The elephant in the room
The elephant. Ever been in a room full of people and everyone there knows they have a “big” something to talk about but no one wants to be “that guy” who first mentions “the Elephant in the Room”?
I have come to the point where I am both “that guy” and I am also “the Elephant in the Room”, quite literally.
Recent Past
I have been posting this blog for over 3 years. My posts have been health and quality of life related for the most part. I have tried not to be preachy, choosing to take the high road and “suggest” that we as a group or generation, or even society, are slowly killing ourselves with our food choices and dietary habits. I’ve tried to locate alternative choices and explore diets ranging from vegan to the South Beach diet. I have never asked you to do anything that I haven’t tried first. I have dug deeply into any possible side effects or physical changes that might result from maintaining any type of diet. I have shed light on food additives such as HFCS, flavor enhancers and color additives. I told you that if you avoid these things you could not only live a healthier life but enjoy your remaining time on earth more. Now it is time for me to pay the piper.
Condition
I am not going to labor on my various physical factors that may or may not have gotten me to the point of being the Elephant. Doesn’t matter. I am the result of what I have eaten and have not burned off over a period of years. Yes I, as most people in the world, have challenges that make my path to a leaner me more difficult, but that only makes my choices more interesting.
Ostrich Inflicted People Stop Here
If you have the ostrich syndrome and have your head buried in the sand or even live on the Egyptian river De-Nile, Stop reading now. BUT before you do, take off your clothes and stand in front of a mirror and ask your self “self, is this the way I want to look for the rest of my life?”
Note To Friends and Family
If you are still reading then there might be hope for us yet.
I have to say that as I have been getting larger not a single person has given me grief about my weight. Honestly, I don’t remember a single negative remark, which tells me three things.
- Either I am such a mean SOB that people are afraid to make suggestions to me of that nature
- My friends and family don’t care about me. (I know for a fact this one is not true, in fact I feel that they love me very much)
- My friends and family see a broken, fat, old, once at the top of his game, man and feel sorry for him.
Personally I’m pretty sure it is a combination of #1 and 3.
Not a single person in the world (correct me if I am wrong) looks in the mirror and can see the real image being projected. I’m not sure why that is, but we all tend to see ourselves as we would like us to be, with a little fudge factor thrown in.
Please don’t read into this that I am blaming my friends and family for not telling me I was getting fat. I don’t. In fact I totally believe in taking full responsibility for, not only our own actions, but the results of our inaction.
The Piper To Pay
My piper weighed 308 lbs as of December 11, 2013. Yep, that is one hell of a piper and he now has his hand out and wants to be paid!
Method
As a result of my 3 years of blogging about diets ranging from no meat, no carbs, no protein, no soda, no starches to all soup, all protein, all carbs, all water, and many variations in between, I have become completely convinced that the diet that will work best for all of us is a balanced diet, mostly vegetables, avoiding additives, processed food and drinking lots of water. Ever heard that before? One thing I feel is very important to our digestive tract is to vary our diet. This is important because our system can adjust to almost anything and in order to flush the toxins we take in we need to surprise our system with different food on a regular basis, lol.
Keeping Track
So, all of that said, I will be eating any food I would like but in balanced amounts. I will regulate and lose weight by limiting my intake to between 1890 and 2240 calories per day. Of those calories, 50-60 percent will be carbohydrates, mostly complex carbs. 12-20 percent will be protein and 30 percent will be fat, mostly unsaturated fats.
I will use a free on line program to track my food, water and exercises called www.sparkpeople.com
Goal – Stage 1
Sparkpeople has calculated, that for me to lose down to 250 lbs, my stage 1 goal by July 1, 2014, I need an in-take of between 1890 and 2240 calories per day. That shouldn’t be hard. If I crave things, I will eat them, but only under my limits.
Join Me – or Not
This is for me. Join me, I’d love it. Tell me your problems, challenges, successes. Or Not. You can blow this off as another lame jughandle blog. (then why are you reading this)
If you see me, make fun of me, congratulate me or ignore me. Your choice. A ride is always more fun with a companion.
I will post pictures and stories about things I discover. It will be another adventure!
Day 1 Results
Calories – 1097
Carbs – 146 g
Fat – 38 g
Protein – 41 g
8 oz glasses of water – 5
Weight gain or loss – Lost 3 #
Current weight of Piper – 305#