Starting Monday I'm cutting out junk foods, fried foods, sugar, juices and alcohol. Exercising 4-5 days a week (even if just cardio) and eating clean (high protein meats & non-dairy foods, tons of green veggies, etc).
No more excuses. Going to South Beach recently showed me that, as a man of a certain age, I gotta stop playing around and falling back on old habits or else I'll end up like so many of my family members that I saw up in Detroit this past week.
Men don't usually talk about this as much as women, but I believe most of my "issues" (self esteem, dating, health, mild sleep apnea) stem from my weight gain. Unless you're a gym rat, men are not supposed to talk about dieting or body image.
There may be a slight exception for gay men, but you usually only see this talk happen amongst "thick" gay men or the big guys resting between overweight and obese. "Average" dad bod 40+ guys like me usually just accept that they had their time back in the day and gradually ease into becoming gay Laurence Fishburnes. Nothing wrong with that (they still look great) but its just not what I'm used to…
Standing at 6' 2" tall, right now I fluctuate between 205 and 210 lbs. This isn't "bad" per se (especially not compared to many Black men living in the midwest and south) but it's not what I'm used to…I've always been the tall, lanky, skinny dude my whole life. Looking at photos of myself from even just a few years ago I can see the difference. Nowadays I avoid taking photos as much as possible. This slowing of my metabolism and mid-section expansion is throwing off a lot of stuff in my own head. So time to make a change.
My goal (if you want to call it that) is to just get back to the point where I feel and look good about myself. That doesn't mean six-pack abs or IG pics on the beach, just liking what I see in the mirror and my clothes fitting me right again. The body weight is less important, to be honest. If I still end up over 200 lbs yet more of that is muscle vs fat, I'm cool with that.
The working out part is pretty simple, the hard part is just going to the gym…once I get there, it's no problem for me to hit the cardio and sets of reps with the weights/machines. Also I have tons of free weights and barbells at home. So I have no excuses in that department.
My main issue is eating right, especially when away from home. So many high calorie foods are delicious. It's super easy to grab fast food or bread-heavy sandwiches when I'm hungry and running errands or at work.
Also I have a fully stocked home bar so its nothing for me to make a cocktail (or three) while binge watching a series or movies at night after work… This isn't good for my waistline nor my overall health. So that has to stop. This will be a lot easier than it sounds. Most of my drinking comes out of boredom, the rest out of just being in social situations where everyone else is drinking too.
It'll be a long process, but I'm saying all this to say I'm committed and I'm letting the Squad hold me accountable on this. There will be cheat days and occasional social events where I might indulge, but far from the current frequency.
One motivator is this book I copped on Amazon, Healthy Meal Prep. They have tons of recipes specifically designed for making breakfast/lunch/dinner meal prep portions for a week.
If any of you have any advice or want to make this a group challenge, let me know.
