kingjrod

3 Down, 19 to Go

OK, so when I posted my first entry a little under a week ago, my weight was 207. I was fresh off a mini-vacation to Manhattan where I ate and drank entirely too much. Even though I walked the city a LOT, I could just feel that my midsection was a little padded when I came back to town.

But I digress…

Anyway, I just hopped off the scale and I’m down to 203.8. I’ll definitely enjoy this small victory of a much grander battle. This leaves me with about 19 more pounds to go to my target of 185.

Here’s a brief recount of the good, the bad, and the ugly of my week in weight loss.

The Good:
Added 60 pushups in the morning to my daily regimen. Starting today, I will hike with 8 pound ankle weights to improve leg strength.

The Bad:
Only three days of cardio this week. I MUST force myself to jog every other morning or night, or this whole weight loss thing won’t go as planned.

The Ugly:
Going out for pasta and wine with former coworkers. I absolutely loved catching up with my old friends, but the carbs and the starch from that one night probably cost me a pound or two toward reaching my goal.

Mission Vitals to Date:
Former Weight—207
Current Weight—203.8

Eating more fruits and veggies is one of the best ways to increase overall health. You’ll have more energy and feel more spry. Trust me, I’ve practically given up meat for nothing but fruits and vegetables (although I do enjoy a bit of shrimp and crab on occassion!) Your body will love you for switching over to the green team.

Wow, I just got married a couple weeks ago. I have one child from a previous relationship and my wife has two, so we have three kids between us. And it’s cool. I love all three and we make a pretty sweet family-in-a-box.

But there’s always a catch.

Both of us are two working professionals who labor long hours and have to endure unthinkable traffic to and from work. The net result is that while we make good money between the two of us, living the (so called) American dream, our quality of life is pretty low. There’s barely enough time to get the kids to school (pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st grade), wade through traffic going both ways, feed the kids dinner, and help with homework.

We’re like so many of the families you see on evening television—cooking meals out the box, letting the TV babysit the kids, the kids running amok while one or both parents catch up paperwork brought home from the office. Something’s gotta give.

I’ve taken up hiking, and while reflecting on a recent walk through the woods, I realized that there’s so much more to life than work. I want to continue to be a respected pro at my work, but I also want to be the best husband and father that I can. I don’t want my kids to grow up not really knowing their father that they’ve seen everyday, or for my wife and I to wake up in ten years feeling that our good years have passed us by.

I know this is an ambitious goal, but nothing ventured is nothing gained.

~Kingjrod