The Journey begins (again!)

Hi.  Welcome to my blog.  To begin with, I should probably explain the title.  Kasper Gutman is a character in the classic film "The Maltese Falcon."  He was known as "the fat man" and was played by Sydney Greenstreet.  Nick Charles is the character known as "the thin man" from the TV series of the same name, played by Peter Lawford.  Therefore, this blog will chronicle my journey from a fat man to a thin man.

In case you were too lazy (slacker!) to read my short bio, I will reiterate it.  I am 43 years old and I currently weigh 362 pounds.  I am on medication for high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.  I'm tired of taking pills and I'm tired of the various aches and pains that come from being an overweight slug.  My doctor keeps trying to talk me into gastric bypass surgery and I really don't want to go that route.  I know it's worked for many people but I really think I can do this the old fashioned way.

They say I need to understand why I'm overweight.  I know why.  I like to eat and I'm lazy.  Yes, for me, it is that simple.  Other than a few short spans, I've been overweight my whole life.  There isn't any deep seated emotional cause, I'm not repressing any feelings, I don't hate myself, I don't hate my parents, etc... I like pizza, I like hoagies, I like big macs, I like pie (I really like pie!), I like doughnuts.  I think that if 2 pieces of pizza are good than 4 pieces must be twice as good!  I also like my recliner, my remote control, my laptop and my nook.  A perfect evening for me consists of my wife, a large pepperoni pizza and a good book.  Toss in a blizzard from dairy queen and it's beyond perfect.  Notice the pattern?

Some of you may know that I did this once before.  Around 2007 or 2008, I went from 375 pounds to 294 pounds.  Then I let myslelf slip into old habits and slowly gained most of that back.  I accomplished that loss by keeping my daily caloric intake to 2000 and by going to the gym 5 days a week.  You'll notice that I didn't say I cut anything from my diet.  That's because I really didn't.  I just made smarter choices.  My wife and I cooked healthier dinners and I ate reasonable portions.  If we did order pizza for dinner, my wife and I split a small pizza and we ordered a salads on the side.  If we went out for icecream, I got a small instead of a medium or large.  If I wanted a Big Mac, I ate a Big Mac and cut back on my other meals.  I'm going to follow almost the same steps that I used last time.

Instead of joining a gym, I set up a home gym.  I have a treadmill, a Weider weight machine and an exercise ball.  I will also use my Nintendo Wii for a half hour every evening for an added cardio boost.  I'll track my calories using the app from Spark People.com.  That's it.  I take a One-a-Day multivitamin, but I won't take any appetite suppressing, fat blocking or metabolism boosting drugs.

I'm going to update this blog weekly and keep my journey public.  I have plenty of support from my wife and family, but an extra layer of accountability never hurts!