For a while now, I have been hearing from people close to me that I need to lose weight. I got it 8 years ago when I was not overweight, 5 years ago when I was a little overweight, and recently now that I am a lot overweight. Well, I have come to the conclusion that I do need to shed a few pounds. And by "few" I mean around 40 lbs.
When I was younger (early to mid 20s) I was about 185, which I felt was fine, if a little stout. I have a thick frame and stand at a hair under 6'1" (when I am not crushed by the weight of world), so 185 was perfectly fine, as far as I was concerned. After getting married and entering law school, I filled out a bit to 200 lbs., which was still a fine weight given my build. A bit chunky, but most people were still surprised to hear that I weighed that much. It didn't change much until I transferred to the Tokyo office of my firm. My first full month out here, I worked every single day of the month of September, generally until 3-4 am. When you get 2-5 hours of sleep at night, every night, the body starts to fail. Added to the necessity of eating and drinking to keep myself awake at night (the firm only provided foods like chocolate, coke and the like - and when I am minutes away from passing out, I am not discriminating) and the pounds packed on. 20 lbs. to be exact. 20 lbs. in 30 days. Wow.
Since then (about 3 years ago) I put on an additional 5 lbs. I kept saying to myself that I would start working out and losing weight, but the hours I worked just didn't permit excursions to the health club, even the one on the 2nd floor of my building. So time went on, I stayed big.
Then, not long ago, an acquaintance of ours died of, I understand, a heart attack. He was 40 years old and left behind his wife and 2 children. Perhaps he had a heart condition, or smoked, or drank too much, I am not sure of the details. However, I do know he was overweight (less so than I) and worked fairly hard. When I heard about that it suddenly struck me that, at 35, while I am not old, I am no longer young and I need to have an awareness that not taking care of myself now could have serious repercussions. I do not have a fear of death itself (at least, I don't think I do - I haven't really thought about it much) but I have a terrible fear of leaving my wife and children alone. The thought of my kids growing up without me makes me feel like I am being crushed in a giant fist.
So, melodramatic though I may be, I have to ensure that I will live as long as I can. Now, I don't smoke and rarely drink, but I sleep very little, eat badly and don't exercise. The sleep is not something I can fix until I change jobs, and (for a few family-related reasons) I can't change jobs in the near future. The eating and exercise I can fix, though.
So, today, in a few hours, I will make a foray into that gym downstairs and begin the process of becoming healthy. I will simply take time off work to do it, regardless of what I have on the plate for the day.
Heh, I wonder how long I can keep this going on this time. I have had false starts before. Here is hoping this is the keeper.
EDIT: Ha ha. I suck. A few hours has turned into 6 days. But for sure, today is the day....
