I believe I stated in the last post that I was planning on making some regular fitness check-ins, and this will stand as the first.
When I first started typing this, I was calling it a “weigh-in”. I doubled-back and edited that to “fitness”. I’m going to just blow past that today, but I’ve remembered that it gets brought up by serious health professionals to not rely on your weight as the single indicator of health, rather a part of a system. From my own past, I remember being healthier when I was heavier than the dreaded BMI math wanted me to be, so I get it. I’ll have more to say on the subject, but that will have to wait for another day.
262. That’s today’s weight. In pounds, if you were wondering. I feel pretty good about that. Due to some serious health conditions, my weight has been all over the place for the past few years, well over 300 just a few years ago. That will all go in the future post I alluded to earlier. I’d planned to post that by now, but it seems I have a lot to say, so it’s taking me some time. But this is now, so let’s establish a baseline.
The heaviest I’ve been since the start of 2025 was 270. That was a few weeks ago, and that’s what we’re going to call my base. I’m fairly sure that at least five of those pounds were water weight, but I’m counting them. Water weight has become a real concern of mine, given my condition. Add to that I’m pretty sure I got above that weight while away from my scale. Not knowing what the actual top weight was, let’s stick with 270. Better to have something.
I’m planning to eventually present the rest of what I’m tracking, but not today. Today will be just the weight and a handful of fitness goals I know I’m going with. Before I do, however, I also want to log my Friday, yesterday, weigh-in of 261 pounds. Since we’re keeping track, let’s also note that Friday is my stated weigh-in day going forward. That’s the day that I log my weight on the spreadsheet where I actually keep track of all of this stuff. A pound or two drift here and there is expected, especially at my weight and age. Lot of reasons I picked that day, but the biggest is that Friday morning is my most reliable reading.
I plan to share that spreadsheet as well, eventually, but also not today. I’ve been using an old one I made years ago, which does just fine, but it needs both cleaning up and expanding. It currently tracks some stuff I don’t care about anymore and is missing stuff I now do. You get the idea. Plus, I’m out of my corporate job, which leaves me few outlets to stretch my well developed spreadsheet skills. Making a little “personal dashboard” seems like a nice side project. But I’m stalling, let’s go ahead and run down the current list.
| Current | Short Term Goal | Long Term Goal* |
| Weight – 262 | 255 pounds (lose about 15) | 200 pounds |
| Cardio – 60min+ Walk (some running) | Run (at all), 1x Week | Run 1 Unbroken Mile |
| Fit Check – Size 40 jeans, loose | Size 38 jeans, comfortable | Size 36 jeans, comfortable |
| Mobility – Okayish, I guess? | Undefined | Undefined |
*You may notice I did not specify any time frames on my goals. I don’t know what they are yet. I’m planning my first major check in around my birthday, which is the middle of June. That’s about a month away. We’ll try and nail some specifics down by then.
Fit-check is my current shorthand for how I feel, which I’m struggling to define outside of how my clothing fits. Right now, I’m wearing an XL t-shirt and a size 38 jeans. The jeans are snug but they were uncomfortably tight not much more than a week ago. The shirt feels great, though could look a bit better. These are brands that run a little big, and for clarity, I have a pair of size 40 chinos that no amount of baby powder and shoe horns would squeeze me into. Sorry for the visual.
Considering it wasn’t long ago that I was busting out of a XXXL pair of gym shorts on the way to the hospital, I feel pretty alright with the current size. But I’d love to get back into my size 36 jeans and feel comfortable in them. Really, I just want to get rid of my gut, and stuff like jean size and weight are my best vitals to track along the way. Plus, around size 36 is where my best cache of good clothes lives. I have some amazing clothes in that class. Really show off the goods, and it would feel great to have anyone find me even a little sexy again, ya’ dig?
Mobility is another one. I was worried about this when I started pulling up to my 40s, but man, following my hospital stay, this now feels crucial. A few months after being discharged, I developed some serious shoulder issues, and I had a really hard time just walking. Stair were really tough for a few months. I’ve mostly recovered, but not entirely. I have had to face the very real possibility that I might not ever fully recover my mobility, so I’d like to get back as much as I can and hold onto it for as long as I can. I greatly value my ability to get around on my own, and when I lost that it was devastating. It crushed my sense of self. Any fix to that is worth pursuing.
My current routine isn’t too crazy. It’s pretty light compared to what I did trying to get in shape in my mid-30s and a far cry from anything I did in my early 20s. But hey, I’m not in the military any more. I’m old and injured. And so far it’s working, so I’m callin’ that a win. Here’s the basics:
- Walk minimum 30 minutes 3 times per week
- Interval Training (working toward run) 1 time per week
- Strength Training – Modified GVT with focus on regaining lost muscle in major zones (will share in future post)
- Calisthenics – not started / undecided.
Calisthenics isn’t required for everyone’s fitness routine, but the best results I’ve ever had always included them, so they’ll be going on the menu when I’m ready for them. I had especially good results the time I did them as HIIT sessions. I’ll probably do that again, borrowing from my friend Jackie and his success. I’m pretty sure he described his entire routine as exclusively and intensively doing Burpee HIIT. Burpees suck shit to do, which might be part of the appeal. You don’t just breeze through them, and the feedback is very rapid. So we’ll probably go with that, though mine will be more supplemental and likely much less intensive.
I’d also love to bring back my “Church”. That’s the snarky and lightly insensitive way I used to label a short list of routines I’d dial up for my Sunday workout. It’s workouts that suck, like a sprint drill that goes directly into burpees and then flutter kicks, rinse and repeat. It’s awful. But many of the results are nearly immediate, and they are glorious. If you can manage this sort of thing once per week, I fully recommend you do so, and you don’t have to use my dickish moniker for it. For my own plans, if I can drag my ass out of bed early enough tomorrow, I hope to scout a nearby location for future sessions.
Alright I have more but this post has already gone longer than I’d intended. Let’s call it for today. I’ll check back in with a thing or two next week.