Over they years I've gone from a well toned 175 lb physique to a 235 lb "what the hell happened to me body." I'm currently on my way back to my days of being toned again and I must say the road is quite rough. Anybody who says getting a great body is easy is all out lying to you. I too have sat watching the infomercials and thought wow, that looks like it would work. I've even given a few of them a try but, the one thing I've discovered is that there comes a point in any work out routine where it becomes just that, routine. I get bored and discouraged and say, "the hell with it, " and put the DVD or whatever aside and go channel surfing with a bag of popcorn. So how am I getting back to where I was so many years ago? Three words, I stay active.
My entire fitness goal is to just stay active. Whether it be cycling, running, hiking or mowing the lawn. Though even that won't shed the 50 lbs of junk I put on over the years sitting behind a desk and being a slug. I have had to change my dietary intake too. Though this wasn't as traumatic as I thought it would be. I have severely reduced my soda intake and drink primarily water. I don't go overboard with my meals either. For example, I eat a sensible breakfast keeping my fats down and eating a lot of egg whites and Cream of Wheat...with just honey. I don't stay too strict only because I've found my body revolts and I get really agitated when I just eat what I consider nothing but healthy foods. I know I could just grind through it but, first of all I'm not a paid athlete who makes a living off my athleticism, second, I enjoy eating & lastly, my family doesn't need to be put on a strict diet or suffer because of me. I have a 4 and 5 year old, they like sausage and pancakes for breakfast. Sure, my wife and I get lean sausage and make our pancakes from scratch to keep things fairly healthy but, I'm not going to go around life carrying around health food just in case we are out and they get hungry. I'm just being realistic. I think most diets fail because people start out full of gusto and realize that after 3 weeks they are eating the same foods over and over and their bodies revolts.
I know I don't eat as healthy as I could. I choose to do this. But, what I do do is make sure that I do eat as healthy as I can when I can. I try not to eat fatty cut meats, I eat more vegetables and fruits, I cut back on drinking anything but, water, I limit my "snack" foods to special occasions. Overall, I just discipline my intake. It was a bit of a struggle at first but, I slowly integrated the way I eat over time and now don't have the cravings I used too. I do admit though, whenever I ride for 50 miles or better I get a craving for pizza that is nearly impossible to shake.
Food was the first step to getting healthy, the second was the most difficult...exercising. I had been inactive for so long I had forgotten what it was like to be active. I struggled in the beginning and even gave up two or three times. I initially began running but, a bad knee with hardly any meniscus kinda prevented me from being able to tolerate anything more than a 5K. I switched to weight lifting, something I was quite into before, and went too hard too quick and ended up either hurting myself or getting sick. I did a lot of reading and started barefoot running. Between the technique and low impact I was able to running greater distances. Though even after a year of doing so anything over 10 miles causes my knee to swell and ache for days. My knee is just that bad. Then a good friend got me into cycling. I eased into it, only having a mountain bike. Gradually I worked my milage up. I was loaned an actual road bike and soon my milage soared. I even, after only a couple of months, participated in my first biking event the 2010 Philly Livestrong. I ended up riding 70 miles that day it was the most exhaustively satisfying exertion ever.
I relaxed over the winter, unable to ride in the snow. I gained some of my weight back I had lost the year before but, came back with a vengence this year. I realized that even though I was eating better, my not being active didn't help me stay fit. I needed to be active and be active consistently. The best advice I've ever heard came from Matthew McConaughey, in an interview he had someone asked him how he kept his “sexy body,” his response was to sweat once a day, not worry about how far you run but, how long. His take on exercising is much the way a kid plays. He'll start out on a run and see a rock on the side of the road and stop and bust out a few reps of curls and presses before moving on. He just stays active. He says he doesn't use a gym but, whatever he finds around him.
I've taken that philosophy and run with it with awesome results. As soon as the weather broke I started running and cycling again. I began incorporating body weight exercises into my weekly activities to strengthen my core and lessen the impact of long rides on my body. I started hiking in the mountains to really get a great leg work out climbing hills and using different muscles than I use in my cycling. I change things up. I don't stick with any one thing too long. My bike routes continually change. I don't follow any pattern of exercise. I wake up in the morning and decide then what I wanna do based on how my body feels. Some days I do nothing, others I go for a 25 mile ride in the morning knowing I'll be baling hay in the afternoon and not think twice. For those unfamiliar to baling hay, it is an extremely intense task of throwing 40 -50 lb hay bales from the ground onto a wagon, stack the hay and then unload the wagon into a barn. It is estimated by Livestrong website to burn 11 calories a minute and we usually start baling around noon and finish up around 9 at night. We eat a couple of times and take breaks to change wagons and such but, we never really stop moving. The day is a pain and I'm glad it only happens a few times a year. I have noticed that my energy levels have increase over the past two years and feel they will continue to do so as I get in better shape.
I can't say that the systems we see on TV don't work but, they don't work for me. I have learned that just by staying active and not giving up on the things I enjoy, food, but, limiting them is allowing my body to become healthier by the week. I think the biggest thing I could recommend is to be honest with yourself and start slow. Like anything nothing will happen overnight so just take it easy but, maintain your persistence.
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