New Year, New Attitude

I am sure many of you have made resolutions to get more fit or to lose a certain amount of weight during 2014.  It seems that each year, we resolve to do something with our bodies.  For years, I have always said I am going to lose some weight.  Sometimes it's happened and other times I have given up this idea within two weeks of the new year.

I am thrilled that this year is different.  While I am still not at my goal, I didn't go into this year saying, "I have to lose a lot of weight."  I resolved to review my weight and my goals and make a decision.  I believe it is the healthiest way to approach weight loss and fitness.

During the holidays, I ate much more erratically.  I stopped consistently utilizing MyFitnessPal to log my meals and I was eating anything I wanted.  I also ordered a lot of pizza and consumed a lot of ice cream and pie.  The definition I had in my stomach started to go away and I felt my pants tighten.  I decided that this would be the last holiday season that I would day that.  I want to be much more responsible about what I consume 12 months out of the year.  Why do we allow yourselves an opportunity to "be bad" during the holiday season?

I was excited when January 2 came around and I was back on track.  My salads and soups re-entered my diet and I immediately started to feel the difference.  I also have been able to slowly get back into my ab workout and the definition is slowly starting to return.  I weighed myself yesterday (the first Sunday of the month) and was not surprised to see that I had gained weight.  I was up 4.5 pounds from my last weigh in and knew that I had to get on track.

I am currently doing my January "fast."  No, I am not only consuming juice or cutting out everything except fruit and vegetables from my diet.  I do eat clean during the month and I restrict alcohol.  I am allowing myself one day to partake in drinking--it is my monthly date with my mother and we have others joining us. Other than that, I am eating healthy and have given up all my vices (including ice cream).

The new year also brings new people to the gym.  I noticed this over the last few days. We are also in an odd situation here in Buffalo.  The Buffalo Athletic Club (BAC) gym locations were recently purchased by LA Fitness.  As a result, members of BAC, can sample LA Fitness locations until the end of January.  At that point, I think they have decide where they are staying with LA Fitness or if they want to move on to another gym.  It means that not only are we dealing with "Resolutioners," but we also have the BAC folks trying things out.  Because I work out in the mornings, I have not had to deal with a lot of new people, but they have taken over on the weekends.  My theory is the earlier you get into the gym, the better and that seems to be working.

I'm curious about your thoughts on fitness in the new year.  Are you resolving to lose more weight?  Are you just trying to maintain where you are?  Is there another fitness challenge you are looking to do?

Recovering

Have you ever gotten really sick to the point that it affects your workout and life?  That happened to me last week when I developed a major cold and flu.  Since October 1, I've suffered through a series of sinus infections, which have required three different rounds of antibiotics.  As I was coming to the end of this latest round, I started feeling pretty poorly.  I thought that it was my body telling me that a sinus infection was returning, but I discovered that it was something much more serious.  

I took to my bed on Tuesday, November 26 and did not get up until Sunday, December 1.  As a result, I missed Thanksgiving and numerous parties.  What was even worse was that I missed the gym.  I was almost at the end of the month, so I was planning to increase weight amounts and resistance levels on machines, but losing a full week (and more) of progress, will definitely affect my workout going into December.  It is frustrating as I am in my last 15 pounds of weight loss.  I may have even gained some weight last week.  Initially, I had no appetite, but that changed by Thursday.  I was weak and I ate some Thanksgiving meals prepared by my parents and later a few dishes provided by a certain special man in my life.  

I hate being unable to workout.  I couldn't even go outside for a walk because I felt so weak and it was extremely cold out.  While I knew that I was missing working out, I was so weak that my body really did not care.  This was an opportunity for me to truly listen to what my body was saying.  I knew that when I was ready, my body would tell me so.  

I returned to working out by doing a Tae Bo workout yesterday morning.  Because I am still suffering from a lingering cough and a bit of fatigue, I thought it would be better to workout at home.  If I broke into a coughing fit, or needed to sit down, I'd be in my own house.  Luckily, everything went well.  I did a different Tae Bo workout this morning and am now ready to return to the gym.  

I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon and I hope that my Physician Assistant will give me the go ahead to return to the gym.  I felt it was important for me to wait until I hear from her before I resumed my normal activity.  I am probably about 95% right now, but I don't want to do anything that will negatively affect my progress long-term.  

What about you?  What do you do when you get sick?  Do you stop and listen to your body or do you push through it?  

I Speak!

Check out my story on the latest episode of the weight loss podcast Tips Of The Scale.

http://tipsofthescale.com/0031-collin-gehl-from-buffalo-new-york-m36/

The Beginning of A New Journey

On August 26, 2012, I began the journey to be healthy.  It started because I was in the worst shape of my life.  Approximately 4 weeks away from turning 35, I felt like I had developed some symptoms of Diabetes (which runs in my family), I was sweaty all the time, and I hated the way I looked.  I could not look at myself naked in the mirror because I was so disgusted.

The journey began fairly simply.  I started working out (doing a Tae Bo DVD) and keeping track of what I ate via MyFitnessPal.  In addition, I gave up alcohol for the first 4 weeks of this journey.  This worked extremely well!  I lost 5 pounds the first week which gave me the confidence I needed to stay on this path.  We started a Biggest Loser competition at work and by the end of November, I had lost nearly 25 pounds (yes, I won that edition).

I eventually plateaued and gained some weight around the holidays, but I started 2013 with a renewed vigor to drop the weight.  By March of 2013, I has lost an additional 17 pounds and was down a total of 42 pounds.  I realized that I needed to do something different because I was getting bored with my workout.  I joined LA Fitness, which had recently opened in Buffalo, NY, and set some goals.

The weight continued to slowly melt away.  By the time I celebrated a year on this fitness path, I was down 73 pounds.  I had gone down 10 inches in my waist (42 to 32).  I have had to buy a whole new wardrobe (I'll post about that soon) and the amount of positive feedback I've gotten has been overwhelming.  I am about 17 pounds away from my goal, but I have never felt better.

I have much more to share about this journey and I hope that I will be able to provide some inspiration to any of you that are on similar paths---or are considering beginning one.

I can also be reached at collingehlfitness@gmail.com or follow me on twitter at https://twitter.com/collingehlfit