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Wednesday

#WorkingOutAt40: Mission Accomplished?


I experienced a couple of snafus in the hours before my recent social media presentation in Las Vegas. One of them came about due to my lack of foresight, but more honestly lack of time, to iron the clothing I planned to wear on that Sunday morning. Instead I rifled through what I could find that didn't look like it had been slept in or simply, not ironed --- one of my favorite shirts and a pair of boot cut jeans I bought this past spring that are typically reserved for my high tops or boots.

Eh, nobody has time for all that, I thought as I forced everything into my bag and packed up all my camera equipment and electronics in order to beat the mandated check-out time of 11 a.m. and start talking at 11 a.m.

My presentation began at 11:20 am and all I wanted to do was sit at the edge of the stage and talk the way a lounge singer does when they get intimate with their crowd. My only problem was that I was in a grand ballroom and although the crowd was intimate they were all sitting comfortably in the back and I would've been out of sight had I sat down on the edge of the stage.


So I stood for nearly 90 minutes and did what I'm growing to love: talk about social media and communications. During a window of time that large a friend or two managed to snap a couple of pics of me and the camera didn't lie. I looked a mess by my own standards. The plaid of my favorite shirt paired with the almost outrageously baggy jeans, plus my suede chukka boots made me a better fit for a cattle ranch rather than a speaker's stage.

Here's the thing, the pants were boot cut, not baggy and they fit me just fine when I bought them in the spring.

In June, one week after my son's seventeenth birthday, my wife prodded me to join a fitness bootcamp. My "dream job" had just ended and maybe she didn't want me at home sitting on my duff. Maybe she remembered the fitness maniac I once was and wanted to see that dude again, even though I she swears she can't stand to be around me when I'm in workout mode. I'm too competitive, too maniacal, too bossy. Maybe although she didn't want to deal with him, she somehow knew I'd be a better person if I became him once more?

To say it was an adjust was an understatement unlike my last two fitness initiatives launched while blogging on this blog, this time I was doing it at forty years old. I immediately noticed I had no desire to give up. My willpower --- that mind over matter thing - is so much stronger than it's ever been. I attribute that to being comfortable in my own skin. But my body's ability to recover from my mind telling it to go and keep going just isn't what it was and definitely was something awful when I first began working out in late June.

But then the results slowly but surely crept up on me. The warriors spirit began to drive me once more and the insanity began to bubble back up. The bike was being ridden 10 to 20 miles a week. Accessories were bought, low-calorie protein powder was purchased from Whole Foods. I began seeking out water and rest more than French fries and cupcakes. I even ran a 5K.

I began a challenge here on the site and had one taker. I experienced massive results, but then began to travel and work out less and began to falter. But I regrouped and doubled-down when I realized how I close I was to my birthday --- my goal date of weighing less than 180 pounds.

On September 27th I stepped on the scale and weighed in at 181 pounds, two pounds shy of breaking the 180 pound threshold.

And that's okay. At the time it was only September and to be 2 pounds short of a goal that has once again returned to me as a lifestyle only means that I will cross 180 on a date that I least expect it. Maybe October 18th? Maybe November 3rd. Maybe at noon on this Friday? Either way I'm within striking distance of my goal and am not even slightly dissuaded to go in the other direction and ultimately that is the true goal, along with inspiring the woman who works at my favorite coffee shop and every person who tells me so via email or on Facebook. And of course there's my homie who took up the challenge, not to lose weight but to get to marathon strength and speed. He is on his way and I salute him, you and you and each of you who has a goal and a game plan to life a healthier, livelier life. Everyone begins their journeys at different points. It doesn't matter where you are compared to the next person. As long as you're doing something, moving somewhere forward, no matter how fast or slow. As long as you are moving, taking the goal out of the dream state and turning it into action.

Thank you for going and continuing on this journey with me.



Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter at @EPayneTheDad.

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