So here we are again, getting our lives back in order.
Holiday season madness over. New years resolutions long forgotten, as we roll
through the second week of February. And all I can think is, cot damn I’ve
gotten fat again. Circumstances change, life events happen, supermarkets have
bacon sales and home depot is just giving away deep fryers… I’m just saying
I decided there is no more perfect time than now to stop
procrastinating, and to get back in shape. Not as a temporary fix this time
around. This time would be different. No fad diets, no diet pills, no crazy
supplement stacks- fattening the pockets of Vitamin Shoppe, as I order like
“supplies”, Like Diana flipping through Nail polish color swatches. This time I
wanted to take an all-encompassing approach. An approach that would treat all
of my ailments and heal my entire mind, body, and soul.
Funny how god works:
So Im outside of my house, working on my car. Plumper’s
crack (Yes I meant plumper not plumbers hehe) on full exposure, sweat trickling
down my brow, when my man Ron rolls up on me like “hey ninja, whatcha doing?”
Working on the mistress I replied, probably with the look of puzzlement as to
why the previous owner had not hooked up the washer fluid hoses, from the
washer fluid bottle, to the sprayers…..oh, cause they cut the wires somewhere
along the line and the pump prob isn’t working….sorry, I digress.
Ron goes on to tell me that he’s headed to this fitness spot
he had found on groupon and was about to get an alignment with their chiropractor,
as well as, follow up with their nutritionist. I had been “looking” and I use
the term loosely, looking for both. I though about it for a minute, at which point
Ron promptly suggested I roll with him and do a consultation to see If it were
some where I’d be interested in going. One-stop shopping I thought, why not. I
could see the Chiro, nutritionist, Physical Therapist, and personal trainer, as
well as, the massage therapist and acupuncturist all in the same office! No
Brainer. I locked up the car, we walked to the train, and were off.
Short Back Ground:
While living in Australia in 2011, I took full advantage of
not having to work. I focused strictly on my health and wellness. I worked out
at the gym 3 to 4 days per week, I took 2 kick-boxing classes per week, and an
aerobics class twice a week. I also joined a full pads traveling football team
named the Melbourne Uni Royals (search: Gridiron, Royals - for pics and posts).
I rode my mountain bike everywhere as our only mode of transportation, short of
taxi’s, trains, and Antwan…..lol. I had nothing but time on my hands and I made
the best use of it by working my ass off damn near everyday. I ate clean,
challenged myself to extreme cleanses, month long sobriety, and even a stint at
vegetarianism. I wanted to see if I could be disciplined. I wanted to come back
to the states and not have to use any excuses for why I wasn’t in top form,
moreso a tangible, physical backing to what the FcUk I was doing all day if I
wasn’t working. Every mode of weight loss I tried worked. I also plateaued a few
times, but ultimately I lost about 40lbs in the roughly 5 months or so I was
working out.
My normal football #59 wasn't available, so I flipped it.
looking slimmer here, at around 245lbs
Injured reserve:
I mentioned before about total wellness, a focus on my mind,
body, and soul. If you didn’t know, I’m accident prone, like get lost in the
desert, fall down a sand dune, slice my wrist open, walk out of said desert,
and make my way to the hospital to stitch up the open wound, covered in dust
and stripper glitter type of accident prone (true story)…. I digress again.
In short, some of the ailments that I deal with everyday are
bipartite patella – google it. My left arm was severed almost completely in a
series of unfortunate events back in college, leading to complications with my
left hand. I have two herniated disk and sciatica issues due to a work incident
in 2012 (after returning from Australia), and most recently had a partial
severe of my left middle finger, which left me outta work from March to October
last year (2013).
Fast Forward:
After my initial consultation, I couldn’t have been more
excited about heeding Ron’s recommendation to join him. I set up appointments
for the appropriate services and so begun my journey.
Needless to say consistent exercise hasn’t been the easiest
lifestyle change to maintain. That is until now. My most major changes from any
approach I’ve ever taken, is that now, I am asking for help. I am making best
use of the resources around me. I see a chiropractor and do physical
therapy/personal training three (3) times per week. I have a nutritionist, and
a massage therapist that I see weekly. Additionally, I workout on my own on the
days in between appointments. Diet wise, adding organic foods, cutting down on
sugar, eliminating or not as many bacon posts on facebook. No more Butter,
portion control, and no more eating late. When I say late, I’m talking our
normal dinner time was about 9-9:30.
Please stay tuned. And please comment and offer your
encouragement, suggestions, critiques, and criticisms!! Last time I saw a bunch
of you after all was said and done, and you guys were like I loved your posts.
You were so brave to put it all out there and what you said and did was so
helpful… blah blah blah…this time around say that shit in a couple comments.
Feels like I’m talking to my mac sometimes lol. So, Join me on my journey as I
take a wholesome approach to Health and Wellness in 2014 till forever.
One of my new best friends. Meet Mr. Alter_G
low impact treadmill = no excuses, run fat boy run!
