Weight Loss Week 1

Week 1 has come and gone and I didn’t do too awful bad.  As of this morning I have lost 10 lbs!  Feels good to be on the “right track” again.  I say “right track” but when I review my food diaries for the last week I can see a lot of areas of opportunities.  Quite a few of my food choices have been marginal at best. Sure I am staying under my calorie goal but the quality of what I am eating has not been that good. I am still eating too much junk. I plan on changing that this week.

I also plan on going to the gym or just walking outside more.  I have been so busy that I have not taken time to exercise.  Getting up early is not something I do well either so I have been stuck exercising after work.  I want to change that as well.  So starting Thursday I am going to try to get up early to walk.

So now you are asking yourself why doesn’t he start getting up early tomorrow?  Well, let me tell you.  Our two Philmont Crews will have their first training hike tomorrow evening and I am planning on going.  It is just a flat 5 miler around the a lake near us but it will be good exercise.  I will certainly get my “sweat on” in the Oklahoma heat.

So here is to a healthier week 2! More next week.

Help from a Friend

Recently I posted about losing weight to go to Philmont.  In looking for some help to do it I read the post on the True North blog by SM_Shawn about the Scout Nation Fit Club.  I was interested so I posted a link to it on my Facebook page and challenged the Scouters I know to join me.

I received a response that totally caught me off guard.  One of my Fraternity pledge brothers that I had not talked to in 19 years until we reconnected on Facebook offered to join me. Mark lives in Colorado and is a triathlete. He was a Boy Scout and has a son in Scouting that just crossed over to a Troop. 

Mark offered to motivate me by riding 10 miles or running one mile for every pound I lose.  I responded sure and just let it go as a nice jesture.  This last weekend he sent me a message on Facebook that if I will message him how much I lost for the week he will hold up his end of the bargain.  He was serious!  I feel very motivated to have someone I have not seen in two decades willing to step up and do something like this for me.  I am ready for week one to end so I get to hear about Mark sweating because of me.

My Journey to Philmont

Excuse me while I vent but something has been eating at me lately.

I have struggled with my weight since I was a child.  I have always been bigger than most people my age.  As a senior in high school I weighed a whopping 235 pounds at 6’2″ tall and was informed that I was ‘fat’.

Recently, our Troop and our Crew each drew a spot for Philmont in 2012 and I was asked if I wanted to go.  My son, Drew, will be on one of the treks so it was a given that I want to go.  The only problem I have is there is 130 lbs standing between me and that adventure.  We do not go until July 2012 so the weight loss may be possible but very difficult.  After trying to do it and losing 48 lbs I have managed to fall back into my old ways and gain some of it back.  Well, probably most of it.

My son also struggles with his weight.  At 15 he is 6’2″ and weighs just under 300 lbs.  Keep in mind that he plays football and A LOT of that bulk is muscle as the kid is very strong.  Drew also has pounds to lose before he can go on the Trek.

While I understand the BSA’s policy on height and weight for high adventure let me just say that I think it sucks!  There is no consideration for a kid like Drew who is athletic and involved in sports and can outwork and probably outhike most scrawny kids that need to lose nothing to go on a trek at Philmont.  They only look at the overall picture and give the good old blanket policy:  punish everyone for one person’s mistake.

Being the great role model that I am I ride him about what he eats all the time while doing little to nothing to change my own bad habits.  The other day he was eating something unhealthy and I got onto him for doing so and his response was “what about you?”  When I informed him that I was not going to Philmont next year he commented that I would lose the weight and go with his little brother but not with him.  The more I replay that comment in my mind the more it hurts but it also motivates.

So I am committing to try to lose the weight no matter what it takes.  I may not make it but in the end I will be healthier for it.  One of the Scouters (SM_Shawn) told me this the other day about weight loss:   “It’s for the family. It’s for the scouts. It’s for yourself”…rinse, repeat.

Drew, you got your wish.  Dad is going to do his best to hike to the top of Baldy with you in 2012.

I will keep you posted!