I am Taking Control

I am not certain whether or not we have all experienced what I am about to write about but I am certain that at least some of you can sympathize with me when I pen these next few lines.  

I awoke a little before sunrise two mornings ago, stumbled from my bed to the bathroom to wash the sleep from my face and after flipping on the light looked into the mirror I saw a horrifying site...Me.  Staring back at was me.  Hey, listen I think I am a fairly average guy.  I don't stop clocks with my bad looks but I neither do I get many double takes because I am stunning either.  That is not what I am talking about.  When I looked in the mirror I realized that the guy staring back at me was out of shape and overweight.  

Maybe it was just that I was a little more wide awake than I am most mornings. But here I am about to finish out my 5th decade on this earth and this was the first time I realized "I need to take control of ME!"  I don’t think I am in a rut.  It is difficult to be in a rut when you have two growing sons around the house that are active in sports, school and life in general.  Maybe it is just the routine that puts me on autopilot. It goes something like this:

• Get  up in the morning just before daylight

• Shower and get dressed

• Go downstairs to start breakfast

• Wake everyone up

• Finish preparing breakfast

• Help get everyone out the door

• Water and feed all of the animals

• Drive 30 - 45 minutes to work

• Go to meetings

• Work at my desk

• Eat lunch, usually at my desk

• Go to meetings

• Work at my desk

• Daily options

• commute home another 30 - 45 minutes in traffic

• feed and water the animals

• help with dinner

• help with homework

• go to soccer practice

• go to meetings

• help with fund raisers

• watch a movie

• pay bills

• enjoy a book

• surf the web and work on my computer

• Help get clothes ready for next day

• Go to bed

• Read until sleepy

• Next morning -Repeat above
  
  

Some people would say that is a rut but, I  think of it more as a routine that gets me through our family’s busy schedule.  

Why am I writing all of this? I will tell you why.  I am not getting any younger. I feel very young but when I look at that out of shape overweight guy in the mirror I know that he is the only one that can help me to get control of my condition.  So, yesterday that is what I have decided to do.  Work with that guy in the mirror, me, and gradually get this body back to one I am proud of.

Before anyone jumps to any conclusions I am not going to be going on any fad diets, instituting a new dynamic diet program or anything else that radical.  Nope, I am just taking control of me.  Starting yesterday, I began to eat better foods, drink more water, stop drinking sodas of all kinds, and stay away from all artificial sweeteners.  I am going to do what I want to do, eat what I want to eat but, do everything in moderation.  

Here is the hard part.  I am going to post my vital statistics on this blog from time to time in order to accomplish two things. First, it will show you of my progress if I make any. Second, it will make me accountable to you and me for what goes on in my life as far as health maintenance is concerned. In other words, I am purposely seeking peer pressure to help me reach my goals.

Now the hard part for me. Here are my first statistics.

I am allowed to eat 2347 calories each day in order to lose weight.  This is based on my current weight and the MyDietDiary app which I have downloaded to my iPhone.  My weight started out at 227 pounds and, just so you know, I am a little over 6 foot 1 inches tall.  I want to lose roughly 30 pounds and then maintain that weight over the long haul.  

The first day I ate about 1200 calories, drank 56 oz. of water and got next to no exercise.  Yesterday, I consumed just under 1500 calories and about 72 ounces of water.  I walked one mile. I am not mentioning my weight again for a while because I have lost a few pounds but I am certain that most of that is water weight and I won’t post the change for about a week. 

I hope you will watch my progress and help me meet my goals. My living in the country keeps me active and I hope that by intermingling my lifestyle changes with my country life I will be able to meet the goals I have set for myself.  

Until next time…John