Almost four weeks ago I started a fitness program somewhat of my own design with the quantitative goal of losing 10 lbs (~4.5kg) in four weeks, and the qualitative goal of be fitter overall. As I was sitting here getting ready to write this, a few analogies came to mind.
If you're acquainted with American football or the Sony Playstation, you may have heard of John Madden, former NFL coach and television commentator. This, in turn, led me further down into the rabbit hole until I ran into the Batman television series of the 60's. The connection here is that Madden used to do "chalk talks" on interesting plays during a game, in which he would quickly outline a particular play on a whiteboard or other device, often punctuating the action with "BIF!" "BAM!" "POW!" just as the Batman series would do every time the Caped Crusader (the REAL Batman, btw) landed a righteous uppercut on a villainous villain or one of his or her henchmen.
So, ... Madden + Batman = weight loss?
Not quite. I'm not dieting- I'm getting fit. I've made some lifestyle changes which have resulted in success: the goal was to lose 10lbs in four weeks- I lost 17 (~7.72kg)!
As my tracking was over the course of four weeks, a tie-in with American football was almost a natural. There are four quarters in a football game, and all of my data tracking was based of a four week period. In fact, one might even go so far as to think of this first "game" as a preseason game, in which I put of ideas forth, get some training in, experiment with diet, and get the Excel spreadsheet up to speed. The only difference between MY preseason and a football preseason game is that in my "preseason", the results count.
The analogy can be extended even deeper. In the NFL (American football), teams generally either have a dominant air (passing) offense or a ground (rushing) game. In my world, the "air" attack is mainly diet-based loss, whilst the ground game (running in the NFL [American football]) is walking in my analogy. So, how'd I do?
Week 1 (1st quarter): Weigh-in. Not much much data, just setting down some baselines. First official (results) weekend. Three pound loss- a field goal?
Week 2 (2nd quarter)- A huge loss (8.6lbs- 3.9kg) This took me totally by surprise- I weighed myself FIVE ties to verify that that this number was correct!
Week 3 (3rd quarter)- A smaller loss, mostly due to a lack of my ground game (walking).
Week 4 (4th quarter)- Pretty much maintenance. So, as a recap: I've got four weeks "on the books". How did I do?
Ausgezeichnet! Of course! I am SO happy, joyous! These results were unexpected, to say the least.
A quick flashback to Friday morning appropriate. I was putting my stuff in Meerkat (our trusty Subaru Outback) just as my boss was pulling into the parking lot. He got out and we exchanged "good mornings".I then told him I had started a fitness program, with the intent of losing 10lbs in four weeks.
"Wow, that's quite a goal." (I'm paraphrasing here, but he meant that, as he's a pretty slender fellow). When I told him I had already lost 15lbs, he was nearly speechless! Frequent readers may have noted this in passing, but I tend to keep my language and situations "G" rated. But, damn, Damn, DAMN!
I LOST 17LBS IN 4 WEEKS!
I am sitting at my computer (obviously) in the SUL listening to Elvis' "Way Down". I'm not a huge Elvis fan, but I love this song,and it seems to be such an appropriate wrapping this up.
That's all for now. Another exciting "chapter" is just around the corner!
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
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