How this thing started

Steve Belt, upon hearing I was a (former) avid cyclist, has been proding me for a long time to ride with him. Problem is, I haven't been on a real bike ride in years, and I've gained a stupefying 60 or so pounds since I was an avid rider.

After witnessing another proding on Twitter, Dean Ouellette issued a private challenge to lose weight. I thought it would be fun to see if we could get a few others to join in, and from that, the Real Estate Biggest Loser challenge was born. To say I've been surprised at the response would be an understatement! THANK YOU ALL so much for stepping up to the challenge!

Why am I doing this?

In a nutshell, because I'm huge.

When I married Francy, I had a 29 inch waist. Today I'm squeezing into 40 inchers...

I see a video like this (shot today, Dec 6) and think to myself, "Holy shit, I am HUGE!"

How did this hugeness happen?

I think it's a combination of several evil things...

First, I love to eat. And I eat a lot. I will often eat to the point of feeling miserable.

Second, I eat very poorly. I drink 6 - 8 sodas a day (non-diet). I start most days with a fat-laden Starbucks. If I eat breakfast (which is rare) it's doughnuts, bagels with cream cheese or some sort of fast-food breakfast burrito. Lunch is almost always fast food. I snack constantly. For dinner I actually "eat right" for the most part, but I eat to excess.

Third, I don't exercise any more. I used to ride a bike over 100 miles a week, and it was the norm to go on a 40 - 60 mile ride on the weekend. And I rode hard. Not to make excuses or anything, but about 15 years ago I started having a lot of trouble with my knees. I've got a congenital defect where my kneecaps don't align correctly with my femur and as the years went on it got worse and worse. Three knee surguries have left me in a lot of pain. It's hard to ride when it hurts that bad. The doc's also say no running / jogging. Even walking isn't easy. What I should do is swim, or very Low-impact aerobics for cardio. I also hould be doing light weight training for toning.

Fourth - I ain't getting any younger.

So that sounds like a bunch of excuses. And it is. But other than the knee problems, I have complete control over all of that.

My Plan

My plan is still in development. I've never been on a diet in my life. Never had to. Heck, when I was a teenager and even into my 20s my efforts were focused on GAINING weight. I was skinny as a rail as a kid and could eat anything. So I don't know how to diet.

I've been reading a lot lately about nutrition, health and weight loss. Fundamentally it boils down to one simple truth -- you've got to burn more calories than you consume.

I'm going to cut out a lot of the crap I eat. Eight sodas a day, are you kidding me? That's 1,200 sugar-ladden calories right there. A Venti with whip Eggnog Latte? 680 freakin calories!

Using this method to calculate a Basic Metobolic Rate (BMR) I need to consume 2,586 calories a day to maintain my current 240 pounds.

OK, so 8 sodas at 1200 calories plus a latte at 680 calories = 1,880 calories. That leaves 706 calories a day for food. That's a Big Mac.

It's a medical miracle I don't weigh 500 pounds.

So step one is cut the crap. I don't think I have the willpower to eliminate sodas completely. But if I can get down to 2 per day, that's a sgnificant change. I'll work on eliminating those two later.

Buh bye creamy, fat-filled lattes. Hello cup o' black coffee.

I'm also going to cut down on the volume of food. You know -- instead of three doughnuts, have one. Instead of half a large pizza, have a slice. That sort of thing. And it's WAY past time to not just start eating less, but eat healthier. Laying off the fast food is step one in that process.

Tomorrow I begin exploring this calorie counting site. Looks promising.

I've also got to exercise. Bum knees don't help, but even a slow bike ride burns more calories than sitting on my ass watching TV. Francy and I are going to start walking. Not stroll-in-the-park-look-at-the-flowers walking. But exercising walking. I may not get to teh end of the street without keeling over, but it'll get better over time.

I'm going to keep adding to this, maybe even do a daily diary thing. I'm sure whinning will be involved. I already miss my sodas, but I only had 2 today!