I can. I will. End of story.

It's been 221 days since my last blog post. If we were travelling to Mars, we would be about half way home at this point. That is too long. I have lost track in more ways than one. I need to get back to writing and keeping better track of my eating and working out. It's so easy to slip once, and then again and then again until you are just no longer following any type of plan other than when exactly it's time to break back out the fat clothes. I am not to that point yet but by golly it's getting close. Too close.

I previously spoke of my troubles with keeping up with boot camp while still trying to be healthy and a good husband and father. Read about it here. Well, I still have not been going to class much and have opted to cancel my account for a while. That does not mean I have not been working out, I have just been trying to find a schedule that allows more then an hour a day with my family. For the last few weeks that has been running Burke Lake. I am averaging 3 runs a week right now, with a goal of making it 4 runs this week. Right now running is working for me and I have been enjoying it, so I am sticking with what works. With a run, I still get in a workout and I don't get that overwhelming nagging feeling that I am not being there for my son. A run win-win. When you ask? Tonight.

Next week we are at the beach for a week. For. A. Whole. Week. OMG may I share that I am beyond excited? My goal is some kind of workout everyday. A boardwalk run with Hila and Eli in the running stroller, a beach run, an at home boot camp class, something, anything, as long as it involves moving and breaking a sweat, once a day, everyday.

I have been thinking that I needed to start writing again for a few weeks now and as soon as I start to forget about it again someone brings it up. "Hey Bobby, what ever happened to the blog?" Well, you know what friend, here it is. I'm back and I have missed you terribly. Writing keeps me focused, it keeps me grounded, it keeps me in check. Without it I lose focus, it becomes easier to put off a workout, I lose a sense of accountability. I need this in my life. I need you. This blog is another tool that helps me succeed, I just need to start using that tool again to help me find my success. I can. I will. End of story.

Fitbit

There has been much fitness talk afoot here as of late. I have not posted in many moons but that does not mean that it has not been on my mind.  I have been doing a lot of thinking and a lot of sole searching, thinking of fitness and running (get it sole...okay I'm done) and weight loss and an all around improvement in my general health. It is safe to say at this point that I fell off the deep end the past few months. The holidays are tough regardless and not fitting in workouts only exacerbates the problem further. Needless to say we are back to Weight Watchers and back to a firm fitness plan. My last weigh in came in at a whopping 231 pounds. Wow, that is the heaviest I have been in at least six or seven years. No bueno. Time to change.

I have felt a bit hypocritical and it has prevented me from writing. I talk and write about making time and finding that balance but have not done so myself. That has bothered me significantly. Now that my priorities have changed in life by starting a family I have struggled with this balance more than I would have thought possible. I am getting closer to figuring everything out and that has only been by setting small goals and striving towards achieving them. I will write about each of these goals more in upcoming posts but a big step towards setting and achieving these goals has been getting a Fitbit. For the holidays Hila and I pre-ordered the Fitbit Charge HR, well they just came in this past week. Needless to say, this has changed things for our household. Since getting the Fitbit I have hit 20,000 steps each day. While I don't think 20,000 steps is a workout in itself, I can tell you for sure that it has motivated us to move more. I received this from Amazon on Friday evening, first thing Saturday morning I went out to bootcamp. I literally cannot tell you the last time I went to to a Saturday morning bootcamp class. BAM hit 10,000 steps before noon. My goal per day was 10,000 steps a day so this was definitely a good start. Hit the gym for a quick run on Sunday. Back to bootcamp Monday morning again. I know this is new and that is playing a part in the excitement of all this but after today I will hit four workouts in a row. A feat that has been forgotten for longer than I want to admit. All that said I have been off work for the past three days. Today may paint a different picture since I have to sit at my desk for the better part of eight straight hours. I am aware now that I need to move more. Currently I am at 2,400 steps. Maybe I will got for a walk during my lunch, needlessly walk downstairs just so I have to get up and move, or push for a longer run with Brent tonight. More steps is the result of more moving, more moving results in more activity, and more activity means better health. It's a step, or many steps in the right direction.

Only you can change your life.

