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Home » Lose Weight Safely » Bacon: Losing the weight but gaining momentum – Michigan Radio

John U. Bacon for Friday, January 30, 2020.

Last time I checked in with you, I made a few confessions:

According to my three year old son, Teddy, I was Daddy Fatty Waddy.

Something had to give and I quickly concluded it was my gut.

So, I committed to eating better, and eating less. Since my M.O. on book deadlines was crushing a full package of Oreo Double Stufs in one sitting, if I could just cut that back to half a package, I would be making dramatic steps forward.

I also committed to a rigorous exercise program: training for a marathon. And not just any marathon, but the granddaddy of them all: Boston, which runs April 20.

With a lot of support from a grossly overqualified team of coaches, scientists, and other experts, its all worked pretty well so far.

Seven months later, Ive lost 28 pounds, with 12 more to go. Im down to 177 for the first time in years. I now fit into clothes that are no longer in style if they ever were.

On Sunday, I ran the first half of the Boston Marathon. So, all I need to do is double that, and voila, Ill be a marathoner. Sounds simple, right?

Well, maybe not quite. Talking with Bill Rodgers, who won it four times, and Michigans own Greg Meyer, who won in 1983, the first half of the race is 20 miles and thats the easy part. The second is 6 miles, and theres no preparing for that. Wish me luck.

As for my pace, Id describe it as technically forward. When Teddy asked me to run with him, I was impressed by how fast he was, and told him so.

His reply: Youre slow as a snail.

My kid, everybody. My kid.

My 11-minute mile will fall far short of breaking a four-hour marathon, but it certainly beats my previous pace, which I set on the couch.

Like the old song says, Im not very fast, but I go pretty far. Theres something to that. Ive learned to run my own race, and embrace my inner tortoise.

Ive tried a few different approaches to my diet, too, starting with veganism, but Ive settled on a few basic principles. The first: When you are not hungry, do not eat. This sounds silly, but I broke that rule all the time.

I learned this from Teddy, who never eats when hes not hungry. You just cant make him do it even when I offered him a Stroopwafel, his favorite, after dinner.

Whoa! he said, and then: Maybe later. Hes not being tough. Hes just not being stupid like his dad. Ive slowly learned its better to feel a little hungry once in a while than to feel bloated.

Second, I try to put my shoes on, every day. When I cant run, I walk something Ive enjoyed far more than I expected.

Third: Dont listen to everyones advice. Yes, even mine. And yes, I get the irony. They will offer it by the truckload, and it will spoil all the fun. My one exception: the experts Ive recruited for this mission.

Finally, be patient. Trying to lose 40 pounds and run 26.2 miles, its easy to give up. So I keep in mind one of Bo Schembechlers favorite sayings: Every day, you get better, or you get worse.

If you do something anything! to get better every day, good things start happening. Example: the buttons of shame on my dress shirts, which used to threaten to pop whenever I sat down, now hang loose, unstressed. Progress!

But really, this mission isnt about losing pounds or gaining miles, but something more basic: to live better, and feel better, for as long as I can. And when I do that, life seems to slow down, and I enjoy it more.

There are still more miles ahead of me than behind me and Im still 55, with all that comes with that, including a risk of injury. But I do have one thing I didnt have before: a little momentum.

Heres hoping it can carry me across the finish line.

--

John U. Bacon is the author of six national bestsellers and most recently published Overtime: Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football.

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Bacon: Losing the weight but gaining momentum - Michigan Radio

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Home » Lose Weight Safely » Bacon: Losing the weight but gaining momentum – Michigan Radio