DJH's Journal

I am 181.4 pounds. That feels good to say.

Thanks to my recent week-long hiking trip, not great food on the trip, and continuing to exercise upon return, I've lost about 5 pounds in about 10 days. Ahh. Now, in the scheme of things, I have a ways to go, but it's a start.

I feel like I've only recently entered the age of the frustrated weight-loss adult...for so many years, I could more or less eat what I wanted (except I tried to watch out for high cholesterol foods), and then as I entered parenthood, I had to make more of a dedicated effort to actually exercise and watch what I ate. Then, most recently (last 1-2 years), it's as if the hill got much steeper, and all of the sudden, even modest discipline didn't seem to do anything to my overall shape. I was 185 pounds, whether I liked it or not, and I couldn't stop the cycle of binging (especially in afternoons and at night) and not finding enough time to really and truly work out on a regular schedule.

My goal remains to get back into the 160's, and, perhaps more importantly, to restore a sense of order to my food intake...eat regular meals at a reasonable pace, stop the incessant snacking, stay away from my kid's foods and generally do the things I aspire to do. But, as my wife always says, I'm less obsessed with the weight than just maintaining a general "healthy" feeling about myself.

To that end, I ran quite far this morning - about 5.5 miles - in about 46 minutes - and realized that when you're running with 4 pounds less, it's like having helium in your shoes. Imagine the effort required to transport 5, 10, 20 or more pounds around with you everyday, and think about how good it must feel when you drop off that "backpack" and can move without it. Less energy required to do basic things like standing up, less burden on your heart, etc.

Anyway, today's a good exercise day. Let's see if I can keep it up.