For those of you wondering, this is me. A fat me. Spare me the ‘you’re not fat’ comments, this is not a post looking for sympathy or ego boosting. This is about accountability. Underneath that stylish gray shirt is the equivalent of a belly 6 months with child and carrying the kid high. (Notice how the picture was taken to distract you from seeing my belly by positioning myself next to the sexy legs of my Forbidden Planet poster. 🙂 And, though you can barely tell, Stainless Steel Droppings is up on the monitor.)
I was supposed to go to a wedding a few weeks ago but it was postponed until September due to a family death. I was attending the wedding with my friend Scott and was lamenting that I did not own a suit nor did I have the desire to buy one to fit a frame that I am not at all happy with. Scott mentioned that he would like to get back into the gym and thus the weight loss/healthier living idea was born. We have a little less than 6 months until the wedding. The idea is to start exercising again, eat better, and evaluate progress every Tuesday morning. The intensity of our personal regimens will be determined by the progress we are making.
I’m posting this as a way to be accountable. If I have others knowing what I’m supposed to be doing this will help motivate me. I’m 5’6″ and weigh 188 lbs. Most if not all of the extra weight I am carrying is belly and love handles. Both need to go. So, here we go. Goodbye to an average of 3 Mt. Dews a day. Goodbye to stopping several times a week and the local QT to pick up M&M Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches. Hello to at least trying to eat more fruits and veggies (both of which I like but am usually to lazy to grab). I’ll keep you posted. Anyone willing to join in can jump on board. The final weigh in will be Sept. 1st. 🙂
good luck!
i don’t necessarily need to lose weight, but i have been wanting to get back in shape for a while.
i hate the winter. i get so lazy.
Fatty!
Get in my belly!!!!
Angela, I bet you’re half Carl’s weight. How’s that for perspective, Carl?
You can do it, dude. Good cuts on the snacking. If you need a sugar rush in the afternoon, try 100% fruit juice. You’ll be glad you got off the soda pop anyway. All that acid is bad too. And if you need caffeine, I’m telling you… you need to start drinking coffee!
rob, i’m 6′ tall.. i weigh more than you think. lol
and have you tried diet mountain dew, carl? i’m drinking that when i need a fix in the afternoon.
No, I haven’t been much of a diet soda drinker….and you can forget about the coffee Rob! 🙂 6 ft.!!!! And here I would’ve guessed you to be much shorter, even from your pics. Thanks for the encouragement. We’ll see how it goes!
there’s this exercise you can do in yr kitchen with a broom. put it over yr shoulders like you’re a monk carrying buckets of water & just do reps bending to each side & back.
kills love handles.
Thanks! I used to do this one years ago (on my last serious get-in-shape time about 5 years ago) and it worked really well. I had forgotten about that one.
Wow, they grow them hoosier girls tall.
Good Luck! I have faith that you will be able to lose whatever you think you should lose.
Remember: the ONLY way to lose weight is to use more calories than you intake. All those fade diets are just different ways of doing that. And if they’re not, they won’t work.
here’s me & jeffrey combs (but he’s not a large man, lol): http://photos2.flickr.com/1765445_eb3b9b4962.jpg
and yes, i joke that we grow ’em talll here for basketball.. but i’m actually a minority. lol.. and i don’t play basketball. at least, i’m not good at it.
Thanks Mysfit, no fad diets for me. My goal really is to get in shape, not lose weight, although that will be a by-product. I like to get outdoors and do stuff and the weather is getting perfect for that now in Missouri….at least on some days. 🙂
Angela….you’re such a sci-fi geek! 🙂
hehe.. that was from my first (and only) trek convention last fall. 🙂
How about a trek up Monkey Mountain next week if it is nice?
I meant “weekend”.
Sounds good, if we’re all healthy again.
Angela, I notice you didn’t say first…and last… 🙂
nope.. will be going to a comic/media con in may! 🙂
Carl, it’s weird to see a picture of you without you holding one of my kids.
I’d like to loose about five to eight more pounds. Maybe you can inspire me.
Didn’t you read the post? I’m carrying your next child for you! 🙂
Where at, Angela?
So you promise to actually eat the fruit I buy each week? Hurray! Tori eats the most, I come in second, and I don’t think you touch it unless I cut it up and place it directly in front of you.
That’s a good picture of you, sweetie. Did Laura take that at Razzle’s party?
novi, michigan.. near detriot. “tngaddict” (i think that’s his handle) from my site is involved somehow with it.. i heard about it thru him.
my dad’s coming with me, & we’re making a weekend of it! 🙂
Carl I think it is great that you are trying to lose weight. As you know I lost about 27 lbs in about 4 months. I think I went from 182 down to 155. I think the lightest I weighed one time was 152 but avereged around 155. Then of course vacation to Louisiana altered the diet plan and has been non existent since. This is what I did. I would have a yogurt and salad for lunch and a diet pepsi when I felt a craving either before or after lunch. I tried to drink water as much as possible instead of pop. I would then have a normal supper. I also walked about 2 miles a day about 5 times a week. I made sure that I walked where there were some up hills and down hills though to help elevate my heart rate. It took me about a half an hour, so it was easy to do over my lunch period at work. The one thing I know people say that you are not suppose to do is weigh yourself everyday but I did. Once I started losing weight it was almost like a motivator to keep going becuase I was seeing results. You don’t notice the results on your body like other people looking at you do. Good luck! I hope this isn’t too long for your column.
