Last night, I was tying some flies while my wife was watching a recorded episode of The Biggest Loser. I had never seen or heard the show before for more than the 5 seconds it would take me to do a drive-by and let loose some sarcastic remark about the participants and/or the audience... which was always popular in the Ferro house. One guy has lost 100 pounds, and easily has another 100 to go. I can't imagine what it would be like to have that much weight to lose. These people obviously are in need of some assistance to tackle their weight issues, and more power to them. I guess we all have our limits at which point we decide that a change needs to be made.About a year ago, after injuring my shoulder in a rugby match, I went into one of those bad cycles of no exercise, holiday cheer, lots of holiday sweets, and big meals. Needless to say, the scale started inching northward until I hit the magical number of 220 lbs. For some reason, 220 is a psychological trigger that forces me to take corrective measures. Playing weight has always been 205 lbs. but let's face it, playing the occasional Olde Boys and B-side match does not constitute active participation in the sport of rugby, so I should probably aim a bit lower.
As a quasi competitive athlete, you go through periodic fluctuations in weight. One thing I have noticed, is that as my old ass continues to get older, the downward part of the fluctuation seems to be getting more difficult. Into my early 30's, I'd skip a couple of lunches, and I'd lose 10 pounds in about a week. Burgers, pasta, beers, steaks, chips, dip, biscuits and gravy were all acceptable dietary inputs in this rigorous regimen. Though, these days that does not seem to work. I started out on my trek back to playing weight with the usual two instruments, don't eat sweets, and start running. Fairly easily, I got back down to 212 lbs. But then hit a wall. I was stuck at 210-212 lbs for a good while. Really didn't matter how much I ran, and I had cut out all the sweets. It was about to get desperate, I was going to have to seriously consider giving up beer...:)
At about this time, I heard about people I knew employing several different motivational tools and methods, including:
- the bodybugg, some thing you attach to your arm that monitors the calories you take in and those that you burn
- bets with friends, the most disturbing coming from the Southern California contingent of my associates where the loser was going to have to walk down the Venice boardwalk in a thong
- publicized personal goals, where the person would donate money to some cause that he detested
My non-scientific, limited data analysis of these facts leads me to another obvious point. It's not how much, so much as what you eat. My rule of thumb is that if something comes in a pre-packaged, single serving container, it's probably not good for you. Bags of chips, string cheese, M&M's and candy of any form, power bars, and all that rapid reward stuff that you can open and eat is a clear path to the next larger hole in your belt.
(I have another theory about the correlation between the arrival of the 32 ounce Big Gulp and the rise of child and adult obesity, but I'll save that for another post.)
It's a good thing beer comes in 6-packs, or I would have to revise my new rule of thumb.
The fly of the day is the brassie, courtesy of the folks at Maine Fly Fishing:
Tight Lines,
Dave
No comments:
Post a Comment