Back on the Diet Train. Again. Please Help.

So right off the bat, let’s get down to the fact of the matter at hand: I weigh more than I’d like to. Not as much as I did before my last round of dieting started a few years ago. So that’s something–I’ve managed to keep off at least some of the weight (around 14 pounds) for a solid two years or so. But I’m once again climbing the BMI ladder, and I want to stop.

It’s not just about weight.

If you know me, you know I get sick more often than not. If there’s a bug going around, I’ll catch it. And as I was lying in bed this last go round with achy muscles and a plugged up nose, I thought, “Maybe I wouldn’t get sick as much if I were in better shape.”

Mind-shattering conclusion, I know.

I am a fairly sedentary fellow. I sit at the computer at work, I sit at the computer to write, and I sit in front of the television (or computer) to watch media. I do get out now and then to go ice fishing or hike, but it’s much more the case that it’s “then” as opposed to “now,” if you know what I mean.

I don’t exercise, other than doing my best to walk when I can walk instead of drive, trying to not take the elevator, and typically parking farther away from the store entrance when I could park closer, instead. (When you don’t exercise, it’s the little excuses that give you the fodder you need to feel like you don’t need to exercise.)

So I’d like to get healthier all around.

But like many of you (I assume), I have a hard time actually sticking to that resolution. Brownies taste too good. Pepperoni pizza demands to be consumed in mass quantities. And then there’s the siren song of ice cream. Since my last round of serious dieting, I’ve started dieting quite a few times. It only lasts for a week or two, and then I’m back with my nose in the proverbial honey jar. And don’t get me started about exercise.

This is where you all come in.

As I’ve been thinking about ways to get my kiester in gear, I keep coming back to the one thing that worked very well last time: I was public about my goals. Lots of friends knew I was trying to lose weight, and they would check in on my progress. I knew I was accountable somewhere, and so it was easier to not eat all the Doritos.

And here’s this handy blog I have, where I say hello to the world every weekday. My new plan is to check in with all of you on Mondays (most likely) to tell you where I am, both with the diet and with exercising. My goal is to lose at least .2 pounds a day for the next 6 months or so. The target weight is 177, with the assumption that once I reach that weight, I’ll bounce up a bit and end up around 185. Like I said, I started at 214, so there’s a ways to go.

I’m going to do most of this like I did before–strictly through calorie counting. 2,000 calories a day is my goal. If I stick to that, I’ll likely reach my goal much sooner than six months, but I’m all about managing expectations.

In addition to calorie counting, I’m going to do my best to start exercising for 30 minutes a day. This is going to be the trickier part, since I’m not sure where I’m going to fit that in my schedule. It might be walking, it might be riding a bike, it might be using the rowing machine. We shall see.

So when I check in each Monday, I’m going to provide you with a summary of how the diet and exercise plan is going. How I’m feeling about it. What my weight is. That sort of thing. No, it has nothing to do with writing or movies or books, but it has everything to do with me feeling better, which will hopefully allow me to watch many more movies and read many more books. That’s the plan, at least.

Encouragement is welcome. Dieting and exercise make me grumpy. Just warning you. I’ll do my best to be chipper in spite of it. I am not looking for recommendations on how to lose weight. I know how to lose weight. I’ve done it before, I can do it again. I know what works for me–it’s just a matter of actually doing it. I don’t need advice on how to keep it off. I know how to do that. I just don’t do it. I’m really just looking for accountability and support.

Thanks, all!