I have had something on my mind as of late and honestly it has kept me from writing. Maybe deep down I know that until I put this out there, there is nothing more important to talk about. I don't know why this got to me but it did. For the very first time, since I started writing this blog I received negative feedback from someone. I was told that I was self-centered, mainly because of what I write right here. My first thought was bewilderment because this person must have no clue what a blog is. It's about me, it's supposed to be what I think/feel/want/desire/need/dislike/fear/love, what do I know about what another person may want or need? What I write here are my thoughts and my thoughts alone. My second feeling was anger, if someone does not like what he/she reads here promptly move your mouse to the upper right hand side of your screen and click the little X because frankly I don't want or need you here if you are going to be negative. The entire point of all this to find encouragement and help from my friends and family to work towards a greater goal of better health and fitness, not listen to a bunch of negativity from someone who doesn't know what they are talking about. After the anger subsided it was replaced with enlightenment. This person was not being negative, this person is actually a fricking genius. I don't know why I didn't think of this before but being self-centered is the only way to get more healthy because literally NO ONE else can do it for you. If you don't worry about your health, then who will? Yes, your wife or husband or whoever will worry, but they cannot put in the work for you. Watch this, I will try:

"Hila, will you go out and run five miles for me?"

"Huh, for you? What do you mean?"

"I mean go out and run five miles but let me get all the benefits from it."

"Okayyyyy..." (what you can't see if Hila slapping me upside the head with a dictionary because this is absolutely ridiculous)

If you don't spend the time and energy focusing on yourself then you will never achieve your goals. No one else is going to do it for you. No one is going to get me to boot camp every day, no one is going to keep the burger and fries out of my mouth, no one is going to make me push harder in class, no one is going keep me healthy and fit. This is one thing that I must do myself. I am the only person who can be constantly vigilant about my needs. I am the only person who can make sure I achieve my goals. Others can help and influence me but ultimately this is my responsibility, it falls on no one's shoulders by my own. If someone thinks that is being self-centered then so be it, I will be self-centered all day long.

So we spent last night in Jail...

Holy moly what a week!  I am whooped.  As of this morning I have gotten in three workouts, one Burke Lake run and two boot camps.  I am so glad I was able to make it to class last night since we played Boot Camp Monopoly.  Good God I love this game.  It really makes for such a fun class and adds even a little more friendly competition to the evening (friendly being the key word here ladies).  I think it's safe to say that Brent and I spent the better part of the evening in Jail.  Eight times.  Eight friggin times we got sent to jail.  Let me paint a picture for you with my words.  Roll the dice, yeay a three, we do 20 leaping lunges.  Roll the dice again, a six, sweet making our way around the board, run three laps.  Roll the dice, two, pass GO, collect our check mark for one completed lap, do 20 bicep curls and 20 up right rows, hell yess already breaking a killer sweat.  Roll the dice, three, push ups - 20 regular, 20 wide and 20 diamond.  Roll the dice again, four...DAMN IT, jail, 20 burpees.  Now here is where things become interesting.  From Jail, Go to Jail is exactly one roll of the dice away if you roll a six, oh how I hate you Mr. Six.  So what do we do, we roll a six, Go to Jail, 20 more burpees.  New burpee count - 40.  "Brent roll again, roll another six and I will beat you."  Six, DAMN IT!!  20 more burpees, new updated burpee count - 60.  I am picturing the movie Groundhog day because this keeps again, and again, and again.  Eat, sleep, burpee, repeat.  End of class total burpee count - 160.  Let me do some slight mathematics for you, that is a shit-ton of burpees.  The word of the day today is ouch.  Legs - ouch, arms/shoulders - ouch.  Ouch, ouch, ouch.  Good God I friggin love it.  Here are some pics of what all this madness looks like from the parking garage, thank you Kristina for all the pics!!

Us in Jail, burpeeing it up.

Brent, what happened to you head?

