The Football Fan’s Diet

By Matt DeReno
On The FFD

I scored again, both a field goal and touchdown yesterday. I did give up a beer field goal. However, I think I needed to give one up—if you know what I mean. That makes 4 days in a row and the scale shows it. So this diet and healthy lifestyle for men is working. That is a good feeling, but it is going to be a long season. I know there will be challenges. However, for yesterday, I meet them. Day in and day out, if I can do that, we are going to win some ball games on the Football Fan’s Diet.

I don’t have any big plans for today, but it is Friday. Fridays are the days my Inner Fat Slob usually puts up some points and has some success of his own. Like yesterday, I can’t let my Inner Fat Slob drive the field and come away with anything other than a field goal. If I can limit my Inner Fat Slob to field goals, we are going to win some games.

As for NFL football action this week: I love divisional playoffs. Becuase my Steelers are not in it, I will be pulling for the Baltimore Ravens – to loose that is. I can’t stand that team. I can’t stand that Baltimore running back Ray Rice is named after a carbohydrate.

If you want to know who I want to win the Super Bowl this year, I am going with the Minnesota Vikings. I love heroic football stories and if Bret Favre comes away with a Lombardi, that will be pretty darn amazing. After all, a good friend of mine said to me, “How can you not love Bret Favre? He is older than us and still playing football.”

A close second favorite would be the Arizona Cardinals. I like Kurt Warner and being a Pitt Panther fan, have to pull for Larry Fitzgerald.

Now who do I like this year in the Football Fan’s Diet Super Bowl of men’s health? I like me. I like me to crush my Inner Fat Slob. Only this year, when I go to Hawaii, I will keep in mind, it is always a short offseason when it comes to health.

By Matt DeReno
On The FFD

PITTSBURGH – Yesterday marked 3 more good days on The Football Fan’s Diet. I exercised, walked and was a generally a productive part of humanity yesterday. I won’t pretend to know why I can get it right some of the time. However, now, is the time to simply continue this roll, without the butter naturally. I have built up a little momentum.

I drew some inspiration yesterday from a coworker who noticed I had some success last year in getting into shape. At the time, he was amused at the Football Fan’s Diet. I just ran into him after about several months and he looks like he figured something out – having lost 30lbs. We had talked briefly about how health and exercise is essentially a game of momentum. This should come as good news to many of you out there that may think it is beyond your capability to loose weight, exercise consistently and live healthy. After all, the more you do it, the easier it gets. The more you get healthy, your body adjusts and helps you stay that way.

Unfortunately, the converse is true. When you get unhealthy and start to eat like there is no tomorrow, your body starts working in the other direction. The pendulum of health has swung the other direction. Although I like to think of it more like a boulder rolling down a hill. It is hard to stop the boulder once it gets going.

Rest assured, you can stop it. It is hard work, but it gets easier. I have 3 days momentum going. Now how can I keep my boulder rolling without getting run over by it? That is the question for today.

By Matt DeReno
On The FFD

PITTSBURGH – Yesterday I got the ball from my Inner Fat Slob. I ran with it and scored. Or, I should say I walked with it.

Walking can burn more calories than you think. It takes longer, after all, it is walking. But, I like it. It gives your racing mind a chance to idle for a second. Although, I should point out that walking in Pittsburgh this time of the year is like walking somewhere near the article circle.

If you are new to exercise guys than walking is a good way to get back into being healthy. After all, you have to learn to walk before you run.

By Matt DeReno
On The FFD

PITTSBURGH – Unlike the Pittsburgh Steelers, I can take a “do over” and so should you if you must. What exactly is a “do over”? In this case, it is what I would like to say is getting off to a good start out of the gate. My reasoning is that if I can get off to a good start then that momentum just might carry me through the season. And, who is to say how long your preseason really lasts? Me personally, I finally feel as if this is the week things get into gear.

I walked the dog last night for an hour. We went up hills, trampled over snow, braved the fierce winds. It reminded me of last year when I had a lot of success on the FFD. We walked nearly every day. I was surprised at how tired I was this time around. I have lost a lot. Thankfully, I have a whole season to make it up.

I am going with my original scoring plan too by the way. I know this is another area where I have equivocated for some time. Ultimately, I have to do what I did last year when it worked. How else could I compare?

Lastly, I got a touch down yesterday and got my exercise in. Kept the calories down. Did good. The trick is doing it every day. And so the season begins.

By Matt DeReno
On The FFD

PITTSBURGH – I will say this: it was a rough week from the get go. I had every intention of running full steam into a healthy new year but old habits die hard. Old unhealthy habits are even harder to kill.

And is were, this past week was a microcosm of all that went wrong in the second half of last year being 2009. I was healthy some of the time, but most of the time, it got away from me.

There is one silver lining. Even though a beer is not off limits by no means on the Football Fan’s Diet, I didn’t have one at all. Imagine watching all those playoff football games without a beer in the hand? Somehow I did it.

However, there is another side to that coin. Even though I didn’t have a beer I was still emphatically unhealthy. Therefore, my beer theory could be shot in the foot. You see I blamed a lot of my unhealthy, high caloric eating on my relaxed inhibitions brought on by having a beer. Now if I have not had one in seven days and yet still found a way to eat unhealthy, hmm, maybe beer is not the culprit after all? Maybe I am.

No. Being unhealthy is surely not something I could possibly be responsible for could it? Hmm. What a thought. Taking responsibility for my health. I just might go get a beer and think about it.

