My Journey from Flab to Fab - It All Starts Now

Hi my name is Percy and I'm Fat...there I've said it. This is a picture of me taken on November 2010 for an annual family photo. While I still look quite FLABbulous...I really want to just look and feel FABULOUS. So I am embarking on a wellness and diet regimen that will hopefully help me lose 57 pounds, bringing me to a healthier weight of 180...I am currently at 237.

I've always been on the chubby side, even at my thinnest (between 18 and 21), I've always had these horrendous love handles, which are not so lovely. As I've aged, gracefully may I add, and gained weight...those handles turned into the horrifying flat tire. Now at 41, almost 42 (though people think I am in my 30s), I'm thinking, when is it my turn, again, to look and feel fabulous? I would like to finally have a body where I can take off my shirt at the beach and feel confident not ashamed...and maybe looked at by some as a DILF.

I guess I got this way because I got comfortable with life. I was content with my life, ever since meeting the love of my life at the age of 22. I focused more on making my home happy and not so much my personal home, my body. Another reason, I love food and I really like to eat. Most of the time I eat processed foods rather than healthy alternatives which adds to my FLABulousness. My cravings for sweets and my ability to eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's in one sitting didn't help either. And the sodas...how I love my diet soda (Pepsi and Coke preferably). Finally a big contributor to all of this is my stagnant lifestyle, unless you call using your fingers to tap on a computer keyboard or remote control, exercising. My daily cardio consist of walking from my car to the office building...all on flat ground...whew, that really breaks a sweat. All of those factors, plus I am sure there are others, contributed to my overly inflated body, which all seems to have rested right in my mid section.

Trust me I was very active in my younger days. I was a dancer both modern and jazz. I was often seen dancing the latest dance moves above the crowds (yeah I was a hottie) at San Francisco Clubs just wearing daisy dukes, combat boots, and tank tops (ala Madonna's Blond Ambition dancers) and teased the guys and some gals with my moves. I exercised quite frequently with my aerobic classes, was never a weights person. I played softball and volleyball for a team and was quite good at both. So as you can see I am not new to the active lifestyle, I love to move my body and love doing all of those things. The problem is I have not done any of those things in the last few years.

So why am I making the change now? Here's a list of reasons why:

1. My 6-year old son. I would love to be alive when he grows up and I want to be able to play and run with him and not run out of breath.
   
2. Health and Wellness. I need to lower my cholesterol level so I don't have to go on medication. But according to my doctor, if my cholesterol levels don't go down in the next three months, medication may need to happen. Luckily my blood pressure is okay, but I just want to make sure that I am taking care of my health so I can live a longer and more healthy life.
3. Cancer. My mom was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in August 2009 and it made me look at my own health. Not that my mom was unhealthy, far from it, but the fear that I am contributing to my own demise by living an unhealthy lifestyle...which needs to change.
   
4. My Partner/Husband. My other half recently lost a huge amount of weight 146 lbs or somewhere around there, through bariatric surgery. He looks wonderful and I want to look just as fabulous for him as he does for me. I also want to embark on a healthy lifestyle together. Plus I am bummed that I can't fit into his fabulous clothes. Quite honestly I am a little jealous that he looks so good and thin and I'm still this fat Filipino guy...I was always the thinner one, now I am the fat one. But in all honesty, I just want to look as fabulous as he does.
   
5. Clothes and Body Image. I really love clothes, and for the last 5 years or so clothes shopping has turned into a depression fest because the articles of clothing I want to wear are either too small for me, or it looks just awful on. I want the clothes to look wonderful on my body. I also want a body that I can be proud of and feel good in. I want to have a positive body image of myself and feel good about me as a whole. The person in my head is not the person I see in the mirror and I would like for those two images to finally meet.
6. A New Year and a New Me. I totally believe in re-invention and I think it's time to re-invent the physical image of Percy, because I am happy with who I am as a person (my inner being). My home life is doing well, my kid is going to school and growing up quite nicely, I quit smoking two years ago, so NOW is probably time to drop the weight and do it the right way with diet and exercise. I quit smoking cold turkey, so, I can probably achieve the body of Christopher Meloni or Daniel Craig if I just put my mind to it and a little bit of discipline. See I'm not looking for abs of steel or anything, but a body that is sexy yet age appropriate.

So I embarked on this journey to health, wellness, and hotness on January 17, 2011, today is day 2 and so far so good. I have been eating what my current diet plan tells me to and I am working my way up to doing some PX90. So far, physically, I have been doing some Wii Just Dance, taking long walks on the beach, and using the stairs to get to my office rather than the elevator. It's a start and everyday it motivates me more to do the right thing for me and my body. I started this blog so that I can motivate myself, write about my journey, and see in words what I am accomplishing...and maybe in my ramblings I will inspire someone else to make a healthy change in their lives.

My Starting Stats:
Weight 237
Waist size: 38 but probably closer to a 40
Shirt Size: XL and XXL (depends on the cut)
Next to nothing in the muscle department.

Goal:
Weight: 180
Waist Size: 34
Shirt Size: M-L
Added muscle to my body for a great looking physique

Thanks for sharing this journey with me!
-Percy