6 month photo

I'm starting to get others looking at this blog and it is very exciting! When I started for the first four months I posted comparison pictures of myself showing each month by month. Since it has been almost 6 months now since I started this, I took a picture this morning after my 4 mile run to compare to my base photo. The base photo was taken on December 17, 2009, in Disneyland. The photo was taken the day I was told I could not ride the Maliboomer in Disney's California Adventure Park. I can see why I couldn't ride looking back at it now and I am glad I couldn't because it helped me get where I am today.

I remember the cast member who was checking the restraints try and help me to click in, but to no avail. He looked at me and said "I'm sorry" with a compassion of someone who knew that this was a life changing moment for me. I smiled and got off, watching my family ride, and was really in a funk the whole day. I want to go back and ride it now! I will once I scrape the money together for park tickets for my wife and I.

Once again, thank you to those who have discovered my blog are are commenting, it really helps me keep at this. I was wondering if anyone ever saw this and now that it is getting out there I am even more inspired to keep at this! There was a comment earlier from someone who is not really into running. That is OK, you don't have to be into running to read and follow this blog. I found that running works for me so that is what I use but this blog is really a forum about bettering ones life through better health. Whether that be getting to a size that fits on an enchanted bench or crossing the finish line in a 5K, everyone is welcome here. You all keep me going.

If there is anyone from the Central Valley of California reading this, the half marathon that I am training for is in November in Fresno. See http://www.runfresno.com/ for more info. If you are running it too, let me know and we can meet at the run!

One last thing. Since there are people reading this now, I want to recap what major changes I made to better my life. First, I gave up caffeine. I was truly addicted to sodas and that really was a major thing controlling my life. If you read my first week of posts, you will see how bad the withdrawals are. But, that clears in a few days and I feel better than ever. My drink of choice now is good old H2O. Second, I avoid fast food like the plague. Fast food has two problems. It is very bad for you health wise and it makes you not focus on what you are eating because it take so little effort to get it. I make my own breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don't fry anything and control my portions. Making food at home has helped me focus on what I am eating, rather than the impulsive eating I did before. Third, I exercise regularly. I started out trying to run but ended up walking very short distances on the treadmill. It took me a long time to build up to where I could run a 5K without stopping, but now I can do that on a daily basis. Whatever your workout is, find something that works and keep at it. Lastly, I write this blog. I encourage everyone who is getting in shape to blog about it (let me know, I will follow it!). I am a very private person regularly, do in large part to my job. I keep a very limited web presence and don't like letting any of my personal information out there. That is why I don't talk about the specific city where I live and rather than names I refer to "the wife." However, this blog has kept me accountable to myself. I know that I am putting my endeavor to change my lifestyle out there for everyone to see whether I succeed or fail. That has helped me succeed.

Thank you again to all that are now commenting, I will try and respond to all of you! Keep at it!