It Begins

On July 4th of 2006, I weighed approximately 245 pounds.  I went to my family reunion, and all my cousins made sure I realized how heavy I was.  They would constantly rub my stomach and give me a little grin.   

About a week or so later, I decided to visit a church that I used to attend a couple of years ago.  Since I now attend a different church, I thought I would drop in to see how my old church member buddies were doing.  To my surprise, nearly everybody that I saw made a comment about my weight.  One brother even stated that I was bursting out of my suit – then he chuckled.

Although these comments did not upset me, they did cause me to realize that I had been taking life a bit too easy.  So, I started a training regiment that includes lots of cardio, fewer calories, and a reasonable amount of weight training.   I knew that if I was able to commit to this routine, good things were going to happen.

Today I have been training for approximately 12 weeks, I weigh 223 pounds, I look better, I think better, and best of all, I feel better.  The nutritional part of my regiments consists of my eating nuts, fresh fruit, and/or vegetables almost daily.  Of course, fish, turkey breast, or chicken are usually on the menu.  I only allow myself to eat really bad foods on the weekends, and then only in moderation.  By doing so, I am better able to make a long-term commit to the process.  In other words, I can always see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Today is Saturday, and therefore, is a bad food day.  I started out by eating a peanut butter sandwich this morning.  Well actually, it was reduced fat peanut butter spread sandwich.  Since I never eat white bread, I put the spread on a couple of toasted 100% multi-grain slices of bread.  I also had red seedless grapes and I washed it all down with a diet green tea beverage. The tea is made by Lipton, it tastes really good and has zero calories.

After eating breakfast, I went to the gym and

• Ran on the treadmill for 20 minutes
• Spent 15 minutes doing various abdominal exercises
• Three sets of back extensions and oblique stretching
• Six sets of T-Bar rows (Back Workout)
• Three sets of Chest Extensions
• Three sets of Chest Presses

For Lunch, I went to Chipotle and rather than having the burrito, I when for the salad.  This consisted of a bed of lettuce, covered with pinto beans, cubes of grilled chicken, and low fat salsa.