Sarah, fitness and the great or dreadful June 1st photo shoot...

Some guy in a costume at the Boston marathon.

Sarah's running a half-marathon this Sat with a few friends of hers from the ward. She's too modest to talk too much about it and would never post about it, so I will. Sarah's an amazing runner. When I met her at BYU she was not nearly as active and healthy as she is now (was that euphemistic enough?). Then--and I think this was in the midst of winter--she began jogging. That summer she went back to California and when she returned I remember being a bit taken aback, in a good way, at how tan, healthy and thin she looked. She's been a runner ever since and still runs regularly and, most of the time, pushes Carter (40lbs) and Claire (20+ lbs) in the double jogging stroller (20+ lbs). In many ways she is my inspiration to exercise since I see the effort she puts in and benefits she earns.

Sarah's crowning achievement thus far is when she and my sister Heidi ran the St. George marathon a few years back. A marathon, by the way, is 26.2 miles. Ridiculous. At that time I was about as unhealthy as I've ever been and stood on the side of the road sipping from a long red straw which was plunged deep into the bowels of a 44 oz. of (diet) soda cup and watched her run past me. I remember being shocked that the people running the race; there were chubby people, old people, black people, white people, short people, women, men and fat people. Fat people? At the time I thought everyone who runs and is in good shape wore expensive running clothes and were lithe, sleek and beautiful. Now, years later, I have become much more educated about health and fitness and realize that being healthy is a lifestyle and anyone, regardless of age and body type, can be classified as "fit" and/or "heart healthy."

I don't know when it happened, but one day when I stood on the scale and saw the biggest number I had ever seen staring back at me, I realized that I had to turn things around. Not only did I feel spiritually and physically sick about how much I was eating and how little I was exercising, but the doctor who saw my blood test told me that I was on the fast track to needing medication to control my blood pressure and cholesterol. This was at about the age of twenty-three. My primary problem was that I had either been in athletics or walking around on the Italy and now I was working, going to school and eating...and I wasn't burning all those calories like I had been.

Anyway, not to bore you with how I lost it, suffice to say that I did the following (in this order): first, cut out the worst foods and excesses; second, started managing portion sizes (no more "thirds" at dinner); third, started eating healthier foods (wheat bread and tortillas, cottage cheese, low-fat yogurt, fruits and vegetables); and fourth, I began exercising (walk-jogs, etc.). The weight melted off and I lost ten, fifteen, twenty-five and eventually about forty pounds. I felt light, energetic and spiritually uplifted.

In recent months, however, I started losing my focus. It's the pride-cycle effect: "Yeah, I'm fine...I can eat that. Shoot, it's OK, I've worked so hard, I'll start being good again tomorrow." Next thing you know there's a triple stack chicken quesadilla on grill mode and I'm chasing that with a box of my favorite candy: Jelly-Bellies. Then the belly starts to feel like jelly and I figure I've lost it before and I can do it again when I want. Problem is, the weight melts off much slower than it stacks on. Right now I'm nearly thirty pounds heavier than I'd like to be but I'm motivated to lose 25 lbs of lard and to put some muscle back on.

So, I declare that on June 1st, I'm going to post a shirtless photo of myself here, on the blog. I am also going to post a shirtless pic from a few years ago that Sarah took of me holding Carter on a water skiing trip. This will either be a great day, or a dreadful one. Right now I'm pasty white and fluffy..by then I want to have some muscles and a few less inches on the waist line. This public declaration and ridiculous photo stunt will be one of my primary motivators to work at this. So far, so good...the issue is making exercise a priority. My first step was to get rid of the games and now I just need to get off the couch in the evenings, which is the best time to work out, and get going.

I must warn you, to stay motivated I'll probably post some healthy recipes, success stories, and some not-so-successful stories on the blog here.  I've noticed some people are bothered by weight-loss talk, or are indifferent,  but I think that's because either they are not trying at all and it bothers them to think about it, or they are blessed with great genes and don't see what all the fuss is about.  Bottom line is that overeating and the sedentary lifestyle is destructive to one's physical body, psychological state and spiritual well-being and we all need to concern ourselves with being healthy and helping others do the same.

From "Nutrition Data":

"3. Go on record

There's something about making your resolution public that makes it just a little bit harder to abandon your resolution. To give your resolution a little extra staying power, why not put it on record?"

Some helpful sites for the person seeking to become more healthy:

Super Foods

MSN Weight Loss and Healthy Calculator

Nutrition Data

The Twenty Best Weight Loss Foods

All Recipes: Healthy Recipes

Mr. Breakfast

And finally, my most motivational song for weight loss (it's first on the iPod shuffle):

Silverchair: Tomorrow (excerpts)

Its twelve oclock, and its a wonderful day, I know you hate me, but I'll ask anyway, Wont you come with me, to a place in a little town, The only way to get theres to go straight down, Theres no bathroom, and there is no sink, The water out of the tap is very, hard to drink Very hard to drink You, wait til tomorrow, You, wait til tomorrow, Very hard to drink, Very hard to drink, You gonna wait too, fat boy, Fat boy, wait til tomorrow, You gonna wait too, fat boy, Fat boy, wait til tomorrow,