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Friday, July 27, 2007

And So It Begins...

My in-laws have stayed with us Wednesday night. I thought I would do an aerobics video before they got up. When I came down stairs at 6:30 AM, they were both up and about. There was no way that I was going to do the video with my in-laws watching me. No way! Uh Uh! No How!!! I don't mind my wife and kids, but NOBODY else.

I didn't feel like getting on the stationary bike or ski machine. That is too monotonous so early in the day. Soooo...I decided it was a good day to start jogging. I put on some ace bandages on my ankles (I have a history of spraining ankles) and off I went. I don't know how far I went, but I went for 30 minutes. I was going at a snails pace, and I looked rather ridiculous. Today, I did the same.

It wasn't as miserable as I thought it was going to be. At 300+ lbs., I thought I wouldn't make it 5 minutes, but I guess all the other exercising I have done prepared me for jogging. It's a nice surprise to enjoy a benefit of increased fitness. I plan to ditch the videos while the weather is nice.

This means that I have (Drum roll please) reached another fitness goal (Da da da daaaa!). I think this, more than anything else has shown me that I am much more fit than I have been in a few years. A friend of mine who has become a little chubby in the last few years decided he was going to start jogging. He was a cross country runner in high school. He began by walking. His plan was to walk at least an hour a day, every day, for a month. Then, he was going run for at least 15 minutes of that for a couple of weeks. He would increase the running time by 15 minutes every couple of weeks until he was running for an hour every day. Last time I talked to him, he gave up on the walking. No, he didn't go right to running. He went right to the couch.

Now, he probably weighs around 200 lbs. He is overweight, but not obese. Even though he weighs a lot less than me, has a BMI far lower than mine, and a lower percentage of body fat, I am much more fit while I am still in the category of severely obese. I am not gloating over him and I really do wish that he would start running. I am sure he could get in great shape in no time. It's just that being so fat, I don't think of myself as all that fit. Jogging has shown me that I have achieved a level of fitness I thought impossible at my weight.

Speaking of achieving, I have now earned the Presidential Champions Bronze medal. I achieved this so quickly because all the exercising for the Active Lifestyle Award counted towards the Champions category. It will be a couple of month before I earn the silver.

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

12 comments:

Apex Zombie said...

Congratulations man. On the medal, the baby, the running, and the weight. You're doing so awesome!

Peace

Half Man said...

FLG - Thanks and it's nice to know you are still alive. Hope you are over all the sicknesses.

Scott Hidalgo said...

Congratulations on what you've accomplished so far. If you are interested in starting a jogging program, I want to suggest a book called The Beginning Runners Handbook. I've been running for about 10 years now, but when I started, I had never run before. The book contains a walk/run program designed to gradually increase the amount of running that you do leading up to a 60 minute run. It's a 13 week program, but you can repeat weeks if you aren't ready to move up to the next week. I was able to lose and keep off 60 pounds by following the program. By the way, I'm not affiliated with the book in any way, other than I've purchased and given away about 5 copies. Good luck.

http://thefitclub.blogspot.com

Lift Heavy Rock said...

I can't exercise with anybody sitting on their duff watching.

"The Captain" said...

That is what happens when you make fitness the number one priority even over the weight on the scale. You just have so much more energy than everyone else.
Have you ever through about posting your weight lifting numbers? I think i am going to do this next week. It should be a lot of fun.
Jeff

Sayre said...

Wow - That is great! I want to try it too.

I don't exercise in front of anyone - unless they're doing it with me. In my KenPo class, we all face a mirror, but you're using your own reflection for a target and you don't really see anyone else. So I don't count that as exercising in front of anyone...

Moby Dick said...

Sounds like you have a bit of rivalry there with Gramps. Like maybe you would like to take him out to the woodshed and teach him what's what and whose the fittest one at the Half-Man House. Who is the King of the Castle? Just don't break his dentures!!

Pandora Woman said...

I am hoping to get there too, a slow build up, but already I notice a difference. The two stairs I have to climb to get to my house, are no longer an obstacle, just stairs.

Will keep visiting, love to read your blog

Pandora Woman said...

In addition to Fit Club Scott's post, I was interested to "see`the book. I found it on line, all pages present and accounted for *grins*

http://books.google.com/books?id=3kVw6BtlYsAC&pg=PA57&ots=wTqFvseR2T&dq=Beginning+Runners+Handbook&sig=aTEljTwQkVBkJHyxpViBtsYfYVY#PPA90,M1

Enjoy!

Kim Ayres said...

What FLG said!

TitanThirteen said...

Good on you for reaching another milestone!
Your freind needs to get his act together. Tell him the heavier he gets, the harder it gets, and the easier it is to give up :o/

Half Man said...

Thank you all for your comments. I am going to look into the Beginning Runner's Handbook.