I’ll probably be banned from the site for asking this question…Angela, who’s jeffrey combs?
Combs has played various characters on the different Star Trek series as well as a few movies.. like The Frighteners, with Michael J Fox.
Here’s his bio: http://imdb.com/name/nm0001062/
Hey, glad to see I’m not the only one who avoids pics. I’ve been going to weight watchers since January and lost several pounds(gained a few back after Chili’s Friday night) but I go to the gym almost every day of the week. Early a.m. seems the best before breakfast but that is an acquired habit. Run 4 days and lift wts. two if possible. Take a day off . Multi vitamins are essential. And don’t look at pictures of Rob.
And your bum didn’t feel flabby at all Friday night.
Jeez, go away from the computer for 8 hours (working) and there’s no telling what will happen! Thanks Tom!
Thanks for the regimen, Mike.
Mary…does this mean you’re going to cut up fruit and put it in front of me?!
Angela, sounds quite fun. I don’t think I could get my parents to go to any kind of convention.
Tom, you too can look like me one day. Just go to Globo-Gym, where “we’re better than you, and we know it!”
😉
Ben Stiller rules.
as long as it’s cheap, my dad will go. lol
Do you know anything about TeamInTraining.org? A friend of mine in LA went from ground zero to training for a triatholon with their help — and raised a bunch of money for charity to boot.
I’m interested, but haven’t figured out yet if there’s a training group here.
Haven’t heard of this but will check into it! Are you going to start running triatholons in addition to your already busy schedule?
God, I’d love to. It looks like I may have to wait until the next round though.
And dude, for what it’s worth, you do NOT look old enough to have a 12 year old daughter.
Thanks! I’m 36 though….getting closer to 40 every year! (But my wife turns 37 on Monday so on that day I’ll be young again! 🙂
You’re two years older than me and you have a 12 year old. Wow. I feel a little retarded.
Not at all!! That’s probably what several of the readers of this blog think about my wife and I as they have several kids and we’ve stuck with just the one. I was 20 when we got married and we waited 3 yrs before ‘getting pregnant’. It is weird having a child that age because, as those who know me can attest, I’m just a big kid myself! Having a child just months away from becoming a teenager does make me feel old, eventhough I consider myself to still be young.
carl, people of your generation usually do find ways to stay young, like lose weight or have more kids. Keep it up gramps.
I prefer my option to staying young to yours, although I love your little munchkins!
Does Mary know you’re expecting her to have another child so you can recapture your youth?
You misunderstood….I hope….I said that ‘I prefer MY option’, which meant losing weight as opposed to TOM’S option, which is to have recently had a third child!
Besides, if I’m so desperate to recapture my youth I’ll hook up with Rob and Jimmy and we can play Star Wars like when we were kids!
Does that include making light saber noises as you do battle with empty paper towel rolls?
‘Cause Mary and I could take pictures of that and post them on the Tarts site.
You’d have to ask James, evidently he and Rob were pretty elaborate with their Star Wars games. I was always Han Solo or Boba Fett so I had to make blaster noises when shooting the kids on the opposite side.
I’m also looking to shead some pounds. As for the diet pop. My wife and I made the switch last fall in part to help us lose weight to cut some additional sugar out of our kids eating habits. It has helped. It was a little hard at first but after a few weeks I found some kinds I liked. We tried a lot of different kinds. My favorites now are Diet Dr Pepper and Diet Cherry Vanialla Dr Pepper. Which is funny because before I didn’t really drink a lot of Dr Pepper. We were Coke, not Pepsi drinkers. We now can’t stand Diet Coke, but do like Diet Pepsi which is ironic. i also like Diet Mountain Dew & Diet Rite. Since the fall I have lost 10 pounds but I would really like to drop about 20 more. Drinking the diet pop has helped plus I’m trying to cut down on eating as much at each meal. Sometimes I do better than others. I try little things like in the past I always had a double quarter pounder now I only get a quarter pounder. I hope that doesn’t sound ridiculous because I know fast food hamburgers are loaded with calories but at least I recognize the fact and I’m trying to eat less of it. plus I have tried to cut down eating french fries I try to substitue brocolli or other vegetables now at restuarants if possible or fast food places I just get the small fries ( trying to reduce at least that calorie intake). I’m trying to drink more water when possible but sometimes I just have the diet soda. I also am not a coffee drinker. I really don’t even like the smell of coffee. Right now I’m stuck at 214 lbs. but I really want to get below 200. That’s my goal right now. I also weigh myself every day. I like to motivate myself that way, too.
You don’t look like you weigh over 2 bills….you don’t have the gut that I do! 🙂 Good luck to you as well. We’ll be able to see if we can tell a difference as the week goes on! Don’t think I’ll be able to do the diet pop thing…I’m just going to cut back and enjoy them when I have them.