Slowly but Surely

Well, I am on week six of my physical transformation.  I started at 222 pounds and completely disgusted with myself.  This past Tuesday was my 45th birthday and my designated weigh in day.  I stepped on the scale and the number I read almost made me sick.  I have been eating right and exercising 6 days a week for 6 weeks so one would assume that the weight would just be rolling off, right?  So what did I weigh on Tuesday July 10?  218.8!!!!  I probably would have hung myself right there in the lobby of the YMCA if I had not noticed several other changes in my life and in my body.  Things like, I just feel better mentally.  Since I started working out, things that used to really bother me, are just not that important.  Or at least I don't make them as important.  Eating healthy has become a passion for me.  My wife says I'm militant, but I don't care.  I see the difference in how I feel.  Then there are my clothes.  My shirts are getting tighter in the shoulders and my pants are looser (is that a word?) in the waist.  I am beginning to see muscles that have been hiding for almost 15 years.  My kids only know an overweight dad.  Well, beginning in June of this year, I decided that they needed a new dad.  A dad that they could be inspired by.  Instead of having a dad that   tells them that  they can accomplish anything because they are awesome, they will have a dad that shows them that they can do anything they want if they work hard enough.  I will SHOW them that hard work and persistence will allow them to set their goals as high as their dreams can take them.
I finally decided on my triathlon.  On September 15, I will be competing in the Crescent Moon Sprint Triathlon in Aurora.  I will swim 500 meters, bike 12 miles and then run a 5K.  I get excited just thinking about it.  Although, I understand that most folks think I am insane, running a triathlon represents the culmination of my first goal in my physical fitness.  It represents starting out to do something and not quitting until I get it; something I don't feel like I have done in a long time.  If I inspire my family and just one other person along the way to set goals and achieve them, I will consider it all a success.  Have a great week!

One Day at a Time....

Today has started off well.  I got in a good workout and my swimming seems to be improving.  I still have a long way to go in a short amount of time to compete in my local triathlon in September.  I will get there though.  A lot of people have asked me why would I want to complete in a triathlon.  I keep telling them that it is the healthiest way that I am aware of to go through a mid-life crisis.  Tomorrow, I will turn 45 and I don't have the money to buy a sports car and I love my wife and kids too much to get a girlfriend!  I say it all in jest but it has got me to thinking, why am I doing this?  I am doing this so that my kids can see that they can do anything they set their hearts on.  I am doing this to motivate my father to get up out of his chair and move, so that he can see his grand kids grow up.  I am doing this for me, so that can show myself that I won't quit.  No matter how much it hurts, no matter how much I don't want to go to the gym at 5:30 in the morning to learn how to swim, I won't quit.  I have quit too many things in my life, but this time I refuse.  I will not let this challenge beat me.  I am in control this time.  Just go to Youtube and look up the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.  There are dozens of stories about people that set a goal and finished.  People with no legs, people that are blind and people that others say have no business running an Ironman at their age.  These are people that would not quit and would not allow others to talk them into quitting.  There is even a story about a guy that decided to run the ironman after contracting Lou Gerrigh's Disease.  He knew he was going to die and he would not have the chance for long.  He competed, finished and the next year he watched the race from his wheelchair.  The following year he passed away.  These people motivate me.  Life has dealt them a blow, and they move ahead.  It makes me feel guilty that I would whimper about my job or money or any other insignificant part of my life.  This is why I will loose my weight, keep it off for the rest of my life and run a triathlon on September 9th.  I can do all things through Him, who strengthens me