Julie and I arrived home three nights ago after an amazing two weeks in Croatia (which I highly recommend for anyone looking for a beautiful place to go). I’m tired, I’ve had a miserable weekend because I caught a cold on the flight home but I’m also incredibly happy. The honeymoon showed me just how much I love her and how wonderful our life together will be. However, since this is a health and fitness blog and not a marriage blog, let me focus on a couple of thoughts that occurred to me while I was gone.
First of all, my choices are no longer mine alone. In the past, if I wanted to eat poorly and not exercise that was my choice and the consequences were mine and mine alone. That’s no longer true. My health is now Julie’s concern as well, especially when we’re talking about kids and a future together. The consequences of my choices are hers as well as mine. This is difficult for some people to accept and I can see why. It’s not easy to take responsibility for another person, to be accountable for what they do and to allow your own actions to be dictated in part by them. In effect, it means I’ve abdicated some control of my body, my decisions and my choices to her, just as she’s done for me. That’s a lot to accept but I accept it willingly because it’s part of our commitment.
Second, being married doesn’t just bring additional responsibility, it also brings additional motivation. During our honeymoon we went hiking, sailing, swimming and walking. It was wonderful and I’d like to continue doing that for many years to come. Furthermore, I want to be able to do all of these things with my kids as they grow up. I’m coming into this whole fatherhood thing a bit old (I’m 37) so it’s doubly important for me to keep healthy and in shape. I want to show my kids how to play ball, go hiking with them, pick them up and do all the things that my dad did with me. It’s going to be difficult to do that in my 40′s and 50′s if I don’t stay fit.
And Now The Sad Truth
Unfortunately, the month or two leading up to this point were not so good for my health. Wedding preparations, cramming at work to finish everything before I leave, endless meals, bachelor parties (I had two) and the wedding itself (not to mention two weeks of lounging on a Croatian beach sipping pina coladas) have left me a bit out of shape. In fact, I’ve lost much of the progress I’ve made on both the weight front and the marathon training. My weight is back up to a very high level (235) and I feel like I can hardly walk, much less run (which probably has more to do with my cold than my actual physical shape.
In the past, I would be upset with myself for backsliding like this. Now though I see that this is exactly why I work so hard on my weight and general health. For me, it’s the same as saving money. I save money not so I can have it in the bank but so I can spend it when I need it. The same applies to health. I work on being healthy so I don’t need to worry about it when it comes to a once in a lifetime occasion like a marriage and a honeymoon. I know I can get right back to being healthy and I know the harm done during these two months is fine considering how healthy I am in general. So no, I’m not upset with myself for eating a bit too much. However, with my new responsibility and motivation, I’m planning to get right back into shape!
The Plan
I have set myself a range of two week goals. Each two week period will include a new modification to my routine, allowing me to slowly adjust my life back to its healthy course. Each two week period will also have some goals to meet around weight, workouts, running and strength. The overall goal is to get to 190lbs and marathon shape by February or March of next year. That’s a bit later than I was hoping for but hey.
First period
Plan for the next two weeks is:
- No drinks other than water
- No sweets other than fruit (no dried fruit either)
- No beef
- Three runs per week
- Three weights workouts per week
Goals
- 1 hour run at 5.5mph
- 1 set of bench press at 255
- weight 230lbs
A Few Notes
- I’m tracking each of these goals in a spreadsheet to see how well I’m doing. I firmly believe that the act of measuring something, especially every day, makes you more accountable and helps you stick to a commitment. I will continue measuring these until I believe that they have become a lifelong habit and no longer need as much attention.
- Getting in shape is only one of my goals. You can read about the others on my other blog, Equally Happy.
- Big thank you to Gretchen Rubin of the Happiness Project for inspiring the idea of periodic goals and measured tasks in her year long quest for happiness.
- Am I going back to the 4 hour body diet? Yes, but slowly. This time period I’m going to give up sweets. Next time period I’ll probably cut out the breads. I will definitely use the cheat day idea though and plan on having a cheat day every two weeks assuming I meet my goals.
- Why cut out beef? Because the time when I was healthiest coincided with the time that I ate the least amount of meat. Is there a direct correlation? Probably some. I tend to eat too many calories in the form of burgers so this should help me cut down a bit.
- Am I still going to go forward with the marathon at the end of this year? Probably, but it will depend on how I’m feeling.
