Break through moment - on the bike.

DetroitDarin

I will start this thread by admitting I'm a weirdo in certain aspects. I am big into visualization of goals; I easily read and adjust to the vibe of a room or a person. I just sent this in a message to a MFP friend - but I thought maybe others can take some motivation from it too.

I was riding the bike pretty hard last night - ended up a new distance best for the 30 minutes I put on the bike after every work out. About 17 minutes into my ride I found myself smiling massively.

Without much warning I felt like an influx of dopamine hit me. I remember pounding away at the pedals. eyes focused on my right knee - because my left knee was hurting; I wanted to block it out. I glanced up through the sweat pouring down my face and saw my heart rate approaching 170. My favourite song was looping in my ears - the lyric just hit this part:

"You slide up close to me - Tear the t-shirts off each other - Your hands all over me.."

I envisioned the feeling I would have in that situation - a feeling of calm because she wouldn't have to be feeling my gut - but a fairly-trim guy. I thought "yeah...I can do this." I thought about the years required to bring my body to where I am and suddenly i felt every pore in my body as it sweated away; the imagery in my mind was that of me in a large cocoon of fat - me clawing at it, trying to be birthed-anew - the real me. The me inside this fat suit of my own creation. I am not lucky or unlucky to have the body I have. Luck has nothing to do with this - the body I have, all 240lbs of it, is the logical result of the care I've taken, or lack thereof. My new body, of whatever weight - will be stronger, leaner, healthier, and maybe - as the least-important-to-me aspect...sexier. At least to myself.

I. So. Got. This.

Here's to encouraging you - Maybe you, like me seem to always be the "Before" picture in weight loss - we do not yet have an 'after' pic. I have been searching - at varying degrees of effort - my 'after pic' for more than 4 years now.

last night's little - what I call - victory or breath-through is the kind of VITAL progress-report a scale or waist size cannot measure nor account for - but absolutely be affected-by.

12 days ago I joined a gym. 10 days ago I could ride 6 miles in 30 minutes. Last night I went 9.34 miles in the same time. 10 days ago I could barely squeeze out 3 sets of 10 reps of 12.5kg dumbbell curls. Last night I did four sets of 12.6kg, and one set of 10kg. Progress is a b|tch and it takes hard work. But a bigger b|tch is what my life would be like 353 days from now had I not started 12 days ago.

Keep going folks.

BoxerBrawler

Yup... I think about that a lot.
Two years ago I could barely do five full push ups (from my toes), today? well... how many do ya want? LOL!

The very first group-x class I took was a 45 minute full bod sculpting class. I grabbed the 3 LB hand weights and used those throughout the class. About five minutes in my arms were killing me. I was sore for the next few days. Today I can curl 12 LBS, squat 150 and bench 75 and again, how many reps do you want?

Two years ago I took my first kick-boxing class and thought I was going to die, I couldn't imagine doing it more than once a week. Today I am highly trained, and skilled, in traditional boxing, Muay Thai and Krav... I could literally remove your head from your shoulders with a roundhouse or an elbow

Progress.....

DetroitDarin

Thank you!