Frank's Diet Weekend Update--February 20, 2010

Previous diets blogs have gotten bogged down because I've thought every post had to have some words of wisdom or something that had a chance of being interesting. While I might still throw in some posts like that during the week, I'm more likely to post every day if things are kept short and simple. Hence, the diet scorecard.

A weekend update shouldn't be too hard, especially if I don't try to make it a literary masterpiece. Here are some thoughts about the first week and other things:

---This has obviously been a great start. While my weight had consistently been in the 230's for a few weeks, it wouldn't have surprised me if good behavior had dropped that weight to 229 or 228. Getting down to 226 this soon is a surprise, but I know it is success that can be lost with one day of backsliding.

---During a couple of decades as a runner, I quickly learn that my key to consistency was to run early in the morning before any conflicts could crop up. It obviously the same with walking. I'm trying to consider the time between 6 and 7 Monday through Friday as work time with my task being to walk for 45 minutes.

---45 minutes of walking for me is 2.5 miles, maybe a little more. Do that 7 times a week and it adds up to at least 17.5 miles of exercise a week. That's pretty good, it's time well spent, and so far my body hasn't revolted with some sort of pain. This is what I've needed to do for the last 4 years (or really, for about the last 14 years).

---While this is putting the cart way ahead of the horse, my real goal is to get back to 175 pounds. My real goal is to get back to jogging, tennis and racquetball. I can easily get below 200 pounds with dieting and walking. Those things will get me down to at least 190 pounds, but it will take more activity to get lower--and one of the reason I want to lose weight is so I be more active. These two things go hand in hand: Lose weight so I can be more active--be more active so I can lose weight.

---Finally for this update, I realize that one successful week is just the start. The good things is that this feels more like a lifestyle change instead of a diet. I've just readjusted elements of my normal life to create some changes. Changing a lifestyle is much more likely to succeed than using a short term tool like a diet. If a person doesn't change their lifestyle, then at its best, a diet will only be a temporary patch and not a long term fix.