This week started week one of my 10 week training program for the Army 10 Miler coming up in October, and so far I only have run once so I definitely need to get in a weekend run fo sho.  Here is my training plan for the next 9.5 weeks.  I made this myself but am essentially following a 10 mile Hal Higdon training plan just slightly modified to accommodate my workout routine.  This may change slightly some days but ideally this is what I am going to try and follow.  I am nervous even putting this next sentence into words but (deep breath) here is goes.  My goal for this race it to beat all other times of any previously run 10 miler.  Whew, that has hard to get out.  I am scared, I am nervous.  I always seem to struggle with the training, things come up, this, that, yada yada, blah, blah, blah, it just doesn't seem to go well for me.  And that is my fault, I make it not go well by my lack of commitment.  Well I am committed this year and I plan to achieve my goal.  Best previous time was 1 hour 36 minutes (9:36 pace).  That is not very fast but it's fast for me.  Maybe this year will finally be the year I finally beat my wife, whoa that came out all wrong, I do not beat my wife, maybe this year will finally be the year that I run a faster time than Hila.  On second thought I am not making that my goal because she is a beast and will surely make me eat those words...

Difficult? YES. Impossible? NO.

I learned two small lessons this week which resulted in one larger lesson learned, all pertaining to me being out of shape.

1. You cannot go all balls crazy working out when it's close to 100 degrees outside when not in at least somewhat good physical condition. Wednesday was extremely friggin hot outside I honestly don't know what the hell we were thinking. We ran 1.5 miles before class then near the start of class we ran some stairs. Here is a perfect example of when my mind is telling me yes but my body is telling me no. My body didn't just tell me no it straight up stopped. I thought I could sprint the stairs, just like the good ole days, and still participate in class. Ha! That didn't happen. I pretty much spent the remaining 45 minutes of class standing there in a dizzy daze until my body was able to come back to the land of the living. Not the best of workouts but I burned some calories and broke a serious sweat. Lesson learned - take it a little bit easy until I get more into shape. There is no point in pushing 110% for the first 15 minutes of class if that means you can only push 60% the rest of class. Pace yourself, you will get there, it's not a race, it's process.

2. Even if you only have 30 minutes, something is better than nothing.  I had a small window yesterday of 30 minutes to get in a workout. I was considering running but due to the lack of strength training this week I wanted to work my muscles not just cardio. So I went with the 5-4-3-2-1 workout. My goal was to get in as much of it as I could in 30 minutes. In months prior I could do the entire workout in under 50 minutes so I thought I could keep close to that time. Ha! Again my mind telling me yes but my body telling me no. I am not one to manipulate R. Kelly lyrics but if the shoe fits...or when in Rome...or if you can't stand the heat, no that one does not work. Anyway, what I am trying to say is I only had 30 minutes and I found a way to fit in a workout. I was able to do exactly half the workout in 31 minutes, so I guess I really had 31 minutes available to workout, look I am not a mathmatician, or a good speeler, K? I made the best use of the time provided. Not going to lie, I am sore today from it. I tried to do as many of the push ups as possible on my toes (not my knees), I held and 8 lb. ball when doing the squats, and I added a jump to the burpees. Both my shoulders and my legs are sore today. You don't always need a full boot camp class, or a 5 mile run, or a full hour at the gym. As long as you do something, anything, as often as you can you are doing something good for yourself. I could have sat on the couch last night and read, or taken a nap, or done any number of things, but none of those things will help me achieve my goals of getting fit and losing weight. Even though I only did half the workout, look at what I was able to do, 250 jumping jacks, 200 squats, 150 sit ups, 100 push ups and 50 burpees, not too shabby. I'll take it.

The larger lesson learned here is it takes weeks and weeks and weeks to get into shape. No need to rush the results, they will come with hard work and dedication. I need to constantly remind myself to take it slow, workout everyday I can and it will happen. Yes it's going to be difficult, no it's not impossible but I assure you it's absolutely worth it.

Success - What it really looks like.