By Matt DeReno
On The FFD

PITTSBURGH – I had to drop some LL Cool J into this posting because somehow it wound up on my MP3 player. I remember listening to LL Cool J way back in the day. One of my favorite songs was “Brenda Got a Big ol’ Butt”. Hilarius song and filled with irony since now “Matt got a big ol’ Butt…”.

I sort of knew it. After all, I have been down this path before. The new “crutch-less” system is not really a good system for me. I have to go back to the crutches. That is I have to count calories. My appetite is such that if you give it a window of time to consume grub it will get every last morsel it can within that window. Man, I suck at this dieting but I will count on the Football Fan’s Diet to carry the day in the end. After all, it is the diet for guys that like football and beer. How can I not like it. Furthermore, it worked once it can work again.

On that note, I will laugh at my fat ass today. I laugh at it becuase it is worthy of laughter. I am going back to the tried and true. It worked once and I have proof. I have to make it work again or it is going to be one long out of breath year. I need the energy resources now more than ever. Football Fan’s Diet don’t fail me now.

By Matt DeReno
On The FFD

Pittsburgh – I met my Daily Game Day Objective yesterday on the Football Fan’s Diet, but I think I pushed it to the extreme. Though by technical specifications I won, I don’t feel as if I won and don’t particulary feel like I was healthy.

It was all that damnable leftover KFC from the night before. I had passed on it the previous night, but had it for dinner today. I didn’t eat anything more that evening but I believe I ate too much that dinner. And man, if KFC doesn’t stick with you for a day.

Still, I will not by shy about taking my TD and FG. I walked a good bit yesterday; didn’t have a beer; didn’t snack at night. It is my hope that by consistently staying within the parameters of my DGO, I will slowly be more healthy within them. That is I won’t push my healthy limits to the max. I won’t strive to squeeze in every last kernel, or “colonel”, in a game of dieting brinkmanship. Like all things, easier said then done.

By Matt DeReno
On The FFD

Pittsburgh – I am not sure how I did it but my Inner Fat slob was in full offensive mode yesterday when the wife had a craving for KFC. Now mind you my better half is skinny as a rail and the occasional original recipe is nothing for her to be concerned about. But, a bucket of KFC is my albatross.

So I was driving back from Home Depot when my phone rang and she informed me of her desire for some chicken and biscuits. All this after I had a moderation of delectable pizza earlier in the day and I was looking forward to simply sleeping over any hunger feelings I may have built up since then. So when I was actually hungry for real, there I am ordering a family meal of original recipe. This is too tempting when I am full let alone when I actually have some hunger pangs.

Nonetheless, my defense put up a goal line stand and my Inner Fat Slob came away without any points. That was tough and unexpected. However, I see now that it is “drives” like this by my Inner Fat Slob, that I must consistently conquer to achieve lasting health. Easier said then done but yesterday it was done. Did I mention that my wife only had one piece of chicken. How do skinny people do it?

By Matt DeReno
On The FFD

PITTSBURGH – As I write this, my legs feel like rubber. I did a number of contraptions at the YMCA today as well as did a lot of walking with heavy boots in thick snow (such is the extent I will go for free parking).

I am excited because this week is the first full week on the new Season—Season IV on The Football Fan’s Diet! I imagine that this time I will be successful because I am not starting over from the success I enjoyed early in 2009. In fact, I am convinced I have learned from it.

After all, I don’t doubt I have the skills needed to get healthy now becuase I tasted it before. I just have to take The Football Fan’s Diet a step further this year and not only get there but stay there. Only then can I truly say I am healthy when I have found a way to sustain my gains.

I got off to a great start yesterday. I hit the gym. Ate a nice full and balanced meal, I stayed active all throughout the cold and snowy day and got good some things done. So my plan worked if not for a day.

Today I ate some pizza during a monthly meeting at work. Man, it was good. I savored it and will continue to do so. Though the rest of hte day will be somewhat difficult since I essentially have chalked up this lunch as a my carbohydrate loading for the day.

This week is momentous for more reasons than simply being the first. Because I am trying something different. I have adjusted my DGO and have taken the training wheels off. I am not going to count calories. I am going to count exercise, frequency of meals and duration, to say nothing of the types of food I am woofing down. I am going to limit carbohydrates to one meal per day. I am nervous as heck about it.

So what are your strategies for the week? The beauty of this diet for guys is that is works just like football: you have to have a game plan for each week. And part of that game plan is working hard during practice to set yourself up for success.

By Matt DeReno
On The FFD

PITTSBURGH – I must admit I had a few false starts here in the new year. However, the quasi-week of holidays is now over. This is the first real first week and if it sounds like I am coming up with a bit of revisionist history to justify straying off the healthy lifestyle path after New Year’s Even and New Year’s Day, I am.

Granted it was a zero sum sort of week in terms of dieting and getting back into physical shape. But, I want to start out of the gate fast and not hindered by a holiday on this new season of dieting. I am hoping then there is no excuse next week for blowing the Football Fan’s Diet.

For now, I’ll take this as Week 1. I should wind this thing up sometime in July. I am going with a much more simplified Game Day Objective but not an easier one. I aim to minimize brew if not eliminate it altogether. In an ideal scenario, my next beer will be sometime in July if not later.

Is that insane? Can I do that? I believe if I can, then I will surely get to my goal of 185. This will be far easier said then done but nothing worthwhile ever was. So the whistle is blown on the New Year. It is a cold Monday. I just dropped my daughter off at her freezing bus stop and I have the ball. What will I do with it? What will you do with it? It is time to make health and dieting a priority in our lives. We need a diet we can live with fellas. I truly believe the Football Fan’s Diet is the ticket.