The Four-Hour Body

Ok, it’s probably time to get real about my physical situation.  



I know I’ve talked a lot about losing a lot of weight, or a little weight, or being healthy, or whatever.  And it’s not like I haven’t done anything.  I’ve changed my diet pretty dramatically (following the “Eat Food” of Michael Pollan’s “Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants” mandate), I work out with a personal trainer 3 days a week, and I’ve gained a considerable amount of strength and lost a considerable amount of body fat from when I started in September 2007.  In addition, my cholesterol levels are phenomenally good, my insulin levels are normal, and my BMI is within the “normal” range.  Compared to the average American, I’m doing pretty good.



But reality hits me today.  My body still embarrasses me.  I wear clothes that purposefully cover up my belly (and violate most rules from What Not to Wear).  I don’t particularly like looking in the mirror and despite the progress I’ve made, I don’t feel like I’ve met any meaningful goals.



I’ve started reading The 4 Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss.  When reading it, part of me wants to scream “This is bullshit!” and throw the whole thing in the garbage.  But the other part of me sees truth in what it says.  The reasons I haven’t met any of my goals are because a) I’m holding my own self back, and b) I didn’t set goals that I believed I could achieve.  Today, when I was out for my lunchtime walk and enjoying 65 degree weather, I decided it was time for me to stop hating myself and to start actually feeling good.



One of the most important suggestions from the book I’ve read so far is that I need to post a “before” picture somewhere that I will see it frequently.  So, time to swallow my pride and put them up:

If I wear strategic clothing, you can't tell from the front so much.

I won't suck it in for these pictures.

Yikes.

The book also recommends that you track your progress.  It’s not just weight, which I will track out of curiosity, but also percent body fat and circumference measurements.  I feel like tracking measurements besides weight on a daily basis is a bit much, so I’m going to track those on a weekly basis.


Weight in Pounds: 162
% Body Fat (approx): 25
R Upper Arm: 11.25
L Upper Arm: 11.75
Waist: 34.75
Hips: 40.5
R Thigh: 22.25
L Thigh: 23.25
Total Inches: 143.75



So, here we have my starting points.  I’m going to keep blogging about this because accountability is super important in being successful, and I don’t want to fail!