I am tired.  I am tired of being a slave to food.  I am tired of being overweight.  I am tired of not having the body I want.  I am sick and tired of it all.  The change is coming, I can feel it.  The desire to be fit and lose weight has, as of late, been just that, a desire.  I have turned that desire into a need.  I feel the need to achieve my goals, not just try and achieve them.  I have not felt this motivated in many months.  I am distancing myself from over eating.  I am not much of a junk food eater, I don't sit around eating chips and candy.  My issue is overeating, always has been, I have a hollow leg.  I do not posses that switch in my brain that says stop eating, but with this new Simply Filling plan, I am learning to find it.  I feel fuller when I eat.  I mean how many bananas and peaches can you really sit down and eat?  A plate full of chicken, rice, and veggies seems to fill me up and keep me feeling full longer than a burger a fries.  I don't know the science behind it but it is working.  Go figure good healthy foods are better for you, who knew??  After two weeks I already feel better.  I was able to fit in five workouts last week.  Woke up Friday and ran five miles before work, let me tell you after the run, then working all day, then spending some time with the fam, I slept like a baby Friday night.  Took the bike out for an hour or so on Saturday and I still have the sore behind to remind me of the first ride of the season.  Wanted to get a run in yesterday but I have a house full of sick people so after some Pho and much needed rest the run just didn't happen, oh well.  Glad I did what I could earlier in the week because you never know when you are going to get thrown a curve ball like a sick wife and baby.  WYCWYC!!  It's not about getting from point A to point B quickly, it's about learning why it's important to get to point B at all.

Goals for this week are to continue eating well and to workout at least five times.  Plus Dave Matthews is on Saturday so I need to be extra careful as that day will consist of many consumed empty calories if you are picking up what I am putting down here...

Sore today, strong tomorrow.

I hurt.  From my neck to my knees, complete and absolute pain.  But oh so satisfying pain.  The feeling of being sore.  I love it.  Three days in a row at boot camp this week, that has not happened in months and months.  Going for the three days on one day off plan this week.  Skipped the gym this morning to let the old muscles rest a bit.  I will be back tomorrow, bright and early at the gym.  The hard part is going to come this weekend when I will need to workout both Saturday and Sunday.  Maybe time to bust out the mountain bike and hit the old dusty trail since the weather will be so nice.  Speaking of which, working out last night compared to Monday was B, E, A, utiful.  Last night was gorgeous, much of the same today so enjoy all you outdoor workerouters, yes I just made that word up.  Goal for the coming weekend is to stay on track, eat well, and workout hard.  All of which are in reach as long as I keep reaching.  I can do this.

The time is now.

I must say that things have been going quite well so far this week.  Of course things always seem to start off well, it's the beginning, beginnings are easy.  You're motivated, things are new, you have a strong desire to succeed.  The tough part comes later, once you get in a rhythm, once you get comfortable.  I have been too comfortable that past several months.  Yes we had a baby, yes I took some time off for injuries but each time I came back my head was less and less in the game.  I really thought I could get fit and lose weight working out twice a week, maybe I didn't truly believe it but it was what I was telling myself anyway.  Bad idea.  If you have convinced yourself you are doing what is best but you are not achieving your goals then you have veered off the path towards success.  I veered off, then took a U-turn and ended up in a ditch.  I needed some time to regroup and remember what is was I really wanted.  I want to be fit, I want to be healthy for myself but now also for my family, and I want the fit body.

The latest craze around these parts lately has been soccer and of course our US hero, Tim Howard.  After watching him defend against Belgium I wanted to read about his diet and exercise routines, because frankly he is a friggin beast.  He does Paleo which is not something I have really looked into much yet, but he said something when asked about his diet that struck me deeply, especially since at the time it was something that had been on my mind the moment I was reading it.  "Sure, I like ice cream, but when you keep a healthy lifestyle, its: Do you prefer sweets and crappy food, or do you prefer to have a nice body?  It depends on what you want more."  I thought to myself, I like ice cream too, I love sweets and crappy food, but I think recently it has finally started to settle in that I want a nice body too.  Not just that I want it but I want it more.  Just like the feeling I had yesterday was better then one hour extra of sleep, I want the fit body more than I want junk food.  Yes, I enjoy making a Bobby, with extra peanut butter, but that feeling of my clothes fitting better, or tightening up my belt by one loop, or that compliment someone pays you when it's obvious you have lost weight feels so much better.  Oh, so very much better.  It's time.  I am not getting any younger.  I have never had the fit body that I have always dreamed about.  There have been times I have come close but this isn't horseshoes or hand grenades, close doesn't count.  It's time to achieve, instead of just dream.  I am ready, and I accept the challenge.  Game on.  The time is now.

We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are.

Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  That is pretty much where I have been that last few weeks.  I keep thinking that working out twice a week and barely following a food plan will help me lose weight and stay fit.  Let me tell you that it is not working one bit.  I have continuously been gaining weight and because of all the summer activities, working out less.  Miss a day here, miss a day there and before you know it two weeks have gone by and I have worked out twice.  Ain't cutting homey.  Time for a change.

