call it what you will..I choose now.

Now.

I am done being overweight.
So I choose now.
I have knocked my calories back to 1400 and am doing two workouts a day...
one in the morning and one in the evening.
I will deal with moderation when I get to my goal.
Till then, screw moderation.
It seems to be code for f*cking off.

This was day 2.
You know what...it's a lot more motivating when  you are moving forward..
Then it is when you are going in circles trying to talk yourself out of commiting because
you quote, "want to be able to do this the rest of your life."

Do what..
maintain mediocrity?
I can 'do this the rest of my life' when I get to goal weight.

People can call it crazy, or extreme or whatever..
Call it what you will.
I choose to do the hard work now.
I choose to suffer in the short run so I can win in the long run.

as Mohammed Ali once said:

"I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting. When I feel pain, that’s when I start counting, because that’s when it really counts."

When you push past where  you are now, and push through the pain..You realize that all that time you have sat at a certain point...you were capable of so much more. 
I am better than where I am now. I am capable of more.

I choose now.

Chris out.

Want to lose weight? Try simple

Hey guys...
As I have said before,  I am back on track and moving forward..will post my next loss on September 1rst.

As you all know, I started out morbidly obese. 

I lost weight for the first few months by limiting my calories to 1800 calories and walking a mile a day.

Too simple?

No dissection of calories and carbs and proteins and the benefits of weight lifting etc.

No.

Because when and if you are morbidly obese...the idea of eating salads, yogurt...attending a gym where most of the women are the size of your thigh holds all the appeal of an interrogation by the stazi. 

I saw two ladies this week who were well over 400 pounds.

One was in her car in the parking lot of the px on post.

She was eating a big mac and a extra large soda..

Her body squeezed  behind the steering wheel, it was cutting into her stomach.

She looked miserable.

I remember sitting in my car and eating.

And feeling a temporary relief accompanied with shame and misery.

You get to the point where you feel hopeless..

That it's 'too late'.

She had that look.

The look of the condemned.

I wanted to say something..but knew if I had been in her position, it would have just made me feel humiliated and hurt.

So I didn't say anything.

The second lady was walking to her car after getting off her shift from Charlie's steakery.

Watching her walk across the parking lot slowly...I remembered that pain shooting up through the bottom of my feet...

How every step felt like a red hot poker..

And I was about 150 pounds less than this lady when I started.

the pain she was in...I can't even conceive.

When you are that big...and you have that large of a hill to climb.

Don't worry about the details.

Start simple.

Stick to it..
And in a month or two if you feel you need to eliminate something..or add something...do it then.

When you have success under your belt and you are beginning to have faith in yourself again.

Till then keep it simple.
And know that it is possible.
You are not condemned to spend the rest of your life in pain.

Just commit and begin.
Hugs,
Chris

The number one way to avoid regret

I have been doing very well for the last month. I have been controlling my food, I have been exercising and I have lost four pounds.  That is good. 
I have also been listening to one of my favorite motivational speeches over and over and over again.
It's by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
 It's a speech which contains his rules for success...
And every time I listen to it, there is one rule that makes me tear up.
Every.Single.Time.
It's rule number 5.

Work your butt off...

Live leaving no stone unturned.

Live
Leaving
No
Stone
Unturned.

That's it, isn't it?

That is where nearly everything we ever regret has come from.

It isn't failure.

It's what we have failed to even attempt.
And if it is a failure, it's the lack of effort in the try.

Who regrets giving it their all and falling short?

I have never heard a person say: "Boy, do I regret giving it my all."

I HAVE heard people say..."If only I'd have tried harder."
or
"If only I hadn't  quit when I did...I might have made something of myself."

Whether it was the military.
or college
or a run.
or a marriage.

Or a more recent, personal example...

I have made a good friend who is an optimist.
I have always considered myself a 'realist'.

Well, we were at a water park...waiting in line for a water slide.
It was a very popular water slide..and when they closed it down because of lightening-
a bunch of people left (realists most likely).
Leaving us very near the front of the line.

We waited...and waited...for nearly 30 minutes.
The storm didn't look like it was going anywhere.
I advised us to leave and look for a different ride.
She wanted to stay, so we stayed..along with 5 kids.

In 15 minutes it opened..and we were at the front of the line.

How many times had I done that to myself?
Told myself that I was being realistic...when in reality I was simply quitting?

That little nagging voice in the back of my head...
saying...
"Did you really give it all you had?"

IF you have that voice and you can't give a declarative YES!...you didn't.

Because when you have given it all you have...you KNOW.

When you leave everything right there.
you know.

When you have lived leaving no stone unturned...

tried every avenue..

Gone to muscle failure.

Gone after your dream.

Gotten to the end of your rope, wove more rope...then got to the end of that rope as well...In an attempt to save your family, your business or your own life.
You know.

The tragedy is not giving it all you have and failing..

The tragedy is  failing to try, and then attempting to excuse it,
 and in the end knowing, ultimately, that you have failed only yourself.

Live leaving no stone unturned
and regret will just be a word in a dictionary.
Not your reality.

That is what I am doing.
Chris out.