The USBA National Boomerang Championships and Expo is coming to Dallas in October this year, and I decided I wanted to try to get in a little better shape by then. It seemed like having some of my neighbor buddies also trying to lose some weight would be a good motivator. A few of them agreed and the “Skinner Road Committee Fat Contest” (or “Biggest Loser”) was born. Our first weigh-in was June 1st, and the final one will be October 1st.
I’ve never made a concerted effort to try to lose weight before, but I figured I should be able to lose 25 pounds in about 3 months time. Though it was hard work, it did turn out to be doable. In fact, in only 9 weeks time, I’ve achieved that 25 pound goal! My new goal for October 1st is 35 pounds. If I make that, I ought to be able to move around on the boomerang field much better than I could have 35 pounds heavier.
How am I doing it? Well, anyone who knows me, knows that pasta is my staple food, with lots of pizza thrown in too. I’m still eating the same stuff, just less of it. Also less and smaller snacks and I’ve cut back on beer. Probably most importantly, I’m getting way more exercise. I’ve borrowed a LifeCycle exercise bike from one of my fellow contestants and have ridden it over 500 minutes. Walking the dog and just playing with him in the yard has helped out too. My real secret weapon though, is walking golf courses in 100+ degree heat. That started out really tough, but it’s a breeze now. Some people don’t think of golf as being that great an exercise, but walking 4+ miles definitely burns some calories. Heck, just being on your feet for 4 or so hours has got to be good for you. Plus, my average golf score has dropped by several strokes. 🙂
I was curious how far these golf walks were and found a cool web site that lets you draw a path of where you’ve walked and it calculates the distance and calories burned. Here are maps of two courses I’ve walked a bunch this summer:
- Lancaster Country View – 5.22 miles
- Midlothian Pecan Trails – 4.32 miles
Of course the routes I drew are straighter than reality and the calorie estimate doesn’t take into account swinging the golf club dozens of times.
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