I have spent a considerable about of time trying to come up with a new plan for said change.  As of this weekend I have made a decision.  Simply Filling.  Still part of Weight Watchers but essentially no more counting.  The idea here is to eat good wholesome filling foods and cut out all the processed crap.  Fruits, vegetables, lean meat, and whole-wheat.  Today is day one.

Hila made a trip to the grocery store last night and stocked up on all the foods to help me succeed. Breakfast today is an egg sandwich on a light English muffin with Canadian bacon.  BANGIN!!

Lunch is a pork chop with brown rice, asparagus and half and ear of corn.  Not much of a change from what I would normally eat except no white flour or processed foods and meats.  Snacks are cherries (totally in season right now so run out and get as many as you can, they don't last long), grapes, banana, apricot, and strawberry Greek yogurt.  Isn't it strange that all the healthy foods are from other Countries?  Canadian bacon, Greek yogurt, I wonder why that is?

My workout plan is still boot camp twice a week since that is all the afternoons I can fit in with Eli and Hila's workouts.  But the change here is to get up early and go to the gym twice a week.  The issue with this for me is I have to be to work at 7, so a morning gym trip means waking up at 4:45 and being at the gym at 5.  Ouch.  I need just about a full hour to workout then I need to shower and get dressed and still drive the 30 minutes to get to work.  This is not going to be easy but I will see how it goes.  Maybe on some days I will skip the gym and just run, either way I need to do something more because what I am doing is not working.

The time for change has come.  I have the same destination just a new route I am taking to get there.

If you have a goal, failure is impossible.

You are not hallucinating, there is no need to adjust the resolution on your screen, this is in fact an actual blog post.  Let me recap what has been going on the last month.

1.  So much for all the BS is said about making time.  It's hard, really really super hard to make and find time.  It's not BS at all actually but I have now had to deal with several outside influences that have changed my priorities these last few months.  Having a baby will tend to do that to you...

2.  Fear not!  I have been working out and eating well in my time of absence.  Except on the weekends.  I have been able to make it to class twice a week with a goal of working out on the weekends as well.  I am batting a solid .500 since not one single weekend workout has occurred.  Yet!  Hila and I are doing the every other day thing where I get Mondays and Wednesdays and she gets Tuesdays and Thursdays.  That is our time to fit in the best most killer workout possible.  For me that means getting to class a bit early and trying to get in a few miles beforehand.  Seems to be working out nicely so far.  I clocked 8 miles just last week.

3.  Army 10 miler - Number 3 is on the books.  One of the things I have been doing is running again.  At least once a week and somewhere between 4.5 and 5 miles.  I seriously love running Burke Lake.  It has not been too hot the past few weeks and I have actually had the pleasure of getting in a few rain runs.  There is just something about running in the rain.

4.  One of the reasons my time has become less available is because, actually let me back up first.  A few long term goals in my life have been:
     a) marry the most beautiful woman on earth - CHECK
     b) have the most beautiful baby on earth - CHECK
     c) have a sandwich named after me - CHECK
     d) have an assistant - CHECK

Note d) is what I would like to expand on.  Yes, I now have an actual assistant.  As a matter of fact right now I am dictating these words as he is typing them, no not really, but I could if I wanted to dammit.  Needless to say I have spent a substantial amount of time getting him up to speed on all the wonder that is me.  I feel like this has been a great accomplishment for me in business and I am quite proud of this.  Since we are finally getting to a place where I am spending less time teaching him how to do things like me, I am able to free up a few minutes a day to just do my own things.  Hence, writing aforementioned blog post.

5.  This has been a rough year for me working out wise.  Injuries, more injuries and having a baby.  I finally feel like I am getting back on track a bit and am starting to feel like the old me.  I can run a bit faster, I can push a bit harder, a few more weeks and hope to be setting the pace again in class.  Now, my goal for June is an ab working going around on Facebook.  I am very excited about trying something new and setting and achieving another goal.  I have based much of my life on goals.  There is even a sign in our office that says "If you have a goal, failure is impossible".  How very true that is.  You can always keep trying to succeed.  So my goal for June is a 30 Day Ab Challenge.  The first couple of days look easy but I am sure the last few days will be anything but.  Regardless I will do this and I will succeed.

