Getting back on the right track

As many of my friends & family know I've started a regular workout routine & nutrition plan recently.  This used to be not really a way of life for me but something that was important to me.  As life changes my motivation first dwindled then pretty much vanished.  There was a catalyst to my fall off from staying fit, in a single word... marriage.  Yes, one of my driving forces for staying fit before getting married was attracting a certain kind of women.  There were other reasons, but that was the big one for sure.

Fast forward to a few months in to married life, surprise we find out were expecting a little bundle of joy.  My wife is not what you would call a glowing joyful pregnant woman.  Pretty much the exact opposite to no real fault of her own the babies always seemed to lay wrong & pinch nerves or something.  At any rate I was told early on in our first pregnancy that I was to "stop working out because I'm getting fat"  Really?!  The whole your not getting fat your growing a child inside you didn't really matter.  I was told to stop & really I had already landed my prize so my number one motivating factor to work out & stay fit was gone.

Well, a coupe years in to married life & two young kids later (our littles are 13 months apart) I find myself eating fast food more than I ever have in my life & downing almost a 12 pack of pop a day.  Here I am now 20ish pounds heavier than as a bachelor, slower, & needing to buy bigger pants. That last one was really an eye opener.  Couple that with a dinner at my dads where the heat was a little much for my hoodie, so I take it off but my t-shirt came partway with it, my dad scoffed & was pretty amazed at what I had become.

I still lacked real motivation until I sat down & really examined my lifestyle & goals.  Now I have to look farther in to the future, someone is going to need to chase these kids down, take them places do fun active things with them.  Do I really want to have to take breaks every couple minutes cuz dads gassed?  My children have now become the main motivator, a close second is the list... Although not a physical list presently I think we all have some sort of "bucket list".  A few items on mine require a certain level of fitness, triathlon for one.

This all leads me to today, a few weeks in to a pretty intense workout with a fairly strict nutrition plan. I'm not a fan of the term diet, reminds me of Nutrasweet laden diet sodas being ordered by a grossly overweight person at a drive through with their fat burger supersized with artery clogging fries.  Back on track, grocery shopping even feels better now when you all but skip the center of the store thats filled with boxed food, preservatives & a lot of ingredients you can't even pronounce.  Fresh fruits, veggies, lean meats, meals cooked from scratch.  I'm learning that you in fact are what you eat, a week in I already felt better by knocking all the junk out of my meals.  Two weeks in and my posture was improving.  I'm at about 4 weeks now & the physical change is starting, score one for no new (larger) pants.

Although your goals & driving force may change as you age the overall good feeling you get from living a healthier lifestyle will always make you feel younger.  I fully expect to keep up with my kids, knock a few intense items off my bucket list & really wow my wife with the transformation that is in progress.  What ever drives you just keep moving forward, re-evaluate your goals occasionally and adjust accordingly.