There I was laying in bed at 5:43am.
I usually get up around 5:30am, walk the pup, and then head to the gym.
I was tired this morning. I really did not want to get out of bed. I was thinking about skipping my workout and getting a little more sleep.
I had every excuse to miss a workout.
I just broke under 200 pounds in my weight loss journey.
I work close to 70 hours a week.
I cooked for my wife the day before!
If I missed a work out, no one would care. In fact, many people would tell me I deserved a day off.
At 5:43am, I was not fooling myself. I had a whole list of excuses. I know all too well what excuses can turn into. I have seen it to much in my life. I started seeing my future blog posts:
April 3, 2009- I finally went back to the gym. I did not have a good weigh in, but going back to the gym was a good start back. I weighed in today at 221, which is not bad. I have still love 199 pounds. I have struggled lately, but I will get back on track!
June 9, 2009- The wife is about to have the baby. I am sorry I have not posted lately, but work has really gotten to me. Yesterday was my WI, and I was at 267 pounds. I have gained some, but I am still down over 150 pounds! I went walking the other day. I really should go back to the gym. I did eat some a healthy taco at Taco Bell. I really need to get back on track. I know I can do it.
September 14, 2009- Well, I never thought I would be back at Casual Male. At 312 pounds, I am back in size 50 pants. I am bummed because I wanted my baby to see me thinner. Well, I am still down over 100 pounds, I can get back on track. I know I can!
December 3, 2009- Happy Birthday to me! I can not believe how much I have been eating as of late. I had a huge steak and bread for dinner. I weighed myself, and I am at 365 now. My wife is worried. I am too. But I am not giving up. I am still down 45 pounds. I will start back tomorrow!
February 23, 2010- A year ago I was 198. Now, I am 434. I have gained back all of the weight and then some. Wow, they were right, maintaining the weight was hard. I tried...but not as hard as I should have!
At 5:44am, I realized it was time to get up, walk the dog, and go to the gym. Maintaining my weight and staying focused is a full time job. One that I will not get fired from. I know every excuse in the book. I do not want excuses. I want results!
I was at the gym by 5:56am
After I worked out for two hours today, someone asked me about my weight loss. They said:
"Wow, what is it going to be like when there is no spotlight on you!"
I answered the only way I know how:
"There has never been a spotlight on me. Just my wife shining a flashlight on my face!"
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Work Sucks. Life Doesn't Have To.
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41 comments:
Good for you!! Unfortunately the path you described happens to many people... but I think you can beat it. I never want you to stop blogging! You should enter my giveaway for your wife :)
That was a great insight into a possible future, and a choice not to let it happen. WTG.
No, we can't ever stop.
Great, Great job getting up and getting a workout in. I like your motivation of writing future blogs if you don't workout and what they would be like. Imagine the worst if you don't workout and you will get up and do it. I tend to make too many excuses myself. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thanks for this. I think I've been showing the beginning stages of this.
Reminds of a song, called 'No More Excuses' by Kill The Alarm. You might like it too.
Excellent post! I agree - No excuses are acceptable.
You really have it all figured out haven't you.. you're so right on and well done for recognising what MIGHT happen if we let things slide. Well done!
Best.Post.Ever.
it is a choice huh?
DAILY.
I do not want excuses. I want results!
I feel that has become a new mantra for me :D I was planning on skipping the gym today but NO EXCUSES. I shall go straight after the library.
wow! m.o.t.i.v.a.t.i.o.n. That's what this post spells. I really hope to remember this post each time I feel lazy in the morning so I can actually get a move on. Thank you Tony, you rock!
Nothing like a self-imposted reality check. wow.
Way to get out there and get it done.
I almost did the same thing this morning when the alarm went off at 5am. I just got back from my 3 mile run. Keep it up, Tony!
That is reality for so many people, you are truly blessed to have the clearness of thought to push through it.
Congratulations on the success you are achiecving and I mean more than just the weright you have lost.
You know what...you're always inspiring. But today's post really hit home with me.
That is exactly the way I need to be thinking when it comes time to go workout. I don't want to write any of those posts either...I don't want to make any steps backward.
Thank you :)
VERY, VERY TRUE!!! Every last bit of it!!
((hugs))
Jeanne
LOL!!! Love it, great comment!!
Snaps to you.
Great post and so true. It is about our daily choices. I'd like to think I need the gym now for mental health more than physical, that's what keeps me going.
You wasted no more than a minute of mental skirmishing before making the right decision. For many, it's a series of long internal battles that go on long after the 1 or 2-hour workout. This just goes to underscore the importance of mental stamina.
OK OK, I heard you.
I am off the door, to the gym, after this post.
just what I needed. Man.
It was good scale victory today, and I thought I could skip working out.
Thanks, I know its not a good idea.
Thank you, so much, for that post. LOL
Yeah, I put back the weight I loss plus more the first time I tried dieting in ninth grade. It's good that you are in it for the rest of your life. You know what is important in your life, which is imperative if you want to keep the weight off.
