Week 1 - Now What?

So, I set a goal but I know I need a plan.  Finding a trainer would have probably been the best bet but I can't afford one fulltime.  Plus, my personality is such that I need to load up on information.  Plus, I'm very concerned about injury:  I'm in my mid-forties, a big guy at 6'4", and started the year at 280 lbs.  Last month we had a family ski trip and my right knee swelled pretty bad.  I'm afraid there is some sort of cartilage damage.  Not to mention the back ache that got me last week.  I realize that to make it into a sustained exercise program I need to go into this slowly.  So, I've done two things:  1) scheduled a doctor visit to discuss whether I have a knee problem that could get worse with a running program, 2) found an exercise plan to get me started SLOWLY.

So, to the latter, I've made a lot of progress.  I found the perfect website for me:  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com.  The site is nice in that it has week to week plans for overweight beginners, such as myself, to get started.  But better than that, it has diet/calorie counting and exercise tracking capabilities.  I've decided to track my calorie intake daily and will also update my exercise on that site instead of here on this blog.  I will use this blog to update my progress.

Speaking of sites, I also have found the http://www.livestrong.com/ site to be useful.  How many calories should I eat per day, etc.?

My training is hard, physically and mentally.  I'm determined to keep at it but it's so demoralizing knowing how much weight I used to be able to lift and how far/fast I used to be able to run/swim.  The beginner triathlete plan recommends dropping some weight before cross training into running so I'll stick to their plan of focusing on biking for now with some swimming mixed in.

Every Journey Begins With a Single.....

....back-ache. Yep, I flew home from a work trip on Saturday, woke up with a sore back on Sunday but didn't let it stop me from working on the yard all day. Monday my back was out. It's Tuesday night and my back is coming back around. I'm ticked that I've gotten to this point, that I've been at this point for so long. Excuses keep me here - my job, my kids, my wife. I have a new job with a great, affordable, fitness center and my family belongs to another great gym. It's time to use them.

The Goal: Lose 50lbs at an average of 2 lbs per week. 25 weeks from today - 3/27/2012.

The Plan: Change the way I eat and the amount I exercise. To accomplish this I will log calories daily until I reach my target weight. I will take my weight measurements weekly and will build an exercise plan toward my goal of completing a Half Iron Man in 2013.