"Excuse me, former fat kid coming through"

Quick summary of my life

past present and future

Used to be fat, just a little less fat, not going to be fat

There is an overwhelming amount of information on losing weight out there.  Some sources you can find will give you exact opposite information stated as facts.  I used to think I knew a lot about nutrition and exercise and how losing weight works and now I'm not really that sure.  I'm saying this because I originally started this blog to follow my weight loss and lifestyle changes and I want people to find some inspiration.  I don't want to discuss power foods and science, I want to debunk excuses and turn guilt and shame into discipline.  

I really don't know that much, I have opinions, I can make some assumptions; what I really know is where I've been in my life and the kind of thinking that's gone on in my head.

About a week ago I got a little fed up with the fact that my weight was stubbornly residing in the same place; so I went to a running store and bought some new shoes, the shoe salesmen made me jog around in the store and made some good suggestions and off we were.  I found a little place along the bike trail that I ride on that has a big circle where the bike trail and the jogging trail connect, it's sort of a makeshift track.  I've tried to measure the distance of this circle with my bike odometer and it says it's 1/2 mile around.  I think that's a little off, I'm pretty sure it's somewhere between .4 and .5 miles around.  

The first day I decided to run around it I went around it once and then walked around it once; after walking one lap I thought I'll jog one more and I ended up jogging 2 more laps.  So I went home feeling pretty good, I jogged the circle thing 3 times with 1 walking lap in between.  The next day I went back and thought I'm going to see if I can jog 3 laps without stopping, I jogged 5.  The next day since I had so much fun jogging 5 laps I went ahead and jogged 10.  The next day I jogged 10 again.  Today I jogged 12.  This is HUGE for me.  I don't really know how far this is in miles 4 - 5 miles, I know it takes me about 40 minutes to run 10 laps. I remember refusing to jog the mile in elementary school and middle school, I always walked it.  I knew that if I started jogging I would feel stupid when I had to slow down to walk the rest of it.  I have never jogged one whole mile in my entire life without walking at some point during that mile.  It's always just been too painful, or at least I thought it was too painful.  I always had shin splints, my ankles hurt, my knees hurt, my feet hurt, my chest hurt.  I really had convinced myself that jogging was just not for me, other kinds of exercise didn't come with so much pain.  Hard work is okay but when joints and bones hurt it just didn't seem right.  

So on the day when I ran 5 laps around the circle thing I noticed that when I was on lap 3 the pain in my knees, ankles and shins started to go away.  I thought at first maybe my body was slowly going into shock and this euphoric feeling of "Normal" was some sign of adrenaline or my body was going into denial mode.  What I really discovered is the reason why I never ran the mile, the first two laps hurt just enough to make me think "Someday" when I'm not as heavy and my legs can carry my weight better I'll run more.  This resistance was all in my head, it's always been in my head, not in my legs.  Is there real pain in my body when I run? Of course, but the majority of it is mental.  Once I tell my cry-baby brain to stop interfering with my goal, it does.  It wasn't just the first 5 laps that I experienced this.  The first day I ran 10 laps, lap 3 was the top of the hill, it seemed so hard right when I started, but after that it seemed to get easier.  The next two times I ran, I was waiting for it, I could actually tell myself, Erik, just get to lap 3, it's easy after that.  I don't know why it gets easier after lap 3 but it does.  5 out 5 times so far.  What's lap 3 for you?  

You know those kind of friends that aren't really your friends but they follow you around everywhere?  Well, my friends name is BELLY and he's going away now.  I don't like you Belly, you have been following me around for 20 years and I'm getting really tired of how you get in my way.

So like I said in one of my first blogs, All I have to do everyday is just continue.  It doesn't matter what program I'm on, what special books I read, how many reps and sets I do; it doesn't matter what combo of lycopene and soy products will boost my metabolism the most, if I don't continue everyday.  If I don't do anything on a particular day, that is what that day was designed for.  There is no more, "I'm starting this new program but I'm waiting till summer".  Shut-up, that's one of the fattest things you could say.  Destroy your excuses right now, the more of them you admit, the harder it is to stay fat.  I could probably come up with a solution to any "Excuse" anyone might have.  There are excuses and reasons.  Excuses are what my dad would call "Boloney".  Reasons are real, like being in a coma, having no legs or arms, that's all I can come up with.  

The following is a list of things that you can BE but are not worthy reasons being out of shape

- a student

- a parent (that includes babies, your baby might be your excuse, but it's not a reason)

- tired

- bored

- depressed (this one is tricky, it's hard to do things when you're depressed, but exercise is ten times more powerful than prozac, I guarantee it.)

- busy

- a chef

- a food critic

- a newlywed

- old (did anyone see the finale of biggest loser?  that guy was old, and he kicked everyone's ass)

- young

- stressed (like depression, I really feel exercise will help this, it does for me)

- hopeless (this isn't an excuse because it's not true, nobody is hopeless)

- Atheist (you have more reason to be in shape than anyone, life is all about you)

- Christian (God gave you life, take advantage of it)

- homeless (What else do have to do today?)

- citizen of Seattle (who cares if it's raining?  I actually bathe myself with water and it doesn't hurt that much, what's different about rain?)

- OTHER ( insert your occupation, state of being, current mood in here and then say the following OUT LOUD.

I am a ____________, and this is why I am fat, and it's not my fault. 

Do you realize how stupid that is?  Your attempts at weight loss have all had defining moments when they ended.  They ended when they ended or when you had no more weight to lose.  If the latter is true, good for you.  If they ended because they ended it's important you remember why.  I've listed some of mine before, here's another one.

I started working out with a friend once, we had pretty good accountability.... for about 2 weeks maybe.  My friend cancelled a couple days in a row due to a really bad headache and we never went back again.  That's all the detail that I can really remember.  Just typing that out makes it sound so lame.  That's it?  That's why you stopped?  Did you just forget you had signed up for gym membership or what?  These are questions I ask myself now.  It's easy to blame my friend but why did his headache stop me from going.  Because I was a stupid, dumb idiot who hadn't really decided to stop being fat.  I was okay being miserable.  I was used to it.  If a friend is the reason you exercise, they will most likely be the reason you stop.

I would like if anyone willing to participate would comment on here with the most recent "Excuse" you've been using to not accomplish your goal.  You don't have to be overweight to do this, some of you are just fine and wish you had a six pack or could run further or you just feel lazy.  If you do give an excuse, you should also give a solution.  I might post a solution for you if you don't.  You gotta get pumped!  Come on!  Get cheesy, buy some workout clothes, go running, or hobbling, do what you gotta do.