I never have blogged much before. I'm not much of a writer. Or, at least, "I don't fancy myself much of a writer".
But I wanted to start. I don't know why. I think it's because I love Twitter so much, I want to jump to the big stage, and play with more than 140 characters. We'll see. I have some things on my mind lately that I think blogging will help me work out. I'm preoccupied lately with several "projects" or perhaps we'll just call them "topics" and some of them are frankly kinda new to me. Others I feel like I want to "chronicle" in some way. Either way, I felt like lately, writing might be the cathartic thing I need to help me focus on the several things that have been preoccupying me these last few weeks...or months...or perhaps...years...
First off, I was way overweight. Let's be honest. Since I got married and have done nothing but sit around and smoke pot and play video games (I said "let's be honest". I'm not going to do this and dance around topics or issues just because they're not exactly politically correct...or legal. I do what I do...*shrug*...I don't judge *you*), I've gone to complete shit. There's no reason on earth why I should weigh two hundred and twenty seven fucking pounds. Are you kidding me? That shit kills you in multiple ways. Not only does it literally kill you. As in, "Jeff, you need to lose weight or you're going to fucking die" (paraphrasing). It fucks up your self esteem, it depresses you, it makes you look like a big tub of shit, and it conditions you to wear xtra large t-shirts and baggy jeans to "hide" your appearance. You become a fucking slob, which just makes you a fat, ugly, poorly dressed malcontent. Not good. That spiral only goes in one direction, boys and girls.
I love riding bikes. I have a mountain bike (A Cannondale F-600. Beautiful bike), a road bike (Trek Alpha Series 2200) and I rode them occasionally. FAR less than I wanted, or thought I would when I got them. That's all on me though, there was nothing stopping me from riding. I should be honest about that, too. I'm sure if I wanted to take off and go to Poinsette/Killer Three, or hop on the Trek and disappear for a couple hours, Tammy wouldn't have minded. That finger points squarely at me. So, in the spirit of wanting to ride more over the winter, thinking that perhaps my momentum from winter training would take me into the spring and summer last year, I purchased rollers. I didn't like stationary trainers. Pain in the ass to set up, expensive...um, stationary. Plus, I always loved the idea of rollers, going back to my early days of riding road bikes. The sight of those guys in the Tour de France warming up for time trials on rollers was mesmerizing. So effortless. So straight. Such perfect strokes. So I bit the bullet and bought some Nashbar aluminium rollers. I used them a little (to my credit!), but not nearly enough. After Thanksgiving, when I flew back from San Fransisco, weighed myself and saw *227*, I decided I was going to use the sons of bitches. Not only that. I was going to take charge of my fucking life. I mean, I just felt like my weight was the outward manifestation of a lot of the unhappiness I felt like I was carrying around for one reason or another. I wasn't happy that I was overweight. I wasn't happy that wasn't confident enough to pull off a nicer wardrobe at work, etc. I just had had enough. That was it. I had reached my breaking point personally. I could no longer sit around and watch life go by while I stuffed my face, sat on my ass, and watched life go by from the sofa in a smokey haze.
So now, here I am. It's the middle of January, and I just weighed myself this morning, and for the first time since *I got married* (in 1998) I weigh 200 pounds. Twenty seven pounds since, honestly, the first week in December. I'll say six weeks. Twenty seven pounds lighter in six weeks. I'm doing it the old fashioned way. No more "processed" foods. No Soft drinks. Reduced portion sizes. Reduced caloric intake. Increased physical activity, including aerobic work that hits my target heart rate and holds it there for extended periods of time. I'm currently riding about 15-20 miles a day for about an hour or so. It's absolutely addictive as hell, and I'm SO motivated now with my performance on the bike. My cadence has improved. My balance, my ability to maintain a straight line, etc. I have a really nice, smooth, powerful stroke now, and I'm itching to get out on the road and put it to good use.
So right now my main focus of interest is in all of this. I'm enjoying keeping track of what I eat now, and I'm looking for maximum bang for buck. I'm getting into recipes for dinners that are whole and healthy, preferably as organic as possible. I'm enjoying keeping track of the progress I'm making on the bike. The distance I'm covering, the speed I'm averaging, etc. Being a programmer, I'm toying around with several mobile solutions to facilitate my tracking and mining of this information as well. So I have a lot of thoughts on this stuff. I'm also always looking for links to sites that help with this, so feel free to contact me via the blog, or leave a comment to something that might be helpful. I'll always give props and shout outs.
The other thing, and the thing that's newest to me, is "the wardrobe thing". I'm really exploring wardrobe & clothing now, wanting to dress a lot nicer, as I should. I'm a senior programmer working in an advertising agency, dammit, it's time to start dressing like one! For instance, my newest love is french cuffs. French cuffs and dress pants. For the first time in recent memory, and I do mean "recent memory" I'm able to pull off a nicer wardrobe and dammit, I'm going to take advantage of it! So now I'm enjoying "getting into" men's fashion for the first time, and I thought this might be a fun place to talk about some of my questions and issues regarding trying to be an impeccably dressed senior programmer working in an advertising agency.
So that's my sandbox. Or at least. That kinda defines the sandbox to me. I have my interests...Programming. Comic Books. Video Games. Bicycles. Etc. Etc. But now, I think I'd like to start "putting down to paper" some of the things that pass thru my noggin. Maybe I have an opinion. Maybe it matters. Probably it doesn't. But that won't stop me from posting it, now will it?
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