Fingers crossed for finding and keeping time to keep writing.  I have missed you friends but I will be back soon.  For some strange reason we have decided to take on the task of trying to travel with a newborn...yeayyyy us.  So we are off to to the windy city for the weekend, so I doubt I will break my no-workout-weekend streak but there is a chance.  We shall see.

Good to be back people, good to be back!

The snowball effect.

Let's say I have a rockin few days when it comes to eating well.  Monday, BAM ate within my points.  Tuesday, BAM did it again, Wednesday, well you get the picture.  Then comes Thursday and we decide to go out to dinner.  I order a steak, bring a nice bottle of wine, eat the bread, get a salad, and maybe a few bites of an appetizer.  Okay not terrible but definitely a lot of points.  I skip writing down and say I'll just start fresh tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow being Friday...so some friends come over, we grill, we have snacks, more wine and no counting.  Wake up Saturday morning and say today is the day to get back on track.  2 PM we get a call, "Hey come over, is beautiful outside, we are sitting on the deck having a beer".  At this point we are now drinking said beer, enjoying some pita chips and hummus, drinking more beer and ordering late night pizza.  Sunday rolls around, weigh in coming now in one day.  I have not counted for days, what's the point in starting now.  I will enjoy my Sunday, and start fresh Monday.  This my friends is the snowball effect.  I take a teeny tiny little snowflake (Thursday dinner) and roll it down the weekend hill.  By Sunday that snow flake is a raging bull of snow, pizza, wine, snacks and fatty fat fat rolling down the hill straight to my waist.  This is just about how most weekends go for me.  This has to stop.  I need to allow myself to enjoy a meal but get right back on track.  My one meal seems to last be the better part of four days, and that is not okay.

Goal for the week, avoid the damn snowball.  Just because there is one bad meal or one bad day does not mean the rest of the week is shot.  I have mastered convincing myself that I will be okay, tomorrow is another day, I will worry about this later.  Yes tomorrow is another day but not if I keep telling myself to start tomorrow, to get it in check tomorrow.  Then it's just another day to be fat and out of shape.  There seems to be an endless amount of tomorrows, and fewer, "I killed it yesterdays".  I say let's start today.  I may fall, many times, but I just need to pick myself up and start again.

I am not going to let the snowball effect beat me this week.  It keep rearing it's ugly head and beating me.  I am stronger than this.  I can beat this.  I will beat this.

Let's go.

Oh how I hate Monday's.  I work as hard as I do so the days seem shorter, when the days seem shorter they go by faster, all in the hope that Friday comes along even sooner than expected so I can get a friggin day off.  We are not meant to work 40-50 hour weeks, it just makes no sense to me.  On a good day I get four hours home, other than sleep.  Four friggin hours.  That sucks.  We have become a people who work for the weekend, Loverboy had it right all along.

Ok, I am done bitching, at least for the next seven days.  So let's recap on the goals from this weekend.

1. Back on track - This was tough.  We had dinner out, we have friends over, and we had wine.  Not necessarily in that order but you get the picture.  I wrote down for the most part and I can easily say that I went over, by a lot.  We will see how badly tonight at the weigh in but I am still expecting a loss.  Fingers crossed for a half a pound.

2. Working out - Goal was four times.  Boom.  Goal met.  Bootcamp Monday and Thursday, driveway bootcamp class with Hila and our ever cheerful spectator Eli, and a bike ride yesterday at Wakefield Park.  The bike ride was not necessarily a sweat to the core type work out but I was active and it was beyond beautiful yesterday.

3. Help Hila - Check.  She has started Insanity while at home and if she didn't fit in a workout while I was at work, I made sure Eli was taken care of so should could once I got home.  At this point in time she cannot make it to her bootcamp class, not until we can find someone to watch Eli.  For lack of a better word Insanity is an insane workout so she is at least getting the best workout possible under the circumstances.  So that is good.

4. Blog - This one was tough.  I have been beyond busy at work and I find it harder to come in early to blog with a newborn at the house.  Regardless I did what I could when I could, and I am okay with that.

