February twentieth was the one year anniversary for whoatemyblog.com. There have been a lot of emotional and physical ups and downs, but no regrets. I have met a lot of wonderful people and lost one hundred pounds as a result of blogging. Honestly, I feel that this blog is my greatest accomplishment. I’ve laid everything out for everyone to see and I am eternally grateful to all who have read and commented on my posts.
Low Self Confidence
I am sure that most of you have noticed that I allow the scale to determine how self confident I am. If I lose ten pounds, I am ecstatic and can take on the world. If I gain ten pounds, it’s time to call it quits and I cannot do anything right. It is so bad during my downers that I doubt everything that I do, including my job.
Fitness Together
I really appreciate Jack Eyer and Donnie Warnock at Fitness Together at Patton Creek Shopping Center in Hoover, Alabama. We were doing a little trading of services. I would help them with their computers/website and they would train me. In the past few weeks, I have been too busy in the early afternoons to go workout with Donnie. Also, Donnie has been moved out to another FT location that is inconvenient for me to travel to twice a week.
Danny Haralson
I am going to start training with Danny Haralson, a local running coach. He’s best known for his couch to 5k program here in Birmingham, Alabama. Danny approached me last week about trading out services. I’ll take over his website, create a facebook page, a twitter account, and take pictures at various Run University events. Actually, I have been looking for a hobby, something that I love doing that won’t cost me anything, and it found me. Let me clarify, I don’t normally build websites because I’m not a programmer nor a designer, however I really look forward the social interactions and covering RU events.
Our First Meeting
Danny and I met on Monday to discuss what I will be doing. Here’s Danny’s plan:
- We are going to start slow to strengthen connective tissues and to build confidence. We are not aiming for instant results. He said that initially I may not lose any weight the first few weeks. So, starting out this first week I will walk a total of ten minutes every other day. Five minutes out, and five minutes back. As time goes by, Danny is going to increase my walking time, frequency, and speed. Eventually we will include weight training for upper body strength. Also, what’s going to happen is I will slowly adjust to walking long distances. Danny said that eventually I won’t walk less than 3 miles because I’ll feel that anything less won’t be worth walking.
- I will no longer look at future goals for confidence. I am going to look at past accomplishments. So, in the future when my self-confidence is low, I can look back at what all I have accomplished.
- I will miss walking one day, but the next day is a do-over. There won’t be any consecutive days without exercise.
- Danny wants me to find a picture of what I eventually want to look like. Make three copies of it and post in my bedroom, kitchen, and office.
- While walking I am to tell myself that “I’m doing a good job”, and when completed, I am to tell myself “well done”. Also, when going to bed I am to tell myself that “I did good today”.
- As we move along, we are going to come up with goals because we always must have goals.
- Right now we are going to focus on self-confidence and walking. Down the road we will get into nutrition. (pun)
- Danny and I will meet once a week. Also, If I’m feeling down or need to talk, I can call him or send him an email.
- Danny’s is a BIG believer in rewards. So, if I’ve done well for the week, there’s no issue with having a slice or two of pizza and a couple of beers. It’s all about moderation on the rewards.
Danny will be sending me an email detailing my plan. I will post more info once I receive it. I look forward to our training.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like a great idea! I wish you much success.
I like 95% of what I see here. I'm not a big believer in rewarding myself with food. That's kind of like an alcoholic celebrating their sobriety with a drink. I've always said…”keep it simple!” and that sounds like what you're doing for the most part by concentrating on the self-confidence and walking. The mental aspects of this journey are too important to ignore…That's why I weigh every two weeks instead of every week—I don't need the scale to mess with my emotions. That's why I adopted the “nothing is off limits” philosophy on food—because I wanted it to be impossible to cheat. If it fit in my calorie budget, then it wasn't cheating. Too many self-imposed rules can make this a tough road filled with many reasons to feel like a failure—Keep it simple and realize that you're a winner Stephen. You're a winner all the way. My best always—Sean
I like this Danny guy! He sounds exactly like what you need.
Happy Anniversary and I think your plan with Danny sounds terrific. That is how I started on my journey just walking everyday.
Hey Sean, in a way I agree with you on the rewards with food being a bad idea. I may just reward myself with low carb beer in a social setting. For example, they usually have group runs on Wednesday nights, and they have beer afterward. I don't have an issue with beer like I have with food.
Happy Anniversary
All of that sounds great! Although I've never really understood using food as a reward. I'd rather buy something that I've been wanting, such as a new book, CD, whatever.
Here's to another successful year!
What a fantastic plan! I'm certain you will be able to reach your goals with such a realistic plan! You have a lot to offer the world and your friends, that you should be proud of, so don't let your weight guide your level of confidence. You're definitely already achieved some impressive results! Keep up the great work and the great blogging!
Stephen,
I hope you are doing well, your plan with Danny sounds great except for the food reward part, that is a good strategy if you are trying to maintaiin weight not to lose. I am proud of your progress.
Question: why havent you been posting your weigh ins for the last two weeks?