Why I do this and Why I encourage others that want the same.
For those of you that don't know my story 7 years ago I was over 300 pounds. I was a former state runner up wrestler in South Dakota and a former college wrestler. In my athletic career I accumulated 6 knee surgeries to my name and 5 were on the same knee. My college wrestling career was ended in 2010 with a double knee surgery that left me unable to walk without dragging my left leg significantly for a number of years. Stairs were impossible and having always been athletic I was depressed having lost what I thought my purpose in life was. It's funny what you think when you're young but that's another story.
Anyway as my weight was over 300 pound my girlfriend at the time had a 3 year old son that I was quite proud to be somewhat of a role model to. The thing that really pained me however is I was so large, out of shape, and broken down I couldn't chase after him when he rode his bike, I refused to take him to the pool, and I couldn't crawl around with him on the floor. So I went through the effort of losing around 100 pounds and succeeded! What I gained was a whole lot of freedom and aspects of life that previously were not possible were now simple and oh so fulfilling.
So what am I doing now? After 7 years I'm weighing around 220 pounds and am still constantly in pursuit of getting better. What no one tells you when they encourage you to lose weight is that the journey doesn't just end when you take those amazing transformation pictures after a year of hard work and sacrifice. You have to keep working to keep what you have gained! You can't ever eat the way you used to when you were 300 pounds or you will climb your way back up there. Look at the former biggest loser contestants! But anyway what am I looking to achieve now??? The same things as before I suppose. I don't want to let my self image of being too chubby limit my ability to take my son to a public pool. I don't want a self conscious self image to limit opportunities for my son to enjoy things any 2 year old should and I don't want it to limit my opportunities to enjoy life as well. I train and diet so I don't have to talk about how stupid the 4th of July pool party is simply because I'm mad that I'm too fat to go!
Why should you do this?
Is your self image or weight issues costing you opportunity for life fulfillment? Is it costing you gratifying experiences with your children or gratifying experiences for yourself? If you can't chase after your children or take your kids to the pool or through a slip and slide is that a good reason to make a change? Absolutely! All so often people think that the time commitment to becoming a better version of themself is a detractor from their life...... it's a SUPPLEMENT! Make fitness FIT into your lifestyle contingencies to improve the OPPORTUNITY for happiness for the rest of your life! If you are not happy with what your current situation is and how that affects what life has to offer for you CHANGE IT! I don't know about you but I realized years ago that being able to play with my kids without pain or being a sweaty, slobbering, gasping mess feels much better than eating a tub of ice cream on the couch ashamed to take my shirt off. And if you are happy just how you are then GOOD! Disregard
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