It’s April 24, 2020, and the nation is glued to their televisions, computers, tablets or phones to watch the NFL Draft. I’m one of those people which is unusual because I’m not much of a football fan. I like watching basketball and tennis. I understand the rules, and it’s easier to see what the players look like. But different times call for different measures. We’re at the height of Covid 19 and have not seen live sports since March 11^th when the NBA game between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma Thunder was called before it even started. Rudy Gobert, Utah’s center, had tested positive for the virus. That was the beginning of the end. Basketball arenas closed, high school, college and pro alike. Less than two weeks later, the 2020 Olympics were postponed.

So here I am listening to the draft fascinated by Dallas Cowboy’s owner, Jerry Jones, making his selection via Zoom from his $250 million, 347-foot yacht. Excited young men typically sitting in rows of uncomfortable straight-back chairs in a hotel banquet room are shown in their homes hugging, crying and high-fiving with their families and girlfriends. As I continue to watch, my interest in “who went where” shifts to the height and weight of each player that flashes on the screen. I have a stark realization. “I weigh more than half of the 2020 NFL recruits.”

Here are the top ten draft picks for 2020.

Since women don’t like to reveal their weight, let’s just say based on the “Weight” column above, I fall somewhere between Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert. That makes me a quarterback! The plight comes with the number in the “Height” column. I am 5’3”, and like most rosters that fudge the truth, I’m closer to 5’2”. I’m also a 61-year-old woman, and I’m not healthy. The clock is ticking. I’m in the fourth quarter, and like every good quarterback, it’s time to move the ball forward. It’s time for me to go to training camp.

In the Bleacher Report article “What Does an NFL Training Camp Schedule Look Like?” Ryan Riddle writes that the typical day begins around 6:00 a.m., not long after the sun rises, with blocks of time devoted to mental preparation, weightlifting, offensive and defensive meetings and preventing injuries.[1] How might this plan for a rookie professional athlete apply to me?

Mental Preparation

Losing weight begins with that 3-pound organ in your head called a brain. I’ve tried many diets – Weight Watchers (now WW), Keto, Isagenix, Lindora, Dr. Gundry, Dr. Atkins, and all worked for a while. When I am in the right frame of mind, I can resist the foods that all healthy diets have in common like reducing sugar and eliminating processed foods. When I am in the right frame of mind, I can resist the donuts that appear in the breakroom at the office or the bag of Skittles at the check-out line. But once I partake, the food takes over me. That bag of Skittles leads to “I need something chocolate” which usually calls for Junior Mints, which leads to something salty like a bag of Combos enjoyed with a Mountain Dew. So begins the fall down the mountain where my progress from eating healthy for three weeks leads to four weeks of bad eating. Three weeks forward, four weeks backward.

Mental preparation is needed to support a healthy lifestyle and eliminate the “all or nothing” mentality. Once I eat bad, I eat bad for the rest of the day or week or month until that day arrives when I will be perfect from now on. That could be January 1st, or a Monday, or a first day of the month. And if the first day of the month falls on a Monday, it’s a sign from God that it’s time to eat right for the rest of my life. Sarcasm aside, this is not reality. An analogy in WW is, “If you drop an egg on the floor and it breaks, are you going to throw the rest of the eggs in the carton on the floor?”

Weightlifting

When you are 90 pounds overweight, weightbearing exercises are built into your day. Walking up a set of stairs or getting up from a seated position on the floor is a weightbearing exercise. A worthy weightlifting exercise might be to put all of the diet books and related cookbooks I’ve purchased over the years into a backpack and walk around the block. At times when I have to carry something heavy up the stairs to my second-floor apartment, I weigh it to see how heavy it is. The battery I use to start my vintage car is 24 pounds. Needing to lose more than three times that amount makes me realize how much easier every day activities would be at a healthy weight.

Offensive versus Defensive

The ratios vary among experts when it comes to diet and exercise for losing weight. I believe diet is 90 percent of losing weight. You have to be on the offensive or destructive forces of food will bring you down. When going to the grocery store, eat something first. Don’t go hungry or you’ll buy junk food and open the bag as soon as you get in the car. When going to a party, don’t starve yourself all day so you can eat what they have, which more often than not, is what you shouldn’t have. And while you’re at the party, don’t stand by the food table and graze. Don’t eat anything unless it’s on a plate and you have to use a knife and fork. On a road trip, pack almonds and celery to prevent the temptation to exit the highway for a chocolate shake from a drive thru. Don’t let your cupboards go bare because you will order unhealthy takeout or delivery.

