Fat Guy on a Diet

It’s been a few weeks since I actually wrote an actual update to the blog.  I apologize for that, but don’t be worried.  I have not fallen off the bandwagon, as is usually the case.  Life has somewhat taken over, and I’m just so busy working on my day job and promoting my freelance work that I’ve had little or no time to dedicate to blog posts.  That, my readers, is something I need to work harder on.  It’s important for me to document the journey, the troubles I face, and the times where I succeed as well as the times where I fail.  Thankfully, I’ve had more successes than failures, at least as far as temptations go.

So, what’s new?   Well, the official weigh-in was this morning.  I came in at 318.4, only down another pound from the previous week.  Yes, it’s good, but not the results I was looking for at all.  I’m convinced my eating habits have greatly improved, and the fact that I haven’t had soda in a month is a true accomplishment that I’m very proud of.  But is it enough?   It seems the better I do with eating healthy, the less weight I lose.  Yes, I could starve myself and cut down to less than 1000 calories, but I think I’d be doing myself more of a disservice by going that route.  My biggest fear is massive loss of muscle mass.  I’m sure I’ve already done harm in that direction, but dropping my calories TOO much would only do more damage than good.  So, what’s a fat guy to do?

Well, there seems to be only one option remaining: exercise!  The problem is, I’m already maxed out with work, to the point where I don’t really have time for much else in my life at this time.  Even my biggest addiction, television, has taken a beating because of my career.  Sure, I usually have the TV on while I’m working, but I haven’t been paying attention to it NEARLY as much and have missed quite a few details in several of the shows.   Lately, it just seems like I’m working around the clock, trying to find ways to generate extra revenue.   Now, with my 3rd job FINALLY looking to take off – free time is going to become less and less available.

The solution – prioritize.   I need to find out what’s more important to me?  Is it my health or my career?   One is going to have to take a backseat to the other.  If my health isn’t up to par, then the career is unnecessary – so the choice is pretty obvious.  I need to spend at least one hour per day on exercise.  That might be a visit to the gym, or using workout tapes at home.  Either way – one hour PER DAY will be dedicated to exercise.  At first I’m going to aim for cardio.  I need to burn the fat more than anything else.  Once I get below 300, I’ll start concentrating on weight training.

So, for the time being, I think I’ll have to cut back on the work and studying.  Usually I spend about 2-3 hours on that, but that’s going to have to drop to one hour max each night as well.  I’m not going to cut back on my sleep in order to make more time.  I’ve actually enjoyed getting to bed about 10:30 each night and waking up for 7 – giving me over 8 hours of sleep total.  I think the extra sleep has been extremely beneficial and has reduced my actual stress levels considerably.

That does bring up a point though, the sleep HAS helped with the stress, but the stress ITSELF has been higher recently than ANY other point in my life.   I usually sit back and let life take me where ever it may, but recently I’ve been working to forge my own path in this world, and that’s been like fighting an uphill battle.   The stress alone might be a MAJOR player in my current battle as it is a major factor in the body holding on to excess fat.   Could it be my career that is fighting against me in more ways than one?   Definitely something I should consider further.   Either way, exercise IS the direction I’ll be going!

Finally, what’s up with the site?  Fat Guy on a Diet is one of SEVERAL sites that I run, but it’s the only blog format site that I maintain regularly.  I’m always learning new tools and technologies, and recently came across a new WordPress theme called Thesis.  Thesis isn’t a theme in the general sense, since it doesn’t provide this really nice look and feel with little developer work.  However, it provides a toolset for developers to build on to and allows for a very clean and consistent look and feel while being SEO friendly, and having VERY clean code displayed to the end user.  Yes, I know, it’s a lot of techobabble for a lot of you!   I’m working to redevelop the site using thesis and things were coming along nicely, but I was pulled in a different direction for a few days, and the site hasn’t looked right since!  I’m going to spend some time on it this evening after my exercise session and SHOULD have it looking pretty decent once that’s done.   Just know that once the work is completed, the site will be leaner, meaner, and ready to take on the world – just like me!

Also tonight, I’ll be posting the French Bread Pizza recipe that I made last night – it’s absolutely fantastic, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!