Part III: Working Towards Something Greater
I've been on a mission since September 2008 and my total weight loss to date is 40 pounds. On a great week I drop to 170 bringing my total to 45 pounds but weight loss is no longer a goal of mine. My fitness goals today focus on getting the most out of myself during each and every workout.
If you haven't noticed yet, my motto in life is, Work Towards Something Greater. Those four words have motivated me to do more then I ever thought possible. Living by this motto has taken me from restaurant general manager and liking what I do, to personal trainer and loving what I do. It's been said before, but it really doesn't feel like work when you're doing what you love. I don't go a day without saying those four words to myself. Every single day, I am working towards something greater.
Anyone can work towards something greater. You don't have to be the smartest, the most athletic or have the most money to work towards something greater. You just have to be passionate for something and then you need to figure out how to make a career out of it. Once I realised that fitness made me happier then anything, I went all in. I wrote out my plan and I lived that plan until I became a personal trainer at the gym I set out to work for. I don't have a college degree and for the most part I was living paycheck to paycheck when I started working towards something greater. But I did it. I went for it.
If I can do it, you can too. Change, it's scary, I know!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
It's scary, I know. Part II
Part II: Transition to Healthier (Changes Begin)
With my new found motivation (the girl), November 2007 to September 2008, marked the beginning of my transition to healthier. My transition began by taking baby steps like: spending less time at the bar, eating less fast food and beginning to do some exercising. I was, and still am, amazed by how much better I felt by making those few changes.
September 2008 is when it all got serious. I was going to turn 30 in six months and I was still overweight and not in good shape. With a doctors appointment set for my 30th birthday, I feared I was going to be told I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and that my internal age was 60 (thanks to watching Biggest Loser). I was scared. I had to make some changes.
I began by setting one big goal for the next six months. I was going to weigh less then what I did when I graduated high school. I graduated weighing 190 pounds and when I set the goal I weighed 215. From there I set monthly goals and then broke those down to weekly goals. That is what kept me motivated. Celebrating achievements on a weekly basis is a great feeling and gets you excited for the week(s) to come.
To lose the weight and get into shape I started running. My first run lasted four blocks before I thought I was going to die. How embarrassing, but the next day I went out and ran five. Next thing I knew, I ran my first mile and then my second until I was up to eight miles. As for eating, I did NOT go on a diet. I simply cut my worst eating habit out of my diet each month. Month one was frozen pizza. Month two was macaroni and cheese. It was crap I didn't need and I replaced them with better options.
Those six months flew by and all of a sudden it was February 17th, 2009. I woke up, got on the scale and was pumped to see 185 pounds. I lost 30 pounds in six months. It was the hardest thing I had done. I could have made so many excuses and they would have been justified too. I was managing a restaurant working 50+ hours a week. I often didn't get home until 4 am and there were times when I had to be back to work at 10am. But I didn't let that keep from my goal.
It's all about how bad you want something. If you want it bad enough, you won't let anything stand in your way! You will "work towards something greater".
With my new found motivation (the girl), November 2007 to September 2008, marked the beginning of my transition to healthier. My transition began by taking baby steps like: spending less time at the bar, eating less fast food and beginning to do some exercising. I was, and still am, amazed by how much better I felt by making those few changes.
September 2008 is when it all got serious. I was going to turn 30 in six months and I was still overweight and not in good shape. With a doctors appointment set for my 30th birthday, I feared I was going to be told I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and that my internal age was 60 (thanks to watching Biggest Loser). I was scared. I had to make some changes.
I began by setting one big goal for the next six months. I was going to weigh less then what I did when I graduated high school. I graduated weighing 190 pounds and when I set the goal I weighed 215. From there I set monthly goals and then broke those down to weekly goals. That is what kept me motivated. Celebrating achievements on a weekly basis is a great feeling and gets you excited for the week(s) to come.
