Don't wait until it's too late

Last week, I realized that I feel like an athlete again. A strong, healthy athlete. I'm nearly 44 years old, and I really haven't felt this way since I was in high school. Granted, I still have a looooong way to go on my journey back to health, but I'm on the right track, for sure.

It has been so long since I have felt healthy that I had forgotten how it feels. For 25+ years, I have gradually come to accept a lower level of fitness than I ever knew as a young man, when I regularly won medals in swim meets, ran 50+ miles per week, won tennis tournaments, and pitched no-hitters. Year after year, I have gotten fatter, slower, and less able/willing to do the things that younger/fitter people do. I have looked in the mirror, sighed about my increasing waistline, and just gone to the store to get larger clothes.

But no more. Today I can look at myself and see signs of an athlete again. My legs are leaner and stronger, my chest has definition (beyond "man boobs"), I can see lats and delts again, and -- as it turns out -- I have abs underneath all of that fat. I can climb the stairs without feeling as if my heart is going to pound its way right out of my chest. I can see visions of what I was like as a young man, which I certainly am not anymore.

My point? Simply that I had forgotten what this was like. I was on a path to never getting it back, and I was accepting that.

DON'T BE THAT PERSON. Wherever and whoever you are, decide right this moment that you will always be young and healthy. If you're young and healthy now, burn that self-image into your brain and never lose it. If you're not, dig down deep into your memory to when you were, capture that image, and commit yourself right now to getting back to where you once were -- and staying there.

Because here's the thing...no matter where you are, you're in a place where you can reach your fitness goals. It's not too late for that. BUT, the longer you wait, the harder it gets to (1) believe that you can do it, and (2) find that vision of you again. So, when I titled this blog Don't Wait Until It's Too Late, that's what I'm referring to. Your body isn't going to block your path to health, but your mind might. It was happening to me, for sure.

Do it now. Don't forget the younger, fitter you and just accept an older, lesser you. You can again and forever be young and strong.

But you have to start.

Now.

20 years already

20 years ago today, I married the most wonderful woman ever.

Happy Anniversary, my love. Here's to 20 more, and then some!!

Knee update

Well, knock on wood, but maybe the knee is back to health again. Went through some fairly strenuous Crossfit stuff last night -- including a near wipeout during resistance band sprints -- and the knee held up alright.

I'm probably back at the box tonight for more. Depends on how the knee feels throughout the day.

Don't ask if you don't want the answer

I loooove all the compliments that I've gotten lately from friends regarding my physique change, but boy do I need to get something out in the open.

Several friends & colleagues have asked what I'm doing differently to lose so much weight and size. That's great. No problem. What gets me is the few of them who are asking because they too need/want to make a change, but yet they react in any of the following ways. I have actually gotten all of these reactions in the last couple of weeks.

• "You only work out for 15-30 minutes? That's not nearly enough to be productive." (Oh, really? Seems to be working for me. Didn't you just a second ago compliment me on the changes I've made?)
• "Well, that might work for you, but I could never cut XXX out of my diet." (Ever consider that that's the very crap that is causing your problem?)
• "$100/month (what I'm paying at CFL) is too much. I get a much better deal at GloboGym." (But yet here you are asking me about what I'm doing, because you're not meeting your goals at GloboGym.)
• "I just don't have the time to put into it." (Wait...did you hear me when I said that it's maybe 30 minutes, 3-4 times per week? My math tells me that that's a couple of hours per week. Or would that take too much time away from your bar hopping?)
• "But it's different for you. You're a guy." (Yes, and that puts me in the minority at my gym.)
• "But I'm just too old for that sort of workout." (Uh....I'm nearly nine years older than you are.)
• "But that just sounds too hard." (When you asked what I was doing differently, did you really think I was going to tell you that I've made big changes by eating garbage and sitting around the house all night? Cmon.)

Seriously...if you don't want and/or won't accept the answer, don't ask.

BUT, if you want/need to make a change and (1) can be open-minded and (2) are willing to put in some work, let's sit down and chat. You can have all the time I can give you.