Battle of the Bulge 1

I stepped on the scales today after not doing so for at least 3 months: 200lbs (90.0kg).

In April, I set myself a target of reducing my weight from 218lbs (99 kg) to 200lbs (90 kg). I have managed to do that. Most importantly, I was 200lbs on September 21, 2011 and I am still 200lbs today. Consistency is what weight control is about and I seem to be doing quite fine in that area.

It would appear, though, that the Michelin tummy is still there so some work needs to be done to reduce that further.

I thus have to set myself a new target to aim for since I am convinced that the extra layers I see around my midriff constitute 5lbs that I don’t need to carry. So, for 2012, I am going to work to get rid of a further 5lbs and I will make sure that I focus on the tummy area.

Now, where did I put that ab-machine?

Related articles

• Gary Barlow says food is his ‘enemy’ in his constant battle against the bulge (mirror.co.uk)

Battle of the Bulge – September 21, 2011

200lbs (91kgs) today.

That means that I have lost 18lbs (about 8kgs) since I started on my journey to get back in shape April 5, 2011. How has it happened?

Most of it has been change of diet. Only four months ago, I increased my visits to the gym, started lifting some weights and exercised three to four times a week. I was only able to lose about 4 or 5 pounds in two months but my weight kept yo-yo-ing. Yet, the time I spent in Uganda saw me stop exercising completely owing to lack of reputable (and affordable) facilities as well as being preoccupied with other things that left little time to go the gym. But the weight kept on coming off.

It must be true that processed foods are far more detrimental to one’s metabolism than organic, fresh food. With limited refrigeration, constant power outages and a largely subsistence economy where people have to consume what they produce before it goes bad, there is understandably limited access to chemicals that preserve food. Eating organic fruit, vegetables and almost nothing processed did me a lot of good no doubt.

In the time I was in Uganda, I ate no pizza or chocolate at all. I avoided milk completely since Ugandan milk is too rich, ate perhaps five slices of bread in two months and cut back drastically on my alcohol intake at the back end of my visit. But I had my regular dose of sugar in my tea, drank fizzy drinks (plus lots of water besides) and enjoyed roasted pork almost every other day.

To be fair, I was also ill about a week, due to a bacterial infection, and lost some weight in the process. But, overall, it seems that the American diet is comparatively ruinous for anyone wishing to stay in shape while eating everything they want. I am already seeing it in the choices one has when one visits the grocery store – row upon row of stuff that does little else but entice you to eat them – usually with disastrous consequences for your gut. Give me Ugandan cooking any time.

Battle of the Bulge – June 5, 2011

I weighed in at 213.8lbs (97.12) today. This week I went to the gym three times. I am using the treadmill for 30-40 minutes and, twice, I swam for 25 minutes thereafter. I feel that I am doing as much exercise as is good for me.

Flabby David Obua (From Monitor Online)

AfroGay is feeling a little smug that he is not the only one looking over his shoulder at the onslaught of the bulge. Uganda’s David Obua, 27, plays professionally for Scotland’s premier league team, Hearts and Uganda’s national squad. As you can see from the picture taken yesterday (above), Obua has, ahem, extra flesh in the wrong places for someone playing at such a high level of professional soccer. He is also not yet 30, yet AfroGay has been 35 for a couple of years now. Frankly, it is a bit of a surprise that he took his shirt off for the cameras, looking so out of shape like that. Reports say he was upset at being substituted but it seems to AfroGay that this picture tells its own story as to why it was probably for the best that he was replaced in Uganda’s 2-0 defeat of Guinea Bissau. Obua dear boy, you might want to consider leaving some of the weight on the plate.

This of course doesn’t mean that Afrogay should give up; far from it. The goal of 195lbs still seems quite a distant one but there are other, related, goals to be attained by continuing a consistent exercise regime; keeping weight in control, general fitness, losing that gut (especially). As Obua’s shape suggests, it is not going to be easy for AfroGay. But when has the road to shed pounds and get in shape ever been easy?

Precisely.

Battle of the Bulge – May 28, 2011

212lbs (96.4kgs)

Given that on May 16 the scales read 213.8lbs, today’s reading seems insignificant. After all what is a 1.8lb change in 12 days.

But I think today’s number is significant for the simple reason that until last Tuesday I had slackened off the gym, what with travel and all that eating in LA. When I weighed in on my return from LA, the scales read 216.8lbs. Since I went back to the gym, I am back down to roughly where I was when I stopped my regular exercise regimen.

The trend is beginning to emerge clearly. The more regularly I exercise, the more consistent my weight loss is. Slacken off for a few days, the pounds creep back. In all of this, I have cut back on my sugar intake a little bit, but otherwise I still eat whatever I want. In the past two days, however, I have stepped up my exercise routine from 45 minutes to one hour. My goal is to maintain that at least three times a week.

I intend to stay the course but, already, I am afraid I am well on the way to joining the skeptics of dietary fads. Exercise is mostly what one needs to stay in shape. Oh yes, and sensible eating, of course.

