Thursday, July 17, 2008

Nutrition

My eating habits are poor. Inherently I am a carb junkie and I have a strong sweet tooth. When I was younger, I could get around this by exercising more and having a higher metabolism. Now in my late thirties, I am considering making some adjustments. I have a goal to lose 5 lbs. I think this will improve my well being in terms of diabetes and heart disease risk. 5 lbs would also shave about 20 lbs of impact on my knees. It would also reduce the stress on the balance of my musculoskeletal system which has been plagued by ankle injuries and irritation. Finally 5 lbs could boost my energy levels and allow me to be more helpful in the house and productive as an employee.

All I need to do is “cut out the sweets and exercise more.” Seven simple words have never been more difficult to implement. I now understand why there is a physicians warning on exercise equipment. I now understand why there is a growing field of nutrition consultants. Lifestyle changes are not easy. Short term changes are easy and most people can white knuckle their way through a few pounds. I am more interested in a lasting change.

High School weight (1989) = 135 lbs
College weight (1993) = 155 lbs
Grad school weight (1997) = 195 lbs
Race weight (2002) = 170 lbs
Current weight (2008) = 185 lbs

According to my 5’9” frame I could get down to 127 pounds before I was considered underweight, 171 pounds is the upper limit for normal weight, my current weight puts me in the overweight bunch, but I would not be considered obese until I hit 206 pounds. While the BMI scale could certainly be argued, it is not that far out of whack for a person like me.

My current plan is to get a handle on my current caloric intake and then develop a plan that puts me in a calorie deficit. I have already started cooking a little bit for the family and have found some great websites including:

wholesometoddlerfood
foodfit
cookingforengineers
recipezaar

The next step is healthy shopping and healthy eating. I am very pleased with getting the enablers in place and making the decision to make a change.

No comments: