My Insane battle with fitness....

This past Christmas my wife asked me if I would do Insanity with her...I was reluctant, but for her I decided to give it a go...

I must admit, working out indoors is tough....my gym is outdoors....but that was not the hardest part for me...
The most challenging part was working out with someone else near me...who wanted to have a conversation...for any athlete if you can talk than you are not working hard enough!

I know there are times when it is easy and you can talk...but, man, to the whole time.....

My wife would ask me a question that required thought and attention to detail that did not pertain in the least to working out...For instance, "what color should we pain the girls room?" What kind of question is that during an intense workout like insanity?
"I don't know, whatever color of the carpet because my face is planted on it...."

Working out is the only time I can focus on a task and accomplish it and not be bothered by anything else. This was awkward at first, but I enjoyed having my wife next to me and helping her achieve a goal.

Insanity was hard for us to stay with, and we really did not change our diet so the weight did not shed quickly, but I did begin to build muscle. However I noticed because of my travel that I was eating very poorly...with a lot of stops at fast food restaurants...

Don't get me wrong...I enjoy these places...until I begin to think about what I am really putting into my body...it's not the most nutrient dense food.

I started to look for shake meal replacements...I am not the slim fast or drink your way to health kind of guy., but since I am on the road a lot I thought it would be a better alternative.

Well the stuff I bought was straight up nasty...honey didn't even make it better...so I went right back into eating whatever...

Shakeology at this time did not seem reasonable because of the price...

A few months later my wife talked to me about doing Les Mills Combat and a 90 day challenge.  I was reluctant at first because it was indoors and my goal of an iron man one day was fading...how could this help me get back into triathlons?

I started doing it and immediately enjoyed it! It brought me back to the days when I was He-Man & the Ninja Turtles! I Amos ready now to take on any MMA guy...just kidding....
Seriously though I really like the mix up do cardio and strengths training. A friend asked ,e why I liked this program, and being indoors....

I have 3 reasons...

1. I was able to enjoy it with my wife and watch her progress
2. I could see myself getting stronger and back into shape, which allowed me to smoke goals within the workout. (Example...making it through round 1 without stopping, or kicking higher and being more flexible)
3. When you train for MMA the mix of outdoor running and indoor is suited for this sports specific thing. My running became part of this program...where with Insanity it did not.

Also as part of this challenge I started on Shakeology...

After drinking shakeology 3 benefits happened...
1. My cravings for things like sugar, sodas, more coffee & sweet tea decreased
2. I felt full with fruit additions for two and a half to three hours...
3. I am able to go the route of nutrient dense foods in order to fuel my body for training.

I am not the guy to weigh food and count calories...rather I see food as fuel for the body and shakeology gives me ample amount of the nutrients that are missing from my daily intake...thereby satisfying and fueling my body...leading to a decrease in my portions.

I started three weeks ago to train for a half marathon...

It started out rough...but the Combat program and Shakeology gave me a strong enough base to start....I have to admit, I missed training for a race, and the feeling of training hard.  The real reason I get amped is because when I train I feel Gods pleasure (to quote Eric Lidell in Chariots of Fire)  I know he is with me in training and I know my family is as well.  I was only ever able to finish my half marathons because I would think of my wife, daughters, and sons...and the gift of Gods life to us...

My crown is not in the victory, but in the journey to the crown of eternal life.

My daughter asked me why I run...I run for HIM...I run for Mommy, I run for you and your brothers and sister...
I run because I can...
I run because it helps me to be a better man, son, husband, father...

The day that exercise & fitness stop doing that than I will stop because it would only be for me...and not for the good of my family and the glory of GOD.

I am thankful for my wife, for her pushing me to get started again. I am proud of her commitment and her gift of self she makes to our children and me every day.  I am thankful for the gift of my children and their funny comments as my wife and I work out!

I am very thankful for my parents and there constant help & support to me and my family.

I am most of all grateful for the gift of God and his life poured out for us, he loved us into existance and we are able to give because he gave himself first...

As I continue to train I will embrace the gift of life, I will embrace the times I feel awesome (when a 6 minute mile feels like a 9)...I will embrace the hard times (when I am injured and have to rest out)...

I will embrace EVERY moment as a gift for His greater GLORY!
AMDG,

Courtney

Never sacrifice the gift....Courtney's Story...part 1

My story begins when I was born....Just kidding!

Eight years ago I was about 35 pounds overweight and I was eating dinner. My wife is a great cook and I decided to have another serving of her delicious food...
As I made my way to the Kitchen my beautiful bride asked me a question...you know what that she already has the answer too....
"What are you doing?"
Sensing a bit of concern in the statement I responded with great joy and innocence.."I am getting more....

As I sat down my wife then tells me what is on her mind...that I am not healthy, that she is worried about my health...

My fork dropped...I was stunned..it dawned on me that her question was actually a lead in to this conversation that had been weighing on her heart...and me being the humble man I am explained.."I have gained weight because of your great food" (anyone who knows me and knows the ice cream story, understands that that I have a way with words...)....Besides a bigger me means more of you to love..."
Ok so I am kidding, maybe...
What really happened is I became defensive and started to make excuses saying...

I don't have time

I am not going to a gym, I hate to exercise inside

If I go to the gym all I do is lift a bunch of stupid dumbells, in order to look good...I already look good!

You will hate that I am not home!!!

The truth is that my wife was...right. I needed to get back into physical shape. I had one of those alien sicknesses that would not go away for 6 weeks. I had been in and out of the hospital twice.  I even had a spinal tap...

It was not a coincidance that a few days later a friend of mine asked me to do a Triathlon with him...He needed help on the swim and asked my help.
I have been a swimmer my whole life...I was pretty good too...but I missed national qualifications for five events by seconds and quit my senior year, never to touch competitive swimming again.

Therefor I immediately gave out a ton of excuses...you know...not enough time...I am too out of shape. (yet secretly I really wanted to...I had been wanting to do a Triathlon since high school) Thankfully my friend is really good at getting you pumped up...and he convince me to start training! Thanks Randy!

I am type A....so I bought a book, and began to train hard.  Within a week I was hooked. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed training...and pushing myself...
I also remembered how muchI loved the exhausted feeling after a workout...my friend thought it was crazy to see someone so pumped up about being tired...

The reality is I knew Why I was training...to attain a goal and pursue something that was beyond the immediate pain..

Before I knew it I began to set goals...to finish in the top 10, the top 3, to qualify for nationals...and I nailed each goal...

Then I decided I wanted to become pro...about that time we had our 3rd child...life with 3 was tough...all blessing...but tough... I slowly declined in my training...I went from 12-14 hours a week to 6-8...
Fast forward a few years...we had baby #4...and moved to Cincinnati...
I had only done 2 races in the past 3 years...at one I placed first in the Female Category...The other I got the flu the week before...and then we had record lows in temp....and I'm from the south...you picture the result...hypothermia...

When baby # 5 was born I was lucky to get in 3 hours of training a week.

So here we are 2013...In January I was up to a beastly 205...Ok maybe more like a puffy 205...

I was overweight for my height...and my metabolism was on the decline...Kelley had been begging me to start training again, and I kept throwing excuses at her.
NO time
NO Money

She responded..."just do a race to finish..."

The problem is I am too competitive for that ...I cannot just jump in a race and not compete...I am not a sore loser...I just want to give it everything I got...

At this time I felt as if I did not have a lot to give...

I live by this quote by Pre-Fontaine..."to not do your best is to sacrifice the gift" I leave nothing on the table...and the reason I do is because of our God who did the same thing for humanity....

My wife, my family leave give me so much...and I do the same for them...

Its not a fear of failure...its more the disappointment of falling out of the habit again...

You can't stop something you never start... 

So I started....

Stay tuned for the Insane journey in Part 2