Love the post, That is all so true, I day can turn into a week then a month then next thing you know all your hard work is gone. I defiantly have to think of that next time I want to skip a workout.
Where were you at 5:15 this morning. You always put things so succinctly. whenever I feel like I could cut myself some slack, you go and ask why. The why question is so important.
At 5 I will leave the office this evening and by 5:44pm, I will be in the gym.
Thanks for the nudge:-)
This is a "print and put on the fridge" post! Very eye-opening!
It is a full time job with no retirement plan!
You Rock!
You can bookmark this post in your "best posts" folder! It really does say it all! Thank you!
This one brought tears to my eyes. Good for you for sticking with it Tony. I aspire to be as dedicated as you.
I've done a lot of procrastinating the past two weeks. Thanks for the reality check. I'm off to the gym tonight!
Love the "ghost of the anti-Jared future" post. A scary place. Enjoy your maintenance; you've earned it.
Good for you for getting up and going to the gym! Those possible-future-posts were scary. We all need to take inventory and realize that if we slack off that can happen to any of us.
I have a long way to go to lose all the weight that I need to lose. And I realize that once I lose it... it's going to be a lifetime of effort to maintain the loss. This post is a big reality check. Thanks for that!
Unfortunately, guys like us will forever have to watch the bottom line when it comes to calories. Remember, it's a change of lifestyle, not as temporary endeavor. Every morning when that alarm clock goes off at 4:45 am (Mountain time zone) I remind myself that you are two hours ahead of me and have already worked out. Now it's my turn to go put in the work. Thanks for the inspiration, keep writing!
We all have moments like these, but I bet while at the gym with everyone else you know tucked up in bed, you felt great,your day had started earlier.
I love the buzz I get once i am there, even in this bad weather we are having at the moment...(live in the UK) if I don't make my morning slot to the gym, I know I will not make it during the day...
Also love the trainer I have, we have been doing boxing the last few months.
Keep at it, just take a look at the pictures, theres the proof..
Well done.
Hi Tony,
I am sort of your neighbor - I live in Central Florida and recognized that you must live somewhere near me when you posted a picture of your local WW joint. I drive by that location every day and often get gas in that same plaza. I have been fighting this battle for some time now but just recently (as in the past 3 months) have I really gotten on track with the whole "eating right and exercising" thing. I've only lost 8 pounds in 2 months, but that's still 8 pounds. Could I be working harder? Yes. Could I be controlling my calories a little more? Yes. But it's a game I'm still learning all about. I just wanted to say that yesterday I was at that gas station pumping gas and I debated going inside to get a bag of chips and a soda (two things that I gave up a looong time ago and don't really miss, but that moment of boredom + hunger really got to me) and then I saw that WW signed in the corner and thought of you and this blog. Essentially, you gave me the inspiration to say "no!" and eat the apple I had in my purse instead. So, I just wanted to say thank you for constantly inspiring people. After I ate that apple, I went to the gym down the street and worked out for 45 minutes. You are awesome.
Brilliant!
Brilliant post. So true.
I get a little scared that I will gain all my weight back too, but I'm much too dedicated to let that happen. It's taken a lot of hard work to lose this weight, and I NEVER want to go back to being at my heaviest weight, ever!
Good job for getting your booty to the gym! Even when you could have slept in! Good for you!
I just love your honesty, you will not fail, and you are such and inspiration to myself and so many others. Thank you!
Tina - Calif
I'm a first time reader and a WW lifetime member. I have some issues with them too.
To not allow you to be a leader is their loss. To say you lost too fast is ridiculous.
Based on my calculations you lost 65/100 or .65 pounds per day. If eating 3500 fewer calories yields one pound lost, then you had to eat 2240 fewer calories per day. Relative to the amount of calories you were consuming in the beginning you reduced you total daily calorie intake by 28%.
Compare that to a typical person who is eating 2000 calories a day and overweight--that would be me btw. If I reduced my total calorie intake by 28%, as you had done, I'd be eatng 1440 calories a day which is pretty much WW daily allotment for me at my current weight (if you translated the points and free food eaten into calories).
Lets look at it from another angle. Say a 190 pound person lost 2 pounds, that would be as a percentage, 98%. Now, say you weighed 400 pounds and lost 6 pounds in a week, as a percentage you lost 98.5%.
So what's their deal?
To put every size into the 'it's not safe to lose more than 2 pounds on average a week' does't make sense. I think they are protecting themselves from being sued and to be consistent they have to stand by what they 'preach'.
At the least I'd think they'd ask you to be a guest speaker, to motivate people.
Just another reason for me to strongly dislike WW.
WOW! Great post. It really spoke to me.
This post is dead on! wonderful insight into the what "could be" if we give up or quit!! Really great post!!!
Oh. My. God.
Awesome post, and just what I needed right now. I've lost almost 40 pounds since November and, for the first time since November, wavered over the past two days.
I am intending to blog once work quiets down a little bit, but until then you guys are all such inspirations! Thank you!
Great post!!! By the way - we sahre a birthday!!! Dec 3rd was a great day to be born!!!
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