A 365-Day Transformation?

On days such as this (my birthday), I find it hard not to evaluate the year that was, and the potential of the year to come. Unfortunately - and only due to a result of my own efforts - I haven't seen much progress in the health & fitness arena since I turned 27 last year. But I'll get back to this in a second...

The rest of my life, however, has changed quite a bit! Back in September of last year I married my wife and best friend, and in March I started my first, official full-time job in downtown Chicago (after a few years of freelance/part-time gigs). Even scored a new car last month! Just about every other aspect of my life has improved since my last birthday. So why not this last part?

Now don't get me wrong - this isn't me lamenting about how bad my life is AT ALL. I am so happy for all the blessings I have received between 8/6/2011 and 8/6/2012 and I wouldn't go back and do a single thing differently. As far as weight loss goes, the past is the past - and now it's time to only look at today and set goals for this next year of my life.

My primary verse for the next 365 days

I'm a big fan of Chris Powell and his show Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition on Sunday nights. Instead of a 'ranch' format of group training a la Biggest Loser, he takes on a client one-on-one for an entire year to completely transform them. Now I'm not looking to lose half of my body weight (thankfully I haven't let myself go THAT much), but I am going to aim for my goal weight by my birthday next year - so I have 365 days to do so.

So beginning tomorrow, I will weigh myself, take pictures and measurements and establish my official "starting (over)" position. More details will come in tomorrow's post pertaining to my plan on how I will approach the next 365 days.

Let me know what things have worked for you that you think I should include in my plan!

90-Day Fitness Challenge - Day 3

It's Day #3 and already I'm so excited to see the progress I can make over these three months! I've already achieved a milestone today - my wife and I went out for breakfast and I made a healthy choice! Even though Panera Bread lists the calories of each item on the wall (which is an amazing idea), I researched their breakfast options ahead of time online and already chose what I wanted before I got there! I wound up having a ham and egg sandwich on whole grain bread - only 340 calories. Yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself - didn't even look at the donuts and other pastries!

Anyway, in today's challenge, Phil & Amy stress the idea of making yourself a priority:

"As children we dream of what we're going to do or be when we grow up. As we get older we have so much to do that sometimes our dreams get lost in the shuffle. Don't let this happen to you. Realize that taking time for you is a good thing.... Block out at least three to four times a week for exercise. Put it in your calendar and organize your day around this time. You have to find the time to make working out a priority. It just might save your life."

I'll be honest, putting myself first is not part of my nature. I find it important to care for and love those around me before I think about what I want to do. Well, I may think about what I want to do, but I'll mostly just default to what they want to do or to their schedule. Probably not the best approach...

For that reason I've started getting up around 6:00am and heading into the gym before work. That way, I get my "me time" in bright and early and can still spend all night with my wife after getting home from work! So far it's been working out really well - especially since we're usually in bed and asleep between 10:30 and 11.

Three days down, 87 to go!