Fitness

I don’t want to be fat.

For most of my life, I’ve been involved in athleticism in some way or another. Growing up, my main form of exercise came from swimming. That’s right, I joined my first swim team at the age of ten. It was such a long time ago that I don’t remember all the details, but I can tell you that, when I first put on a speedo, it was not a pretty sight. You see, I was a pretty chubby kid. It probably came from playing too many computer games, reading a lot, and spending very little time being active. When I started swimming, however, I became a “skinny kid.”

I continued swimming throughout my adolescence and finished up my career my senior year of high school. The thing about swimming is that it is really hard. In high school, we had practices twice per day, for about 90 minutes each. I suppose that it would be pretty impossible to still be tubby when you spend that much time working out and your metabolism is at its peak!

After high school, my habits changed. I was no longer in the pool three hours per day, but I still ate like I was. I’m not saying that I ceased engaging in physical activity all together. I still played sports with friends and got back in the pool from time to time. And I didn’t really eat that badly. I was in college; there was no way for me to afford enough food to really gain weight! But I still noticed a difference in the way I looked and felt.

Then I graduated college, started teaching, and, somehow, started coaching… track and field. No, I had never run and knew nothing about the sport other than the goal was to finish before the other people (very similar to swimming in that respect). I’ll share more information on this subject later, but suffice it to say that I became a runner and, aside from a few injuries, remained fairly active for the next few years.

Now, if you’ve read my other posts, this next story might sound familiar. You see, I got married. You have to understand that getting married doesn’t make you fat, but it sure can contribute to it. In my case, several factors all collided to lead to a pretty significant weight gain in about a one year’s time:

1. My wife lost her job and I had to work a lot at my second job (where I sit) to keep the lights on at home.

2. I started taking courses about three nights per week for my master’s degree (I sat in these classes).

3. I was exhausted when I got home, so I didn’t do much (other than sit).

4. My wife doesn’t have much of an appetite, and I don’t like to see food go to waste. So, what did I do? I ate my portion of food, plus whatever my wife didn’t (I usually sit while I’m eating, just so you know).

5. Added to all of this, I basically stopped exercizing (hence all of the sitting).

In a one year time frame, I managed to gain about 16 pounds. While that may not seem too drastic to some people who weigh a lot more than I do, it was huge for me. My clothes no longer fit the right way. I hated seeing myself in the mirror and avoided stepping on the scale whenever I could. It really culminated in the Spring of 2009 when I put on my suit (the same suit I wore for my wedding) and couldn’t even get the pants to button.

Fortunately, I had been making plans for a few months to start a new summer workout schedule. Long story short (don’t worry, the long story will come in the next few weeks), I lost every pound I had gained, and then some, in 90 days. Doing this was really hard. I had to completely change my habits in order to find success. I was on a strict diet and worked out for at least an hour a day 6 days per week. Did I mention that this was really hard?

It took a lot of discipline and a lot of sacrifice, but, for the first time in my life, I have a 6 pack (that’s right, I never even had one in high school when I swam three hours per day)!!!  Currently, the challenge is figuring out where to go from here. I know I need a plan and have been working on that, but it is not set yet. Stay tuned for my new fitness goals and how I plan to achieve them!