Starting out

While today is the official start of the blog and the transformation I really started the diet and exercise regime Monday in earnest. So far, things have been pretty good.

I've been tracking fairly regularly and eating more or less on schedule. There always seems to be a large gap between meals 2 and 3 or 3 and 4. Something to work on.

Hitting calories fairly accurately which is good. I really do end up eating what seems like a mountain of food when I work out, especially on days when I lift and run. It always makes me nervous to eat so much when I'm on a diet. I guess this is just the side-effect of being an obsessive neurotic who's now on a fat loss diet. I do like to eat, but usually don't eat as much as I'd like so this could work out well for me.

Exercising has proven to be a little more difficult. Even just typing the word is a pain in the ass. It took a ridiculous amount of time for me to spell it correctly. I really want there to be an extra C in it, I don't know why. I'm not exactly a stranger to exercise mind you, but being consistent is another thing. Until today things had been pretty fine, but today... I just DIDN'T WANT TO GO! I forced myself to go anyway, and it took me a ridiculous amount of time to complete everything, but I did finish. My energy was just sagging today for some reason.

If I had to guess why, I'd say it had something to do with dehydration, which admittedly I've been kinda crappy about. I barely drank anything today and let me tell you, it's been HOT here in the city. Like "where the hell did spring go" kinda hot. It's my own fault. I dug out my old nalgene from a kitchen cupboard but never washed it, so I've been carrying the damn thing around in my back pack empty for like 2 days. I deserve dehydration! Yeesh!

Obviously, I've been good so far about the blog part. I'd ideally like to make a post every evening, even if it's just a quick check in, but I know me... we'll see. For now though, so far so good. I find it very helpful so far recap past success and challenges. They all look much better on the screen than in my mind.

So one post and about half a week down! Until tomorrow...

Warm-up

People who write exercise books always suggest that you begin any workout with a warm up.

This is something that I usually ignore. But that's what this is: a warm-up. Something to post on my shiny new blog just to keep it from being empty and maybe tell you a little bit about me and what this is supposed to be all about.

My name is Ian and I currently live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I've been a chubby little monkey for practically all my life and frankly I'm pretty sick of it. Living here doesn't help. There's nothing more pathetic than a fat hipster in skinny jeans.

Well no more! I vow that sooner than we may think, I will at last transform my body from a pale, bloated, flabby mess into a pale, waifish, fauxhemian force-to-be-reckoned-with. This blog will serve to keep me honest, help me see any approaching pitfalls, help me to see what pitfalls I've already fallen into, and hopefully help me to climb back out. Motivation is more than appreciated, but this is certainly more for me than anyone else. I just finished reading "Ultra-fat to Ultra-fit" by Noah Walton. If I have one tenth the success he did, maybe I'll compile these entries into a book that you can shell out some that disposable income for at Urban Outfitters.

I'll be following the strategies outlined in Tom Venuto's "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" and doing Tom's "The New Bodybuilding" routine which he wrote for Men's Health Magazine a few years back. Currently, I weight 189 lbs at 5'10" with a BF% of 20.4%. Ideally, I'd like to try to get to around 170lbs at 10% BF. We'll see... Remember: optimism. Smaller goals include either loss or recomp of 1lb BF per week and a 30" waist in three months from now. The blog and countdown will officially start on June 1st. Maybe if I get really brave I'll post some of the horrible before pics I took last week... but don't hold your breath.

So there you have it. It won't be easy especially with my hipster apathy to contend with but I feel like I have a really good shot this time. Stay tuned for big changes and I'll see you again on the first.