Battle of the Bulge – May 16 2011

213.8lbs today.

Everyone I am meeting says I have discernibly lost weight. The scales are saying that I am putting it back on even though I have been going to the gym four times a week and feel physically much fitter than I did only a month ago.

Perhaps, I am thinking to myself, the goal of 195lbs was not realistic one. The other day I was asked by someone why, at almost 6’4″ I would want to be 195lbs – too thin in his estimation. I had no coherent answer.

The truth is that I plucked the figure 195lbs from the air so I have no idea that it should be my ideal weight or not. I think I might have to speak with a reliable professional. The only problem is that every other professional in this country gives you totally different advice.

Sigh.

This needs a little more thought. Watch this space. 

Battle of the Bulge – May 4, 2011

212lbs (96kgs).

Yes, the weight is creeping up again. This is not surprising, however. Since my Spring allergies set in with a vengeance, I have not walked at all. I hate lifting weights or running on the treadmill so that ruled out the gym for the most part. Or so I thought.

But then, I thought about swimming. I have taken up swimming three times a week and have maintained the routine, gaining both confidence and stamina along the way. Yesterday I was able to swim for 45 minutes  alternating between crawl and breast strokes.

This is truly a process that will take some time. I am glad I gave myself one year.

Watch this space.

Battle of the Bulge – April 24, 2011

Aargh! Red, itching eyes

Spring is here. That means that flowers are in bloom; lots of beautiful flowers everywhere. So is their damn pollen!

So are red, runny, itchy, scratchy eyes. AfroGay has spent the entire week scratching his itchy, dry eyes. This is the time of year when he will gladly pluck both his eyeballs out and give them to charity. No, charity wouldn’t want unwanted things either so that is not an good idea at all. That leaves enemies. AfroGay is not aware of enemies he has but Spring is the time he would gladly take out his eyeballs and give them to his enemies. But then he wouldn’t get them back once the allergy season was over, would he? That might not be a terribly good idea either.

Stuck with itchy, dry, scratchy eyes the entire pollen infested week, the only exercise AfroGay has put in has been vacuuming the carpets to try and keep the pollen grains at bay. In between vacuuming at all sorts of odd hours, applying artificial tears more frequently than must be good for one and overdosing on Claritin, there was hardly any time devoted to anything else. Stepping on the scale this morning, it read 210 lbs (95kgs). What a difference exercise makes!!

 Aargh. I hate Spring!!!!

Battle of the Bulge – April 16, 2011

The look I am working towards achieving

Today I weighed in at 210.8lbs (95.81kg). That means that since I started my battle with the bulge, on April 5, I have lost 7.2lbs (2.98kgs).

What have I done differently thus far?

For one, I have been good with my exercise regime, making sure that I do something physically strenuous three times a week. I have walked 8-10 miles around the neighborhood twice. On the day third day, I didn’t feel like walking so I went swimming at the local gym. I have not been near a swimming pool for years so I had forgotten that swimming pool water is actually quite different from the water in the lake or ocean. My first attempt to swim thus ended 15 minutes later because I simply couldn’t stand the chlorinated water stinging my eyes. I went back again yesterday and was able to put in 30 minutes of alternating laps between breast, crawl and back strokes.

My theory (and it is only a theory at this point) is that swimming will be easier on my shoulder joints. I attempted to lift some weights last year and didn’t appreciate the hurt in my shoulder socket joints. Besides, my intention is to achieve a toned look (see picture above) that doesn’t go anywhere near looking like I am weight lifter (below). There is also something to be said for one going for workouts that end up making one looking too much like a man, thereby confusing potential dates. AfroGay is simply too comfortable in his skin to start playing guessing games be they overt or subliminal. Wink, wink.

Nice shoulders, but too manly for Afrogay

What other changes have I made? Well, I still have my morning tea as I used to. Instead of three sugars, I take one. I still enjoy my alcoholic beverages but I have cut back on that – from two drinks a night to three or four drinks over five days. Exceptions to the alcohol rule are Friday through Sunday when I drink whatever I want. We are all going to die of something and I am never going to deny myself all life’s pleasures as though I am going to live forever as a result.

I still eat whatever I like but I have increased my intake of fish. I will still not eat brown rice whose taste I find awful. I am also eating a lot of maize meal (Ugali to the East Africans) which I have always liked but never paid as much attention to. Yet, one can buy it easily around the DMV area. It seems to give one a lot of energy for this walking and swimming, and I am advised that it is not as rich in stuff that fattens you such as white rice (for instance). So, Ugali has taken prominence in my meals.

Anyhow, 7.2lbs gone. Another 15.8 to go. Goodness, it seems like a long, long way away. Onward bulging Afrogay, marching as to war …

I will report back on progress, or lack thereof, in a week’s time.

Battle of the Bulge – April 6, 2011

Day 1 of my Battle of (with?) the Bulge.

