Getting fit - Progress Report (January 21, 2012)

An area of my life that has been out of balance for far too long is my weight and fitness level. Ever since I entered the pastorate, I have mentally committed to never allowing my waistline to get so large that it discredits my ministry. After all, how can I call people to be godly and disciplined in every area of their life when my own weight shows that I’m not living what I preach?

So, with that mindset, I have maintained a reasonably healthy weight and fitness level. However, I have been noticing that gravity is slowly but surely working a little harder and my clothes keep getting smaller and smaller.

Around Christmastime, I was browsing through a blog by a Christian educator and author. He mentioned that he was going on a diet and was going to use a social networking site (www.loseit.com) to help him lose the weight. He was looking for accountability partners to join him. I signed up and started the day after Christmas (December 26, 2011).

I also realized that if I was to lose some serious weight, I would need to do more than diet. I would need to exercise. I had previously used a fantastic site to document my walking and jogging miles (www.dailymile.com). I went back to that account and starting logging miles.

Now, when I fire up my laptop and get onto the net, the two windows that automatically open are www.loseit.com and www.dailymile.com. This keeps my goals directly in front of me and allows me to celebrate the progress I’m making.

So, what are the numbers? Since December 26, 2011:

• I’ve logged 165 miles (except for 12 miles of biking, the rest is walking/jogging).
• I started at 207.2lbs and have lost 12.8lbs so far (about 3.4lbs lost per week).
• My fitness level has gone up. (I’ve never been a U.S. Marine and I’m not a Marine wannabe. However, a FANTASTIC book I discovered years ago that provides ways to calculate your fitness level, among many other things, is “The Marine Corps 3X Fitness Program” by Martin Cohen.)

If you want to get running but don’t know how, here are two sites to get you started:

• Here's a site that is VERY informative and is an easy way to break into a running program. It encourages you to start slow (begin a walking program before running). On page 3, it gives a plan to increase your ability to run. http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-520--2201-1-2X3X6-4,00.html
• Here's the plan that I used to get started. I committed to it and did all 21 days. It about killed me!!! Only do it if you're dead set on getting into shape quickly and can commit to about 45 minutes a day for 21 days. (You'll get a rest day about every 3 days.) Even though I didn’t, you may want to get your doctor’s approval first. Just sign up and you'll get an e-mail every morning between 5:00-6:00am that will tell you what to do that day. However, I would HIGHLY recommend that you get a walking program going before starting this! http://running.about.com/c/ec/10.htm