As of a couple weeks ago, my wife and I were both right back where we started in May of 2003. That was the month we made a decision that changed our lives forever. Unfortunately, forever lasted only about a year. Needless to say, the more recent year has been a bit depressing. For me (and I think she concurs), it's more about how I feel than about how I look (although being fat is embarrassing, especially when wearing a swim suit).
How do I feel when I’m fat and out of shape? I feel tired. I feel unhealthy. I feel apathetic. I feel lazy. And a strong sense of failure hangs over my head like an ominous thundercloud. My wife and I have been wanting to get rid of this fat again for some time now, but the "get up and go" just hasn't been there. As my Grandma always says, "My get up and go got up and went."
It has been coming back a little though. I have lost 20 pounds since November. That’s not bad considering the fact that I haven’t really exercised that much.
However, an amazing thing happened a couple weeks ago when I booked a flight to Hawaii for the two of us in March. Suddenly, we both have the intense drive to get fit like we haven’t had since May of 2003. Of course we both realize we can’t lose enough by next month to look like fitness models, but we can lose enough to be a little less embarrassed to walk around in a swimming suit.
Last year we went to Hawaii for the first time and we were both very self-conscious the whole time. Even when I wasn’t in a swimming suit, I was still embarrassed by the fact that my Hawaiian shirts would barely button up. The good news is that I tried the same shirts on yesterday and they’re only a little tight. By the time we get to Hawaii this year they will fit nicely.
Although physically we are now more or less right back where we were in May 2003, and thus appear (on the surface) to have lost the battle, the truth is that we gained some valuable intel that we will be using against the enemy in the battle we are now commencing.
More on that later.
3 comments:
I am glad you are both determined to change together. It helps with someone right there to motivate you! My hubby has put on a little weight too over the years, though nothing like what I have gained. He feels trapped in his body too, he was always very athletic in school. With a four hour a day commute to and from work, it seriously eats up "free" time, and as it is he is only getting about 5 hrs sleep a night. Sooo, I am trying to help him mostly with changing most of our eating habits. (This has been a challenge as when we met he didn't truely care for most veggies!) Luckily, he is starting to come around. Now if only I could get him to eat more than ONE meal a day.....
I did that four hour commute thing for about 5 weeks during an internship. It was miserable. I think I already posted about how that was largely responsible for ending my nine month streak of being in the gym lifting weights 6 days a week. After the internship, I never could get back into the habit.
Yeah, my hubby used to run 5 miles a day. Now he is lucky to walk 5 blocks M-F!! We even bought an elliptical a few years ago....I can't remember the last time he got on it. And I know it's been 2-3 weeks since I was on it. But that is because I started a different routine at my fitness center and have been using some resistance machines that really work out my legs....(makes 'em a little too sore to do my elliptical yet.) I am trying to work it back in, it's just taking a little longer than I wanted. Some virus got us all down for the last week and a half. I'm finally starting to feel like myself again!
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