Fat Man Running

Ok, maybe it’s just that my legs are weak.  I talked to a trainer finally about my severe leg pain.  He was polite, but the gist of the conversation boiled down to the fact that I was way too fat and trying to use muscles that were not up to the task.  He said I’d get through it eventually.  We’ll hope he’s right, because damn does it hurt!

In other news I ordered the BodyBugg.  I’ve been fascinated with the little gizmo ever since I saw it on “The Biggest Loser” and I found one on sale.  So I sprang for it.  I’m not sure if it will ever be more than a nifty gizmo, but it can’t hurt!

So last Sunday I taped a show called “I Can Make You Thin” on TLC.  I did it as kind of a lark, not really expecting much out of it.  It’s hosted by a guy called Paul McKenna, and he’s annoying as hell.  But despite that, I was pleasantly surprised when I sat down and watched it a couple nights ago.  I’m not saying there was any earth shattering news in it, but some of the ways he approached how you should eat were really interesting. 

His 4 Golden Rules actually make a lot of sense, and I’m going to try them out myself as a way to eat.  I’ve already started to be more deliberate about eating my meals, and he’s right.  You do feel full sooner if you approach it that way.  I’ve heard part of the reason is that your stomach doesn’t begin sending out “I’m full” signals until 15 minutes into a meal, so if you wolf food down you won’t feel full until it’s too late.

Now, I’m not completely buying in to everything he’s saying yet.  For instance, his entire apprach seems to be on modification of how you eat and not excercise, specific nutrition, etc;  But certainly the approach itself makes sense.  So check out his website on www.tlc.com/thin if you’re interested.

New shoes came in… sadly they didn’t fix my problem.  They did help it though so that’s a good thing.  Today was my day of rest, and I spent it considering what my diet was going to be.  I waffle.  On the one hand I REALLY enjoy food and find low carb incredibly restrictive.  On the other hand I need structure to eat correctly.  I admit it, I’m a weak fat man.  So I’ve got to figure out what the heck I’m doing.  Running alone isn’t going to fix me, and I can’t really get to running hard like I want to unless I shed some serious pounds.  *sigh*  I need the magic pill!

I am actually missing exercise today but my legs needed a break.  I was also suffering from a little sleep deprivation (damn cat) and of course feeling lazy.  So enough excuses.  Tomorrow it’s back on the treadmill.

So far, this is more like fat man limping I started going to the gym last Thursday and the trainer has me alternating walking and running. I’ll be blunt… there’s a lot of walking. I’ve got some new shoes on order that I hope are going to help, but right now my shins hurt like the blazes. I’ve got these weird little knots on the muscle that goes up over my shins. It gets so tight I have to stop and do some ankle rotations to work it out. I’m not sure if it’s the weight, my shoes, or the fact that I am badly out of shape. Hoping it goes away!

The shoes I ordered are marketed as being for guys with flat feet (check!), over-pronation (I looked it up… check!) and being on the heavy side (triple check!). So I am very hopeful. On the diet front I’m adding a lot more fruit, but I need to work on the green stuff. And I have got to cut out all the cookies. I’m trying to use those 100 Calorie packs. I like them a lot, I just want to eat like 2 or 3 in a sitting.  I had said I was going low carb I know.  I’m working my way to it!   Anyway… onward I go.

Welcome to FatManRunning.org.  This is my personal journey down the road to finding a thinner me.  I won’t say skinny because frankly that’s something I’ve never been (and am never likely to be!).  But I’m 5′8 and weigh 267.5 pounds as of this morning.  That puts me in the bowling ball status.  And that, dear readers, isn’t a great place to be.

So why am I writing a blog about it?  Good question.  I doubt anyone will actually ever read this, but I will.  And the threat of public humiliation is, in some insane way, motivation.  Certainly not my only one, but I can’t deny that it is there.  And I need all the motivation I can get to stop being a slug.  As my wife frequently reminds me, if I die before her she’s going to dig me up and kill me again.

 10 years ago I was 22 years old and weighed 182 pounds.  I ran 4-5 miles a day mostly because I had large angry men yelling at me that I had to (I was in the Army).  I could do 60 pushups and 80 situps in 2 minutes, run 2 miles in under 12 minutes, and in general was a pretty fit guy.  Then I got a series of incredibly painful stress fractures that made running feel like I was standing on pieces of glass, and I was discharged from the Army.  10 years and almost 100 pounds heavier, here I am.

So here’s my plan… I’m going to run it off.  Step by step, quite likely pausing to puke frequently in the initial stages.  I’m sure I’ll be doing mroe walking than running too.  But I’ll get there.  I want to run a half marathon by the fall.  I’m also dieting, low carb.  Not the best combination for a runner but I know what works for me in terms of losing weight.  I love sugar too much.  Waaay too much.

So I’ll use this blog as a diary.  I’ll post some pictures, weigh ins, etc;  If no one but me ever reads it I guess that’s ok, as long as I reach my goal.  Not much else I can say about that :).