Since I started down the road of a healthier lifestyle I’ve pondered all the reasons why I decided to make a change, and what changes I needed to make. I think if I break down my life in a decades sort of way some of my mindset might make sense.
Decades 1 & 2:
Commonly referred to as childhood and entering adulthood. The biggest thing here was growing up on the Pacific Rim for the first 5 years of my life. Typical Asian diet, high in rice, fish and veggies (yuck!). I was never “pudgy”, over weight, sporting a spare tire, and, in fact, was the skinny kid with no muscle definition and easy to pick on. This included the next 5 years living in Alaska, skiing, skating, doing everything outdoors. At age 10 we moved to the greater Seattle area and my lifestyle continued on as normal – outside all the time, in the woods, riding bikes, etc. My range from home was about a 10 mile radius and I could be found anywhere outside of 2 miles from home any day of the week and I Often rode to school (16 miles for Jr. High).
I turned 17 part way through my Senior Year in High School, was still extremely active, weighed 145 lbs and was 6’ 2” tall on graduation day. I was on a pure see food diet. If I saw it, I ate it (mostly). Including an extra large pizza + 2L Dr Pepper by myself for dinner. I found myself in college, still 6’2” and 145 lbs. My 3rd year in College I joined the Navy ROTC unit (no scholarship = no commitment) and during that year went from 145 lbs to 185 lbs – most of it muscle bulk. Because of some life challenges I dropped out of college and NROTC.
Decade 3:
At the ripe young age (joke) of 23 I joined the Marine Corps and shipped off to boot camp. I was already a father of one, still single and still 185 lbs. Boot camp was 3 months long and I had a blast through 99% of it. We were weighed and measured each month. My weight at entry was 187 lbs, 30 days was 174 lbs, 60 days was 184 lbs and graduation day I was 196 lbs. Still no sign of abs showing but I had that nice tapered look, a lot of endurance and a lot of strength without being bulked out. For the next 13 years I stayed at 196 lbs (+/- 2 lbs). No special fitness program, eating mostly healthy but introducing more and more processed foods into my habits. Ended up having another daughter when I was 25, then met and married my wife when I was 29.
Decade 4:
Right at the beginning our son was born. I’m still 196 lbs and would remain there for another couple of years. I have made the transition from electronics to software and am finding my self more and more in a seated position. I ended up taking a contract that had me travelling for 3 months, rarely home, and eating 3-4 meals/day at Dennys, Sharis, Village Inn, etc. I blossomed to 225 lbs! And then stayed there for the next 7, almost 8 years. Still no fitness program, my outdoor activities are almost extinct and I am sitting in front of a computer way too long each day.
It was just after the mid-point of this decade that our son was diagnosed with Type-I Diabetes. Talk about a wake up call. And since he was 14, changing eating habits was not a simple thing for him. I started into learning about nutrition, carbs, the effects of carbs on the body, etc. I started getting a glimpse into how poisoned our food chain is and was disgruntled. But not enough to totally change.
Decade 5:
This is where we start down the road of becoming empty nesters. Yay us! But wait – or is that weight! We can’t do what we were once able to do. Well crap. Guess we better poke at this fitness thing for a few years. Started learning about the gym, cardio, the disagreements between bulk and lean minded folks, read 2 or 3 magazines and dumped those quick. And through all this research steadily packed on about 0.5 lbs each month until I was at 240 lbs!
For me personally, I HATE CHEMICALS THAT HUMANS PUT IN THEIR BODIES WILLINGLY. That include aspirin, ibuprofen, chemistry set vitamins (One-a-day, Centrum, et al). While I am not 100% au natural, I strive for that. My vitamins and supplements (cal-mag, Co-Q10, etc) are 100% certified natural, Halal, Kosher and are pharmaceutical grade. The fields all of the plants are raised on are certified 100% organic. Just think that through for a few minutes.
After poking, injuring ourselves we started making some gains. What I can attribute my weight gain to is sitting still for too long (decades), hormonal balance changing due to aging, and not really watching my diet. Still not much to watch there though as the habits we formed are still serving us well. But, as I was saying, my wife and I were making progress. I was down from 240 lbs to 218 lbs in 4 months. But I was plateaued at 218 lbs. Then I tore my back and was out of doing pretty much anything for 4 months. And over that 4 months I went back up to 230 lbs.
Now, my wife and I are on a body definition program. We are in our 3rd week and I am down to 221 lbs. I was looking at this number and realized that my plateau is one week away. But so far, this program has been more consistent, or should I say, I’ve been more consistent and I am hoping I’ll just go right through 218 lbs and keep going until I hit somewhere around 200 lbs.
My Goals:
I’m not going to go into a lot of details here. This is where I will be bullet pointing my goals, and if they are struck through that means I’ve attained that goal. And all of these are health & fitness related.
Quit smokingWeight: 230 lbs- Weight: 220 lbs (almost there!)
- Weight: 210 lbs
- Weight: 200 lbs
- Weight: 195 lbs (+/- 3 lbs)
- Physically fit and limber
- Lose the “gut”
- Better energy throughout the day
- Lean & mean (fit) Marine body
- A hint of six-packs
- Broad shoulders, narrow waist
- Fit into my Dress Blues that I was married in
- Extend my life (hard to measure)
- Still be alive when DNA life extension programs arrive – and partake
- Still be alive when DNA age reversal programs arrive – and partake
And there we are…
