Fit-to-Fat-to-Fit Blog: The Challenge

Goal Weight: 195 lbs.

Today’s weight: 198 lbs.

Ran 4.5 miles this morning in the complete dark.  Glad I didn’t fall into a hole!

Paul Lacoste and me

Anyone who knows my backstory knows that the last year and a half have been insane. I lost half my job (and salary), took a second full-time job to keep the house and have picked up several freelance jobs in the process.  To get cheap energy to propel me through the day, I start drinking Cokes. And because I didn’t have the time to workout, I quit exercising.  I went from running a marathon on Halloween 2010 at 195 lbs. to weighing 248 lbs. on Dec. 20, 2011.  I was fat, tired and miserable.  Enter a dare from Patrick House and an amazing bootcamp put on by Paul LaCoste and I lost 45 lbs.  I’m now at over 50 lbs. lost and maintaining it — and as you probably can guess if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that exercise has improved my life in many, many other ways as well.

Today’s July 10, 2012.  By August 4, I have to have a children’s book illustrated. And I have another one that I need to be doing concurrently.  I currently work 13 hours a day. And I have a family with three boys who need to see their dad occasionally.  Really not sure how I am going to get everything done in such a short time.

See the potential problem here?  See where I could make the same mistake I made in 2010 and 2011? See how I don’t have enough time to exercise?

I’m not making the same mistake twice. Hell no.  I’m not going back.  I will get up at 4 a.m. and run for an hour five days a week (with a long run on Saturdays of two hours).  I will not drink sodas again. I will not cheat to get cheap energy.

I will fall back on my new habits to propel me through this next month of hard work and will come out of it stronger and more fit than ever.

Why?

The exercise is the only way I have to burn off the incredible stress involved with producing a daily editorial cartoon, radio show and pages for a book.  It helps keep my mind right.  Otherwise the very creativity that brought me to the dance will die.

I’ll never go back to being fat and out of shape.  Never. Not going back there. The next month will be tough. But if you want excellence, you have to demand it from yourself. That’s my challenge. Now to go forth and win.