Thoughts on fitness

    I'm going to make a promise and I intend to keep it. I promise never to post a "check in" at a gym, fitness club, or any other fitness establishment on Facebook ever again. That's not to say that I’ll never go to the gym again, or that I’ll stop trying to stay in shape. As a matter of fact I was at Limitless Fitness (personal training/boxing) earlier today and I feel great. It just means that advertising my visits to the gym on FB has not provided me with the motivation I thought it would, at least not the sustained motivation I was looking for. And to a certain extent all it says about me is that I’ll stay committed for a while and then quit. I'll address this later in the post.

    Before I dive into my personal fitness habits let me get this out of the way. I'm fat. Further to that point I am very well aware of why I’m fat. I have no illusions and blame no one but me. The bottom line is that I eat and drink too much and I'm not active enough to offset all the energy I consume. So my body does what it was engineered to do when energy can't be processed. It stores it. In my case, and in general, it stores it as fat. 

     Do I like being fat? I do not. Would I prefer to be thinner? Yes I would. Do I do the things necessary to be thinner and live a healthier lifestyle? I do not. Do I want to change that cycle of behavior? I really do. This brings me to the end of the first paragraph. What will it take to stay committed and to behave in a more active and healthier lifestyle? The answer is... lead the change in behavior rather than manage my current behavior. What I do now is manage my health and gym regiment, meaning that if my clothes are fitting too tight I change my eating, go to the gym for a month or so, start feeling good about myself, and then allow myself to get right back into the behavior that gained the weight in the first place. So what's the difference if I lead the change? The answer is that in leading I realize that I have the choice to break that cycle of behavior that allowed me to gain and maintain my current weight. Leading doesn't allow me to blame, work, family commitments, and I certainly can't blame school anymore. The bottom line is that I can't blame life, rationalize reasons, or make excuses. That would mean that I have no choice and I certainly do not believe that. 

   

   So what does this all mean to me? In 2013 I am going to genuinely make the choice to change my behavior regarding health and fitness. At 42 years old there is still time to be it the best shape I can possibly be in. For my part I am letting my trainer take a picture of me now and then one in 160 days. Scary but true.

    If I gain the results I am working to, I will share the pictures on this Blog. If not... well I won't. Sorry, my blog my rules. 

   Here is hoping everyone has a Happy and Healthy New Year!