Goofy fat dad in Alabama respawn

[goofydadmichael]

Greetings from a goofy fat dad in Alabama! I really was glad to see the respawn post today.  This is my first post on this forum, and I really need the respawn!!

I am a veteran, I used to stay in great shape, and, like many of you, life got in the way.  I did manage to stay at a reasonable weight because I ran a lot, but my eating habits got worse and worse, and my running eventually slowed and stopped.

I am a dad (duh!), to an adopted nine year old daughter who is a fit athlete and gymnast.  In the 4th grade, she's able to do more pushups than I ever did in the Navy, and she's in great shape.  I want to be inspired by her and inspire her. 

My wife is in the same boat as me. 

 

I weigh about 255.5 lbs right now, which is by FAR the heaviest I've ever been.  And I feel and look terrible.  I've tried differnt things, but never stuck to a diet.  When we went to Disney World over Thanksgiving, and I hated being in pictures (and seeing pictures), and struggled to get my fat butt in the new Seven Dwarves Mine Train, I'd had it.  And then the email came!

 

I'm not waiting until January 1, 2015 to get going.  I'm starting right here, right now.

I will do paleo, and will change me eating, which, from reading at Nerd Fitness, and common sense, is about 80% of the battle.

 

I will come to the Nerd Fitness forums daily, as possible, and post my own things and try to encourage others.

 

And I will exercise. 

 

Exercise is my problem though.  I like running all right, I ran cross country in high school and have done several half marathons and marathons.  We have a dog who LOVES going running with me early in the mornings, and I like listening to podcasts while I run. 

But I get no strength training.  I'm thinking of running/walking 3 times a week, and doing the Insanity T25 program the other days.

 

What do you think?

Oh yeah, thank you to all of you, to the Nerd Fitness founders and members, and may the force be with you!

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Insanity is pretty . . . insane if you haven't been doing weight workouts recently. Your mileage may vary, but  got great results by starting with the Beginner Bodyweight Workout. I am now on a progression-based system for bodyweight, and getting stronger and stronger, while losing weight and feeling wonderful. 

 

Maybe experiment with paleo before going whole hog with it. You know yourself and your family best, but I wouldn't do well with a sudden overhaul of everything in my life - diet, exercise, and all. Not to discourage - keep the fire in your belly and go forth! Just don't overload yourself too fast.  

[goofydadmichael]

Thank you, Tzippi Longstockings!!  That's good advice, and sort of a "moderation" type approach, rather than an all-in type, that's caused me so many failures in the past.  I'll look at this basically one decision at a time, break this down into shorter, manageable changes, and prevail!!

 

Today is Day 1 of actually implementing my respawn, and I will update what I do here to keep myself accountable, and to help other people too.

This morning, I've already had 2 good decisions and 2 bad decisions.  I'm not going to call it a fail, because it's just a decision I made, and I'll correct it.

 

The first bad decision was not getting up at 5:00 to run.  My Dauschund was mad at me for it; she LOVES going running with me, and I promised her last night that we'd go running.  When my alarm goes off, she's conditioned to know that means it's time to run, and when I rolled back over and went back to sleep, she didn't like that too much.  That was a bad decision, but I will make that one right tomorrow.

Good decision number 1 was my wife and I helping each other cook a breakfast of eggs, sausage, and bacon.  I premade the sausage and bacon yesterday, and we made the eggs together.  Nice win!!

The second bad decision was, I still have some cans of Coke in the refrigerator, and, I guess out of habit, I grabbed one with breakfast and started drinking. 

 

The second good decision was, I thought about how much I do not WANT or NEED that Coke, and I poured about 90% of the can down the sink, threw the can away, and got a big glass of water.

 

Thank you all for being a part of this respawn, and for nerd fitness for getting this going.  Hopefully I can just post my progress here in my thread.  I will put the things I'm doing daily, what I'm eating, what I'm doing to exercise, and my weight loss.

 

May the force be with you!

[Tzippi Longstockings]

 

The second good decision was, I thought about how much I do not WANT or NEED that Coke, and I poured about 90% of the can down the sink, threw the can away, and got a big glass of water.

 

Thank you all for being a part of this respawn, and for nerd fitness for getting this going.  Hopefully I can just post my progress here in my thread.  I will put the things I'm doing daily, what I'm eating, what I'm doing to exercise, and my weight loss.

 

May the force be with you!

 

That is not easy. Way to go - just getting rid of that soda! It's those ingrained habits that are the hardest to break. Anyway, you can keep going here, or start a Battle Log or even join in with our Current Six-week challenge! (we're on week four, but you could do a three-week challenge to get you up to the holidays, and then do the next one all the way through).

 

Anyway, poke around and find people with similar interests. This link has good info on starting a regular correspondence/accountability practice here on Nerd Fitness. Anyway, I'm around, especially in the Rangers' Tent and on the vegetarian boards. And remember: Every good choice is one choice better than yesterday, and just cutting down/out soda will make a HUGE difference to your weight and health!