The Fat Irish-American

This picture was from a little less than 2 years ago. I posted this picture on one of my first blogs. When my friend from the Netherlands who has not seen me in 6 years saw it, he said my wife Danielle must be a very good cook! No joke. When I came back from Ireland, I had reached the worst weight of my life. The trendline for my weight was on an upperward trajectory and to preserve my health I knew that this had to be stopped.

Here is the chart that shows my weight gain over time.



I wish my stocks had such a consistant upward direction! Over the past two years, I have worked on changing my life-style to help me stabalize and lose weight. I don't like the artificial and unnatural manner of dieting. One of my brothers would often go on starvation diets where he would lose 20 lbs in a few weeks. A few months later when he returned to eating, he would gain back all the weight plus some. I really wanted to concentrate on changing my habits on eating and excercising that would allow me to preserve any gains for the long-term.

This week I just weighted in consistantly at 199 lbs. This is a 15 lbs reduction over about 2 years. Not a lot, but done in small increments consistantly.

Here are a few of the pieces of the puzzle which have worked for me.

Step 1 - My wife. She has significantly reduced our family sugar consumption and improved our diet. We use to have a desert almost every night after dinner. This is gone. We use to have cookies or biscuits in the house as a snack. Gone. There are no sweets in our house except on special occasions. Much of this change is due to the influence of "Nourishing Traditions" recommended by Roy and Naomi MClean from our church in Northern Ireland.

Step 2 - Excercise. Eating less sugar and some excercise (1-2 times per week) stabalized my weight. Signficant hard exercise has been successful in bringing my weight down. So I joined a health club. Knowing that I am paying for it, drives my Scottish blood to use it. When I am not traveling, my current regiment is to excercise 3-4 times per week. I excercise for a total of 1 hour per session. My schedule is as follows:

Day 1 - 40 minutes eliptical trainer (Max heart rate 170. Avg. 158)
20 minutes stationary bike (Max heart rate 165. Avg. 155)
Day 2 - 30 minutes rowing (No heart monitor, Avg Rate 910 Cal/Hour)
30 minutes stationary bike (Max heart rate 165. Avg. 155)
Day 3 - Same as Day 1
Day 4 - Same as Day 2

I also do some weight training twice a week and play a little soccer or basketball if I have some extra time.

Step 3 - Eating out. I eat out a lot when I travel. I have worked to eat better. More salads and less desert. I still like desert but I have gotten much pickier in the deserts that are junk. I would say I have cut down on desert going out about 70%. My big temptation with desert is normally if I am at Starbucks or Panera working.

I still have a ways to go to get down to my ideal weight which I would guess is about 180. I will update you all before Christmas on how I am doing with another picture from Hawaii if I am fortunate!