From Fat To Fit--Hello!

July 11, 2008

This is a seriously stripped down blog at the moment. Let me introduce myself. This is me.

My name is Mark Terry. I'm a professional freelance writer, editor and novelist. I am 44 years old, married with two sons. I have struggled with my weight my entire life and probably will until the day I die. In high school I ran cross-country one year. I played tennis a lot with friends. Swam a lot. Rode my bike a lot.

In college, where I earned a degree in microbiology and public health, I gained about 10 pounds a year, no matter how much I exercised.

About three years ago I joined a gym and started lifting weights. I'm still doing that today, working with a personal trainer every couple months to develop a new routine. I lift weights three days a week. About a year after that I began adding cardio three days a week to it, typically a mix of stationary bicycle, running on the treadmill and occasionally a stepclimber and/or elliptical.

Somewhere in there I decided to get serious about running again, but every time I got my mileage up past 2 miles or so, I pulled or strained a muscle in the back of either calf. That's when I got more serious about bicycling, and when the weather's appropriate (I live in Michigan), I take my Trek mountain bike out for anywhere from 8 to 20 miles three to four days a week.

I also am a first-degree brown belt in Sanchin-Ryu karate.

I recently started running again.

I don't want anyone reading this to think I'm some sort of svelte jock. I'm not. I'm about five-feet eight and today's weight was 236.5 pounds. My weight has been on the increase lately, despite having lost around 25 pounds 2 or 3 years ago. I fight to keep the pounds off. I fight to keep the cholesterol down and more frightening, the insulin levels down.

That's why I've added running again.

My goals?

I'd love to get my weight down to 200 pounds. 

I'd love to be able to run 5 miles without stopping.

I'd love to get off the various medications I'm on to control cholesterol and blood sugar.

So this is my blog about exercise and eating and fighting the weight. I hope you'll join me in this journey.

Cheers,

Mark Terry