Another friend of mine. His thoughts..
Regular readers to Nick’s blog will already have read the rather inspiring tale of Paul, the chap who had back problems so decided to lose weight by running (though see below if you missed it). That’s what happens when you work hard and maintain your fitness programme regardless of how limited your free time is.
Paul’s home life is a lot different to mine. He has two children which obviously takes up a massive amount of his time. I have none, so with the right attitude, you’d expect me to have a lot more opportunity to pursue and stick to a fitness regime. Paul works for the government (so that means he doesn’t do much work ;) and has the option of flexible working hours. I work long hours in the private sector, in a busy office six days a week every other week. For the last few months, I’ve been using this as an excuse not to keep up the good work I started last year, but I do see that as just what it is – an excuse. Let me tell you my tale, and I’m sure there’ll be a lot of people who empathise with my situation.
For a long, long time, I was very overweight and didn’t do anything about it. It started gradually of course, pounds piling on silently over the years, a ‘cute’ little beer belly swelling with each fried breakfast, each bag of chips, each pint. Before I really realised just how bad things were, I was well over 16 and a half stone and rapidly approaching 30 years of age.
My job was a busy one, a regular 9-5 affair. I was overworked, had no time to eat properly throughout the day and I was suffering from a great deal of work related stress. I was catching the bus back and forth work, which meant my day started at 7.45am (quick army wash before work, no breakfast) and I’d get home around 6pm.
At home, I’d be so exhausted from work I had no energy to do anything constructive or do any kind of physical activity. I’d have my dinner, slouch in front of the TV, playstation or PC, to ‘relax’. I genuinely felt too exhausted to do anything else. This of course affected my home life, with things needing doing around the house being left unattended and my girlfriend unhappy that I was forever “sat in front of that machine”. I’d get angry because she didn’t understand how busy I was during the day and, looking back, I really do think I was nearing burnout (isn’t that just an oh so modern phrase?).
Then, one day in May 2007, Nick and I decided enough was enough and it was time to seriously do something about our health before it really was too late. We decided to sign up to a local gym and really fight the fat. I didn’t hold out much hope that we’d stick to the three sessions a week we planned, and I was already concerned that I just wouldn’t be able to find the time or energy for it. But we were both eager, both keen, and both in dire need of some fitness training. And more importantly, both of us didn’t want to be the one to say “I can’t do this!”
The gym sessions started well, as I thought they would. The adrenaline and serotonin rush, the feeling of accomplishment, the feeling that I had taken positive action in my life. I didn’t think it would last; I thought that one week an excuse would surface amongst either of us that we couldn’t make it that night, that we’d ‘have tonight off and go tomorrow’, that sort of thing. Don’t get me wrong, some sessions were missed, but for actual GENUINE genuine reasons.
The training we did was about 45 – 60 minutes weight training and 30+ minutes cardiovascular. I never got on the scales, I considered them my enemy, but I could see the difference the sessions were making. I wouldn’t get out of puff so quickly, my shoulders started to develop well, I could lift more and more weight, I could run faster for longer.
But the most important improvement, at least most important to me (and the point I’m trying to make with this little tale), is that I actually had MORE time to myself. Three 90 minute sessions a week - before I started I thought that was a massive amount of time out of my schedule. I didn’t realise what time I’d get back.
I would wake up at 7am and earlier. I felt fresh when I woke too, a feeling I hadn’t had for about 6 years, with a positive outlook towards the day. I’d get to sleep much later and not be a zombie in the morning. My work life improved; all of a sudden the insurmountable mass of work in my in-tray looked like just a bunch of papers that I’d get rid of in no time. I did get rid of them too, and I finally started to get up to date with my work. I’d do little odd jobs around the house that had needed doing for months, and even some bigger projects that my girlfriend hadn’t even nagged me about. My whole attitude changed, I almost became a different person, like a new and improved version of me. I started to look at the gym as a fun part of my life, not a hard-slog chore that I had to do as a price for years of neglect to my body. I had MORE free time because I had more energy and more hours in the day! And I was having more fun in my life to boot!
Then, in October 2007, I got offered a job with a rival firm as a manager of one of their offices. Did that have anything to do with my more positive attitude? Maybe it did! I jumped at the chance, handed in my notice and began my new job with my positive attitude and a real sense of achievement.
But my hours were much longer, my responsibilities greater, my schedule all changed. I had to quit the gym, because I was getting home so late. I thought that I’d just have a week or two off to adjust to my new timetable, then get back at it. It became obvious that my new timetable was difficult to adjust to using the bus, so I put off the gym until I learned to drive. Put offs, put offs, put offs. And my attitude slowly reverted to the bad old days.
Today, I’m back up to my original weight. I’m stressed at work, I’m tired at home. My life is so much more difficult now because I lost that attitude. You might think that my attitude wasn’t that good, my commitment to the gym not that strong, the gym not as much fun as I am making out. None of that is true.
I slacked off, lost my way, but instead of giving up and continually saying “ah well, when I’m driving I’ll get back to it”, I’m getting that attitude back NOW. I know that in just two weeks – yes, just TWO weeks, of regaining my training schedule, I’ll wonder just how the hell I stopped going to my celestial temple: the gym. And I know that little voice telling me to put it off until it’s more practical for me to make the gym, is a little Judas that needs to be ignored.
So, to summarise, you all know that if you’re looking to improve your life and your outlook on life: get running, get on the ski machine, do whatever you can to burn those calories and get that heart pumping. A good looking and stronger body is a very welcome by-product of it all. But what you might not have considered is if you want more free time in your life, the same advice applies: get running, get that heart pumping. You’ll see – you will sleep less and have more energy in your waking life.
Just don’t lose your way. Don’t give in to that little voice that says “I’ll go tomorrow”, because it always turns into “I’ll go next week”. But if you do, this is the most important thing to remember: you haven’t failed if you can see all your excuses are just that; excuses. Get back to the gym TODAY. Which is exactly what I’m going to do.
Just watch me.
Hughesy
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