When you start at the bottom, you can only go up!

In my attempt to get back in shape I am going to have to make some dramatic changes. I recently quit smoking so that’s a start, but I have several goals that I would like to achieve.

Here is where I am starting from; I’m 40 years old, 5’8” tall, I weigh 175 pounds, my inseam is 30 inches but I am 36” at the waist line (that’s right….I am officially wider than I am tall). I have had no set diet and have never considered what was in the food I eat. I feel exhausted at the end of each day (even if I did not do anything) and usually sit on the sofa watching TV.
What I would like to accomplish is; Shed 10 pounds and several inches from my waist line, regain my lung capacity, stop being a couch potato, and just be in a general state of good health.

I started thinking about what I eat and drink after watching a video about how much sugar is in a can of soda (A can of coke has 7.5tsp of sugar and a can of Mountain Dew has about 11tsp!). That got me to think about how much sugar I consume in a day, and I realized I am not tired at the end of the day; I’m in a sugar coma. In addition to the large number of soft drinks that I was consuming, everything else had sugar in it; flavored coffee cream has a teaspoon of sugar in every tablespoon of creamer, my beloved peanut butter and jelly sandwich has 5 teaspoons, a ¼ cup of raisins has over 7 teaspoons, even milk has almost three teaspoons in every cup. I’m not going on some anti-sugar kick, I am just going to pay attention, and control my intake to see what positive effects I get. I have not had a soft drink in several days, and I have been cutting the amount of sugar (by half) that I add to things like coffee and tea.

On the fitness front, I plan on running 3 days a week and doing strength training on the off days. I have a plan to follow that will help build up my running ability. It involves a run/walk pattern that phases out the walk over time. I have yet to come up with or find a strength program that I like or that fits into my schedule (I need something that I will be able to do when I travel for work). Yesterday was a running day (the first running day) and my legs are very sore. Today I will be going to the fitness center for a “light" workout then I’m going shopping for some running pants because it is finally getting cold here in Georgia.