15 Percent
Throughout my life, weight never seemed to be much of an issue for me. Unfortunately my 40's hit and all that seemed to change. That sliver of cake, or strip of bacon seemed to hang tightly onto my waistline. Suddenly, I needed to watch what I ate and ensured that I exercised appropriately. I love my dad, but quite often I found him staring back at me through the mirror. Not really the sight I wanted to see first thing out of the shower.Project Discovery taught me a couple of things. The first is that I really do need to monitor what enters my body. I am a big believer in the Zone. Or my interpretation of it. I realized that my lifestyle had to change. I no longer could pop anything I desired into my mouth. It all had consequences.
Now, you may exclaim, "Duh, Neil!!! Of course everything has calories you numb-skull!" But as I stated previously, prior to 40, I never really had to think about it. I refused to say I am dieting, as that infers a temporary change. I had to change my lifestyle...permanently. The biggest change is I dumped my sugary mistress Coca-Cola. Occasionally we do have a fling, but usually it's with her less damaging cousin Zero.
Yeah...we're through, I mean it...
My belief in the Zone is that number one, everything in moderation. That is, don't eat like an American. Do we really need to Supersize everything we eat?! Have you ever really considered the portions you are being served by virtually every restaurant? Then think about the size of the portion in your belly...yikes!!!Zone belief number two is that we, I, need exercise on a regular basis. I know this, I've always known this. I just needed to stop making the excuses and find time to get out on my bike more often. Luckily, exercise for me is not a four-letter word!
The second lesson of Project Discovery was that keeping weight off is harder than losing it. Now that I have achieved my desired weight, I am obsessed with it. I cradle it like a newborn in my arms. I don't want to lose it. My weight can swing by up to five pounds in a day, yet I hold on to 145 pounds greedily. I get upset when the scale tips in at 145.4 pounds.
Thus this leads up to phase two of Project Discovery. The average American male, which I am member of that Neanderthalic club, has a body fat percentage of 25%. (Now there are other studies that claim the average American male is at 22%. I'm going with 25% because it makes me feel better.) With 25% body fat, if I was an average American male and weighed 200 pounds, I would have 50 pounds of fat! Egads!!!
The good news is that I am under the average American male's fat percentage. The bad news is that a fit American male would be at 15% body fat. Hmmm, I have a ways to go. I tend to hover in the 19-20% range of fat. Yes, really. For goodness sakes, our president claims to have less body fat than I! (I don't want to get into a discussion of politics, but I did read that GW has about 15% body fat and by the looks of it, that is pretty accurate.)I am now at 145 pounds...I would like to keep myself around this weight. Now it's time to shed some fat. I want, no I need to get to 15% body fat. I can do it. I know it. Something tells me that this is not going to be as easy as losing the weight, but I'm up for the fight! 15% here I come!
posted by LoneCactus @ 6:06 AM
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