The reason:
One day in 2012 I decided that 206 lbs was too much weight for a 5'10", 57 year old.
Why that day? honestly, I can't remember, but there was surely a process leading up to it. I had resigned myself to buying ever increasing pants (trouser) sizes, moving from a snug 34" to 36" which then got snug, my 15.5" neck size slowly crept up to 16.5". I noticed my belly more than I should. My wife had been nagging me about my weight (more about this later) and unbeknownst to me my son, then a medical student, had been making fat belly gestures after our regular Sunday night dinners. It didn't help that I was the cook and I really enjoyed cooking and baking. I was using the 5 minute loaf method and baking two fresh loaves every evening.
The Olympics:
July 2012, East London, the velodrome is about 1 mile from my boyhood home. I watched a lot of the events and I began to understand that while I might never run like the top athletes in the world I could at least try and run. Cynical as I am I was truly impressed by the athleticism of the athletes and realized that I needed to both diet and
The revelation:
On the internet I stumbled upon a Swedish dieting plan which looked scientifically sound and, honestly, practical. Yehudit had tried on a number of occasions to get me to go to weight watchers, I suspect because her sister did, but all that counting seemed rather tedious.
I liked the idea of cutting some foodstuffs out completely while not worrying about much else. I also remembered my parent's generation talking about "cutting out stodgy foods" which they meant potatoes, rice etc. I certainly did not agree with the "a calorie is a calorie, it is simple thermodynamics theme which many of our physicians still believe. So one day we stopped eating carbohydrates as much as possible, gone were the fresh loaves I baked every day, no potatoes, no rice and no pasta.
The beginning:
We decided to go cold turkey and stopped eating everything with high carbs. This meant a drastic change in our diet. I am the main cook at home so this wasn't difficult practically but emotionally it was. All those low calorie foods are full of carbs, and then what do you cook? how many nights of cauliflower can you stand? Slowly a diet emerged, but it was heavily supplemented with nuts and cheese.
The exercise:
I did mention the gadget stuff, I don't think I would have begun to exercise without the iphone and couch to 5K. This has a way of getting under your skin, it whispers in your ear, "hey, it is only 1.5 minutes of running", any slob can do that, right?
My worst time of the couch to 5k program was the night before the first 20 minute run, I was truly afraid that I would be unable to complete this. Needless to say the program does really prepare you for the milestones. After 10 weeks in total (I repeated week 6) I was running 30 minutes and found I no longer needed the program.
The bike:
I never rode a bike much as a kid, Leyton wasn't too bike friendly and I only had one for a few weeks. A couple of my friends from my professional organization spent a lot of their time together talking about bikes and the technical aspects of biking, I found that rather interesting, it seemed like a great way to spend ever increasing amounts of money and read magazines!
In October 2013 I visited my local bike store and bought a hybrid bike, I thought I would ride occasionally and perhaps progress to something better. I believe everyone goes on the same journey, that first hybrid gets you hooked. I rode around, bought clipless pedals and shoes, generally enjoying myself. Then one evening while discussing 5K runs with our friends Jane and Donna I noticed that there was a Duathlon in town. I ended up riding 17 miserable miles in 30 mph winds and the freezing cold but I really enjoyed it. Then the inevitable happened, I saw everyone else's bikes and I realized that I needed a better bike, so in February I bought a road-bike. Yehudit bought a hybrid in January and is about at the tipping point to get a road bike for herself.
Racing and Riding:
Since last May I have run in 8 5K races, competed in 3 Duathlons and 1, 50 mile ride.
