No Excuses | Beating the Bulge

No Excuses - The Beginning

by Michael on 26/04/09 at 7:26 pm

I have to come clean before we getting started here. I started this blog a couple of weeks ago. With heaps of resolve and lots of confidence, I began my journey to lose 100 pounds. The first week went pretty well; I had a couple of fumbles, but overall it was a good start. Then I got sick. I was down for a few days â€” I didn’t feel like wrestling with food and I certainly didn’t feel like working out. I took the week off, resolving to recommit on Monday. (Ah yes, Monday. I’ve lived a whole life of Mondays.) On Monday I still wasn’t feeling a 100% I told myself, so I pushed things to Tuesday. Tuesday would be better because I was meeting with my trainer, Phil, for the first time in over a year.

It should have been a no brainer after Tuesday, but it wasn’t. I had a killer workout with Phil and limped home. On Wednesday I met with Susan, a life coach who is going to help me get this ball rolling. And then, on Thursday I worked out with Phil again. But the rest of the week just fell apart. My blog remained untouched.

I’m a bit of a weird guy with obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Whenever I start a new project, like quitting smoking or losing weight, everything has to line up just so. In the case of my current project to lose 100 pounds, I needed to get my blog started because I need to chronicle every second of this journey. Heaven forbid I should lose a pound without being able to account for it here. Then, I needed to get myself inspired to start my program. Next, I had to get sessions lined up with my trainer and make workout dates with my partner. And finally, I had to shop for food, get food plans ready, and clear some time in my work schedule for this new project. And if all those things didn’t line up perfectly, then the trail of excuses begins. And that’s exactly what happened after my cold subsided.

The funny thing is that I have this tattoo on my arm â€” “NO EXCUSES” it screams. And yet, excuses are exactly what I’ve allowed to get in my way â€” I was sick, I didn’t feel like it, I wasn’t seeing my trainer until Tuesday, my blog wasn’t designed and ready to go, I had too much to do, I couldn’t get out of bed early enough in the morning, and on it goes. Sounds like nothing but excuses. I got this tattoo a couple of years ago. I saw a young man named Kyle Maynard on Oprah; and Kyle was missing most of his arms and legs, but he pushed himself to do things that most people thought were beyond his capabilities. In his book No Excuses he chronicles his journey to become a wrestling champion. He inspired me, so I tattooed his motto on my arm. I wanted it to become my creed. But these words stained across my arm have been waiting for me to catch up. I think I’ve kept them waiting long enough.

It’s Sunday night and I just cleared my blog. I erased a week’s worth of posts because, like I said, I’m a little weird and everything has to be just right. I didn’t want the reminder of my fumbles weighing down my fresh start. Technology is great, isn’t it? If you want a do over, you just hit delete. Now, I’ve got this first entry written and I can get started on my program tomorrow. I spent the weekend clearing space for this project, so there’s nothing hanging over my head. I asked my partner if he was available to go to the gym tomorrow and I’m seeing my trainer on Tuesday and Thursday. And when I’m finished blogging I’m going to put together my food plan for the week. So I really have no excuses. It’s time to tackle this.

Bookmark & Share This Beating the Bulge Post