This is me - take it or leave it.

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BenBz
BenBz Posts: 46 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi everyone -

Just a short glimpse into what I've been, where I'm at and where I'm going. In September 2010 I was sick, felt awful and weighed about 280 pounds. I was blessed to travel to Greece for work and discovered that while I was there, eating that beautiful Greek food, I was not ill once. That was it - when I returned from the trip I visited with my doctor and he gave me advice and opportunity that I'll always be thankful for. I followed the advised diet for 6 months and had good success, losing about 20 pounds. Feeling better than I had in years, one evening in late March 2011, I decided to see if I could jog without killing myself. I laced up my sneakers and proceeded to go out and jog 1 mile. That again was a turning point. I gradually ran a little more and a little more eventually running my first 5K on June 2, 2011. Throughout the remainder of last year I ran 9 more 5K's and a 10K each getting a little faster. In September 2011 I stepped out on a huge limb and set a rather lofty goal of running the 2012 Pittsburgh 1/2 marathon. All throughout my running in 2011 my weight continued to drop, even though my diet wasn't as good as it could have been. Running makes you hungry and I gave myself a few too many "free passes!"

For the better part of the last 5 months, my weight has plateaued around 240. Now that the 1/2 is only 12 weeks away and I'm in the midst of the full Higdon training schedule, I'm very much focused on a runners diet to match the training. I'm here to seek guidance, benefit from your trials and success and hopefully offer some encouragement along the way if you need it.

I'm a real living testament that tracking your diet works. in the two weeks that I've been here, I've lost weight and have become 100% more aware of what foods are good and not so good.

So that's it - that's me. I'm a husband, I work at a College, I play the trumpet semi-professionally in a couple bands and I love motorsports.

All the best my friends.
Ben

Replies

  • Emilia6909
    Emilia6909 Posts: 309 Member
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    Welcome! Nice to meet you!! :smile:
  • hauer01
    hauer01 Posts: 523 Member
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    Welcome Ben! I hope you enjoy this site.
  • BenBz
    BenBz Posts: 46 Member
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    Thanks Emilia and Hauer!
  • roadworthy
    roadworthy Posts: 130
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    Welcome, nice to meet you:) I admire you for teaching yourself to run. This year I would like to try it out. So far I have been jogging on the spot 15 minutes at a time and have been picking up my walking pace.
  • StarIsMoving
    StarIsMoving Posts: 437
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    Hi Ben! Welcome! Congrats on your success you have already experienced :) What huge milestones to have been involved in all those races! I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis (immune deficiency disease that attacks joints too)... but have actually been able to get myself running for a few mins at a time now! Nothing compared to a 5K, but it has only happened through a lot of conditioning of my muscles for me to be able to go further than across a street before my hip slides ... so huge for me. Seeing your story is even more inspiration to me to keep plugging away! Thank you for that :)

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