Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Wednesday Weigh-In

Weighty Issues
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First, the bad news...
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Starting Weight: 274.0 lbs
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In the immortal words of Bill Lumbergh, "Yeeeeeaaaaah...." You know when your local news does a story about how your city/state/region is getting fatter? Apparently, I'm the guy they show with his face blacked out.
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This is more than 100 pounds heavier than I ever was in high school (except when I had shingles for 2 1/2 months, but that's a whole other story). It's about 40 pounds heavier than I ever was at any point in college or law school, and trust me, I wasn't exactly an Abercrombie & Fitch model back then.
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So, for some reason that extends far beyond rational thought, I want to know my Body Mass Index (BMI). What is BMI? Here's some information direct from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/.
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Basically, BMI is a number calculated from a person's height and weight. It provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems.
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Here are the BMI Categories:
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Underweight = <18.5>
Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
Overweight = 25-29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
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So what is my BMI? I am 5' 8" tall, and I weigh 274.0 pounds. Based on the BMI calculator at the CDC website, my BMI is 41.7. Just to recap: Obese is 30 or greater, and I'm at 41.7. According to the BMI chart, I need to lose 70 pounds just not to be obese anymore. Wow. I never knew it was that bad.
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Now, the good news...no, there is no good news. I'm not dead yet; I suppose that's the biggest positive I can take away from this. I guess I'm not big enough to have Jillian Michaels yelling at me on NBC. All I can say at this stage is that I am doing this, and I'm not going anywhere until I get down to a normal weight according to the BMI. That's the long-term goal.
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Ten People Who Currently Weigh Less Than I Do
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1.) Dwight Howard - Center, Orlando Magic - 6’11” 265 lbs.
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2.) Zydrunas Ilgauskas - Center,
Cleveland Cavaliers - 7’3” 260 lbs.
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Zydrunas says, "Bryan weighs THIIIIIS much!"
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3.) Hasheem Thabeet - Center, Memphis Grizzlies - 7’3” 267 lbs.
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4.) Brook Lopez - Center, New Jersey Nets - 7’0” 260 lbs.

5.) Jermaine O’Neal - Center, Miami Heat - 6’11” 255 lbs.
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6.) Kosta Koufos - Center, Utah Jazz - 7’0” 265 lbs.
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7.) Primo Brezec - Center, Philadelphia 76ers - 7’0” 255 lbs.
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8.) Andrew Bogut - Center, Milwaulkee Bucks - 7’0” 260 lbs.
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9.) Brad Miller - Center, Chicago Bulls - 7’0” 261 lbs.
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10.) Erick Dampier - Center, Dallas Mavericks - 6’11” 265 lbs.
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Perhaps, you notice a common theme here, like, oh, I don't know:

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THESE ARE ALL NBA CENTERS WHO ARE AT LEAST 6 FEET, 11 INCHES TALL!!!
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Each of these men is at least fifteen inches taller than I am; each is supposed to be very strong to play his position at the professional level. I weigh more than all of them. The scariest thing is that I felt compelled to look up Shaquille O'Neal just to make sure I don't weigh more than the original "Big Daddy" does. Yes, Shaquille O'-frickin'-Neal!! As it turns out, Shaq has more than 50 pounds on me (7'1" 325 lbs.), not that that is something I should be celebrating.
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Next Week's Goal
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Okay, so I've already said my long-term goal is to be in the normal weight category under the BMI standards. It's quite clear that my first medium-term goal is to weigh less than every true center in the NBA. Yikes. I'm still shaking my head in disbelief. For next week, though, I am thinking shorter-term. Since I am easing my way into this and am looking for long-term health rather than crash dieting, I am going to say: 4 - 6 lbs. This seems reasonable, since I am, in theory, going to lose some water weight in the early going.
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What do you think? Did I set the bar too high? Too low? Are you terrified to find out what very large professional athletes weigh less than you do? I don't recommend it, unless you are really, really ready for it.

Tomorrow: Baby Steps, or How the Hell Am I Going to Do This?!

5 comments:

  1. Just wanted to let you know that I'm following along and will keep you accountable.

    As for shorter-term goals, I think that what Carolyn said a few posts ago is good - diets are no good it has to be lifestyle changes.

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  2. I think you could lose 4-6 pounds in a week. And that may be fine initially. But in the future, I think the experts say that it's best to aim for losing about 1-2 pounds a week. I know it probably seems discouraging to aim so low, but I think that's the healthiest way to go.
    In the mean time, what exactly are you doing to lose weight? Do you have eating goals or exercise goals? Certainly it would be good to start off slowly, but you have to stay consistent. It might be helpful if you published your eating and exercising goals here to help yourself stay motivated and to keep you accountable.

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  3. First and foremost I would not put to much stock in the BMI. These number are ridiculously over idealistic. By this index I would be overweight at 155 lbs. That is purely crazy! All that having been said I weigh 170 today. Here we go!

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  4. In the first week you could easily lose that much weight. When I did Weight Watchers the men always posted bigger numbers in the first week, but then you will even out to around 1-2 lbs per week. One of the most important lessons I learned in WW is to drink plenty of water- it really does make a difference!

    Heather G.

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  5. I am not sure if you have thought about this yet, but you might want to consider how you can incorporate exercise into your routine. Every Saturday morning Lori and take our daughter for a run in the jogging stroller and end at a park near our house. That way we can both get exercise at the same time, Anna is taken care of, and then we can have some family fun at the park. I really think that some kind of regular running has to be part of any exercise program. The benefit of using a jogging stroller is that the child care is built in! I highly recommend the bob stroller that we bought last year: http://www.bobgear.com.

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