I have just made a curious discovery. The route I have been taking for years and years, in a vehicle, is 5.1 miles one-way, according to Google Maps. The reason I am even talking about it at all is that I have just walked the entire length of that distance and back. Never mind how long it took me (about 90 minutes), it seems incongruous that I have been taking that route for all these years without ever thinking about what distance I was actually covering.There is evidence if any were needed of the problems of car ownership. No wonder I cannot see my feet while standing up straight.

Walking is about the best I can do right now because, well, it seems quite easy – the streets are there, the pavements are there, too, the footpaths are properly demarcated so walkers don’t have to jostle with vehicular traffic. In addition, walking seems such a sensible option because it seems easier on one’s knees even though one’s feet are screaming for mercy after a 10-mile walk.

Promise to do something about the tummy bulge I did and I am going to keep at it. I was advised to start slowly and build up. I am not sure I didn’t overdo it with the 10 miles today but I reasoned to myself that I walked all those miles on the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches last week. I suppose my joints will tell me whether I overdid it by tomorrow. Right now, I feel a little soreness in my knee-joints and my toes continue to suggest that I consider buying size 14 walking shoes. I suppose it is really true that I am still growing!

My little exercise planner tells me I should now go down and do some tummy exercises but I am far too tired so I am going to skip that today. I shall take that on first thing tomorrow morning.

Now, I am ready for my shower.

Battle of the Bulge – April 5, 2011

In the two years or so that I have been engaged with this blog, I have kept constantly reminding myself to stay away from putting out terribly personal stuff about my life. The main reason is that I don’t think my life is really that interesting. The other reason is that, with all the dirty linen doing the rounds in cyber space, can there really be any more room for yet another soiled underwear?

But then, on his recent visit to Rio, AfroGay took a look at a picture taken of him in an unguarded moment and saw a startling sight:

Oh goodness gracious me!

Aiyee! While everyone has been minding their health manners, I have been turning into a blob! Possums … it is all I can do to look at the picture above without wishing that the earth opens up and swallows me whole. How on earth did it get to this? I was revirginized some years so I cannot be pregnant unless God decided to perform the miracle of the virgin birth again.

Of course, if one is honest enough, it is fairly easy to trace how it got to this. One just needs to think about the long days in front of the computer, leaving the office at all sorts of ungodly hours, returning home to fatty meals and going to sleep on a full stomach, after quaffing two or three sugar-filled cocktails. One need only carry on like that for a couple of months without exercise and the tummy will take on a life of its own without any divine intervention.

It’s coming to two years since I was last in the gym with any serious focus. Part of the reason is that my (our) absolutely excellent aerobics instructor suffered a stroke at the end of 2009 and passed away some months later, in early 2010 I believe. I didn’t return to the gym when the news of her stroke broke. When she died, I said to myself that there was nothing for it but to return and get back in shape. But the bosu, cardio hoops and kick boxing classes weren’t the same with the stand-ins Bally Fitness trawled from wherever and I stopped going entirely. Yet, my eating and drinking habits didn’t change. The result is the monstrosity above. It is indeed a mark of my total mortification that I have posted that picture to get a reality check. If it doesn’t wake me up, surely nothing will.

So, I have already made a resolution to get off my butt and exercise three times a week. Yes, I have to eat right, too, but eating has never really been my problem. I largely don’t snack and I am usually content with two or three modest meals a day. I, however, have to pay attention to burning off the sugars, carbohydrates and goodness knows what else besides that I ingest with the vodkas, gins, Uganda Waragis. Therein lies my Achilles’ Heel. 

Without a specific target, I know it will all come to nothing. So, I have set myself a target to slim down from my current 98.9kgs (about 218lbs) to 89 kgs (approximately 195lbs) within 6 months. It cannot just end there, in a year’s time (April 2012), if I still have life, I would like to see myself maintaining the same weight. Else, what would have been the point?

So, I now need a nap. Starting tomorrow, I must go walking, take up tennis again (any tennis partners in the Washington DC area please holler), bike around the neighborhood as often as possible, go swimming regularly again, return to the aerobics classes and do all the interesting physically active stuff that I used to do in the days when I seemed able to lose weight simply by thinking about it. Dance classes anywhere? I love dancing and this seems like a good time (I now have a lot of time on my hands – but that is another story) to go dancing and work up some serious sweat.

In 6 months time, I want to look like this:

Ditto April 2012. As you can see, we are not aiming for chiseled this or that – just a sensible silhouette and body frame that allows one to see one’s toes while standing straight – something of a novelty to me right now.

Because I have set myself such a public challenge, I am going to chronicle my progress every now and then. I was about to say progress or lack thereof but the alternative of keeping that tub of lad sitting atop my swimming trunks seems too terrible to consider  at this point so there can be nothing else to do but lose the flab. Watch out for the progress images in six months and then again in twelve.

Now, where did I put that T-Core abs gadget?