i admit it, i've made a few mistakes recently.
i've looked at myself in the mirror.
i've gotten a scale.
i've weighed myself.
i discovered that i'm fat.
i started losing weight.
i though i was doing pretty good.
Then i looked up what i should be weighing.
Now, granted, the first bit of that was due to the biggest mistake, which was not paying attention to what the hell i was eating (or how much i was eating) but that last part was just pure masochism on my part.
i weigh about 170. i was hoping to drop around 10 pounds and get back to around 160. That's when i found out that my proper weight for my height should be 145.
i've not weighed that since high school when i ran nearly constantly. i hate running, quite possibly with a passion, regardless of any findings that prove that we as a species advanced solely because of our ability to endure marathons (which, i'll note, killed the first guy that really tried one). i will happily walk, ride, or hike, but anything past a 10 minute mile is just not happening. Hell, even when i was in high school running distance, that's what i ran. Consistently. Regardless of distance (this made me the middle man for long hauls because the other teams guys would most likely not be able to keep the pace they started at).
i'm not sure i'm going to go for my optimal weight. i'll probably shoot for 160 and be on the "fat" side of "healthy".
Hopefully, i'll hit that mark sometime before i turn 50.
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Shep2009-05-14 04:44:14Right there with you, man. Well, not 145 (I guess I have a few inches on you), but my big BMI shock was a few years ago, when at 190 I thought I was a few pounds overweight and discovered that at 5'9", I needed to drop 25 pounds to hit the upper margin of the "healthy" range. (and before the BMI naysayers pop up, yes, I'm aware that it's an imprecise and inaccurate measurement that can be skewed by exceptional people, but as Krista at Stumptuous is fond of saying, there's a very high probability that you're average.) Don't run if you don't want to. I like it, but there are lots of other ways to work a little exercise into your day. The most important thing to know is that your weight is 90% diet and 10% exercise -- adding exercise to a lifestyle can HELP, but any real change comes from food, food, food. Writing down everything you eat for a couple of weeks will work miracles in changing your eating habits.
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jrconlin2009-05-14 06:19:05Honestly, the food part isn't really that hard for me. What really helped was http://dailyplate.com, which shows you portion size and calories. I don't really eat a helluva lot anyway, it's pretty easy to scale back on the heavier stuff and supplement with the lighter stuff.
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nav2009-05-14 08:17:14interesting post, i always find it amusing when Jay Leno jokes about people becoming too fat. I however feel, we as species in this dimension have to eat as much as possible and engage our sense while challenging our body organs to stress.
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JIM2009-05-14 09:25:09Never, ever look up what you're "supposed" to weigh. It's insane. I'm convinced those guidelines are compiled by vegan long-distance runners. I haven't been my "ideal" weight for my height since I hit puberty, and while I may be a tad squishy around the middle, no one would call me fat.
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nav2009-05-14 09:40:27i strongly think a person has to be his/her physical best, what i meant by saying that the organs need to be put through stress is meaning physical workouts. Even though our body seem to be left behind after death, our genes is passed on and also the 'environment' or lab that we are in is constantly putting our body through test and i dont think fat people do participate or their are many test for them.
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Shep2009-05-14 11:56:17Agreed, JIM, but one of the amazing things that happened when I tried to drop down to my "healthy" weight" a couple of years ago (and got pretty close!) was how little I changed outwardly -- I didn't become a stick or a beanpole, and even kept a bit of my gut. I think it's entirely possible to be carrying a lot of fat and weight internally without looking like a Butterball turkey; I definitely felt better when I was in better shape, and while I didn't suddenly grow cheekbones or anything, there was a definite "aura" -- a lot more compliments, attention from the wimmins, etc. Central point being I'm running around 15-20 pounds over where I should be right now, and it expresses itself as me being just a couple of mm doughier all over, not like the 20-pound gut that fluctuates as I gain and lose weight. You'd think "I LOST 20 POUNDS" -- more than 10% of my total weight -- would be a radical shift, but it really does express as just being a bit squishier all over.
