Okay, so not terribly, but I am technically overweight. I stand 6', 6'-1" depending on who is dong the measuring, and when I last weighed myself (because we all know how accurate all scales are) I come in just over 210 lbs. At one point last year I had worked my way up to around 223, the largest I have ever been. For me, I need to be 185-190.
I never set out to be a 200-lb man (like anyone except actors preparing for a particular role ever do set out for that). I have to attribute it to unnecessary binge-eating out of stress, undiagnosed depression, and/or boredom, and a loss of interest and (sometimes) ability to perform my workout routine. I'm not making excuses; I have screwed myself and now I have to work even harder to be unscrewed.
I am not going to sit here and cry for sympathy over this. I am certainly not in the position in which many find themselves. I am not fat-shaming myself or anyone. I am saying I do not like what I have become - let me repeat that: I do not like what I have become - and I continually try to return to a place where I will be happy.
Aside from my feelings, I also don't have a choice now; my health insurance premiums depend on it. To keep from having to pay an exorbitant hike, I have to pass an annual biometric screening; this year, for the first time, I did not. Now I have a few months to complete several tasks involving my health to remedy this. I already knew what I needed to do anyway; this just further incentivizes it.
So one thing I think I am able to do to work towards completing this is to use my phone's pedometer (how is Fitbit still in business?) to record 10,000 steps a day for seven days straight. I am a Hospitality Host for a major casino in Las Vegas, so half of my job is walking around the casino floor greeting guests. As you can imagine, the New Year's weekend generates a TON of business, so I had a TON of people to greet (no pun intended in this sentence, I promise!). Compound the regular flow with the "observed" holiday on Monday the 2nd, and I was running all over the floor for several days. Since that madness has subsided, I have had to find other ways of increasing my daily totals. The first thing has been to put my phone in my pocket from the minute I get up in the morning and not taking it out until laying down at night; have to catch EVERY SINGLE STEP! Then I discovered that it still tracks while I'm on the treadmill. So while the phone gets a little sweaty in my hand as I'm running, it racks up several thousand steps towards 10K!
I have used the My Fitness Pal app on and off for a few years. If you're not familiar, you can use it to record absolutely everything to put into your body in the day as well as track your exercise and weight. It's a very good app that has certainly helped me at times. I've just found it tedious to record every little thing when you have to start thinking about measurements and quantities to make sure you're entering accurate numbers. When you work in a Las Vegas casino, you get fed. There are employee dining rooms in the back of house, but they are generally just under-glorified buffet troughs. The big thing of which the app made me conscious is portion control. I realized that with huge serving spoons and clunky tongs, I was dolloping up huge helpings of the less-than-healthily-prepared concoctions we are given daily. I have certainly recognized a difference when I ease up on the scoops.
So enough about this. I am not turning this blog into my daily public diet diary. I don't need public support to help me along. I just really didn't have anything else interesting to write about today. And I can end with this piece of humorous irony about the whole pedometer thing: I also discovered that it simply tracks perceived movement, so when I fidget with the phone, it keeps tracking like I'm moving. So if I really need to get over that 10K hump one day, I can just cheat my way through it by twirling the phone a few times!
I wish you health and happiness - love yourselves!
The struggle is real...🙄🙏🏽
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