The Kilted Dad is an average American Dad in that he spent years eating too much and exercising too little. What sets him apart is that when he finally decided to do something about it, he chose to further embrace his Scottish heritage in his quest for fitness.
How you might ask? The Kilted Dad got Kilted! But not just kilted, he got KILTED!
As an increasingly stressful and sedentary career track, decreasing job satisfaction, and worsening dietary habits combined to help the Kilted Dad add on the pounds, he also failed to exercise for months on end. Not realizing how far he was slipping, the Kilted Dad added pounds and inches year after year.
In fifteen years, his 36” waist grew to a 46” waist (measured under the gut). He went from a 46” jacket to a 54” husky jacket. From an XL t-shirt, to a 3XLT (the extra length necessary to keep from hanging out under the hem). Worse than that, he went from an unknown, but reasonable enough weight to top out at 354 pounds!
The Kilted Dad had been unsatisfied with this since at least 2010 when he realized that he had reached 280 pounds. But he failed to act to stop the increase, and in time doubled down on the bad behaviors. This in turn brought his blood pressure from perfectly normal to requiring daily medication by 2013. One year ago, in February 2016, he weighed in at 354 pounds. That was when he decided he had had enough.
Despite all of the health risks, the real catalyst for change came from his involvement as a board member of his Scottish clan society. Specifically, he couldn’t wear his kilt to events because it was 10 inches smaller than his waist. If you’re not aware, good kilts are really expensive, and he didn’t want to buy a new one for fear of outgrowing it as well.
In February 2016, the Kilted Dad started adjusting his diet and trying to get more active. He started to lose weight, but after a quick fifteen pounds the first month, it slowed, and plateaued. Six months later he had achieved around 25 pounds of loss. Ten months later, an active moving day and very little consumption brought his weight down as far 304 (50 pounds!) but rebounded back up to around 309 where it remained through the holidays and the cold snap impeding his exercise routine.
Looking back, those were good but inconsistent results for 2016. But 2016 also lacked a plan. In 2017, the Kilted Dad developed a plan to get Kilted (back in his good kilt) and KILTED! (see the Get KILTED page).
The Kilted Dad hopes you will join him too! You can help keep him accountable on his quest. And hopefully his journey will help you along yours as well. Join the Kilted Dad as he explores the KILTED! principle, explores better health and fitness, parenting, and Scottish culture!