Why and How I started

So I have been asked a hundred plus times....How did you do it?  What are they talking about you ask?

Well over the past 12 months, I went from being overweight and sedentary to being an athlete training to run a Marathon.  Yes, thats right - 26.2 miles!

I have lost about 60 lb.'s, have run up to 15 miles at one time and now logging 25+ miles a week.

You may be asking why?  Well I am not completely sure.  After my 25th High School reunion back in June 2011 I decided I needed to get back in shape.  I hid my 60 extra pounds well, or so I thought.  I have a large frame and at 6'2" I can carry a lot of extra baggage and not look too bad.  However I realized once the transformation started to take place, I realized that I did not hide that extra weight very well at all.  My face got thinner, my waist is 6 inches smaller, my shirt sized dropped from a XL to L and.....well you get the picture.

So know you are asking what diet did you use........

No diet, notice the first 3 letters in diet are "die!"  I cannot go hungry, I am too weak minded for that.  I changed my lifestyle, I ate whatever I wanted, I just changed what I wanted to eat!  My basic approach is "all natural."  I use the knowledge that I have gained over the years through books and research, use a little common sense, and a firm belief that God gave us all the right ingredients to live well if we choose not to ignore it.

A little background:

Back in 1989, I was fairly skinny but kinda pudgy.  I started eating better, started running and eventually ran my first marathon on 1995.  In fact I have run 5 marathons, one year I ran Chicago and Dallas within 2 months. I looked great, felt great and then......kids!  Yes, my excuse was my job and my kids.  As my kids got older (I have 5 of them) and I started coaching, traveling, being more involved with the community, I gave up on the running and slowly hung up my shoes.  I also let my diet go to hell, eventually eating anything and everything.  I would yo-yo back and forth, lose 10 here, gain 10 there, just getting by and not caring much anymore.

I went from a size 34 to a size 38 in about a year, ballooned up to 240 ish and stayed there for 12 years.

Will any of this work for you?  I have no idea, my ideas are foreign to many but do make sense if you are open minded, they go against a lot of conventional thinking and may not be as easy for you as it was for me.  Anytime you speak of all natural, looking at what God gave us and how he designed us and other seemingly simple and basic ideas, there are a lot of professionals and health/fitness gurus ready to shoot it down.  That is o.k., because what I did is working, I am never hungry, I am healthy, and I am injury free.  I set out and live to prove them wrong.

Our TV's are filled with ads that temp us to eat the bad stuff, say their product is diet food or healthy, tell us to take medication for all our ailments and then wonder why we are all fatter and unhealthier as a society.

I will attempt to use this blog to share my thoughts, my ideas, my experiences with you.  It is up to you to decide if it is for you.  I have nothing to sell, nothing to gain, but I do feel compelled to share my message and hopefully help someone make a change that may add years to their life, fitness into their daily routine and enjoy living a little more.  In fact I challenge any reader to view this blog and be skeptical, but my challenge to you is to check it out, do your own research and decide for yourself.  BUT if you are overweight, sedentary and want to change, I at least challenge you to make some changes somewhere in your life

I hope you enjoy!