On April 2, 2012 my life changed. I made the decision on that day to commit to transforming my body. Little did I know at the time that I would grow more in 2012 then ever before. Not only would I drastically change my body over a 12 week, no 16 week, actually I think this thing is a lifetime transformation challenge. I would change my mind (how I see things, how I am influenced, how I make decisions, etc…) and my life. I can not really say that I was unhappy or miserable prior to accomplishing my transformation, but I wouldn’t say that I was exactly happy. Maybe it was more that I had my moments. I wasn’t really honest with myself. As my transformation progressed I became happier every day. Obviously there have been situations that have happened in my life during this time which may have brought sadness, but I have also been able to continue on with my life in a positive way. I am excited to wake up every day and I enjoy doing things that I may have missed out on in the past.
At 45 years old I guess I decided that I wanted to meet life head on. As a little kid I grew up playing soccer and swimming on the swim team. Once I entered High School, I moved on to football and wrestling. I continued with football throughout college. Towards the end of college I moved on to rugby which I played for the next couple of years. Up until this time I was always involved in pick up games of basketball, team handball, handball and football. Since high school I had also worked out. Around the time I turned 25 all of this came to an end for the most part including the working out. Every once in a while I might walk into the gym but it wouldn’t last. In 1998 I competed in and became a Runner UP in the Bill Phillips 2nd Body For Life Challenge. This new inspiration helped me focus on my health and fitness and got me into the best shape that I had been in during my adult life. I was able to straighten out my nutrition and got into the gym on a regular basis. This changed my life for the better. I felt like I was doing everything that I had to do to continue with my healthy lifestyle. I let it go. I continued to work out but my nutrition was not good. My head was not in the game.
In the back of my mind I knew that I wasn’t. I was having trouble being honest with myself. I wanted my competitive life back. The life that I left behind 20 years earlier. For those last 20 years I was consumed with work. 60, 70, 80 hour work weeks. My life was my work. Sure work can be fulfilling, but aren’t there other things in life? Once you enter the workforce is there limited time to do things that you really want to do?
I remember the days when we were forced to do one sprint after another at the end of football practice after you beat the hell out of each other. I had a never quit attitude and would push harder and harder. One day it all came to an end. Let’s be honest, I never liked running and I still don’t. Once it all ended there was no reason to put myself through the torture of training. Training for what? Turkey Bowl? That’s once a year and just like every year I am going to go out and pull a hamstring or sprain an ankle or crack heads with someone else. I don’t have to train for that. I don’t have to torture myself for that. Well I do work out and I’m in good shape. I can walk by the mirror, suck in my gut and see how great I look.
Well I guess that was about the time that my Mid Life Crisis set in. I realized something was wrong. I’m working out but I don’t look like I did in 1998 when I finished Bill Phillip’s Body For Life.
This was what helped motivate me to launch my new transformation. Another Bill Phillips contest (Transformation Challenge).
This is when I started to learn to S.W.I.M. For whatever reason I missed a lot of this in my first transformation. Mostly the psychological side. The part that could influence other parts of my life. Also what made me decide to go even further on my “Journey to be Fit”. The part that removed my limits.
I realized that I only have so much time on earth and I already let so many things pass me by. I’m not going to miss out on something because I can’t make a decision or because I am waiting on someone else. If I want to do something I am going to do it. What does NIKE say? I had been considering doing a mud run for about 5 months. This is after I noticed the Tough Mudder. However, I saw that the Tough Mudder was 12 miles and there was no way that I was going to run 12 miles. Like I said. I hate running. I looked around a little more and noticed some shorter races. Some of these were only 5k’s. I already was running about 3 miles a day. No problem. I did my first race a few weeks into my transformation. On Saturday, November 17th I will do my 7th race. It’s a Spartan Race in Fenway Park. On December 1st I will do my first Tough Mudder. (I thought you said that you hate running? Yes I did, but these obstacles are a blast. The competition, challenge and achievement make you realize that you are alive.
I have a lot of people who wonder what the hell I am doing with my life. Over the last 10 weeks (not long after completing my transformation) I have driven up to Plainfield, IL and stayed for 4 days and 3 nights each week. I go there so that I can train at Xtreme Speed, which is a performance center owned by a friend of mine. These guys are very intense. I decided that I want to be on a whole other level. In order to do that either train with people who have the same goals. People who want to be where you want to go. Or people who are already there. These guys are already there. I missed two weeks because I also went to Jackson, WY to have some new and old injuries treated by a friend of mine that does some amazing things with healing injuries and even illnesses with his own formulations. (I will have more on my blog about him soon). I also had a trip to Denver where I attended Bill Phillips new Transformation Program. Basically all of my recent trips have been for myself. It’s not like I stopped working. I can work from anywhere. I just made the decision to do things that I wanted to do. At this point it is anything from sight seeing (places like Red Rocks in Denver) to training (which I love, especially when it is something different. I also have another performance center that I will be checking out in the coming weeks) to running in mudruns or obstacle races.
I love the challenge. I love being able to compete. I love being more athletic than I have been since I was 25. It’s never too late.
Is this my Mid Life Crisis? If it is… Bring it on! I’m turning 46 in 8 days and I look like I’m in my 30’s and feel like I’m in my 20’s. Over the last 7 months I have totally transformed my body, mind and life and brought competition back into my life. I also hope that I can help influence others to join me in this life changing experience.
Evolve My Life ™ 