Fighting fat

Obesity is a problem in the United States. People spend millions every year, trying new dietery fads in order to lose weight.

And I'm joining the fray.

For the next few months, I will be documenting my journey to getting fit.

I officially began my diet yesterday after months of working out, but gorging on anything and everything that was in my reach. At 5-feet-8 ½ and 176 pounds (as of the morning of Sept. 4), I have a Body Mass Index of 26.4, which is considered overweight according to the scale. To be considered “normal,” I have to drop down to 166 so that my BMI is 24.9.

I was 173 pounds when I woke up this morning. I credit a good deal of that to my Labor Day weekend gluttony passing.

Funny. I was 167 when I started this job in May. Perhaps it's all the cookies and not moving that's helped increase my weight.

Instead of going on Atkins or South Beach or whatever the current tready diet is, I'm doing what's worked for me in the past: consistent workouts and healthy meals. From Monday through Friday, I come to work at 10:30 a.m. with a Chipotle burrito or bol sans sour cream, depending on what my workout is for the night. At about 4 p.m., I go home for a light to moderate lunch. Then it's a small snack – such as a protein bar – for dinner. After work I hit the gym for an hour and a half to two, and then a protein shake before going to bed.

I kind of feel like Jared Fogel, except with better tasting food.

My workout routine is simple. Five to six days a week, alternating between lower- and upper-body lifting. I start with 15-30 minutes of cardio, which I'm hoping to increase to 45 once this month-long sickness clears up, stretches and then weights.

Ah, I miss that one stretch when I was was 19 and had dropped down to my middle-school weight of 153 pounds. I could run like a gazelle, but was as weak as a mouse.

And then I found beer and a love of weights.

So here's the goal: Drop down to 165 pounds by Oct. 11, my 24th birthday. But also returning to repping my weight on the bench just like I did last year before my rotator cuff injury. It's nice to have a chest that pops out, but it's not fun when your gut hides it.