Plan this week is to keep up with writing down my food and continuing my four workouts a week.  Bootcamp and Weight Watchers tonight.  No more excuses....Let's do this.

Time is precious, waste it wisely.

I have written about this topic previously but something came up last night and I wanted to expand further.  I was asked how I find the time to write this blog every day.  For me it was an easy question to answer, I make the time.  The process that gradually brought me to this answer was a bit more difficult.  This not only applies to the blog but to many other aspects of my life.  Two of which seem to make people ask the same question above.  Reading and working out.  I do an extensive amount of both.  Before I started reading, writing, and working out I actually thought I was busy.  Now I have no idea what I did with my time before.  Let me explain.

I read about a book a week.  Sometimes more sometimes less but that is the average.  How do I find the time to read so often, you ask?  Easy, I make time.  Sometimes a book is so good I get up early, drive to work and just sit in the car and read for a half an hour.  Do that twice a week and that is a solid hour of absolute silence to just read.  Often times I take my lunch break and drive to the same spot and read for the whole hour.  Let's say I do that twice a week.  With these two simple weekly modifications I have just freed up two whole hours of time to read.  I made time for something I wanted.  All I "lost" was a few minutes of sleep and a lunch hour that I probably would have just worked through anyway.  I have also eliminated television from my personal life.  Yes, I watch several shows with my wife, but if I am home alone the TV just no longer gets turned on.  I am more interested in the book I am reading or could be reading than the mindless dribble that is on TV these days.  Come and see me if you think a particular TV show is better than a book, I can show you some books that will literally change you life.

The same applies to writing as well.  This is something I want to do so I sacrifice other things less important to me.  Sleep, free time and lunch breaks.  Yes, sometimes that means I end up working late or coming in early but how important are these others things compared to what I really want?  I find them to be significantly less important to me the more I give them up.

As I said this has not been an easy process but at no point have I felt that I was missing out on anything.  In all reality I feel have only gained.  I am learning to be a better writer, I have read some mind blowing, fantastically amazing books.  I have rearranged my schedule for the past few years to make sure I get in a workout.  Boot camp has been that answer for me when it comes to fitness.  Nothing else has worked, no gym, no spin class, nothing.  I needed the structure, I needed the discipline.  I needed to take my head out of the equation, to do that I needed to put my heart into it instead.  I stopped making excuses and started making it the way.  Now, working out has simply become part of my routine.  Of course I want to go home and sit on the couch and relax and get to bed early and sleep in.  I want all of these things very badly, but I want something else even more.  I want to be in shape, not just in shape, I actually want to be the best.  I have a drive in me that pushes me to succeed, it gives me that extra motivation/desire/strength/want/need to run faster, to push just a little bit harder.  I have had several obstacles placed in front of me keeping me from being the best.  But no obstacle is so big that I cannot jump over it, run around it, or just climb over the damn thing.

All the obstacles in life, whether they be sleep, time, a torn rotator cuff, or any other of the endless list of things that get in our way, are simply just obstacles to be overcome.  Time, is an obstacle that we will always face, all day, everyday, the key is to stop trying to find time and start making time.  The time is there, the hard part is figuring out how you want to fill it.

We make time for the things we want.

We make time for the things we want.  I have not had any time.  None.  Zilch-O.  Back to work yesterday, still busy as hell today.  But I started thinking that I had not posted since I was in Florida.  I needed to make time for the things I want, the things that are important to me.  I want to keep up with my writing, so far the only way I have figured out how to do that is to write.  So here I am making time to write.  Making time to express myself with words.  I have many thoughts running through my head all the time.  What I have found by writing this blog is that I now have an avenue to express these thoughts.  Not everyone has this luxury.  Not everyone can vent or express their thoughts to a group of people who are actually willing to listen to what you have to say.

So as this year comes to an end I want to say thank you to all my readers out there.  Many of you have come to me and said how one particular post has affected you or pushed you to try something new or do something you had been putting off for too long.  Words cannot express how that makes me feel.  I started writing this blog for myself but in a very short time it has become so much more than that.  I never would have thought that my words would help someone else.  I still write this for myself, to keep me honest, to make sure that I do what I say I am going to do but it is because of your support that I have been even more successful than I could have imagined.  So again, thank you all very much.  We will continue to work together and find success no matter how big or small that success may be.

