To start this journal off, here is my short story about why I'm here and what I plan to accomplish:
I'm just 23 years old, lived in small towns in West Virginia, USA my entire life and have been a fanatic about my fitness levels since childhood. I may be only 5'4'', but that has always been my motivation and backbone for what I have accomplished in my life. Being the "little guy" that I am, I felt great accomplishment being one of the best 3 point shooters on my schools basketball team, a skilled soccer player, wrestler, skater, biker and worker despite my obvious height issue
. I have just rolled with my natural abilities and talents hoping to prove the bigger guys wrong haha. This was my childhood though, full of intensity and a thirst to become better than the rest.
However, this was all halted once I grew up and life became my priority. School and money have taken over and with everyone around me slacking off as well, the motivation to pick myself back up quickly dropped. I have spent the past few years telling myself every new years that "I'm going to make a change", "I'm going to start working out again" and my favorite "I promise I will do it THIS time". These past few months I have finally started and regained motivation and a habit of watching my diet, health and fitness.
I was caught up into a spiral of depression, anxiety, frustration and illness. I was feeling short of breath, fatigue and sadness, life hits hard...and all at once I suppose. I missed that child like innocence of walking through the woods, into town and back again...no worries and always felt great. I became a lazy slob, in between classes I spent all my time playing games and sleeping for hours on end. It was killing me.
I guess kicking old habits becomes a habit after a while. It all started with simply going to the river to enjoy a swim with some good friends. Until this point the most I have done physically was cut grass on the side. The river had a massive network of trails I wouldn't even take a bike on, so the walk there and back over the weekend was quite a strain and effort. This was exactly what I needed, the exertion, sweat and pain mixed with the beauty of the park was exactly what I needed. I spent countless weekends during this summer simply hiking the trails and swimming. Since then, I haven't looked back. I haven't felt this good in years. I have a long way to go, but after years of literally not lifting a finger for much more than needed, the difference is unbelievable. I guess once you hit rock bottom (5'4'' and 240lbs) you have no place to go but up.
Last but not least, the reason I am here is for guidance, motivation and this thread specifically...keep track of what I am doing. I have never enjoyed walking briskly, let alone jogging or running, but although my fitness during my younger years was at a peak, I didn't have much cardio. I was the tortoise that beat the hare I suppose. I've always lived at a slow and steady pace, able to walk countless miles, one after another..but never capable of jogging more than 10 minutes. Today however I decided to try it, just once. I'll be damned, although barely able to last 2 minutes (quite brisk jog actually) It felt great afterward. I've always avoided running/jogging every chance I could, I've never enjoyed it...but I NEED then cardio. That being said, I plan to jog as much as possible until I reach a goal of being able to do so for a reasonable amount of time, although walking is what I truly enjoy..I might just like the extra ground being covered once I can jog without nearly passing out
I'm just 23 years old, lived in small towns in West Virginia, USA my entire life and have been a fanatic about my fitness levels since childhood. I may be only 5'4'', but that has always been my motivation and backbone for what I have accomplished in my life. Being the "little guy" that I am, I felt great accomplishment being one of the best 3 point shooters on my schools basketball team, a skilled soccer player, wrestler, skater, biker and worker despite my obvious height issue
. I have just rolled with my natural abilities and talents hoping to prove the bigger guys wrong haha. This was my childhood though, full of intensity and a thirst to become better than the rest.However, this was all halted once I grew up and life became my priority. School and money have taken over and with everyone around me slacking off as well, the motivation to pick myself back up quickly dropped. I have spent the past few years telling myself every new years that "I'm going to make a change", "I'm going to start working out again" and my favorite "I promise I will do it THIS time". These past few months I have finally started and regained motivation and a habit of watching my diet, health and fitness.
I was caught up into a spiral of depression, anxiety, frustration and illness. I was feeling short of breath, fatigue and sadness, life hits hard...and all at once I suppose. I missed that child like innocence of walking through the woods, into town and back again...no worries and always felt great. I became a lazy slob, in between classes I spent all my time playing games and sleeping for hours on end. It was killing me.
I guess kicking old habits becomes a habit after a while. It all started with simply going to the river to enjoy a swim with some good friends. Until this point the most I have done physically was cut grass on the side. The river had a massive network of trails I wouldn't even take a bike on, so the walk there and back over the weekend was quite a strain and effort. This was exactly what I needed, the exertion, sweat and pain mixed with the beauty of the park was exactly what I needed. I spent countless weekends during this summer simply hiking the trails and swimming. Since then, I haven't looked back. I haven't felt this good in years. I have a long way to go, but after years of literally not lifting a finger for much more than needed, the difference is unbelievable. I guess once you hit rock bottom (5'4'' and 240lbs) you have no place to go but up
.Last but not least, the reason I am here is for guidance, motivation and this thread specifically...keep track of what I am doing. I have never enjoyed walking briskly, let alone jogging or running, but although my fitness during my younger years was at a peak, I didn't have much cardio. I was the tortoise that beat the hare I suppose. I've always lived at a slow and steady pace, able to walk countless miles, one after another..but never capable of jogging more than 10 minutes. Today however I decided to try it, just once. I'll be damned, although barely able to last 2 minutes (quite brisk jog actually) It felt great afterward. I've always avoided running/jogging every chance I could, I've never enjoyed it...but I NEED then cardio. That being said, I plan to jog as much as possible until I reach a goal of being able to do so for a reasonable amount of time, although walking is what I truly enjoy..I might just like the extra ground being covered once I can jog without nearly passing out