Fit-to-fat-to-fit Blog: Day 9

Goal weight: 195

Let’s forget weight for a moment: Last night I took off a pair of size 40 jeans (a Christmas present from my wife).  Big deal you say?  I took them off without unbuttoning or unzipping them. I’ve lost enough off my mid-section in a little over two weeks that my pants literarily fall off me.  Sorry Charlie, that’s winning.

You’re wondering, how’s the ankle? Thanks to ice and ibuprofen, my ankle held up this morning. Only a few times did it feel like someone was jabbing a screwdriver into it. That’s a big improvement from last Friday.

I was moved up a group. And let’s just say I did nothing today to impress them with my physical fitness. I did poorly on the towel exercise this morning (pushing a folded towel the length of a basketball court and back three times). To put it simply, I sucked. So you will have to excuse me — My own pride is kicking my butt this morning.   I have a lot of work to do.

Which comes to why I am doing this. Obviously I need to get in better shape. For my family. For me. Like Speaker Gunn, I, too, was 40 when I had my last child. He’s four now and he needs his dad to have enough energy to play with him.  My 11-year-old and my 9-year-old need me, too.  As amazing as their mom is (and she is amazing), they need an energetic dad.  I haven’t been that guy lately.

My job changed over a year ago. A career I thought was set in concrete was busted apart, leaving me to figure out a new career path.  I now work two jobs for over 12 hours a day.  I’m exhausted.– And emotionally wrung out.  Both led me to bad choices like not exercising and drinking Cokes for cheap energy.  As tired as I am right now (I now pull 14-hour days), this is an exercise in mental toughness for me.  2012 will be a year of great chance for me and I want to attack it with a positive attitude and great energy.

Pushing a towel and dying on a treadmill is a way to build that toughness.  And judging from my performance, I have a lot of work to do until March.  But I’ve beat cancer. I’ve ridden a bike over a mountain in Vermont. I’ve run a marathon. I’ve nearly won the Pulitzer prize after being a high school  janitor.  I can do this.  I can win.