I am writing this post for a couple of reasons. First, I didn't really tell much about me and my story in my intro post. Second, while we are all in the dive season mode, many people out there are struggling with lifestyle changes, and hopefully this post will benefit them. Third, I have my first cycling "century" coming up in a month, and my sluggish ways have me not training this past week, so I need a little motivation too
(For those un-familiar, a century is 100 miles ridden in one day. I was hoping to ride sub 5 hours, but that is not going to happen now...)
As a kid I was very active. I biked all over my town, hiked, camping, surfing, snorkeling, you name it. After high school I joined the Army, as an Infantryman. I was in shape. Then I got out of the Army and fell apart. 4 or 5 thousand calories a day, not much exercise, and the weight piled on. Not helping matters much was my nicotine addiction, 3 packs a day at my worst. I hit rock bottom with the Marlboro Man on my 30th birthday, I quit cold turkey and haven't looked back or missed them one bit.
A year after that, I stood one morning on my digital scale, watched the lines blink as the scale started up, and when it stopped, instead of numbers, were 3 letters. ERR. Error. I stepped off and then restarted it. ERR. I grabbed my weight belt, it read 27 pounds. I stood back on it. ERR. Hmm, so the scale works ok, what could be the problem? I changed the battery. ERR. Suddenly it dawned on me. When I bought the scale two years before, I got it because it had the highest max in the line of digitals on sale. 330 pounds. Had I really gotten THAT big?
E.R.R
That was it. Rock bottom. I had been talking about getting back in shape for years. I had been talking about how great I was when I was younger. Suddenly I was just fat and out of shape. What to do? I tried running one night after work and that was just a disaster. I think I ran 300 meters and almost died. Not only could I not really run well because of my weight, but with quitting smoking only a year earlier, I was not in good cardio health either. And the cold hurt my throat and lungs. I joined a gym and started going 5 nights a week. Soon my scale was "working" again, but the weight wasn't really coming down. I started looking at my diet, and decided I needed to make some changes.
Mountain Dew. My friends used to call me Mt. Drew,
, because I was seriously addicted to that too. Sometimes as much as 12 a day 
At 125 calories each, that adds up quick! But cafeine, oh how i love thee!Well, that had to go. I replaced it with root beer, not much better...but at least I didn't have to shake cafeine and sugar at the same time. Once I had a handle on the headaches, I started drinking more water and less soda. Today my drink of choice is room temp water, and I never drink soda unless it has rum in it
.After 6 months of the gym I treated myself to a birthday present. A 2005 Trek 1000 racing bicycle. I was probably down to about 300 pounds by then. Those skinny tires do have a weight limit...
Needless to say I am pretty good at changing tires now...But I kept at it. I live 7 miles from work, so I started riding my bike instead of driving. It made a difference. Instead of consuming 1000+ calories from soda, I was burning that much just commuting to work. BTW, it takes 15 minutes by car, 25 by bike. How can I not?On the weekends I started riding longer distances. Once I rode for over an hour, it felt like a long way up and down some hills. When I got home I jumped in the car to see how far I had ridden. 20.3 miles! Holy Cow!! I was floating pretty good at that point.
I had decided that when I hit 275 pounds I would treat myself to a Jim Dandy from Friendlys. I hit that a while back and still haven't gotten that sundae. It just doesn't sound good anymore.
I don't eat that great, really. I eat what I want, and most days I try to make healthy choices, but Chinese food is a favorite. One thing I promised myself I would never do was withold something. I figured that I can eat something if I really want it, so long as I don't want it all the time. As such I still have some candy, or ice cream, or...BEER when I like it. I just make sure I eat pretty well the rest of the time.
I get up after one course at dinner, instead of having seconds. I try to eat salads often before dinner, so I eat less of the other stuff. I drink water instead of soda or other calorie laden drinks. I eat air popped popcorn with some Smart Balance spray if I really need something after dinner. And I work out alot now.
I am training for and completing triathlons now. I am training for endurance events too. My first 100 mile ride is coming up for the American Cancer Society on July 15th. After that I have the MS 150 ride in September. That is 150 miles over two days, for multiple sclerosis. I ride because others can't, and I have no reason not to. Of course in between those 2 hard events, I am going to pamper myself in Mexico with some awesome diving and BEER...
Seriously though, I am happy to be able to participate in those events. I am hoping that the money and awareness raised by the rides helps people in need. My father died of cancer in December of 2000. Anything I can do to kill that disease is good by me...I am hoping that on November 18th this year, I will be able to call myself a marathoner as well. I am sure I will finish the run, 26.2 miles is a long way, but I have already come so far, the distance itself seems, insignificant. At least at this point, ask me in October and you will get a different answer I am sure!!!
The weight loss and exercise has made tremendous improvements in my life. I have confidence in myself again. I have something to offer others. (actually I always did, I just didn't see that before), and my active life is so much better. As you can imagine I am a better diver now. And dives I could never do before I can do now without much effort. Current and whatnot is not much of a deterrent now, whereas before I would aviod anything that looked hard.
So just how far have I come? A little over 100 pounds in two years. When I started riding 10 mph was fast. Now I do 10 mph up hills and think I am slacking off. I used to run at a 12 minute per mile pace for 1 minute, walking 2 minutes. Now I run 4.5 miles at an 8 minute pace for a quick workout. Often I run longer.
And I did it all one step at a time. And looking back, at no time did I feel like I was working too hard. Or suffering too much. Or missing my favorite foods. Seriously, it is not hard to change your life. I learned that I didn't have to be who I was. I was a product of my choices. And I still am.
You are too. So if you aren't happy where you are right now, you can change. Whether it is weight loss, exercise, schooling, or relationship troubles, one thing I have learned is that you don't have to settle with anything less than what you want. Because you are worth the effort.
