Keepin' in "Shape"
I feel obligated to comment about the fact that I do have a shape... just not my (or anyone else's) preferred one ;).
Since I started the MBA program, my metabolism has completely shifted. Partly due to long hours of "working hard and playing hard" some things are innocuous, and probably societal, since I now have a taste for beer and coffee that I never had before. Along the way I also started drinking red wine, instead of white, as well.
Other things probably have to do with my age and make me grumpy. While I still weigh the same as I always have (165-170), now it's all settled around my waist. It's not a car tire, but it's definitely past a bike tire. I also eat a lot more often than I used to. No-one likes a scrawny guy with a pot-belly, so I knew it was time to do something about it.
I tried a couple different ways to get going (since i want to "get in shape", not truly diet) and have found a couple that seem to be working:
"Diet": I now eat only one dessert a day. The big catch is, since I'm trying to keep under 50grams of added empty sugars a day, that I also force myself to count a bottle of soda as "dessert". I'm not cutting out dessert entirely, and I can always have that special treat *tomorrow* if I've unfortunately already drank that bottle of soda *today*, so I seem to be able to fool my brain into going along with this approach. When I started counting soda as dessert (really, what else can it be?) I was quite surprised at how many "desserts" I was eating a day: one candy bar in the morning, a couple of sodas in the afternoon, and not to forget an ice cream after dinner. Desserts add up quite quickly when you're not paying attention.
Exercise: So I'm taking care of the "diet" (more or less) to shed empty sugars and still treat myself once a day, but what about the exercise? Using StumbleUpon I came across "The Official British Army Fitness Programme." I've been a lot more successful following this than anything I've tried to do on my own- mostly because it builds up rather slowly, with every other day being a rest day in the beginning. I'm only a few weeks into it however, and its definitely starting to kick my butt. I'm no 19 year old army recruit, so I imagine I'll just repeat weeks as necessary and take it slow.
But I'm more optimistic about getting in shape than I have been since high school!
Since I started the MBA program, my metabolism has completely shifted. Partly due to long hours of "working hard and playing hard" some things are innocuous, and probably societal, since I now have a taste for beer and coffee that I never had before. Along the way I also started drinking red wine, instead of white, as well.
Other things probably have to do with my age and make me grumpy. While I still weigh the same as I always have (165-170), now it's all settled around my waist. It's not a car tire, but it's definitely past a bike tire. I also eat a lot more often than I used to. No-one likes a scrawny guy with a pot-belly, so I knew it was time to do something about it.
I tried a couple different ways to get going (since i want to "get in shape", not truly diet) and have found a couple that seem to be working:
"Diet": I now eat only one dessert a day. The big catch is, since I'm trying to keep under 50grams of added empty sugars a day, that I also force myself to count a bottle of soda as "dessert". I'm not cutting out dessert entirely, and I can always have that special treat *tomorrow* if I've unfortunately already drank that bottle of soda *today*, so I seem to be able to fool my brain into going along with this approach. When I started counting soda as dessert (really, what else can it be?) I was quite surprised at how many "desserts" I was eating a day: one candy bar in the morning, a couple of sodas in the afternoon, and not to forget an ice cream after dinner. Desserts add up quite quickly when you're not paying attention.
Exercise: So I'm taking care of the "diet" (more or less) to shed empty sugars and still treat myself once a day, but what about the exercise? Using StumbleUpon I came across "The Official British Army Fitness Programme." I've been a lot more successful following this than anything I've tried to do on my own- mostly because it builds up rather slowly, with every other day being a rest day in the beginning. I'm only a few weeks into it however, and its definitely starting to kick my butt. I'm no 19 year old army recruit, so I imagine I'll just repeat weeks as necessary and take it slow.
But I'm more optimistic about getting in shape than I have been since high school!