20 Years of Struggle

Like many of you who start and stop, who yo-yo, who gain and lose weight, motivation, etc., I have struggled for the past 20 years. Somewhere between my early years and now, I must have fluctuated 45 lbs. several times. I'm the type of person to need just a touch of motivation, then I'm on my way. But, I'm also the type of person to burn-out, get bored, peak out, and plateau. So, I've bounced between these two extremes for a long time. Diet and exercise, for me, is a direct indicator of my current status. If I eat well and am active, I'm good. I look good, I feel good, I'm balanced, I have energy. And when I eat awfully and am sedentary, I'm awful. I look awful, I feel awful, I'm tilted, and I'm lazy. Man, it's frustrating just to trace the years and the pictures of myself through them.

As a child, I was extremely active. I grew up in the early days, when it was safe to play outside all day and night. We had many kids in the neighborhood, and depending on the sports season, we literally would play sports and games from sunrise to "when the street lights turned on". The street lights were our alarm to go home. All told, we played from 8-10 hours a day, with no sunscreen, no water breaks, no special shoes or toys. We just used a ball and a bat, a football, or a basketball and played for what seemed like forever. We did that throughout the whole year. No injuries, no soreness, no fatigue. Just play...and repeat. With respect to food, I don't even remember what I used to eat. All I know is that it was awful, by today's standards. I think I grew up on cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, soda, ice cream, doughnuts, burgers, and hot dogs. The "All-America" diet, I suppose. And I mentioned previously, it didn't matter. I was still quick, fast, light, and active...and best of all, very happy indeed.

In high school, it was more of the same. I played sports throughout, was very active, worked out 3-5 hours a day, and had the same diet as I had as a child. Our pre-game meal was at McDonald's - Big Mac, Large Fries, and a Large Coke. Our post-game meal was a large pizza at Round Table. Note we didn't have Sports Drinks, Energy Bars, and the like. We were never taught anything about sports nutrition. But, it didn't matter. I was still quick, fast, light, and active...and still, very happy indeed.

In college and shortly after, I started to make better eating choices. I started doing some research on food and sports nutrition, because I started coaching. I shared some of my ideas with my players, modified what they ate, and saw some improvements in many of my players. Guys trimmed down, ran faster and longer, and generally performed better. I was practicing and playing along with them, and with an improved diet, I felt a huge performance increase as well. Now, I was quick, fast, light, and active...and I did it with a better diet.

A few years out of college, I started the yo-yo. Balancing a high-tech engineering career with coaching was tough. It was hard to be in two places at once, and spend the amount of time I had in the past to do a good job in both. Something had to give, and that something was my diet and my fitness. At work, cookies and soda were given at every training, every meeting, and always left out in the break room. Lunches and dinners were extravagant, and travel involved late night dinners, fast food, and generally unhealthy options. I got married, we had kids, and I got swept up big time, and started a path to 45 lbs. over my ideal weight. An accumulated series of small events led to this extreme path. I see pictures of myself at that time, and I literally can't recognize myself.

Then, I had enough. Some of my more active friends were running, biking, and swimming and I figured I might as well try. I'm a good athlete underneath this 45 lb. load, so let me give it a shot. I remember joining the gym and doing my first spinning class in a long while. I about died in the first 20 minutes. But, it started a path back to my ideal weight. I ended up losing 45 lbs., racing in a few triathlons, running several 10Ks, and cycling a few centuries (100 mile rides). My diet was good, not great, because you really need to carbo-load (or so I was told) when you're going that hard. In any case, I felt great, I was active, I had my balance, and I looked like my old self.

And now, I've yo-yo'd yet again. Maybe not to the 45 lb. extreme that I did before, but I've swung about 20 lbs. back and forth over the past few years. I know it's not healthy to yo-yo, but it just happens that way for me. My metabolism is much slower now, and my diet is very clean. But, it seems like I have to work 10x as hard to get 1x the result.

For the rest of my days, I'm committed to an active lifestyle and a very clean diet. It's not easy to do, and even more-so, not easy to keep committed over the long haul. But, this time, I not only want to do this for my health and happiness, but for other people as well. You see, that gentlemen in Las Vegas, who I wanted to help...he was my inspiration. I want to help others in their personal journey towards health and happiness. I can't believe I didn't find it sooner. I love to coach and teach, and yet I've struggled to search for health and happiness through an active lifestyle and a healthy diet. The cross of the two is my new passion. And this 20 year struggle is the template.