weight loss and compassion

Having announced my plans to diet and exercise, I must say that reactions have been mixed. Everyone has been encouraging, but the style of encouragement, I've discovered, varies wildly from person to person.

Consider, for example, this kind email from Richardson, which falls into the "wise words" school of encouragement:

Kevin,

On losing weight... everyone has their spiel, and this is mine. In January I lost ~10 lbs. with the classic formula of eating less and exercising a lot, in just over 3 weeks. I'd never counted calories before, so that took some getting used to, but I figure I went from ~2500+ calories/day to 1600-1800. That kinda hurt.

For exercise, most days I hopped on a recumbent exercise bike for 20 min before work, ran 1.5-3.0 miles after work (jogged really, about a 10 minute mile, to save the knees), and hopped on the bike again in the evening for 20-30 minutes. I also lifted weights 2-4 times a week.

In February I dramatically cut back exercise, but continued to consume the 1600-1800 calories/day, and have kept it all off - 180 lbs at 5'9". I'd like to lose another 20 lbs, but dread the exercise regime. It was hard, and I was hungry most of the time.

On the plus side, while my Dad and brother have high blood pressure, mine was 120/80 while exercising and cholesterol was very low.

I didn't do this for a news years resolution, but because I decided to go back into the military, the Navy reserve this time (I was prior active duty AF enlisted, 91-95). Wanted to get back into the game before I'm too old. It's a direct commission program. In case you're interested, the cutoff age these days is 39, and the nice thing about ships is that they have regular toilets! Heh.

I know how hard it is to lose weight... at our age. Back in 1995 after I got out of the AF I was 195 lbs, the heaviest I'd ever been. Got a job in the Marshall Islands where everyone rode a bide everywhere (no private vehicles), and I ate at a chow hall three times a day. Lost 30 lbs in six months without even trying. Yeah, that was when I was in my early 20s, and things have changed.

At any rate, good luck with the weight loss. I guess a rice and kimchi diet could help as well.

v/r,
Richardson

Now, please consider Charles's special form of encouragement:


That attempt at a walrus 'stache makes me look like I've got a Dirty Sanchez going. Egads. Guess I'd better get butt-crackin' with the weight loss before Charles sends in something truly pornographic.

UPDATE: After checking SiteMeter, I couldn't help noticing that a lot of people have been avidly clicking that "blubber" link I slapped up a couple posts ago.


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