A Lot Less Of Me

I’m half the man I use to be. Well that’s a bit of an exaggeration when, really, its more like I’m closer to 90% of the man I was six months ago.

When I left work for long service leave one of my aims was to get fitter. I was overweight and had been told by my doctor that I really had to do something. He has been telling me this for years mind you, all the time with me ignoring him and slowly growing larger. A big part of the problem was my job – 8 hours a day behind a computer, then more at home in the evening. I was also lucky in a way that I had lunch supplied for free, but unlucky in that the selections were far from health conscious.

So when I started at home I made a decision that I had to stop fooling myself, that my lifestyle and diet were bad for me and that I had to make changes. Over the past six months the unhealthy lunches have gone, I’ve given up my one Pepsi a day (I’ve only had two in the past six months), reduced my coffee intake to one a day, the only beer I have is at the footy, just one glass of red a week, cut back on the sweets at night, opted for smaller servings and tried to have a couple of walks a week with the kids. Basically I stopped kidding myself that all the little things didn’t really matter.

And it has worked.

The highest I can remember was weighing in at 104kg. I was generally around 102ish. This past week I hit, and have maintained, my first aim of getting below 90kg. My next aim is to get to and keep below 85. I haven’t felt this good in years, the weight loss has had a real, positive, effect on an assortment of minor complaints and inconveniences, which surprisingly is exactly what the doctor said would happen.

The most noticeable outward sign is my clothing. I now look like a clown in my old jeans. I’ve dropped two jean sizes and really need to get another pair. I’ve also reached the last hole on my old faithful belt so that’s going to have to go too. Losing weight may be good for your health, but it’s murder on your wallet.