Winning By Losing

While the determined Sladed spent his Saturday at the desert in a 102.5-mile bike race, I participated in my own athletic challenge. Sladed burned 4,500 calories in his 6-hour 52-minute race; which is pretty good. But I bet I burned 10 percent of that today when I swam one mile, biked 6 miles (or 15% of Sladed’s achievement) and began to run two miles before getting a debilitating cramp in my calf. Sladed is training for an Ironman Triathlon and I’m conducting a Wussathlon.

Please don’t misunderstand, I am pushing my body further than I have since 70 pounds ago, but I much farther to do. Still, I am constantly amazed at how far the body can be pushed in the first place. Six months ago I couldn’t walk for 15 minutes on a treadmill and now, barring nasty cramps, I can usually run – with some walking – three miles on a treadmill. And I can swim up to 2.5 miles in a workout where I could barely swim 1,000 yards last May.

A lot of what I have been able to do is the direct result of watching Sladed continue to push his body to new and amazing limits. If I didn’t have him as an example, I am not sure I would have been as aggressive at testing the limits of my own body. So, I thank him for leading by example.

The interim news of my efforts is all good, too. Back in April, I finally had enough of my huge gut and poor health. I began a program that was something like the Biggest Loser TV show and lost 14 pounds in six weeks, dropping my weight from 246 to 232. I learned to make better choices in the food I put in my body and, as important, I began to exercise more regularly and more vigorously.

Since then, I am exercising on average 5-6 days each week and, while my diet has slipped some, I am still eating much better and much less. I now weigh 214 pounds, a loss of 32 pounds, and have the goal to be under 200 pounds by the end of the year. This also happens to have been my New Year’s resolution that I had no real belief I could keep. I wasn’t even sure I would try all that hard to fulfill the resolution.

My doctor even likes the results as my most recent blood test reveals that I am no longer technically a diabetic, my blood pressure is actually a bit low so my medication has been cut back, my cholesterol is also low, and a lot of the ailments that used to plague me no longer occur. In short, I feel marvelous.

As I am sure Sladed would concur, regular training and regular focus on diet leads the body and the mind to accept this as your normal lifestyle. Something clicks at some point that almost seems like a compulsion, but I am sure it is just the body settling into a routine. I think the routine can be fragile as I have been in this kind of shape before; about the time that Bill died. His death likely contributed to knocking me off course and, once you begin to slip, it’s such a slippery slope.

And I guess that’s the message that you, the reader, were likely looking for. Weight loss, or anything that requires such concentration, is a full time job and so difficult to keep up with each and every day – especially when tasty ginger snaps or gummy cinnamon bears are within reach. But I am thankful that I have Sladed around to set an example and the support and encouragement of my family to continue with this very worthwhile endeavor. Thank you to you all.