Sunday 28 April 2013

My Personal Olympic Legacy - A Third Less of the Man I Used to Be !!

Today is Major Personal Milestone Day !....let me tell you why

My birthday falls on New Years Eve. Every Year

Clearly everyone around the World celebrates my Mum& Dad's perfecting timing. Parties, fireworks,  champagne corks popping all over the world..... just for me.

But each year my New Year resolution vows are the same.

MUST.

LOSE.

WEIGHT.

It was my 50th Birthday in 2011 and what with the Olympic & Paralympics on our front door, my 25th Wedding Anniversary & the twins 18th Birthday, it was personal challenge time and time to make 2012 a really life changing year for me and my family.

So I vowed to lose 20.12% of my body weight.

Since birth, I've piled it on, taken it off, piled it back on again, rising to a horrendous 24 stone 10lbs (if you're reading this in the US of A that's 333lbs or elsewhere in Europe a massive 152 kilos!).




Today I got on the scales and after what has been a truly incredible journey, overcoming personal demons and private hell , I've sailed past my 20.12% target to hit an 235lbs/16st 10lbs/102kg...............a massive loss of  33% !

And its not just the numbers that make me feel great. I FEEL great in myself

I'm exercising without pain, I'm walking for fun & breathing so much better...my asthma seems to have gone too!

I've taken up jogging (only a far as the local police station as they have the nearest defibrillator!) and can RUN (yes, RUN!) up hills and I've just got back on a bike. ( that hurts, but I'll suffer and see how that goes!!).

I remember running up a single flight of stairs at work, getting the sweats and the flock of ravens in my visual field and thinking of all places I DON'T WANT TO DIE IN BARKING...it would look really crap on the death certificate (Notes for Editors: if I have do have to die prematurely & I'm not proposing this at all, then dying underwater scuba diving in the Cayman Islands is preferred mode of exit and would be happy to be sent there on expenses to check out some potential locations!).

Everyone's gob smacked when they see me. I look SO different. Have a look at my profile picture on this blog and compare it to the one above or check-out my Facebook page and you'll see me in my purple and poppy Games Maker outfit......I look like a  flippin' Spacehopper! Even my wife didn't recognise me in the gym the other day! (some husbands reading this are now really jealous!)

Some folks are apprehensive about asking. I think they think I've been ill. Others are envious but all ask the big question "How?????"

My only answer to everyone is based on Nike's slogan.......

J.F.D.I

(You'll have spotted that I've added one more word to their words of wisdom.)

You have to take a step back and look at the options; regenerate or die !

Everyone reading this can do it. It's not just hard, its nigh-on impossible...but it is totally do-able!

Visualise your goals and visualise what will happen if you don't make the changes. DON'T RUN AWAY from it. Make that commitment.....and stick to it.

You'll need the support of a great team around you (and big huge hug for Mrs K & the Kids who have been so incredibly supportive throughout this journey) as you'll need to overcome hurdles and barriers that you won't be able to get over on your own.

You've got to think about the long-game and not just the here-and-now and you got to take the bull-by-the-horn and stick to your guns.

Moreover, you've got to learn as many clichéd motivational phrases as possible and apply them to your own life and to your business life.

I may be 33% lighter physically, but its inspired me to make a more heavyweight approach to the way I do stuff

When it comes down to it , if you REALLY want to do something, JFDI!











No comments: