fargofargo :: my52dc

Didn’t get my run in yesterday like I had hoped.  I’ll be sure to do it today after I lift which is what I usually do.

I’ve never enjoyed lifting weights (until recently) so I avoided it.  I enjoyed running around playing basketball, soccer, ultimate-frisbee, I even boxed for years - but never did any weight training.

Then in college I got into a slump my junior / senior year where I ate garbage, drank way too much, and was very inactive - garbage in, no energy, no activity.  I put on a lot of weight.  After college I lost about 20 pounds and hovered around 230 - 250 for a couple years.  I was playing basketball in a league and over the lunch hour, but I had a large belly and skinny legs/arms.

In early 2006 I started losing weight once I quit my job.  No more lunches at the chinese buffet I think played a role there.  I was working outside on one of my properties and getting more active.  I went from 240 to 220 in a couple months.  Being lighter than I had been in years, I started to pay attention to what I ate.  A divorce and other life changing events increased stress and instead of eating garbage, I kept it fairly clean and dropped to 187 (probably more due to stress than super clean eating!).  That was November 2006.  Lighter than when I started college, but probably a ton weaker as well: skinny fat.

At that time I joined the YMCA and worked out for the first time since 1998 (a three month lifting program that saw good results, but then life just kind of got in the way).  I lifted on the machines three days a week and played basketball a couple times a week.  This lasted about two months and then I got real sick and moved.  It took me another two months to join a gym in my new place.  I did their program for three months (again good results) and then didn’t renew as summer started and I was enjoying the outdoors and getting busy.  I put on a some weight and lost my muscle.  In the fall of 2007 I started back up at my gym and got things going in the right track, then my new job started and my pants started getting tighter.  Frustrated that my lifestyle wasn’t working again and that I was neglecting my personal well being, I joined a gym closer to work and found out about the 52DC about six weeks before it started.  I worked out on the machines for six weeks and then the challenge started and I moved to free weights.  The 52DC was great - it gave me motivation, allowed me to track my progress, and didn’t allow me to think I was working out more than I actually was (this was the case before - mentally inflating numbers) - with the 52 Day Challenge I had stats letting me know where I was at and how I was doing.

Finished the 52DC and got sick.  Missed a couple weeks and then came back and continued to lift through the start of this challenge.  Didn’t eat as clean as I would have liked during the break and CTs dropped off the map.  So I’ve set some higher goals this challenge and intend to participate in any gap challenges that are set up to keep me focused.  This is the longest that I’ve continually worked out and maintained a healthy lifestyle.  I’m sitting at 195 which of course fluctuates.  Would like to get the bf% down and am planning a hyper diligent clean eats regiment starting the second half of this challenge (if it’s not logged in fitday - it doesn’t count!)  So there it is and that’s where I’m at.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 8:22 am and is filed under 52DC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.