The Task...

Losing 20 More

The task: To lose more 20 pounds in 15 weeks to achieve a "healthy weight" of 164.

The contender/The backstory:  My name is Jeremiah Massengale.  I teach at the University of the Cumberlands.  This past May, I had my photo taken with a couple of graduating students after the commencement ceremony.  How nice, right?  I thought so.  Then, when they posted them on Facebook, I didn't like what I saw.  When my students look at the pictures, they probably focused on their cap and gown.  I focused on my belly.  [And my thinning hair, but that's another story.] "What is that thing?  It's a gut.  And how did it get there?"

It was like all of a sudden I realized the truth: I was fat.  I got on the long-neglected scale at home and confirmed it.  I weighed 204.  According to any BMI calculator, I was obese.  Ouch.  And you can't exactly say, "I'm not fat, I'm just obese."

I was at a loss for words.  Even through graduate school, I was a fairly small guy.  How did this happen?  I could have blamed it on three years of married life, or on the sympathy weight I gained during my wife's pregnancy, or on how much physical labor I have to do while teaching college... but those things didn't really matter.  I had two choices.  To keep getting fatter/unhealthier or to do something about it.

So, during the summer of 2010.  I got serious.  I completed the Couch to 5K Running Program and started paying more attention what I was putting into my body.  I grew to love running.  I didn't buy a gym membership or anything, I just spent time getting fresh air while running around town. I even finished a couple local 5Ks. I started drinking more water and less soda. I even discovered that, cheesy infomercial aside, the Magic Bullet really is a fantastic product and that's great for making smoothies.

And I lost a lot of weight.  25 pounds... bringing me all the way down to 179.  I had to buy new jeans and donate lots of clothes that were now way too big.  I wish I had taken a before and after photo, but the results were (and still are) pretty amazing to me.


I would say that about a month ago though, I "fell off the wagon."  Work got absurdly busy, seemingly all of a sudden, and at the same time, colder weather hit.  Not only did I have "less time" to go running but I also found the conditions for running outside quite less than desirable.  Since September, I've gained about four of those pounds back and that's a little frightening to me. Sure, it's just four pounds, but I still have a lot more to go on my weight loss journey and I'm tired of seeing the scale go the other way as of late.  So, here's the deal.

Beginning on December 27, 2010, I will attempt latest challenge and blog about it.  After surviving the holiday season of 2010, I will attempt to follow a reduced calorie diet and increase the frequency and intensity of my exercise routine.  The ultimate goal is to achieve what health resources claim is a healthy weight for my height and age:  164 pounds.  That may seem unreasonable to you.  It does to me in a way too, I didn't weigh 164 when I got my driver's permit at 16.

Yet, I need to see what is possible. I want to make a major difference in my health and weight loss efforts. I want to set a good example for my family.  I want to get in great shape.  I want to lose 20 more pounds.  I'm giving myself a deadline of 15 weeks.

The blog:  
I will update the blog weekly. I want my friends and family (and strangers, I suppose) to read this blog so that I will have some accountability when it comes to working out and eating right. In other words, this blog will help motivate me and I don't want to let you down. Last year, when I embarked on my forty day journey with vegetarianism, called The Go Veg Project, I made the commitment to blog every day.  Whew!  An exhausting idea, even though blogging really helped me stick with it.  So, instead of burning myself out with daily blogging, the goal for "Losing 20 More..." will be a post or two each week. And that'll be enough.  That will mean, at least hopefully, much more entertaining blog entries as well.

You'll stay updated on my weekly weigh-ins, my battles with daily exercise and calorie counting, and maybe you'll even learn something along the way.  Keep your fingers crossed. 

Will I achieve my goal?  Can I do it?  Can I weigh-in at 164 by April 14, 2011?  Keep reading and find out. I'll keep you posted. This is a blog after all.