Fitness

Alright, after various other failed attempts, I'm going to once again attempt to lose weight and get strong. The general basis for the fitness will be a rough interpretation of the South Beach Diet and increasing my overall daily activity.

I say a "rough interpretation" because I haven't read the book, and am only going off of the information I've gleaned from various websites. Luckily, the first phase of the diet is fairly straightforward: no grains, no sugar. It's essentially an Atkins diet for the first two weeks. I'll be eating far more than my share of eggs, as well as plenty of chicken, seafood, and salads. While it's the most strict and most difficult part of the diet, it's also the most rewarding. Many dieters have lost ten or more pounds in the first two weeks of the South Beach diet, and that instant gratification is a useful psychological boost to help you stick with it.

I know this because I've done this diet before. I lost thirty pounds the first time, but gained it all back (after completely disintegrating my diet plans). I went on it a second time and lost eight pounds in one week, but lost my way quickly, and once again am back at an unreasonably high weight. Third time's a charm.

With regards to "increasing my overall daily activity," this will come in three forms; two standard, and one that you'll find ridiculous but I swear to you actually does have some impact.

1. Cardiovascular exercise - This will mostly be walking and swimming, with whatever else I can mix in. Taking a walk is as good a reason as any to get away from my desk at work, and with spring coming, the weather should be perfect for regular walks. Come summertime, my mom's pool will be convenient and fun (more so if some of you female readers want to stop by, wink wink).
2. Weight training - While I don't have a whole Bowflex gym in my basement, I have a bench, a barbell, and some dumbbells. I should be able to work my chest, arms, back, and legs with the equipment I have available, and I've actually already started this a little bit. Someday, I hope to be able to lift an entire Dodge Neon over my head, but baby steps.
3. Rock Band (drumming) - This, obviously, is the ridiculous one. But while it's mostly a form of recreation, I find that I work up a decent sweat playing Rock Band, especially if it's right after weight training. So my tentative plan is to couple lifting and drumming in order to maximize the effect of the drumming. The fun part of this plan is trying to figure out which songs are the most difficult while not being songs I can't beat (I'm a fat man; I don't need to be beaten down any more, especially by some impossible metal song).

One of the keys to this whole system is so simple, it covers over 70% of the Earth's surface. I've got to drink much, much more water. It will help my muscles heal after weightlifting. It will fill my stomach and reduce cravings. Water is free at work and free to me at home. And water is just good for you. I've improved on this a little, but I've got a long way to go.

I'll be posting daily (yes, daily) reports every evening, listing everything I ate and the exercise I did that day. You're all welcome to provide input that you think I might find helpful, food ideas to mix it up, encouragement, insults (try to keep them PG-13, Nick). And even though it's recommended that you don't weigh yourself daily, I'll be posting my weight every day as well in the same posts. No forgetting, no lies, no qualifications. This thing is only going to work if I'm completely honest.

Wish me luck.

EDIT

Initial weigh-in: 334 pounds.