Healthy Tomorrow Starts Today! My Weight Loss Journey
It is not lost on me in any way that my last post was New Years 2020. A lot has happened since that post, some good, some bad, and some just the craziness that was 2020. I have been debating starting this blog again. Several […]
Weight loss to date -30.2lbs Trying to quantify how much better I feel on week seven is hard to do. Not because it is hard to find what is improving, but so many things are improving at once. I am now noticing a difference and […]
Weight loss today 24.2lbs
Every day I feel more motivated to do more and today is no exception. This day has been very rainy and wet, we even had a weather warning regarding the rainfall. However I was sitting on the sofa in the morning thinking about how we make excuses regarding our health. Today it would be easy to sit inside after my lifting and hide indoors. I decided that was silly, it is August, warm and a little rain is not going to hurt me.
Few pushups in the morning, getting easier !
In spring I dug out my old heavy bag I used when I was young. I did have some notions of using it at the time but my main motivation then had more to do with getting it out of the way. I decided to set it up on a tree branch just outside an outbuilding, and there it has sat unused for months. That is until today when I dug out my old bag gloves. I started on about 1 minute of combos, left jab, left jab, right cross etc. Rain flew down off the tree with each hit. Contrary to being uncomfortable it was nothing but refreshing. To start I began with different combos with different forces and was able to produce some decent intensity. I rested between each minute of work for about 20-30 seconds. I had no real plan for intervals or combos and I am far from any kind of expert at boxing. Despite this I managed to put in a good effort and added a decent little addition to my activity for the rainy day.
What doing activities like this means to me is that I am growing my portfolio of activities to use in bettering my health and life. Like any good portfolio, diversification is a good thing and this is just going to be another tool at my disposal. It really feels remarkable to be moving like I am now, with only just shy of 25lbs of weight loss. I can’t imagine what I could be capable of with my goal of 100lbs. That is in my calculations a year away and I am not going to try to focus too much on it. However I really can’t help being excited about the possibilities that could be down the line.
Weight loss to date 21.4lbs I first talked about walking at the Spit in my Week 3 update. It is a great place to walk due to its many benches and wonderful scenery. Today was definitely a new millstone in my walking and mobility as […]
Total weight loss to date 21lbs Tonight’s walk saw even more results than expected. This evening I added and extra block to my walk yet again. I have begun to notice not just a small but dramatic difference in how I feel and how I […]
Total weight loss to date 18.4lbs
Today it has been exactly 1 month since I started a new lifestyle of healthy eating and more activity. I am just shy of 20lbs and the difference is really remarkable. Sometimes the idea of 20lbs of weight seems insignificant when faced with the necessity of large weight loss. However something interesting I have found to do is to find a 20lbs item (or whatever weight you have currently lost), in my case a dumbbell. Picking up this item and feeling it’s weight holding it gives a great appreciation and perspective for the amount of weight no longer being carried on your body and the reduced stress it now has. I have some large dumbbells at home, 80lbs, 100lbs and 120lbs. I really hope to hold up one of those at some point next summer.
Currently the victories keep coming, and the one yesterday came in the unexpected form of lawn care. For years now sustained activity on my feet has caused me terrible back issues, and activities that are common for many are an obstacle for me. Many people consider activities like cutting grass is a chore, but for me I very much want the freedom to be more productive. For much of my adult life mowing the lawn is something which I always dread. The lawn I look after is on a large property, on a hill, with many curves. In order to do it I have to normally start and stop my mower more times than I can remember. Each time I stop I have to sit down, let my back settle down, get up and continue. It is an exhausting, frustrating experience and It often takes me several days to get the whole thing done.
With an uncharacteristically rainy July the lawn has been pushing up fast so I had no choice to pull out the mower once again. I have to admit I was curious if there would be a difference in how I felt. Certainly my walks have been showing great signs of enhancement, so I figured there would have to be some improvement to my ability to do physical activities like mowing. To my surprise the improvement was not just noticeable but significant. I ended up mowing the grass for just over 90 minutes non stop! I got every inch of the yard cut, and did it without any back pain whatsoever. It feels like as each pound that comes off another chain held over my body breaks off and I am a little more free. I am excited to see what I will be able to do next month.
Total weight loss to date 17.8lbs Everyday seem like there are positive changes now. While it can certainly seem like a daunting process to lose the weight I have set for myself as a goal, little victories seem to be coming more often which is […]
