The other day on Twitter Mike Walsh ( Blog | Twitter ) was commenting to Chuck Boyce ( Blog | Twitter ) about how well he was doing with his recent weight loss program. One joke, and a bandwagon tweet later and Active August was born!
So what is Active August you ask? Well Mike outlined the basic gist of it over on his blog and I’ll be following the same general plan with a few personal touches. Here’s the outline from Mike’s blog post:
The Plan–> I will talk about my plan, it doesn’t have to dictate your plan. The only requirements for #activeagust?Get more active than you were in July. My hope is for us all to start something that we continue into September, October and then poof! We have a habit. I will blog occasional about my results but part of the #activeaugust plan for me is going to include:
- Eating "Cleaner" –> I will try to get some links in a follow up post though it may be a week before I get that.. Basically eating more raw foods, eating less of those foods, drinking more water, maybe some more milk. Getting away from the sugars and processed foods.
- Doing Something Every Day –> I sit on my butt at work all day, I come home and play with the kids on most days but then I sit on my butt and work at night when the house is sleeping. For my health (physical and emotional), I am going to commit to doing at least 30 minutes of activity on each day. It could be a walk at lunch, it could be getting back to my swimming early mornings, getting into some weight training (building more lean muscle means I am burning more calories when sitting on my butt) or a combination.
- Blog and tweet about it –> I am going to tweet every time I hit the the minimum 30 minutes of activity, if I do more, maybe I’ll tweet that also. If I drag you along with me I am going to be more likely to do it. Why don’t you drag us along with you and stick to it.
- Weigh In –> This isn’t only about weight but I will admit the starting weight, throw it on the blog/twitter and then do so either weekly or at least at the end. I care more about how I feel and you should also.
My Personal Goals –> I will not dictate your goals but I hope they can be along the same lines.
- Lose Some of my weight –> I need to lose 30-40lbs, a lot of that is the unhealthy fat around my lower abdomen… Do you have that? That’s the weight that is a risk factor of many diseases and problems later in life.
- Feel Better/Have More Energy –> I want to have more energy when I wake up, I want to be more alive when Friday kicks around and it’s time to get yard work done and have fun with my family.
- Stick with it –> I want to make changes that are not drastic but livable. Not looking to diet because I like a variety, just reducing and eating healthier to get to more basic foods. Not looking for a workout program that I get bored with or becomes a pain to stick with. Just want to stay conditioned.
For one, I’ve decided to give up sodas. Yes, I know, blasphemous for a geek to part with a main source of caffeine but alas I must give up the “liquid satan”. In lieu of soda I’ll be upping my water intake, something I should be doing anyways, and drinking un-sweet tea with artificial sweetener.
As for the active part I’ve decided to dedicate at least 30-45 minutes a night to (at the very least) walking or doing something physical. The easiest activity I’ve found that’s practical and gets me off the couch is walking my dog. Another thing I’m ramping back up is riding on my road bike. This past weekend I rode 7.5 miles just to get back in the saddle and get a feel for it again. I hope to ride at least 3 times a week. I used to do 10-20 miles when I rode before so hopefully I’ll get back to that volume.
So to be perfectly honest I’ve already started this program and it’s been joked about that I’ve now started Jumpstart July. Anywho, to get this party started here’s an Excel chart that I’ll post the weekly progress of my weight.
