2011 a year of change !

nukehiker

Not sure if I ever had that magical man in the mirror moment before I decided that the year 2011 would be a year of great change. I started the year at a robust 228 pounds, I also was wearing a size 38 jeans and to think back in 1990 when I was discharged from the Marines I was about 175-180 lbs. at the beginning of the year I already had been on High blood pressure medicine for 2 years. Well if I had that man in the mirror moment I guess it was the fact that I knew in my mind and my heart that I needed to make some changes if I thought I would be here forever. Plus I did not want to be that person who was like broken down cattle and cannot keep up with their children or do certain family activities.

The first changes that took place were, I swore to stop drinking soda and to stay away from fried food. Well every now and then I will indulge but 90-95% of the time these 2 items are no longer in my regular diet. So here I sit almost a year later and I can report that these items are in my rear view mirror. I also have greatly reduced my dependency on processed foods. In other words if it doesn’t come from the ground or from the earth don’t consume it. A little here and there is fine but we are way too dependent on processed foods. My drink of choice now is good old fashioned water, and I love my skim milk also!!

Another change I made was I joined the YMCA, that first cardio session was brutal. I had no idea exactly how out of shape I was until that workout handed me my tail. I was working out about 4-5 days a week at the time. I did lose about 10 pounds that first month or so. The next step I took was I started doing the P90X routine by beachbody.com this was a killer but in a good way. Now I did have to start and stop and restart a few times before I finally completed the whole 90 days, and wow even though I was not sure of the improvements until after I looked at some of my before and after pictures. Now I said that I had started, stopped and restarted the P90X program several times, well with working 6-7 days a week and putting in an average of 10-12 hrs a day not counting my commute back and forth from work it was difficult for me to maintain the workout schedule at times. Another tool that has helped me greatly is keeping track of my daily food intake. You really never know how or what your really eating until you see it written down, I use a website called www.myfitnesspal.com . it is awesome and it’s free !!

I am now in my second month of doing the insanity program, it’s mainly a cardio based program and will hand you your butt that’s for sure. I really like the insanity program you will sweat it out that’s for sure. Recently I have also added some running to my exercise program. Nothing serious just some added cardio to improve my overall cardio health. I started running about a week before thanksgiving, and on thanksgiving morning I ran in my first ever 5K ! it was a great experience to say I completed it. I plan on running a few more 5k’s and maybe a 10K this coming year. I also plan on doing the Warrior dash ( www.warriordash.com ) this summer.

Now let’s get to some results from this year 2011. As I stated earlier I was 228 pounds and wearing a size 38 jeans plus taking high blood pressure medicine for 2 years. I can now tell you my friends and family that a year after making this life style change I am now medicine free. I also now weigh 196 pounds and wear a size 34 jean down from them 38’s !! For a grand total of 32 pounds lost this year. Of course with anything you need to make certain changes in order to get the positive results that you desire. One thing that is certain drink your water!! I cannot emphasize this enough and make sure you are drinking at least 8 glasses a day, more if you are exercising.

There are certain things I still need to work on as I look forward to my goals and aspirations for 2012. One thing that is always a challenge at time is drinking enough water! Another item I need to work on is eating more fruits and vegetables. The last thing is a good combination of vegetables, healthy carbs and lean proteins. I still need to take my fitness up another notch or so, but the end will well be worth the rewards! Inclosing if I can make the change away from soda, fattening foods, fried this and fried that then anyone can. I challenge you my friends to make some changes in your life that will ensure a positive result.

OSUalum

Thank you so much for sharing this! You really are an inspiration!

beckyinma

Way to go, very inspiring.