You’ve been thinking a lot lately about getting back into shape. That waistline is slowly becoming a large, gelatinous mass and you can feel that extra weight dragging you down, both mentally and physically.
You want to get into shape, look better and feel better, but you’re tired, full of excuses, and procrastinating the hell out of making the change to your lifestyle. You know it’s not gong to be easy to replace your evening couch visit with some not-so fun cardio but deep down you know it’s what you should be doing.
A Call For Change
You have probably tried to get back into the gym or start some form of exercise program many times over the past 5 or 10 years. All of which have ended up with you giving up because either you didn’t see the results you wanted, got busy with life, got bored, or just stopped giving a shit.
All are valid reasons but all are nothing more than excuses. But I’m not here to beat you up because you have quit a half dozen times. No, I’m here to tell you why you need to start again and keep on going.
When I was at my lowest point about a year and a half ago, I was a fucking mess. I was recently separated from my wife of 8 years and was only seeing my two daughters every weekend. I missed them so much and I chose to drown my sorrows in a sea of Red Bull, Taco Bell, Sam Adams, and tear jerking movies (think Kramer vs Kramer).
I beat myself up as much as I could and wallowed in sorrow and misery for many months. I lost sight of who I was as a person and stopped caring about most everything. I was a shell of a person and had almost given up on being happy.
Almost.
What stopped me from falling down into a further spiral of depression was a not so subtle reminder from a friend of mine. She flat out told me that not only was I feeling sorry for myself and acting like a wet sack of shit, but I was doing a terrible injustice to my beautiful daughters.
The fact that they had to see their dad in a sad, lonely, and pathetic state wasn’t fair to them. My friend reminded me that they not only deserved to see their dad happy, but needed to.
It hit me hard and I knew that she was exactly right. I was being completely selfish and it was not healthy for me or my daughters.
So I changed. Immediately.
What Will It Take To Get You Off Your Ass?
Think about your children for a moment. There is nothing in the world more precious to you than them, I know.
And while you may not be (I hope not) in a deep, dark shitty place like I was, you may be in some form of rut of your own. Maybe you are struggling at work, hate your boss, feel trapped in a unrewarding career, have relationship problems, or are dealing with financial stress.
All of these are extremely common and it’s even more common for men to suck it up and deal with them then best way we know how; by sweeping it all under the rug and hoping it will go away.
It won’t. Believe me.
When shit gets heavy, one of the biggest areas of your life that is neglected is your health. When you are dealing with personal struggles and stress, you may not think it affects anyone other than you, but it absolutely does.
Now you may be thinking that walking around with a 30 pound beer belly isn’t hurting anyone, but I disagree. Being out of shape plays a big part in your attitude, confidence, and outlook on life and you may not even realize it.
More specifically, it will affect how your children view the world because they are seeing it through your actions. Do you want them to think it’s OK to be unhappy all the time? Do you want them to see their father grumpy and tired all the time? Kids are full of life and as a father, you should want to teach them that life is meant to be enjoyed and that personal happiness is an extremely important part of life.
So I will ask you to really think about this the next time you sit down for a plate of wings and a 3 hour broadcast of NFL GameDay.
Seriously. Your children need to see you full of life and living the way both you and they deserve; happy.
“… waistline become a large, gelatinous mass and you can feel that extra weight dragging you down….”
Yup, totally there.
Yup, time to do something about it.
Yup, got off the couch and jogged-walked 10k today.
And decided to try, yet again, to give up soda pop. It’s only been a few hours, and I’m already cranky, irritable, and depressed.
Soda is a brutally difficult to give up. I went through some serious Dr. Pepper withdrawals and it sucks! Good for at least getting off the couch and getting some moving done. As far as the soda, why not just cut it down to 50% to start? Cold turkey may be too much if your addiction is bad.
I broke down and had a glass of cola at supper. But only one, instead of two or three! I think you’re right, this time around the “cold turkey” approach isn’t going to work. If, in my mind, I know that I’ll be able to alleviate the craving in the late afternoon or early evening, I’ll be able to make it through the day without it. Of course, we’ll see how that’s panning out at the end of this coming work-week….
You’re already setting yourself up for failure by saying “we’ll see how that’s panning out”.
Dude, you can just choose to do it. Yes, it will fucking suck for a few days or a week at most, but then it’s over. Drink a ton of water every day while you’re doing this.