Love-Lee

Lee did not show up and announce his presence with "authorit-I." That is not his style. Lee is a quiet gentleman that goes about his business.

The Scout Team at Triple Nickel is a fun loving group that mixes exercise with social time. The scout team immediately adopted Lee. At first, they were concerned he may die. As the weeks passed by, they admired him for having the guts to stay in the workout. While the scout team will never win a foot race, they always lead attendance. It is the tale of the tortoise and the hare. The average person may come into boot camp thinking they can hang with the scout team. Well, they can for one or two days. Five days a week, 52 weeks a year is a grind that requires fitness.

Lee hung in there. Lately, he has been holding down the middle where Jen Jen the Engine has been for years. He is methodically working his way through the crowd and coming to the front.

LEE"s testimony:

Day 0

• Weight: 222
• Cholesterol: 234
• Waist: 38

1 year later

• Weight: 186
• Cholesterol: 175
• Waist: 35

Races

• 2015 Peachtree Road Race: 1:06:54
• 2015 Atlanta 10-Miler: 01:48:35
• 2015 Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon: TBD

Preamble

Barring any medical procedures, sickness or magical elixirs passed down from fat-hating angels the only way for an individual to lose weight is to burn more calories than they consume. That's it. I chose this running boot camp precisely because running was my biggest weakness and I needed to burn more calories. I also realized that solely pushing and pulling arbitrary amounts of iron would not help burn enough calories for me to lose my gut. For me to lose weight I need to sweat on more days than I don't and I need to watch what I eat, a.k.a. count calories. If you're a little OCD like me then it's actually not that bad.

My Recipe

I try to make every workout Monday through Friday and I stick to a base 1200 calorie per day diet. I use the app MyFitnessPal to track what I eat, from the good to the bad, the kale to the ice cream, however I do try to minimize the high caloric/low nutritional type food. I also track all my running through my watch which effectively quantifies the calories I burn with each workout. Every time I run I get more net calories so the more I run the more I can eat which seems a little oxymoronic but it's working for me. I do try to leave some of those calories on the table from time to time, but like I said I like to eat. Ultimately my caloric intake is on average between 1200 and 2000 calories per day.

In summary, I don't have a hard number in mind when it comes to my "ideal weight". I just want to get leaner, faster and gut-free. I feel I am on the right track and I look forward to my morning runs now. I'd also like to note that I may not be the fastest eater but I too like to eat my Peachtree Battle Ladders for breakfast on Tuesday mornings.