time for sleep and just in general, taking care of me.

End of week 4

This was a particularly tiring week. I worked over 70 hours, including one day where I worked about 16 hours straight. The work was a little more physically demanding, but, not what would be considered exercise just yet. Still, I was able to pay attention to what I was eating and lost 1.3 pounds last week, bringing my current weight to 243.3 lbs. This is a short post, because I am heading of to a commitment this morning.

End of Week 3

Well, I had another very busy week. I have been paying closer attention to what I have been eating. While I have not exercised this week, I still lost half a pound. That brings my current weight to 244.6 lbs. I am working on creating time in my schedule to allow me to start exercising.

End of Week 2

Well this week was another very busy one.  I was much better about being careful about what I ate, but, I did not exercise again this week.  A couple of very stressful activities are now behind me, so I think life will slow down a little.  I am also going to start journaling what I am eating.  Don't worry, I don't plan on posting that.  I actually want this to be read by someone.  My weight this week is 245.1 pounds, so, have gained another half a pound.  While this has not started out as I had intended, I am not one who gives up easily.

End of Week 1

Well, we reached the end of the first week of my journey. When I weighed in yesterday, I weighed 244.6 pounds. I have gained 1.7 pounds, or as they might quote it on The Biggest Loser, my weight has changed by 0.69 %. I am not in the business of making excuses and I think this blog would be pointless if I were dishonest about my information. I have worked over 70 hours this past week, including 8 hours today (Saturday). I ate normal, but I did not exercise once this week. If I am going to be successful, I need to make that a higher priority. We will see what happens during week 2.

The Tools and My Baseline

I suppose I should talk about what sorts of things I am going to use, besides this blog, to help with my weight loss goals. Where I live, the nearest Gym is about half an hour away and after I get done working, I just want to go home. Everything I am using I have in my home, or I will come up with a novel substitution if I have to.

The Shoes - I guess I should start there, given the name of the blog and all. I have a simple pair of Cross Trainers that i bought at an outlet store. I have only worn them in my house and use them expressly for the treadmill.

The Treadmill - I have an simple treadmill that my wife and I spent part of a tax return on a few years ago. It has some settings to help very the workouts and I can control the angle of the treadmill as well as the speed. It also has a book shelf that I set my iPod on and a fan.

The iPod - I gotta have my tunes. I am always on the lookout for new tunes, so, if you have any suggestions....

The Wii - We have a Wii and the Wii Fit. I will use that also, but, for the purpose of this blog, I will use my bathroom scale for weighing myself.

The Bowflex - We bought this at about the same time as the treadmill. I will work this into my routine as well.

The Water Bottle - This may seem like a no brainer, but, I have noticed since I have stopped drinking things like soda, I have lost some weight. I drink about a gallon of water per day. It may seem like a lot, but, spread out over a 24 hour day, it isn't that much.

There will be other tools that I will talk about as I use them and give you my thoughts. I am also open to suggestions.

The Baseline - As of this morning, I weighed in at 242.9 Pounds. We will see what changes at the end of the week.

This is where it begins...

I have been thinking about writing this for a very long time.  For those of you who do not know me personally, I have been an overweight person for as long as I can remember.  While I am not a sedentary person, I don't exercise on a regular basis and eat things that I really should not.  I have a sweet tooth and I eat a lot more than I really need to.  I would suspect that my confession here is not a surprise to those who know me and may not even sound different to those who have similar life experiences.

While I cannot change my personal past, I can take steps to the not repeat it.  This blog is part of that process.  I am going to use this to document my personal weight loss journey.  I will talk about the things I read about and the things I do to achieve whatever weight loss goal that I come up with.  I will not weigh myself on a daily basis, or document every exercise I do, or everything that I eat in this blog.  I will keep a personal exercise and food journal, but, I really don't think that anyone will want to read that.  Instead, the idea here to try to help encourage others while I get some online "accountability."  I want to make this as interactive as possible.   I want to encourage anyone who reads this to feel free to contact me.  I am by no means an expert on this, but, please feel free to contact me.  My address for this stuff is 1pairofshoes@gmail.com.  I will also take tips from people who have come across concepts and ideas that have worked for them.