40 @ 40 Plan

It's no secret that I've been overweight for a while now. Every doctor visit or health screening confirms that I am teetering on the brink of diabetes or heart disease or some other disorder caused by carrying more weight than necessary. More significantly, I don't like how I look. As shallow or vain as that might sound, it's important to me to present the person I feel like to the rest of the world.

Therein lies the rub - I feel great. I mean, I used to be able to run indefinitely when I weighed 140 pounds, and I could ride my bike for a whole day without feeling fatigue. I still feel good just sitting at my desk, but it's hard climbing stairs or jogging. Not to mention how much I sweat. This belly fat is a great insulator, so I don't get cold very easily (good in winter months) but it also means I have a bigger challenge releasing heat (terrible in the summer).

I don't have any other health issues or concerns, so with our son nearly here, I figure it's a good time to make some corrections so that I don't get caught off guard in my complacency. I recognize that I don't eat properly and I don't exercise nearly enough. If I could find a way to shave off some stress, I'd work on that, too.

The plan will be to end desserts with my 40th birthday cake for nearly a year. If I lose the 40, I'll partake in my son's first birthday cake. I may join Weight Watchers so that I can get into the habit of keeping track of how much I'm eating, and of which foods. The online tools might be just the thing to keep me engaged.

I'll also need to put some kind of device in place that I can easily remember and do to facilitate exercise. Maybe I can't check e-mail or watch television until I've elevated my heart rate to a certain level for a certain amount of time. Maybe I take Nina (and the boy?) for a walk every morning before I do anything else.

This will be a challenge with a newborn, but I really need to make a change. I'd like to fit better in some of my existing clothes, and I definitely want to be able to run around with my son when he's ready. 40 pounds might sound radical, but it'll take me just south of 200 pounds, and at my height I'm supposed to be around 170 (according to the CDC Body Mass Index).

Wish me luck getting started in October!