I weighed myself this morning and found I tipped the scales at 147.4 pounds! (Yes, the scale actually reports weight in decimals). The heaviest I’ve ever recorded myself as being was 139.5 pounds about six or seven years ago. At that point in time I was fat and had just started working out so I had some muscle, too. But generally over the least six years or so I’ve been between 130 and 137 pounds depending on my eating habits. Only six months ago I weighed 132 pounds.

When I stop to think about it it kind of makes sense that I’ve “ballooned” to this weight. Over the last six months I’ve done a good job of increasing my caloric and protein intake as I simultaneously increased my efforts at the gym. I’m sure some of the extra weight is muscle I’ve put on in that time but I know it’s not fifteen pounds worth.

In my efforts to get back to my stated goal of 135 pounds I’ve decided to do the following:

• Reduce my caloric intake. Duh! Specifically I am going to initially cut out the protein drink I was having after my workouts. I hate it with milk (2%) and I also added a Carnations Instant Breakfast to it to boot for extra calories and vitamins. I eat enough protein and take vitamins anyway so this should cut out about 400 calories each night.
• Start doing cardio. When I first started working out I was a cardio monster. I would ride the bike for what seems like forever. As time went on that faded and eventually my workouts consisted solely of weight lifting. It’s now time to bring it back and to stick with it. Based on how I felt this morning I don’t think that will be an issue. It’s a similar feeling that keeps me going back to the gym every day for seven years.

If the above doesn’t work I can try to reduce my caloric intake even further but eating smarter (e.g. eating low fat/fat free foods). I can also try heroin but we’ll leave that as a last resort.

If I can get myself back down to 135 pounds and continue to do cardio I will consider starting up the protein supplements again. I want to be sure I’m getting the most out of my workouts and am not depriving my body of what it needs to function. We’ll see how it goes.

Oh, and if you’re laughing because I feel overweight at 147 pounds remember that it’s all relative. I was barely 100 pounds when I graduated high school and was 28 years old before I could break 110 pounds. I never thought I’d be even close to 150 pounds. I literally did a double take when I saw the scale this morning.

Wish me luck!