Eat less, move more. It's not rocket science.
Blood pressure: 140/90. BMI: 26.4. No, these aren't the stats of a middle-aged, over-worked, father of three. These are the stats of a 26 year old with a regular 40 hour a week job and not a kid in sight: in other words, me.
Obesity and poor health get a lot of headlines, generate a lot of conversation, but don't seem to inspire a whole lot of change. The kids of today are the first generation with a shorter life expectancy than their parents. No one is pretending there isn't a problem. Yet much of the dialogue about this issue is outwardly focused: we talk stats, we worry about the children, and we cringe as health care costs spiral out of control. It can be overwhelming to wrap our heads around the extent of the problem and to come up with realizable solutions for our society. Maybe there needs to be a shift in perspective.
That's why I decided to stop worrying about all the fatties walking down the street and start taking responsibility for the fatty in the mirror.
In truth I've already come a long way. Four years ago I was 230 pounds and couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without gasping for air. Now I'm 195 pounds and actually exercise from time to time. Go me! I've taken up running and can actually stick with it for a few months at time. The picture on the left is me running a 10k at the end of last summer. It ain't pretty, but I did do it. I had even gotten my weight down to 180 a couple years ago. But it's slowly creeping back up, and after getting a high blood pressure reading a few months ago, it seems I'm finally ready to tackle this once and for all.
How am I going to do it? Well, eat less move more, dummy. Plus I'm going to run a marathon. There's no magic pill or secret diet plan. At the end of the day you need to use more calories than you consume. Running helps. So does avoiding french fries. This website will document my transition from chubby 10ker to hopefully slimmer and definitely healthier marathoner. Follow along on the blog.