2012 - My Year of Rebirth

10kaday

I've been thinking about fitness and nutrition for the past twenty years or so. However, the entire process has been like a yoyo for me. One month I'd be serious about it, the next month I'd slack off. Sometimes it would be years vrs months. I don't know that I really had much of a motivating factor for any of it other than I knew it was the right thing to do. But unfortunately good health is all internal so it's easy to slack off and not care anymore. I remember thinking during my lazy moments, "oh well, I'm gonna die anyway so what difference does it make!" -- and then I'd just stop fitness/nutrition all together and just eat whatever I wanted and just got lazy.

One day I went for checkup at the doctor (because wife wanted me to) and discovered I had high cholesterol. He put me on fish oil and niacin (like a b vitamin shot) and recommend I eat better and exercise. This caused me a little motivation, but still not enough to make it a regular thing. By the next checkup my cholesterol lowered a little bit, but not by much. I still wasn't really serious about my health and I almost felt like it was hopeless. Plus, it was all internal (you can't feel high cholesterol) so I only half cared that it was high.

As time went on, I continued to gain more weight and then I started getting acid reflux all the time. If you've ever had acid reflux it's one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever experienced. If walking around with a big gut wasn't uncomfortable enough, now I felt uncomfortable sleeping at night because the acid reflux would attack mostly at that time.

The doc put me on medicine for this too, and it helped, but over time, I guess I continued to gain more weight and the acid reflux started coming back more and more even though I was on the meds. The doc increased the dosage, of course and it helped, but was medicine the solution?

One day I was talking to a co-worker about all of this and he said he used to have acid reflux too. Except he got down to his target weight by exercising and the acid reflux went away. This was the turning point for me. It was like a light bulb went off in my head and I realized it was time to get serious about my health! If my co-worker could beat this naturally, so could I!

I started walking for exercise and trying to reach a goal of ten thousand steps per day by using a pedometer. I started to lose weight doing this but it was very gradual. I started to watch my diet, but this proved to be very difficult. Basically, don't eat your favorite food is what it boils down to. That's a huge and difficult change! Eventually I got through it, but it didn't happen over night, it was mostly a gradual change for me.

Next checkup, my cholesterol was improving, but not quite there yet. Same with the acid reflux. I tried going off the acid reflux meds for a test, but it didn't work -- I still wasn't quite there yet.

In January of 2012 I bought and exercise bike and started doing pushups. I followed the "Hundred pushups" program. Just google that. At the end of the program I reached a max with pushups of over 75 (not quite 100) -- max was 6 when I started so that was an amazing transformation! Next I started to focus on weight lifting and continued to ride my bike. I found my nutrition/weight training bible: http://scoobysworkshop.com/ -- this is pretty much the only site I look at now as my main reference.

In addition to all this exercise I was really focused on healthy eating because I realized that good eat solves like 75% of the problem. Stop eating saturated fat, no more soda, cut down on processed food -- was the biggest change for me. You'll learn about nutrition at scooby's workshop as well. Basically, there are no shortcuts. Eat right, exercise daily with cardio, weight training 3 - 6 days a week -- it is a requirement for good health!

Next checkup -- my cholesterol is now in the normal range! And... I no longer take acid reflux medicine. You have no idea how good I feel now. I can run a football field with no problem, I can help friends move heavy furniture with no problem. I secretly love seeing them huff and puff around and I feel like I'm lifting feathers. I feel more fit now and age forty compared to when I was twenty! Only because back then I was a slob, and today I'm not. I wish I could go back in time and start at age 20. Imagine where I'd be today in terms of muscle growth if I had done this for all those years. I can't turn back the time, but I can focus on this point forward.

So, poor health was really my body's way of telling me to start eating right and get off my lazy *kitten*! Now, good healthy eating and exercise are constantly on my mind. I do 20 minutes to an hour of cardio exercises M-F, and 1 full hour of weight training M-F. ON weekends, I try to do a little bit as well, but it's more of an optional schedule. I figure I work my *kitten* off all week long I deserve a break! If I'm lazy on Saturday I make sure I do stuff on Sunday though. A preferred 1 day for break, not 2.

Anyway... this is also the reason I started my new account satchalicious. I was satch king in the previous years and I did a lot of drunk trolling so I wanted to put all that behind me. This account symbolizes my new life. There you have it. This is why I got serious about my health. I was tired of feeling uncomfortable by being overweight, tired of the acid reflux, and I knew high cholesterol was not good. There is really no other way. Our bodies were not designed to eat junk food and slack off all day. Our bodies where meant to move and stay strong! Need help getting started? Just let me know and I'm there for you any way I can.

If I make it through December 31st with all of this -- it will be the first full year in my entire life where I can say I've thought about and participated in healthy eating and exercise for a full calendar year!





Alles klar?!

Wol5894

Just hope I feel as good as that in 16 months when I hit 60. Can't do much exercise due to arthritis rather than weight, although weight is also a factor but I am now 2 stone down (28 lbs) and feel better already - only another 112lbs to go!

Suzy_in_DE

what a great journey, thanks for sharing.

prairiedawg2014

congrats on the weightloss and turning your life around! you look great....so fit and healthy!
enjoy your new lifestyle and the new you! :flowerforyou:

verptwerp

Thanks for sharing ........ your post is going to help a lot of people get and/or stay motivated ....... me included :drinker:

shinyshell55

Excellent post! You are an inspiration for healthy eating, weight training, and cardio. Your photos really contrast the picture of health both negative and positive. Congratulations on your achievement.