The Story

It all began with the understanding that I couldn’t continue to live the way I was going. Doctors telling me I am pre-diabetic. The scale and bathroom mirrors becoming my nightmare. I finally decided to do something about it…for the second time in my life now.

Covid was undoubtably terrible, but if one good thing came out of it personally it was that it forced me to stop drinking so much and made it impossible to go out to eat. It also afforded more free time for exercise with everyone being sent home and remote work becoming available for me. With these three things in mind I decided it would be the “easiest” time in my life to try and shed all the weight I had gained after leaving the military. The real “coming to Jesus” moment for me was after listening to David Goggin’s “Can’t Hurt Me” and realizing I was just one of those excuses makers.

I tried everything at first. Bought a Total Gym for the house. Wanted to do an ultra marathon. All the diet regimens - vegan, carnivore, keto, intermittent fasting, etc. Without really knowing which one helped the most the weight did eventually come off, but I suspect it was mostly due to my one consistent thing across all the diets of counting calories along with eventually working up to 30, 40, and a few 50 mile total running weeks. The weight loss I desired happened and I was lauded by family and friends.

Then I went soft.

To the right is a pic of me now….

BUT, after getting some blood work done and finding out that I have pre-diabetes and am basically ruining by body and therefore my future self, I have decided to do it again. And do it right this time i.e. keeping the weight off because I’m going to make real lifestyle changes. I am rededicating myself to fitness AND my family both of which my relationships with have been eroding.

The SPARK came from the misses when I first started mentioning I wanted to lose weight again and that I needed “rewards” as I hit weight milestones. She said “how about new tattoos?” I was immediately hooked! Then when discussing with a friend who has recently gotten into skydiving (which has weight limits…another terrible consequence of being so big is missing out on things due to weight limits), my ultimate weight goal was set at 230 lbs and a reward of him taking me skydiving with him!

This blog is my journey. For record keeping, journaling, feelings, and to keep me honest as I go. I am just your everyday guy/husband/father/human navigating this life. In the blog I will share my daily weight, workout, routine, and feelings. Follow the blog if you are interested in seeing me succeed (or fail?).