I'm Losing It ... Again

In the fall, I dropped 10 pounds participating in World Gym’s ‘I Lost It At The Club.’ I audited classes at all three gyms in the county, saw (and felt) the different styles of the different trainers and met some of the individuals participating. This time, it’s going to be different. I’m part of one team and what I do (or don’t do) will count. The accountability I have to my team, Weigh Way Less, and the full participation in the program between me and my teammates should make a great story.

We met for the first time on Monday, the first official day of the program. The first class is kind of like the first class of a college course. You get the syllabus, some handouts and an overview of the class, but not too much gets done - especially when you’re like me and have to leave early to coach a make-up U6 soccer practice. It was a little frustrating for our trainer, Sheila, and the rest of us who were ready to get things started.

I am one member on a five person team. I am the only guy. The women in my group are older than I am, but not by much for some of them. Several of them participated in the program last time and enjoyed some success but the holidays came soon after the program ended and there was some backsliding.

When I noted that I had dropped more weight since the end (weighed in at 200 on Monday and 199 on my Wii Fit on Tuesday), it was greeted with some ‘great job’s (and I imagine some gritted teeth and muttering). I have a feeling that my weight loss will go slower though and I will soon be surpassed by some of these very dedicated women. They were excited to know that I would be writing about our class during the next nine weeks, especially when I promised not to use names (at least real names - I haven’t decided how to do this yet).

This is going to be hard. Not the writing or the working out, necessarily, but the keeping up with food logs and the homework (exercising out of class). In our first class, we got a list of foods acceptable in Body for Life - proteins, carbohydrates, vegetables and good fats. We are supposed to try and eat six small meals a day and each one should include something from the protein and acceptable carbohydrate list. I looked at the list for foods that I like and imagined very weird combos for 10:30 a.m. - like Buffalo and Strawberries or Lean ham and Corn.

In addition to the diet, we need to squeeze in five days of cardio and three days of weight training. The Monday class counts as one of both. It will be interesting trying to do this, while working, taking care of two kids under five while my wife works on her Masters, coaching U6 soccer, moving, trying to get my third novel ready to be sent out to prospective publishers, possibly competing in a screenplay writing competition in April and trying to have a little me time as well so I don’t go insane.

But I can do it. We all can. The program ends on May 2, roughly eight weeks away. If I do my best with the diet and exercise, I know I will reach my target weight - which I am putting at 187. If I reach that, I will have lost 30 pounds by last September. Eight months. And I won’t have done anything crazy to get there. There have been nights (before this round of the program started) that I ate half of an individual Sara Lee Chocolate Cream Pie and there have been some afternoons drinking soda and eating chips. Overall though, I have gone to the gym and tried to eat sensibly far more often than not.

When I had that puffy beer belly and thought I would throw up after an hour of working out, I wasn’t sure weight loss was possible for me. It was and it is.

Believe me, if I can do it - anybody can.