Time to Make Some Real Changes

I’ve had a tough couple of months. It started with that horrible flu that was going around. Continued with a cough that refused (refuses?) to go away. Was followed by a relapse that bordered on strep. And recently concluded (I hope) when I was chasing my kid and ran into a bar (not THAT kind of bar, a pull-up bar) at the park. Needless to say, I’m a wreck.

I’m not a real go to the doctor kind of guy, but this recent series of events saw me go three times. And, in the ultimate wake-up call, it turns out that being healthy enough isn’t actually “healthy enough.” So, it’s time for some serious changes. This is the first time that I TRULY realized that I’m not that 25-year old kid who can easily work himself back into shape. It’s MUCH harder now. It requires a full time commitment.

I’ve started to read quite a few books about health, diet and fitness. I’ve started to read Men’s Health. And, it’s all pretty confusing. Eat right and exercise, right? Well, yeah, but it gets daunting to read something new every single month. Every month there’s a new “BEST AB WORKOUT EVER!” promised on the cover. But wait! I thought the routine I was doing last month was the BEST EVER! Damn.

I know that I’m an “all in” kind of person. When I eat right…I exercise. When I fall off the wagon – I fall HARD. It’s not that I’m obese or so out of shape that I barely recognize myself, but there are those 20 pounds that could come off. It’s just different this time. If I’m REALLY going to do this, it’s going to require the kind of effort that I put into being a good dad. The kind of effort I put into my company. This is a job. Something that has to happen every single day. No “oh, just one” kind of excuses.

My kid is five and for the first time, I feel like I need to make some changes if I’m going to be around to enjoy his life…as much as I’ll enjoy mine. People always say stuff like that, “Well, you want to be around for him as he gets older,” but it’s never really resonated with me. Of course I’m going to be around. Why wouldn’t I be? That was more or less my thinking. Weird how a couple of random pains will make you think otherwise. Weird how a friend’s heart attack (a friend, I should add, who is in far better shape and is younger than I am) will make you ponder your own health. Nah, not so weird.

Enough f*cking around.