March 21st, 2012: Well the run was fun while it lasted. Back up 1 pound to 286. I guess I need to consider this fine morning as the kickoff to a new round of challenges.
To help me renew my vows to lose all this worthless weight, I’ll list my reasons for taking this fight – they always change a little anyway, so I’m not going off what I wrote down in January; this is off the top of my head for my feelings at this moment.
Reasons why I need to lose 97 more lbs.
- Play better and have more fun with my boys (ages 14 and 2).
- Play better and have more fun with my wife.
- Keep my blood pressure low.
- Take stress off my back, hips, knees, ankles, and feet.
- Be able to help someone in an emergency.
- Compete in a master’s division boxing tournament.
- Hunt for big game in Idaho and Montana, and do it right.
- Fit into better and more comfortable clothes.
- Look better.
- Beat down the anxiety and depression.
- Climb Mount Borah.
- Ride horses without driving them to their knees.
- Compete in a sprint-length triathlon.
- Enjoy life.
March 21st, 2020: The photos I have today are of the part of the program workout called “Safety Core”. These exercises are also a subset of the program and are packaged under “Exit Tickets”. This means you don’t get to consider your workout complete, and thus leave the gym, until some or all of them are completed.
What you’re looking at here are also trying to metaphorically illustrate a point. The first one is of me trying to achieve balance. I’m getting pretty good at it. I can hold that pose for the 3-minutes I’m supposed to, in order to build those mind-muscle connections and hopefully prevent falls or sprained ankles, etc. It’s great for all sports, it’s great for protecting yourself. Balance is good.
Balance is tough for me to achieve in life. Balance in life for me is about the construct of time spent doing things – usually consisting of the battle between work time and play time, or “me” time vs. time to give to someone else. Time is my most valuable possession as it’s truly the only one where I have only so much of it. I can’t make any more time. Balance may be out of my reach on an instantaneous, daily curve, but maybe if I were to look back on my life as whole, it’ll turn up that it was a fairly balanced effort of fun and work. I don’t know, we’ll have to see.
The second photos of me are doing my neck exercises. I don’t compete as a boxer anymore, and I hope I can stay that way, as I’m getting too familiar with orthopedic surgeons because of it, but as a boxer I know the importance of keeping my head on my shoulders – literally and figuratively. As stated, I don’t ever plan on stepping into a ring again to battle, but I can’t bring myself to cease training as though I might. In the photos I’m doing the literal part of keeping my head on my shoulders. If you don’t keep those neck muscles strong, your head snaps around too much when you take a punch, which increases the sheer forces your brain receives from punches.
I’m getting skilled at keeping my head on my shoulders, figuratively. I’m much better than I used to be as a fighter, and as a man. I’ve had a lot of people to look up to and learn from – bad examples and good examples, when it comes to keeping composure. As a boxer, there is nobody like Floyd Mayweather Jr. when it comes to keeping your head on straight, literally and figuratively, in the middle of a fight. A select few people I’ve known personally, as well as some famous ones – real and even just characters in movies, have demonstrated the importance of knowing when to run ice-water through your veins.
Cool under fire is the most beautiful construct I’ve ever witnessed, life-balance a close second. I guess I better stop here and go attempt to practice one or both of those. It seems like I get tested in one or both areas every day, which even though it’s taxing, it’s necessary.
