A few days ago, I began what I hope to be a transformational project.
As anyone who reads this already knows, my fitness and my enthusiasm for my fitness have both gone downhill for the past several months. I'm now to the point where I actually dislike running like a non-runner would, and I avoid discussions of fitness and workouts because I am upset and unhappy about where I am versus where I used to be. More importantly, I'm unsatisfied with where I am fitness-wise versus where I want to be.
And really, it's not just about fitness - it's about health, and (yes) vanity. I'm not fitting into the clothes I once wore (like, a year ago) and my energy levels have plummeted. I am working out less often, less vigorously and less socially because it's not as fun as it used to be, or as fun as I want, and I'm embarrassed to workout with people I used to, because I'm larger, slower, and less fun to be with in my current state.
So enters "Burning 20", a clear copy of a program that a web-friend Adam Tinkoff introduced to me years ago. He and a bunch of followers decided to take a set target, in his case burning off 20 pounds through exercise and marathon training, and follow it through aggressively to completion. That's what I'm going to do.
It's not just going to be about exercise, though. It can't be, because my body is acclimated to a lot of exercise. I need to clean up my nutrition (which admittedly has been sub-standard for a while now) and change up my workouts. I've written a 60-day schedule to get started, which incorporates more swimming, strength training, and flexibility than I have done before. This should be enough to get me jumpstarted for the rest of the year, and if all works REALLY well, help me drop 6, 8, or maybe even 10 pounds this fall, and provide enough to keep me going through winter.
Now, I know what you're saying (if anyone actually reads this) - it's another project, another program that you're going to start and drop off quickly. Yeah, that may be true. But I've done three things to help me a bit more this time. First, I'm taking a new job at work. Hopefully it's going to be one that will involve less soul-crushing investment on my part, and will allow greater time flexibility than what I have now. That may be a pipe dream, but the team I'm joining is into their workouts, and they find time to do them, so there's hope.
Second, I joined the gym at work. I've been reluctant to do this in my current job, because the idea of getting out mid-day to workout was not palatable to my work style, but again, there are new options here, and I can set out my priorities from Day 1 with the new team.
Finally, I'm changing my approach to strength training. Specifically, rather than dread hour-long workouts, I'm chopping up the workouts into 15-20 minute sprints, with a plan to do one sprint every day / 2 days. This way, it's not such a burden, and I can always take 15 minutes at the end of the day in my basement to do a few things. I've even gotten my wife to accept that that's how its going to be (but of course, time will tell.). Building muscle mass and toning what I have are positive directions for my body and my metabolism.
This is going to take a long time. A really long time. Like, I'm expecting a year to actually drop 20 pounds. The first 5-10 should be a lot easier, and I'd like to see that done by Groundhog Day (90 days), but the next 10 will be hard. I've let my body relax for the past few years, and it's going to fight me on this - I can feel that already every day this has been going so far.
If anything, my summer training for the Half-Ironman reminded me that I can do hard things, and I can get them done. With some lifestyle changes and greater ownership of my work-life balance, I can do both hard things and great things.