A good defensive strategy is equally important. Know what you’re going to say when offered food you know will deter your progress. “No thank you. I’m not hungry. I already ate. I just found out I’m allergic to gluten. I’m not eating that right now,” are all perfectly good replies. And when the host inevitably says, “I made it just for you because I know it’s your favorite,” don’t cave in. If you can’t say, “no” then say, “not now.” Ask the food forcer to wrap up a piece to take home with you. Then put it in the freezer or toss it in the closest garbage can on the way home, and don’t feel guilty about it. You tried to say “no.”

Preventing Injuries

I am grateful that I don’t have serious health issues, and I thank my dog for that. Because I live in an apartment with no yard, I walk my dog Arden morning, noon and night. The “I’d really like to stay in bed longer” or the “I have to go out again at night” walk has probably saved my joints and my life. Years ago, while watching a San Antonio Spurs game, the commentator talked about Tim Duncan losing weight in the off-season and how it improved his game, his health and his ability to play at a high level well into his 30’s. When he was 38, he became the second-oldest play ever to record a triple-double – double figures in points, rebounds and assists, not to be confused with an In-N-Out Double-Double. I heard somewhere that for every 10 pounds you lose, it’s like taking 25 pounds of weight off your knees.

Game Plan

NFL training camp runs a suggested 48 days, including a 21-day acclimation (strength and conditioning) period. I wish I could get in shape in 48 days. I can’t, but I can make a huge difference. Cheer for me as I work my way out of NFL weight territory and into the weight of a female tennis player. Serena, here I come.

What Does My Training Camp Look Like?

• Awareness. Be aware of what I’m eating and how it makes me feel. Ask myself “Am I hungry?” I eat for reasons that have nothing to do with hunger…sadness, frustration, avoidance…to name a few. And overeating leads to more sadness, frustration and avoidance. Consider alternatives to eating when I’m not hungry. Read a book. Meditate for five minutes. Stretch or hula hoop. (Yes, I have one in my room.) Take a walk around the block. Dance.
• Eating. Don’t eat like a football player. I eat seconds, not because I’m hungry, but because I like the taste. In addition to reducing portions, I’m going to limit the number of times that I eat a day. Of the many things I’ve done to lose weight, intermittent fasting was effective, and I felt good doing it. 16/8 worked well for me (16 hour fast; 8-hour eating window) I will stop eating by 8 pm, and won’t eat again until noon, except for my morning coffee. I will not eat sweets, processed foods or breads. I will eat no more than two meals and one snack in that 8-hour period. My meals or snack will have a beginning and an end. I will not eat at my desk.
• Exercise. In addition to my daily walks, usually 8,000 to 10,000 steps, I will take at least two exercise classes a week. I like classes. I’m pushed to workout harder than I do on my own. Once I start, I’m shamed into staying the entire class, even if I must modify what the instructor is doing. Pound (www.poundfit.com) is my favorite class where I get to beat on the floor as hard as I can with weighted drumsticks. The choregraphed routine combines cardio, stretches and ab work, but beating on the floor is my favorite part of the workout. I also like boxing classes. I guess I just like hitting things. There is a Rumble studio close to my house where the 45-minute classes are divided into hitting the bag and weights. If I can’t make it to a gym for Pound or Rumble, I will take an on-line class.
• Sleep. I can’t control whether I get 7-8 hours of sleep a night, but I can control when I get in bed. I will go to bed at least 7 hours before I need to get up, avoiding activities that prevent me from getting a good night’s sleep like too much TV, working on the computer, or looking at my phone.
• Planning. On Sundays, I will look at the week ahead of me. I will schedule my workouts. I will plan for events or dinners that affect my 16/8 or propose a challenge to eating healthy. Every night, I will review the next day’s schedule to adjust as needed. My plan will include work, writing, diet and exercise. Too often, my Inbox becomes my to-do list. I log in, am overwhelmed by emails, and get side-tracked by what the messages ask of me. Without a clear plan, I get to the end of the day without completing what I needed to accomplish. Then I stress-eat because I haven’t been productive.
• Community and accountability. I will provide a training camp report on Instagram and/or this blog every Wednesday. (#WeighInWednesday) It will be my version of the ‘Biggest Loser’ challenge.
• Expectations. I will shun perfection and be patient with myself. I will adhere to training camp goals 80% of the time, tackling mini goals along the way.

A quarterback is a leader. He (or she) looks ahead and adjusts as needed. When sacked, he gets back up and plays on. I want to be like a quarterback. I just don’t want to weigh as much as one. 10.13.21.236.1

[1] Bleacher Report, Ryan Riddle, July 14, 2014