Toddske Lifestyle Change

All my life I’ve been the bigger guy, and to be honest, it’s something that’s never really bothered me.

It’s never been something that’s made me depressed, self-conscious, or put me at any sort of disadvantage, at least not from my perspective. I’ve always remained confident in myself but also always very self-aware; I knew I was big. Hell, it’s not like it’s something you can hide; suffice to say, being big never had a huge impact on my life. Contrary to popular belief, I was somewhat physically active during my teens and early twenties. I hit the gym on a semi-regular basis, I worked a semi-physical job at the airport and I was generally doing more active things in life.

And then the life of Toddske took a turn, not necessarily for the worse; but a huge-ass turn none the less…

Without going into drastic details, 2009 was a huge year in my life. Kingston turned 1 year-old, I was settling into a career within the Oilsands, and my ex-girlfriend and I decided to split after 3 years. While the separation didn’t come as a surprise, it did factor in a huge amount of stress…and when Toddske gets stressed, he turns to comfort food! Since July of 2009, I have gained in excess of 100lbs; being the bigger guy had turned to being the fat guy. The freedom of being a bachelor, the stress of being a single-father,  a huge decrease in physical activity, responsibilities in both my personal and professional life all added up to some extremely unhealthy times. As much as we joke about it, the “Toddske Special” does exist at the Thickwood Jommaa’s Pizza. It was getting to a point where they would answer the phone, “Hey Todd!” whenever I called. It’s pretty sad when the pizza delivery guy knows your name and usually just let’s himself into your house. It’s also sad when you can read your stomach tattoo with ease while sitting down…

Even with all that, it wasn’t until this past year when I’ve actually felt at a disadvantage being a bigger guy. I found myself being uncomfortable in airplane seats, unable to find clothes that fit (which is why I turned to hockey jerseys and shorts) and even came pretty close to NOT being able to fit inside a helicopter in order to perform some job functions. In the past few months I’ve also found myself with constant headaches, dizzy spells while doing mundane tasks and just generally feeling like shit; But the kicker was coming to the realization that I was having a difficult time keeping up with my son…It was then that I knew it was time for a change…

Welcome to the Toddske Lifestyle Change of 2012!

I want to stay away from calling this a New Year’s Resolution because my goal is to change a lot of different aspects of my life, not just “lose weight;” but to also be a better father for my son, lead a more active lifestyle, eat healthier (of course),  and become more organized as well as efficient. All these things are going to be vital to my success. Finally, the reason why I’m posting all this sad pathetic information about me on the web is because I’m going to be blogging this journey every step of the way. I feel by documenting this adventure I have a greater chance of sticking to it and actually succeeding. So instead of spamming the shit out of the YMM Podcast site, I’ve started a specific blog:

toddskeweightloss.blogspot.com

On this blog, I will be posting my weekly/monthly stats (weight and waist measurements), thoughts, diets, pictures, just about anything. As the logo above suggests, my base for this lifestyle change will be “The Four Hour Body” by Tim Ferriss. I’ve had several friends recommend this program to me and I’ve seen that results are possible with them. With that said, I won’t be following this program completely; it’s going to be the “Toddske Modified Version.” Now I know some people are going to start bitching, “Todd, in order to obtain proper results you will need to follow this program completely.” As much as I’m sure that is true, I also know myself and how I operate pretty well. In order for me to stay relatively close to a certain program, I’ll have to wean myself off of certain things rather then trying to go cold turkey. This will be the difference between success and failure for me. I still need to have a few beers while watching a Canucks Game and be able to fall off the wagon while on a trip somewhere, but hopefully as I progress through the program all these will be less likely to happen.

Before I end this, let’s talk about some targets. My ultimate goal is to lose 100lbs by the time 2013 starts (or the end of the world on December 21, whatever your beliefs are); simply put, that’s an average of 2lbs per week. To me, that’s somewhat obtainable. Being a bigger guy, I’ve always read that you can lose the “water weight” pretty easily at first; but then the “fun” begins. As I stated before, I’m not really a stranger to the gym or to exercise in general. My problem has always been my love and passion for food. I could hit the gym and then easily wolf down a large pepperoni and mushroom pizza with a smile on my face. My plan is to spend 6 months hammering down and sticking to a diet, then start incorporating a more regulated exercise routine come the summer. Keep an eye on the “Toddske Weight Loss Blog,” as I reveal more details when I begin this lifestyle change, starting Jan 4 (the day I return to Night-Shifts).

Finally, I’ve been planning this little adventure since mid-November. Everyone that I tell this plan to seems to think that I’m doing this in order to “get laid.” While probably sub-consciously true, I’ve said this before on my Twitter stream and on the podcast; but I shall say it again, I’m a firm believer that attraction comes from what a person stands for, not how they look. There is only one reason why I’m doing this and it’s the one reason why I know I’ll succeed…

Keep an eye on the blog…

Toddske