I have many new goals to focus on in the coming year, I will share them with you all in another couple of days.  The New Year is just around the corner and 2014 should be an exciting one to say the least.  I have a baby coming just around the bend, and a wife that loves me. Who could ask for anything more?

As my weekend is booking up with plans for Home Depot, Ikea, scheduling bathroom remodeling with my brother, putting the finishing touches on the nursery, I need to remind myself to continue to make time for the things I want.  Yes, I want all the things I just wrote about but I also want to maintain my health and fitness.  I will find time, I will make time, in between these things, to fit in a run, get in a workout, something, anything to keep up.  The past week was tough as far as eating is concerned but we have been on track since the day we got home.  Now it's time to get back to normal, focus on the goals I have made and remember that Christmas is one day, no need to extend Christmas into New Years and have an even more difficult time losing weight and getting back on track.  Usually for me the party starts on Halloween and goes right through to New Years.  Those times have come and gone my friend.  If we all start now we will be one week closer to achieving our goals for 2014.  Sounds like a good idea to me!

I'm the only difference between impossible and possible.

I learned a long time ago the importance of setting goals.  Small, large, short term and long term goals.  They all are crucial to success.  Goals give you something to focus on, they pinpoint your destination.  Without a goal we are just aiming ourselves towards an objective with the hopes of coming close to hitting it.  A goal makes the route much more direct.  If our goal is getting from point A to point B, the closest distance between these two points is a straight line.  A goal is what keeps this line straight.  Without the goal we end up making a lot of unnecessary turns to get where we are going.  Yes we can still get there but it may take longer and on a longer journey it's easier to loose hope and turnaround and go home.  

I started this journey with two main long term goals, all round improvement in fitness and weight loss.  Throughout this journey I have made many short terms goals as well, focus on food, run more often, stick to my daily point allowance, add additional time to my daily workout, show up to class everyday, just to name a few.  It is because of each of these two different types of goals that I have found and continue to find success.  What I have tried to focus on is keeping my eye on the prize of my long term goal, overall fitness.  But it is these short terms goals that keep me in check.  Yes I want to get in better shape, but how do I get there?  Without the short term goals the end is too far away, it's overwhelmingly far away.  Starting this journey several months ago, I could not even see the finish line, in fact it was so far away I was not sure it existed.  I wanted it to exist but fear of the unknown and fear of hard work made it seem very far away.  As I thought of the finish line, I tried to think about what ways would help me get there.  Baby steps, one baby step at a time.  Daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, all of these baby steps compounded equal large steps closer to the ultimate goal.  It's a process and take time, a lot of time.  Sometimes it's hard to stay focused on the long term goals because we are so slowly coming up on the finish line.  The key is to start with smaller goals first.  When I was in boot camp for the Marines I so clearly remember them telling us to not think any farther in the future then your next meal, or the next Sunday.  "Chow to chow, Sunday to Sunday".  13 weeks of boot camp is painfully long and tedious.  The first week there thinking about how hard the remaining weeks were going to be was too much to deal with.  There were too many open possibilities ahead where life was just going to be awful.  After breakfast, don't think about anything else except lunch.  That is only 4-5 hours to try and process not 13 weeks.  I can deal with 4-5 hours of something, it's the much larger picture that is overwhelming.  The exact same applies to goals.  If little Johnny makes a goal of losing 20 pounds, and after six weeks he has only lost three pounds there is a chance that he might get discouraged and lose hope, possibly give up.  Yes, its great that Johnny make a goal to lose weight, but equally important to this long term goal are his short term goals.  With the 20 pound weight loss in mind, also make a goal to lose 1/2 pound in a week, or two pounds in a month.  These are much more achievable goals with immediate results, and it is because of the minor successes that you may feel even more focused as the weeks go by.  

We are a people who thrive off immediate satisfaction.  Because of this we stop caring or get bored very easily if we do not find this kind of satisfaction as quickly as we feel we should.  I find that because of short term goals, we still get this satisfaction that we are craving, and because of this short term satisfaction we are able to find ways to keep focus on our long term goals.  Make a goal, write it down, make it happen, repeat over and over and over again.