Less of a Fatty, Part 1 - Getting Started

I've decided to start a series of fitness blogs. These are mostly for me, to keep myself accountable, but instead of just aimlessly typing, I figured I'd at least try to give it some sort of greater purpose.

The "Less of a Fatty" series (which I've decided to call these) is aimed at being a source of information and encouragement for those looking to start getting involved in personal fitness. Similarly to the original "How I Became Less of a Fatty" post last fall, these will have more of a "personal journal" style, from the point of view of a fitness novice... me. Unfortunately, I realize that the deeper I get into my own personal fitness journey, the less I will be able to use my first-hand accounts to represent other novices. Nevertheless, I will always strive to keep these posts aimed at beginners / the fitness-curious.

And of course, the contents of any blog, including this one, represent the opinions of the author, and should not necessarily be taken as "actual advice" or worse, "fact." As they say, your mileage may vary.

--For those new to "Less of a Fatty..."--

...a little background first. (Don't worry, not every post will begin with a sob story. ;) )

In my younger years, I had always been a little bit on the heavier side, but it wasn't until college and the freshman "15" - hah - that my weight slowly started to steamroll... pun completely intended. I knew I had gained weight, but I didn't make the realization of how large I was until several years later. I was taken aback by a photo from my then-recent honeymoon: Chipmunk cheeks, double-chin, sunken, tired eyes... I was fat.

Weighing 240 pounds, I had a BMI of nearly 32, which is "obese." Like I mentioned in "Part 0," the medical matter-of-fact-ness of the word "obese" slices a little deeper than simply calling myself fat. Though I'm no longer "obese," I'm admittedly still a little jaded about that aspect of my past, so in the style of my typical defense mechanism, almighty sarcasm, I have an unbreakable habit of putting that word in quotes as part of my (feeble) attempts to make it less official. But it was.

I knew I wanted to change something, but I didn't really know what. I was far from the fitness-type, so exercise was not at the top of my list. Instead, I began to make small, incremental changes to my diet, like substituting diet soda and paying extra attention to my portion sizes. Progress was slow, but it was progress. Over time, I started to incorporate mild exercise (in the form of the accursed Wii Fit), which grew into moderate, more frequent exercise, which grew into, well, doing Insanity.

--Baby Steps--

Looking back, I am now firmly convinced that this slow methodical approach is what made all the difference, contrary to my trial-by-fire recommendations in Part 0. So many beginners set goals like, "I'm going to lose X pounds in Y weeks." While we are understandably impatient to lose the weight, we are ultimately setting ourselves up for failure. The problem with diets and intermittent exercise is that they aren't permanent. You can't change your body with temporary behavior. Your physiology is simply more resilient than you and while you might have the upper hand for the duration of the diet, your physiology will win the moment you stop. The only way to overcome your body is to make healthier choices "business as usual."

Even if one realizes this, there is still the impulse to change everything at once: "I'm going to start getting up at 5:00am to exercise, I'm going to eat 5 small meals a day, take the stairs, drink protein shakes, count calories..." etc. For most people, that is waaay too much to undertake at once. They eventually get overloaded, frustrated, and they quit. Instead, I recommend starting with a single small change and incorporating it into your "business as usual." Once that change is internalized, take on something else. Patience is a very good thing to have when losing weight!

In retrospect, doing Insanity was far from a seat-of-my-pants decision, as much as I may have made it sound like one in Part 0. I had already undertaken changes in my diet and had been "running" on the treadmill fairly regularly. Though it was a huge change in my _exercise_ regimen, it was one that I had built up to and was ready for. I absolutely would not have had as much success with Insanity had I tried it at my heaviest, 240 pounds, having never exercised before in my life.

So (in my very unprofessional opinion) the two most important things are - 1 - to set small, tangible goals, and - 2 - to be patient.

And of course, since I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, - 3 - take everything I say with a grain of salt! What worked for me might not work for you!

The next entry is going to follow this one shortly, so if you haven't read Part 0 yet, you may want to do that now so you're up to speed. For the rest of you, stay tuned for Part 2!

-Clive