A New Goal

I am on a journey. A work out journey. I have decided to share this journey through a blog. Some of that is accountability and some of it is motivation. By sharing my goals for each day, I will be motivated to carry them through.

I have been on one serious work out journey before. It began in September of 2006, when I knew I would be getting married a year later. I went from 210 lbs and about 21% body fat, to 173 lbs, and about 14% body fat. I worked hard - very hard. Two hours a day. Six days a week. I never missed. Never. And that is why I was successful. I committed and saw my goals attained.

There were two things I learned most about that experience. 1: Motivation (at least, for me) comes from within. It does not matter what other people say to try and motivate me because in the end it is my mind that tells my feet to run; it is my will that chooses to work hard. I had to realize my own potential locked inside me. When I realized that I could be much stronger, faster, and carry myself with more perseverance, I worked out even harder. Again, this revelation came from within (God helped, too) and was not because people told me, "I could do it." I could do it because I was built to survive - not because my peers told me I am a winner.

God has made me (and you) strong.

The second thing I learned was the importance of accurate and clear expectations. Let me explain myself. Before (and after) my first successful work out journey, I would set unrealistic expectations for myself. Expectations like: wake up at 6:00 am each morning to run, work out everyday for 6 months, no soda for a year, no deserts or snacks, and eat more veggies (I despise fruit). I would get two days into my new "plan" and fail - either by will or forgetfulness. So what I learned was to take it one day at a time. At the end of each day, I made a plan and set goals for the following day. For example, tonight I was talking to my wife about working out tomorrow. I would like to lift weights and do Insanity (our work out dvd). So I have plans to get up tomorrow morning to go to the Y and then do Insanity with her at night. I have not decided to get up at 6:00 am for the next 30 days. Just tomorrow.

I can handle tomorrow. You follow me? I can handle one morning. And my mind can prepare for one day of a really tough workout. That is how my successful work out journey took place. I mentally prepared for one day at a time. In fact, that is really all you can handle. I kept the overall purpose and perspective in mind - that was to not look like a fool on my wedding night - but I concentrated on one day at a time. That is how I stayed sane.

So here is my work out plan for tomorrow:

6:30 am - Wake up and drive to the Y (Alarm is set on my phone)

Evening - Insanity DVD with wife. Don't laugh, its really good.

My overall hope is to be in good shape when my wife and I move to Cape Town - which we're hoping to be around spring (April or May). That is main purpose behind my plan. I will blog tomorrow with my results and thoughts from the day, and my plan for the next day.