Per my other post the other day, It’s Not an Obsession. It’s a Lifestyle!  I wanted to do a follow-up to what I wrote. My friend read it and said I sounded angry. She was right I was angry. I think I still am. My question is as a society we are considered very lazy, rightfully so, but if some of us take our training to “Ironman” level is this now not accepted either?

We have the majority of American’s who are out of shape who can’t walk a city block. They are helping to cause healthcare costs to go through the roof by not being active. Is this acceptable? Just go into a Walmart and you will see my point. I am not trying to be mean here. I really feel bad for people who can’t lose weight. I struggled with it from 1996-2008. I still struggle with it to this day. At my peak I weighed 217 pounds on January 1st, 2008. My ‘summer’ weight is around 165-170 and my ‘winter’ weight is about 175.

I fall into the category of someone who can’t diet. It’s not that I eat fast food, in fact I gave that up about ten years ago but, I don’t eat 100% healthy. If I really ate healthy then I wouldn’t have summer and winter weight.

If you are reading this and you struggle with your weight then I am going to be honest with you. It’s hard damn work! You have to want it! You have to be dedicated! You have to be honest with yourself and do something about it. You have to get up everyday and tell yourself the only easy day was yesterday. Keeping the weight off is a 12 month a year job. Sure we can yo-yo, most of us do but, you need to make a commitment to get down to your ideal weight and find a way to keep most of it off 12 months a year. I am all for putting on that 5-10 pounds in the winter so you give your body some rest but don’t lose all that weight and put it all back on.

By giving your body rest that doesn’t mean taking off a month. In fact I don’t recommend taking off more than a week or so. What I learned was if you aren’t feeling it just walk on the treadmill or go for a walk in general. Staying active helps out. Even walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes can help you burn off 1/2 your breakfast. It’s really important that you cross train. Find 2-3 sports that you like. In the winter where in the colder climates we don’t get to bike often I decided to take up Soccer. I am awful at the sport but since I am fast they like me out there.

Remember we are always busy. We always want to workout tomorrow. We set our alarm for 5 AM with the intention of going for the predawn run. What happens? You hit snooze so many times that you are now late for work. It take’s real dedication to get into shape and work towards your goals. It’s even harder to stay in shape.

On one side we have couch potatoes and on the other side we have these endurance athletes. What is balance? Whatever keeps you off the couch. For me it’s about doing what I love. We all love different things in life and for me I love to stay active and exercise. No one has the right to tell you what’s excessive when it comes to being active. I use to think doing a 100 mile run was insane, well I still do, but I want to do one someday. Why? Because it’s hard.

As mentioned in a previous post if it was easy everyone would do it. I want to do things that are extremely difficult. I want people to look at me and think I am a bit different. It’s because I am! You have to be a bit ‘odd’ to enjoy the suffering. Doing a full marathon, a 70.3 or 140.6 triathlon is ‘odd’. People don’t ever look at you the same way once you have accomplished something like this. What they see out of you is dedication.

I am very dedicated to staying in shape and racing 8+ times a year if my schedule allows it. But I also know I am dedicated to my son and knowing I won’t miss anything he is apart of. So if people want to call me ‘selfish’ or what I am doing is ‘over-the-top’ just remember you inspire me to train harder. You make that 4:20 AM daily alarm clock just a bit easier. Keep the inspirations coming. I will be busy training for my next race!