Category: Body Challenge

Week 1 is over. No significant change in weight, but I didn’t expect there to be any. We’ve changed our diet somewhat, and the way we cook, making an effort to introduce more veggies. Calorie intake is down, but that means I have that munchie feeling all the time. Eating smaller meals more frequently helps, but I think once I get used to the lower calories, the munchies will go away. Even though I haven’t lost any weight yet, I feel better, and am looking forward to gearing up my exercise routine.

Based on what I learned during my past life as a runner and cyclist, I’m opting for the slow and gradual change, targeting to lose maybe 2-3 pounds/week. Nothing fast or dramatic. I’ll be quite content if I’ve managed to drop 10 pounds or so by the end of this challenge.

Ok, today’s the day. Discovery Channel’s National Body Challenge weigh in.

So just how pudgy have I become over the past few years? Do I want to know? Stepped on the scale, listened to it groan, watched the dial spin and bounce back and forth until it settled on 176. 176!?! Must have been a mistake. Stepped off, made sure the scale was properly zeroed, and stepped back on. There again, it settled on 176. Oh dear. Guess I’ve got some work to do.

Logging into the website to record my stats, their calculator tells me that my approximate body fat percentage is 19%. I think that makes me pretty soft.

So here are the rest of the measurements I recorded.

Height: 5’7″ (170 cm)
Chest 37.75″ (95.9 cm)
Waist 36″ (91.4 cm)
Hips 41″ (104.1 cm)
Thigh 24″ (61 cm)
Bicep 12.75″ 32.4 cm)

All the stats of a big oversized tube of goo.

Hopefully as I go along, some of these will change. If I’m really good, they’ll even go down.

Fridge is stocked with lots of nice fresh veggies and fruits and other healthy things.

Let the challenge begin!

My wife and I have both decided it’s time to get back into shape. I’ve managed to pack on a few extra pounds since I stopped cycling when I moved to the US, and wouldn’t mind losing them. So we’re going to try out the Discovery Health Channel’s National Body Challenge.

In 12 weeks, my goal is to drop about 15-20 pounds and try to keep it off. It’ll mean changing some of our cooking and eating habits, which I think is going to be the tough part. Starts at the end of the week on Jan 10. This ought to be fun 🙂