365 Ways To Get Fit… And Counting!

Can you tell any difference in the way I look by viewing the pictures below? The first one was taken on my birthday last June 25^th. The second one was taken on my birthday this past week, one year later. The first is what 335lbs on me looks like. The second is what 223lbs looks like. Hmmm, which one do you think I like most?

Just a bit of a difference, eh?

I read a lot on health and fitness these days. I’m often amused at the different tips for losing weight, getting fit, gaining strength, and often am baffled by all of the contradictory stuff that is offered regarding all of the above.

One nutritionist says to drink milk while yet another ‘scientific study’ says to avoid it. Some call for cutting carbs, some argue to add them. There are opinions on what to eat, when to eat, how and how often to eat. There are fad diets, fast diets, easy diets, purging diets and more whacked-out ideas and opinions than you’d hear at…well, just for today we’ll leave religion out of this.

And through the years, I think I’ve tried them all. But now I’ve found “the way, the truth and the life” to better fitness. Are you ready for the answer? The great discovery? The never-before-thought-of-solutions?

Well, here’s what’s worked for me: Every day (every stinking day!) make the decision that your actions will vote for life! This means no shortcuts to better health. It’s going to be a challenge – every day – to make better choices regarding what and how much you eat. It’s also going to be a challenge – every day – as to whether you’re going to make a time to exercise your top priority or not. Do it and you win… it’s a vote for life. Skip it, blow it off, allow yourself to get side-tracked and you lose… by being lazy or undisciplined you vote for weight gain, decreased strength, a lethargic mental status and a plethora of physical problems you don’t even want to think about.

Is it hard? Yep. Does it hurt sometimes? Yep. Are some days great and others impossible? Yep. Are there relapses? Yep. Are there rewards for sticking with it? Well, I think the pictures above could clue you into that answer.

A while back I was doing a conference and spoke about my new commitment to vote for health, fitness and life in general. Afterward a woman came up to me and told me that I was an inspiration to her. Recently I did another conference at the same place. The woman was even heavier than the last time I saw her and she was walking with a cane…I guess I wasn’t an inspiration after all.

I hurt for her. It reminded me of the difficulty that I’ve had through the years coming to the level of consciousness that guides me today. And I honestly don’t think I’ll ever go back. And to make sure I don’t, I’m very careful to write down every day all that I eat for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. I also post what I did that day for my strength and fitness.

I do this because I know that if I ever stop doing it, it will be a vote toward a lot of things I never want to go back to again. So, 365 days and counting… 366, 367, 368… yep, it’s hard, no lying, but it’s so worth it.

What about you? Can you do it? Can we do it together?

Let’s vote for life.

And health.

And feeling a whole lot better about ourselves.

Claire was one of my favorite customers. She worked in one of the local hospitals when I was in business in Houston, Texas. In stature, Claire was a large woman – about 5’10” tall with a big boned structure that could (and did) carry a lot of weight. But Claire was also one of those people who’s so fun, so funny, so authentically cool that you just never noticed.

One day Claire and I got into a discussion about health issues and our struggles with weight. She relayed to me a story about the last time she had gone on a diet and how unceremoniously it came to an abrupt end. The downfall began, she told me, in the cafeteria of the hospital.

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