Monday, April 16, 2012

Lack of Motivation in 2012 - Part Deux

For the first part, refer here...

Overall, the program was a resounding success. No participants missed weight and maintained their goal weight for the length of the program. It helped that everyone in the group is a hard ass, so there was major smack talking and peer pressure: "Hey Mark, can't wait until Monday so you can pay me that 5.00". "Hmm Jon, you're looking over weight today, might want to log some more laps". There were a couple of really rough weeks. One week I came down with the flu over the weekend and was running a fever of 102+. It made logging miles over the weekend extremely difficult. I was so ill, that I came to practice, weighed in, and immediately left. Another week in particular was brutal just because a lot of critical family obligations came up that drastically limited training time - which meant adjusting calories and doing intermittent fasting to boost the metabolic rate more.

I maintained my goal weight until Thanksgiving, which was several months after the program had ended. I kept doing 200ks until December which helped a lot. All of the other participants immediately started to regain weight after the program ended. I'm back up to my race weight from last year, but heavier than my lowest point last year after the weight loss challenge.

Other than the people on the swim team, my doctor, and my wife, no-one has a clue about my actual weight. Why? Various members of my family traumatized me about it during my childhood. When doing a mile in 4:27 and a 5k in 16:20, I still didn't look 'skinny enough' to them; IE: my height wasn’t greater than 6'2" and weigh less than 180. At that time, I was instead 5’10” and 155 with 30” thighs. I have carried a lot of mental baggage for my entire life regarding my weight. I saw that Fat Cyclist was doing a weight loss challenge because he got a spot on a TV show and wanted to drop some lbs. Unfortunately, by the time I found out, they were already a week in and it was too late to join in.

So to get myself re- motivated for the year, I going to follow a program similar to that the swim team came up with last year with a new penalty: if I miss weight, I post it on the internet. I know what you are thinking, big whoop Jonny Rando! For the people that really know me, this is a major deal. Wifey about crapped her pants when I told her my idea and that I was dead serious with committing to it, because she knows firsthand how mental I am with my weight.

Revised Rules:
·         Monday weigh-ins.
·         Weight loss has to be in whole lb increments until goal weight was achieved (unless a caveat occurs).
·         Penalty: if I miss weight, my weight will be posted. Don't worry, wifey will be doing monitored weigh-ins and is cold hearted. If I miss weight and don't post it, she will with zero regrets. She will keep the program honest. If weight is missed, I will continue to post each week's weight goal and actual weight - in which case I'm sure all my family (sigh!) and friends will take the time to call and 'encourage' me for more motivation.
 

Caveats:
1.       I want to reach a new *healthy* low. Therefore, I'm not going to specify an actual goal weight and will go off how I feel. When I announce my goal has been reached, the final # will be posted. To keep the weight off, I will continue to post it each week after.
2.       If there is a week where I get ill, that week will be null and void. I'm not talking about some sinus drainage or a sore throat that I can just skip the week. I'm talking about cases like the flu, food poisoning, etc. Something so severe that training is or almost impossible and dropping weight would have adversely impact my health. In 2010 and 2011, I neglected to dial back training while being sick and ended up with shingles three times. So that's the reason for this improvised rule. Shingles is absolutely horrific! A 2% allowance will be allowed from the previous ending weight (no repeated weeks of compounding 2% in the unlikely event that an illness last weeks).
3.       As an athlete that tends to go hardcore, I have sustained some injuries over the past several years that will require surgery this year (currently in the process of getting surgery dates). So during those week(s) in which I have surgery and post-op recovery, obviously I won't be able to lose weight or train. A 2% allowance will be allowed from the ending weight (again, not compounding allowances).
4.       Any weekend where there is an ultra distance race or brevet ride, no weigh-in on the following Monday. Why? Because to survive ultra distance you must eat and drink a lot. Nuff said. If you don’t understand, you probably haven’t done ultra distance events.

So starting next Monday, I will post my first goal for # of lbs to lose that week.

As I am writing this, I am having second thoughts about committing to this and why the hell am I doing this to myself? It is time for me to confront my weight fears and deal with something that has haunted me pretty much my entire life.

As Tallahassee once said, "Time to nut up or shut up!”

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