To lose the weight and get into shape I started running. My first run lasted four blocks before I thought I was going to die. How embarrassing, but the next day I went out and ran five. Next thing I knew, I ran my first mile and then my second until I was up to eight miles. As for eating, I did NOT go on a diet. I simply cut my worst eating habit out of my diet each month. Month one was frozen pizza. Month two was macaroni and cheese. It was crap I didn't need and I replaced them with better options.
Those six months flew by and all of a sudden it was February 17th, 2009. I woke up, got on the scale and was pumped to see 185 pounds. I lost 30 pounds in six months. It was the hardest thing I had done. I could have made so many excuses and they would have been justified too. I was managing a restaurant working 50+ hours a week. I often didn't get home until 4 am and there were times when I had to be back to work at 10am. But I didn't let that keep from my goal.
It's all about how bad you want something. If you want it bad enough, you won't let anything stand in your way! You will "work towards something greater".
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
It's scary, I know. Part I
Who you are and what you are doing, right now in life, is a product of decisions you've made in the past. If you are not happy with who you are as a person or what you are doing in life, it is time to make a change. It's scary, I know.
In the last few years I've made some great changes in my life that have brought me to where I am today. Some changes were made whole heatedly for myself and some changes where made due to circumstance. Either way, I changed.
Of all the changes that I have made, my decision to become a healthier individual has changed my life the most. Becoming a healthier individual has increased my self-image, increased my self esteem, given me confidence that I never had before and has totally changed my attitude towards life in general. Becoming a healthier individual allowed me to take on a career change that would not have been possible four years ago. That career change now rewards me by being able helping others become healthier individuals.
In the next three blogs I'm going to take you through my transformation of being over weight and unhappy to being healthy and loving everything about my life.
Part I: Leading up to September 2008
In 2001 I moved to Kansas City from small town Iowa. Two years prior to moving to KC I was told by the college I was attending that I would not be returning for another year. That meant my collegiate baseball playing days were over. I had just pissed away the only good thing going for me. So, from the day I arrived in KC, my life became one big party. I spent the next six and a half years trying to ruin my life. I ate too much, drank to much, smoked to much, and did a bunch of shit that I'm too embarassed about to share. Six and a half years, hiding the fact that I was unhappy with who I had become and what I had let slip away. This was the unhealthiest I had ever been. I went from college baseball player to a ridiculously out of shape, over weight, drunk.
Lucky for me, I met a girl. I met her in November of 2007 and that is when my transformation began. I had met a girl that didn't spend her nights at the bar. I had met a girl that was motivated to do something in life. I had met a girl that liked me. I had met a girl that made me want to be better.
I had met a girl that made me want to change!
In the last few years I've made some great changes in my life that have brought me to where I am today. Some changes were made whole heatedly for myself and some changes where made due to circumstance. Either way, I changed.
Of all the changes that I have made, my decision to become a healthier individual has changed my life the most. Becoming a healthier individual has increased my self-image, increased my self esteem, given me confidence that I never had before and has totally changed my attitude towards life in general. Becoming a healthier individual allowed me to take on a career change that would not have been possible four years ago. That career change now rewards me by being able helping others become healthier individuals.
In the next three blogs I'm going to take you through my transformation of being over weight and unhappy to being healthy and loving everything about my life.
Part I: Leading up to September 2008
In 2001 I moved to Kansas City from small town Iowa. Two years prior to moving to KC I was told by the college I was attending that I would not be returning for another year. That meant my collegiate baseball playing days were over. I had just pissed away the only good thing going for me. So, from the day I arrived in KC, my life became one big party. I spent the next six and a half years trying to ruin my life. I ate too much, drank to much, smoked to much, and did a bunch of shit that I'm too embarassed about to share. Six and a half years, hiding the fact that I was unhappy with who I had become and what I had let slip away. This was the unhealthiest I had ever been. I went from college baseball player to a ridiculously out of shape, over weight, drunk.
Lucky for me, I met a girl. I met her in November of 2007 and that is when my transformation began. I had met a girl that didn't spend her nights at the bar. I had met a girl that was motivated to do something in life. I had met a girl that liked me. I had met a girl that made me want to be better.
I had met a girl that made me want to change!
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