Block a few shots

It has been a long journey that is far from over but I have hit a pretty big milestone that I want to share with you all. I have lost 50 LBS since beginning to change my life for the better. 

Story time! (short version, which is still pretty long)

In 2010 I was the heaviest I have ever been, 280lbs. I was ashamed of it. I never stepped on the scale because I knew it wouldn't be good. I had a wife and a 1 year old son at home and I knew I needed to change before it got any worse. In January of 2011, I joined the Bonnyville Boxing Club. It was my first step to getting my weight, health, and life back in control. I lasted a month. It was tough. I lost a little bit of weight, but like so many people the thought of going through the pain and effort deterred me.

In May, my wife Leigh-Anne and good friend Ryan Bailey were geared up to run in the Calgary Marathon. Leigh-Anne, the 5K and Ryan, the 10K. I went along to show my support, even though I always thought there is no reason to run unless there is a football in play, or someone is trying to get you! What I didn't expect was how inspired I would become. Being there surrounded by 11,000+ runners (of ALL shapes and sizes) and 1000's of supporters made it click for me. I needed to run. So I set a goal, I registered for a 5K in Edmonton in September and started training. I ran the race under my set goal of 40 minutes but didn't really put in the effort. By this time I was about 265lbs. I suffered through plantar fasciitis and shin splints, due to my size, and planned for the Calgary Marathon 10K in May 2011 and the Las Vegas Half Marathon in December of 2012.

Then I sat on my ass all winter.

I got on the treadmill a few times here and there but didn't even come close to being ready for Calgary. My 10K came and I knew I wasn't prepared so set the bar low and wanted to finish in less than 90 minutes. I finished in 82 minutes so that was nice. I was still well over 260lbs. I then went on a vacation to Taiwan in June. It was awesome and I'm doing it again, hopefully sooner than later. When we got home and the pictures started showing up on FB I realized that I really haven't done anything to try and get control. I didn’t like the pictures of me.

In August, still hovering around 265lbs, is when I found the secret magic solution that everybody is so desperately seeking to losing weight.

Calories in vs Calories out! And because I am the referee in this battle, I make sure that Calories out win!

I started training hard and monitoring my calories in, no matter what. With my ipod and blackberry I started using "my fitness pal". It was and is easy. I enter everything I eat and am able to stay around my daily recommended calorie intake (1740 calories/day as of today)

Now the weight started coming off and my training got more intense. I ran another 10k in Saskatoon in September and crushed my old time finishing in 65 minutes. 17 minutes faster 17lbs lighter than Calgary.

Now I'm really excited about what I can do and amp up the training even more.

Today I weighed in at 230lbs and with just 10 days until I run my Half Marathon (21.1KM) in Vegas I feel I am about as ready as I will be. My goal for Las Vegas is 150 minutes and I fully expect to beat that.

I still have a long ways to go but wanted to tell my story so far. It is a journey that will never end. My life has completely changed. I look at exercise and food differently now. It’s a battle. In vs out. And now I have complete control over the game. There have been ups and downs and I totally expect there to be more peaks and valleys as I aim for my goal weight, but know that my perseverance will prevail.

By the way, I still don’t love running. But to use a hockey analogy, not a single player in their right mind likes blocking shots, but it’s just something you have to do to get to where you want to be.