Getting Fit At Last

It’s Never Too Late to Get Fit!

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Counting Calories for Weight Loss

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As my first step in getting fit I chose to focus on my diet. Here are some of my thoughts and actions to date. It seems important to me to reinforce some of these ideas in my own thinking because they call for a permanent change of lifestyle which is not to easy to establish firmly.

Diet is Central for Weight Control

Avoid weight loss fraud

It would be nice if there were an alternative. But a pill cannot eliminate excess weight if you eat too much. Neither can you exercise enough to offset poor eating habits, although exercise does help reach the overall objective.

On Nerd Fitness (one of the better exercise/weight lifting sites) the question is raised, “What burns more calories: cardio, intervals, or weight training?” But the answer might be surprising. Instead of naming one of the three, Steve Kamb’s answer starts off this way:

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A Fit Body is a Moving Body

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You have heard it said that first you make your habits and then your habits make you. Clearly, when it comes to fitness there is a lot of truth in that statement.

Stuck In Traffic

Have you noticed lately how fast, let me take that back, how slowly most people seem to walk. Today I had to go to town for something or another and I noticed that after only a short time of stepping up my exercise level I felt restricted by the pace of the walking traffic.

People walking on sidewalk

Now believe me, at this point I am not fit! I am barely starting to get some movement into this old body. Yet, even now after just a few weeks I find myself impatient to get around and past those pokey folks in front of me on the sidewalk.

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Easy Does It

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One of the secrets to success in any project is initiating that first step. How can you get started? It is so easy to just keep thinking about something without ever doing anything about it. This post is about one trick I have found helpful.

Why Start Slowly?

Elephant

Often the reason it is hard to get started on a project is because it looks so difficult. It may not be that it is overwhelmingly complicated, it could be that it is just so big. Or perhaps it is something that will obviously take a long time. Or something that pays no benefits for a while.

In any of these cases it is often helpful to get started by taking some small, at times even miniscule steps. You know the old question, “How do you eat an elephant?” and the answer, “One bite at a time.”

Over the years I have applied this concept to many projects. My experience has been very positive and I know that I have gotten many projects done starting that way—things that might never have gotten done otherwise.

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Fitness Progress Report – October 2014

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[10-10-2014] This report covers the first few months on my “fitness at last.” journey. It begins in April 2014 and ends near the beginning of October.

There is no sugar coating, just plain facts. I’m not out to impress anyone, only to deal with reality and to correct my course for the next few months. Overall my progress has been slower than I would like, but it is in the right direction.

In the Beginning

The most important thing I did was to start! For years I kept saying to myself that I just had to get into shape. I knew I was spending too much time sitting in front of my computer and not enough time doing anything active. I knew I had developed poor eating habits, not that I disliked or did not eat good food at meals so much but that I did a lot of snacking.

baby chick by egg shells

Because I regularly nibbled away on a sack of Doritos, Peanut M&M’s, cashews or other such junk food while working at the computer and did little to work off calories, my weight bloated up to 255 pounds, mostly around my waistline—the worst place health wise. But I only thought about doing something significant to change my situation; I never got around to doing anything for years.

It is hard to say what brought me to that day when I actually decided to start taking action toward getting some weight off. It may have been the stomach pain I experienced every time I had to change my socks! But I have to say that finding the motivation required was the most crucial, and most difficult, step toward getting started.

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Getting Fit At Last!

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You’ve heard it before, “It’s never too late to get fit.” OK. I want to believe it. In fact, inside I know it really is true. But dog gone it. My experience is that in many ways the older you get the harder it gets. And I am definitely getting older!

Author sitting in Lazy-boy

For years I have been thinking about it, even reading a little about it from time to time. But thinking and reading about it while sitting in front of my computer nibbling on Doritos or peanut M&M’s is not enough.

However, I am determined to make it happen, and to make it happen beginning now. OK, I’ll be honest. I’ve even said that before. But this time I really want it to be different.

That is one of my reasons for trying this open to the world approach. If I think anyone is watching it may just be the added bit of pressure I need to succeed.

On this site I am going to share my progress along with what I am learning along the way. I know it will help me to do better and I am hopeful that it can help others as well.

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