From Fat to Fit

In September 2007, my wife and I went out to California for vacation. We stayed with my former boss, and for the first time in my life, I got a chance to ride a motorcycle. It was awesome!! Of course, I decided that I needed a motorcycle, so my wife challenged me that if I could lose 30 lbs, then I could get a motorcycle. Well that pretty much put an end to my motorcycle dreams.

A month or so later, I was on a business trip to our corporate office to attend a manager's meeting. The owner of my company, made a joke about my big belly sticking out, and I thought to myself, "I need to change my lifestyle." But still, nothing happened.

In December, my grandmother passed away, and that was the beginning of my desire to change my lifestyle. I saw in her passing away, how cruel death can be at times. I began to remember a conversation that I had with my doctor about 2 years ago. He diagnosed me with borderline High Cholesterol (250), and gave me a long speech about changing my eating habits and my lifestyle in general. He said, "Most people believe that getting old is a b****, but I don't believe that it has to be. I believe that getting old doesn't have to mean heart attacks, strokes, etc." I realized that if I didn't make a serious change, then I would end up with either a heart attack, stroke or diabetes.

My lifestyle included eating fast food 1 to 3 times a day, drinking 2+/- liters of soda a day, eating greasy, fried foods, no exercise (except for hunting). Last winter, during hunting season, I couldn't walk as far up the mountain as I used to, and felt like I was going to pass out. I had to stop and take a break every 15-20 as I walked up a steep mountain. I began to get out of breath going up one flight of stairs. Oh, and I almost forgot, that I would make fun of my wife while she was doing aerobics and I totally despised any thought of going on a diet. You can say, that I had an allergy to diets and exercise.

About five years ago, I did get into cycling and did get into a form of shape, but winter hit and I got out of shape. I had one old Schwinn that was borrowed and eventually gave back to the owner after I moved back to West Virginia, and a cheap huffy mountain bike that was crap.I was still very much a recreational rider and never did more than 250 miles a year. A year and a half ago, I purchased my first Bike Shop Bike and got a Giant Cypress with 700c wheels. However, I bought it at the end of the season and put about 65 miles on it, then the winter hit and I didn't ride again until this February.

The culmination of the above met up with me in February 2008, when I decided that I needed to make a change. Here is my picture in early March as I was beginning my journey from Fat to Fit.


My first ride was only a mile and I thought I was going to die. I set four goals for 2008 to help me keep my focus on going from Fat to Fit:

1. Lose 30 lbs
2. Ride in a Charity Bike Ride
3. Ride the entire C & O Canal Towpath
4. Ride 500 miles

I am now in my 15th week of cycling in 2008 and so far I have lost 13 lbs, 1.75" off my waist, ridden 397 miles to date, and have signed up for two charity rides for June 1st and 8th. The first is a 30 Mile ride in Winchester, VA benefiting the Boys and Girls Club, and the second is a 32 Mile Ride on the W & OD trail in Reston, VA benefiting the American Diabetes Association. When I signed up for these rides this past winter, I wasn't sure how far I could ride, so I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew, but now I'm wishing that I had picked at least a Metric Century.

Thanks for coming to my site and I hope you enjoy my future adventures as I continue my journey from fat to fit!