The 60 Day Challenge

60days

So my employer has started an employee health program, with a cash reward after 60 days for the person who loses the most BMI (Body Mass Index). Because of the program, we all get a better health insurance rate as well as get a little healthier.

I’m already skinny, I just don’t ever work out and probably eat too many McDoubles. I have two main problems with exercise: I don’t like getting up early, and I don’t like cold weather. Both of these are against me now, since it’s Winter and daylights savings time is in effect so it’s way too dark to even go for a walk after work.

The “fitness coach” that came into work today weighed and measured all of our BMI, and told us what our target weight should be. I’m currently at 175, and he said I should be at 150. That gives me roughly 60 days to lose 20-25 pounds.

I’m not exactly going to go out and join a gym immediately, nor would I ever want to. I haven’t exercised daily since gym class in high school, so just going for a walk and changing my eating habits could do wonders for me.

My goals for the next 60 days:

Eat differently
I went to the grocery store earlier and spent a ridiculous amount of money on “healthier” items, most of which were a lot of vegetables. I have a nice vegetable steamer and love using it, so the only modification there is more of them, and much much less butter.

Other slight modifications is using more olive oil for cooking, lowfat butter, frying less, and eating smaller portions.
No Fast Food
This is going to be the tough one, but I’ve done it once before. Zero means ZERO. Nothing from a place with a drive through window. No sub shops, pizzas, or anything that has a dollar menu.
Reduce soda intake
I’ve already cut down my soda habit from 3-4 a day to 1, but I’m even going to cut that down even further. Instead of a 12-pack, I got a 6-pack of 20oz bottles. I’m only going to drink half of one a day, no more. I refuse to switch to diet sodas, as they taste terrible. I’m also going to start drinking a lot more water.
Walk
Not just walking for an hour or two on the weekends, but also just walking more in general. I’m going to start parking further away from the office in the parking lot, parking far from the grocery store entrance, and since I’ll be drinking a lot more water I’ll be going to the bathroom a lot more. Just moving around more often in short bursts will make a difference.
Play more Rock Band
Now this one is purely for fun, but I generally get a good heart rate going after banging around on my plastic drums pretending to be Ringo Starr. If I play for a good half hour straight at least every other day that will also help burn off the calories.

I’ll see if these small changes to my lifestyle can make any difference. I’m willing to eat healthier and be more active, just not ready to start full-on exercising. If nothing else, I’ll be reducing my sodium and fat intake which will just lead to overall health improvements in the first place.

Do you have any healthy tips or tricks that have worked for you? I’m open to suggestions and advice!

posted on November 30th, 2009 @ 10:46 pm by Sean Loyless (Haggis) | This article has been viewed 138 times.