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Everybody but the cat said it was time to get a move on

ABOUT THIS STORY: Weighing In, John C. Cotey's column about his effort to lose weight, appears Tuesdays in Floridian. His starting weight on July 1 was 250 pounds. To read previous columns and his Web log, The Skinny, please go to www.sptimes.com/skinny

By JOHN C. COTEY
Published July 12, 2005

[Times photos: Kathleen Flynn]

Exercise. Yup. At 5:30 a.m.? Yes sir. John Cotey takes to the stationary bike for 5 miles at the New Tampa Family YMCA last week.

	In addition to the bike at the Y, there was time to shoot hoops for a few minutes and do a quarter-mile walk on the treadmill. That happens when you’re there before dawn. And what’s this? A flyer for a fitness class. Hmmm.

OUR STORY SO FAR: Laying off the junk food and sweets and eating more healthful foods like oatmeal and chicken and an abundance of fruits and vegetables is paying off. I now weigh 242. It will get harder to shed the pounds as time goes on. I know that. For now: Woo hoo!

From all the e-mails I have received, all the comments on my blog, all the phone calls, one thing is clear.

It's the exercise, stupid.

Walk. Run. Do sit-ups. Do push-ups. Take the stairs. Ride your bike to work. Take a spinning class. Try Pilates, aerobics, tae bo.

After sharing this wealth of great tips with my wife, I proudly announced my exercise program: I would now be taking the stairs at work.

"That's it?" she said. "The stairs?"

"Yes," I said, beaming like a kid who just handed his mother a homemade macaroni necklace for her birthday.

"You work on the third floor," she said, rolling her eyes.

After an uncomfortable silence, I said "Fine! Forget it!" and stormed off.

I started to mumble: "I mean, what else can I do? Working out after work is impossible. With an hour drive home, I can't make it to the Y before 7 p.m. Then after an hour workout, I get home and eat a late dinner (bad) and then it's bedtime for Jonathon. What about the children? And what about the nights when I have a story to cover?" "What about before work?" she said.

Uhhhh . . . well . . . ummm . . .

She had me. Checkmate.

Truth is, for many if not all of us, only one time of the day is excuse-free, one time where it is unlikely work or family will interfere, one time where it is virtually impossible to haveone's schedule screwed up.

5 a.m.

There. I said it.

Last week, I did it.

On my second try. The first morning, I rolled over and went back to sleep. The second morning I forced myself to a sitting position, then standing, then walking.

As far as great ideas go, the early morning workout falls between wearing a cowboy hat and brown suit for my eighth grade picture and mimicking Michael Jackson in the Billie Jean video by wearing a red bowtie with a pink oxford in high school.

Working out at 5 means going to bed early, which is hard for many of us. It means not watching The Daily Show, SportsCenter or Letterman. It means no late night Web-surfing.

I arrived at the YMCA at 5:30 a.m. I shot some baskets to loosen up, then did a (remarkably embarrassing) quarter-mile on the treadmill before moving on to a stationary bike.

They say this stuff becomes addictive, but I'm not buying it. The next time someone tells me that, I'm going to light his ankles on fire, stick two sharp chopsticks into his shins, crack his knee with a hammer, give him a bowling ball to hold onto and then tell him to run on the treadmill.

Because that's what it felt like to me. Ifhe still thinks it's addictive, then fine, I'm in.

The exercise bike was more to my liking. Five miles later, I felt pretty good as I walked out.

And how about that - the sun was coming up. Interesting sight.

Luckily, the weekend is here (I file this column on Friday mornings) so I won't have to get up at 5 a.m. I can do afternoon or evening workouts. And I will. I will also continue to do 100 sit-ups a day. Thursday, I went on a 4-mile walk.

But to ensure I don't fall back on excuses, I signed up for a 6 a.m. cardio class on Mondays and Wednesdays. It cost money, so I won't be skipping it. The other days, I'll fill with walks or that spinning class I've been talking about since 2003.

Until then, I'll keep struggling with that alarm clock. Oh yeah, and taking those stairs at work.

-- John C. Cotey can be reached at cotey@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 11, 2005, 19:35:14]