6 and 30

Six: The number of Super Bowl rings now claimed by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the greatest football franchise in the NFL.

Thirty: The number of pounds I am trying to lose as part of the new diet and exercise regime I started the day after the Steelers won the Super Bowl.

Finally losing some weight and getting in shape after three years of back problems was actually my New Year's resolution. But, seeing as My Boys were in the playoffs and playoff games are the perfect excuse for eating and drnking lots of very unhealthy things, my efforts were delayed until after the Big Game.

So the day before the game I went grocery shopping and picked up all kinds of healthy eats. The day of the game I watched the festivities with an adrenalin-pumped crowd at Bailey's in south Charlotte and stuffed myself ful of chips and queso followed by a greasy but delicious plate of fish and chips.

Ah, but sadly those days are over. At least if I don't want to end up weighing in at 200 pounds. Which I don't. So Monday morning, it was time for a new me and new eating/exercise habits. So far I have done really well. I used a calorie calculator to see the number of calories I need to stick to every day to lose two pounds a week (the recommended rate of weight loss) and am now tracking what I eat and if I meet that goal in an Excel spreadsheet (evidence once again of my complete nerdom). I also track when I exercise and what I do.

From last Monday to Saturday, I lost a pound and a half. Sunday I made my first trip to the Y and got oriented on all the strength traning machines. I am really focusing on strengthening my core to protect my back from future injury. Unfortunately, the doc said I shouldn't run anymore, which used to be a favorite exercise, so that's out. I am allowed to run on a treadmill, but that's kind of boring.

So I have been doing really well sticking to the diet and keeping motivated with the exercise. Only issue is that after all my excitement over losing weight last week, I gained it right back this week. That's not really a bad thing, because I know it's muscle mass gain from the exercise. Everytime I start back to exercising regularly after a period of being a slacker, I always gain at least two pounds, and then start losing weight. And my clothes are already fitting better, so I know that's the case. It just sucks to see the numbers go back up.

Well this was a way-longer-than-intended post, but this is the most weight I've ever had to lose, so I'm really going to have to stick with this. If you see me eyeing up ice cream, smack my hand or something.