If you’re looking to get into shape, and somebody tells you that you can take some magic supplement (besides steroids, or something illegal) that will have you shredded and in the best shape of your life within weeks is flat out lying to you. When you see people that are in physically great shape, they have put in a lot…let me say that again…Getting in shape is A LOT of hard work.
Falling Into Bad Habits Again
It’s been at least a couple of years now that I dropped about 40 pounds or so, and along the way I have gone through lots of ups and downs as far as fitness, staying motivated, eating right, etc. One thing I’ve definitely noticed is that I got to a certain point and then never progressed. Eventually, I started following into bad habits, and before long my three to four time gym routine turned into once per week, and then all of a sudden, a couple of months went by that I had missed the gym. I also fell into some old habits and began eating big ol’ burritos, overeating, and in just a snap I had put on an additional 15 pounds.
I think what happened was that I never saw myself progressing, and it kind of took the wind out of my sails. Instead of really taking a serious look in the mirror to ask myself ‘why am I not progressing,’ I just kind of ignored it. If I would have asked myself the question, the simple answer would have been that I wasn’t working hard enough. To achieve greatness, it’s hard…really, really hard, and up to this point I haven’t pushed myself that hard to see if I can achieve it. This goes with just about everything in life, but for the sake of this post, I’m going to focus strictly on health and fitness.
Greatness requires sacrifices, and there is no sacrifice without pain.
It’s Time to Go For It
Lately I’ve really fallen into a bit of funk because quite frankly I’m upset with myself that I had put in a lot of time to get into better shape, but then as I started to see some daylight, I gave up. Now I find myself almost starting at square one again. When I go back to the gym, the weights seem twice as heavy, I feel like I burn myself out in now time at all, and the progress I had seen in the past has faded. So, with that being said, I have set some challenges for myself, and today was the start of a new journey.
4:30 Wake Up Call
I keep hearing people talk about the importance of morning routines, and the affect that it can have on people, but I’ve kept making excuses about why it is that I don’t have one. The biggest excuse I’ve made lately is that I already go into work super early (usually start around 6:30).
However, if I continue to make that excuse, nothing will ever change, and I’ll never improve, and never see the big changes that I hope to make. So, with that being said, I challenged myself to get up at 4:30 during the week and go for a run, or at least a good steady walk. Today was the first day, and let me tell you...it felt like I was running in the middle of the night. It was still pitch black out with absolutely no sign of sunlight. The good part? I live right by the beach, so I’m able to run down by the ocean, up on the pier, and see the powerful Pacific first thing in the morning. It’s really quite amazing…and at the same time, it’s kind of eerie to see hardly anyone out and about, no sounds except for the crashing waves, an the roads still as can be.
So, my challenge is to try to push myself like I have never pushed myself before. I want to go hard for the next five or six weeks to see what I can accomplish. See what I can become. See if I can prove to myself that it’s possible to transform myself. One thing I do know, however, is that it wont be easy! But that’s okay, because greatness requires sacrifices, and there is no sacrifice without pain.
