A friend's own admission on this topic in his blog has inspired me to share that I have the same shortcoming: I'm getting fat again.
I'm a lazy, processed-food-eating, non-exercising, slob.
It's nothing new. I used to be all of that, plus your garden variety of decidedly more dangerous vices, all of which resulted in my five-foot-three self weighing in at more than 150 lbs and my lungs exploding after a half mile run.
About four years ago in California, I started to turn it around. I ate healthy. I went to the gym six days a week. I dropped all (well, most) of those dangerous vices. And after a while, I was a 130 lb, medium distance runner who could bench press considerably more than my weight.
Flash forward to 2005. I live in New York City, where unhealthy is chic. Where gyms cost more than rent. Where fresh food is a luxury. Where time comes at a premium, and where nothing is convenient.
My exercise time dropped gradually from an hour a day, six days/week to 30 minutes every three days.
I had a kid.
My exercise time dropped to a carefully negotiated two runs per week.
My food intake increased in volume and decreased dramatically in quality.
My pants don't fit.
So what am I going to do about it? Again, inspired by my friend mentioned above, I pledge here, to do the following beginning today:
- No eating after 8pm
- No french fries. Pizza only once per week.
- An increase in exercise time to three runs per week. More, as Asher care gets easier.
- Nightly sit-ups
I'm a lazy, processed-food-eating, non-exercising, slob.
It's nothing new. I used to be all of that, plus your garden variety of decidedly more dangerous vices, all of which resulted in my five-foot-three self weighing in at more than 150 lbs and my lungs exploding after a half mile run.
About four years ago in California, I started to turn it around. I ate healthy. I went to the gym six days a week. I dropped all (well, most) of those dangerous vices. And after a while, I was a 130 lb, medium distance runner who could bench press considerably more than my weight.
Flash forward to 2005. I live in New York City, where unhealthy is chic. Where gyms cost more than rent. Where fresh food is a luxury. Where time comes at a premium, and where nothing is convenient.
My exercise time dropped gradually from an hour a day, six days/week to 30 minutes every three days.
I had a kid.
My exercise time dropped to a carefully negotiated two runs per week.
My food intake increased in volume and decreased dramatically in quality.
My pants don't fit.
So what am I going to do about it? Again, inspired by my friend mentioned above, I pledge here, to do the following beginning today:
- No eating after 8pm
- No french fries. Pizza only once per week.
- An increase in exercise time to three runs per week. More, as Asher care gets easier.
- Nightly sit-ups
posted by isaacjosephson at 2:08 PM
3 Comments:
Good luck, Ike. It's a hard road.
BTW, I'm not sure if nightly situps are good. Aren't you supposed to give all muscles at least 48 hours to recover, even the abs? Maybe alternate situps and pushups or something.
Part of it is just getting old. Your metabolism changes. Just about everyone in my peer group (myself included) is grappling with this in a big way. To some degree, it's just part of getting old.
I also find that as I've gotten older, I need a lot more time for my muscles to recover.
I concur that nightly sit-ups aren't a great idea. Plus, if you're trying to lose fat, sit-ups won't do it - there's no such thing as "spot reducing". You want cardio, and lots of it.
I've actually been training for my first half-marathon. There's lots of good information at http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/walk_breaks.html. Read the whole thing. It's working for me.
The other key component is what you're eating. Take a good hard look, and make sure you're not eating too FEW calories. I made that mistake for a long time, and I'm still dealing with the consequences.
Anu has some good advice. Although doing abs every night isn't necessarily a bad thing b/c their not a resistance exercise, muscles tend to heal more quickly from endurance work rather than resistance work. Galloway has a great reputation!!
also, once I get used to riding on a regular basis, I'd be happy to do rides with you on the weekend.
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