Really, Really, REALLY Ready to Change
by Lou Schuler
on Jun 10, 2008 9:25 AM EDT
It started a few months ago, with my 12-year-old son asking general questions about weight lifting. Then, a few weeks ago, he started asking specific questions about abdominal exercises. Finally, yesterday, when we were waiting for his piano lesson to begin, he got down on the floor of the small sitting room and starting doing sit-ups and push-ups.
Even though I write about fitness, I pride myself on not pressuring my kids to do any of the things I write about. They aren't sedentary, they're all still skinny, and my wife and I still have enough control over their diets to maximize fruits, vegetables, and lean protein sources while keeping fast food and other bad things to a minimum.
So, in terms of overall health and fitness, things are going fine. Harrison, our oldest, hadn't found a sport he cared about, but as long as he was active, we didn't see any reason to worry about it. He didn't complain about tagging along to his sisters' soccer games and dance recitals, and we didn't complain about not having a third set of sports activities to work into the ever-more-complex family calendar.
But then came this interest in muscle conditioning, followed quickly by an interest in martial arts. We enrolled him in a local school, and I watched him work with the instructor for the first time last night. It was like watching a whole different kid from the one my wife and I have been raising the past 12 years. The boy who'd never had an instinct for or interest in anything repetitive was practicing kicks and punches with focus and intensity. When the instructor corrected his form, the kid with no muscle memory remembered how to do it.
Will it last? I have no clue. All I can say with certainty is that it was his idea, and it'll be up to him to decide how far he wants to go with it. If I'd pressured him into it, I can't imagine that he'd have this kind of interest.
That brings me to an interesting story in yesterday's L.A. Times about something similar: how to know when you're ready to make major changes in your life. Reporter Jeannine Stein interviewed several weight-loss specialists, one of whom said this:
"I'm a specialist, so when someone makes an appointment to see me, they're ready. But then I see other people who are told by their physician to see me. When I ask why they're here, they say, 'I don't know, my doctor sent me,' and I know they're not ready."
Obvious? Sure. And yet, doctors still send him patients who clearly aren't ready to do what it takes to lose weight.
Another weight-loss specialist said this:
"For people who have been successful at losing weight, something happens in their life that triggers an 'aha' moment. It could be having the doctor tell them that if they don't lose weight, they're going to die. I don't know if you say, 'I'm ready,' but you feel like you can't go on like this."
She adds that being 100% prepared isn't always a prerequisite. "Even if you're not ready, see if you can make some lifestyle changes that are doable. If you're a couch potato, go for a walk, do something that you like for 15 minutes. Once you see some benefits -- you're sleeping better, you have more energy -- then maybe that will give you a spark, and hopefully that will lead you to say, 'Now I'm ready to be more serious and I'll step it up.' "
That last part, I think, applies to all kinds of changes we make in life, including those that aren't triggered by anything consequential or negative. It could be as simple as taking up a new hobby or, in my son's case, showing interest in an exercise system that involves repetitive practice -- something that he's avoided since he was a baby who lost interest in anything after one or two tries.
So here's the question: Among the health and fitness activities and practices you've consciously adopted -- exercise, clean eating, weight control, smoking cessation, etc. -- what was the trigger?
Do you remember the moment when you said to yourself, "I've got to clean up my act" or "Hey, that looks like something I could get into"?
And was there ever a time when someone told you to start or stop doing something, and it actually worked?
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Change
For me, it was the crystalline realization that my entire life was on track – marriage, job, house, family – except that I was fat and couldn’t even enjoy a hike with my wife and the dogs anymore. Elevated blood pressure in my early thirties, making me feel like I was in my early sixties, didn’t help either. That was two years and 70 pounds ago. (And, let me gratefully acknowledge the contribution of NROL, which has kept me on track and motivated since 1/1/07.)
by WeightIntheWoods on Jun 10, 2008 9:59 AM EDT 0 recs
My Change
In my mid 30’s (about 12 years ago) I watched the Eco-Challenge adventure race on television. I was in the worst shape of my life. Watching the athletes travel through the Canadian Rockies just woke something up inside me. I bought a bike and started riding. A few years later I bought my first real mountain bike. Then I entered my first adventure race. Since I’ve done about 8 or 9 adventure races, a 100 mile mountain bike race and a bunch of triathlons.
My fitness level is still up and down depending on the season and what races are coming up but I am way better than I was at 25 lbs heavier. Thanks for the story Lou.
by JoeJacobs on Jun 10, 2008 10:14 AM EDT 0 recs
For me..
... it was tipping the scale at 309 lbs on my 32nd birthday. I’d been kidding myself thinking I had basically the same physique since I played my final college football game at the age of 19. Turns out I was off by about sixty five pounds.
Rob in Denver
http://52novels.com
http://realramsfans.com
by Rob in Denver on Jun 10, 2008 10:19 AM EDT 0 recs
Gradual Process
I had knee problems as a kid and had separated, dislocated, and torn the rotator cuff in my right shoulder at age 9 (football, league w/ no weight limits), and by 8th grade, I was 5’4” and 155 lbs, which doesn’t sound like a lot until you see a kid who’s sedentary and muscled like a veal calf. I started rowing and wrestling around that time and sucked at both, but liked both. By the end of wrestling season two years later, I was 5’8”, 157 lbs, considerably better body comp, and I could outrun most of the people on the wrestling team. After a 3 mile run that year, we did a timed mile, and I ran 6:36, which isn’t bad for a fourth mile at age 16.
By senior year, I was lifting in my basement after practice to get ready for wrestling season. In college I rowed and competed in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I started making up stuff to do in the weight room over the summer b/c I had a facility at our boathouse open to me all the time. That was when I found out that powerlifting had a very positive impact on my 6k rowing score. Oh, and at 190 lbs and 6’1”, I ran 5k in 18:40.
Now I’m in law school (3L). I gained 15 pounds this past semester and I’ve already lost 5 back. After doing a high frequency powerlifting program in the winter adapted from Pavel’s 3-5 program, I’m now doing a chest-back, legs (squat dominant), arms-shoulders split for a little while. I’m sticking mostly to a 5-8 rep range right now, with the occasional 10 rep set tossed in.
Exercise has been a steady process for me, going from one thing to another. Right now, its all about bang for the buck, trying to find the quickest, most efficient way to look good and feel good, which translates to a lot of heavy lifting, some stretching, and surprisingly little cardio, compared to the amount I used to do in college.
by Joe in DC on Jun 10, 2008 10:50 AM EDT 0 recs
Change of scenery
I was going on sixteen years old when I decided to move to another parent’s house in a different city, which also meant changing high schools mid-stream. My old school was full of people I’d known for most of my life; my new school was full of people who would know only what I presented them. In essence, it gave me a restart on my social life, which was the perfect excuse to make some physical changes.
by Phaedrus49er on Jun 10, 2008 11:04 AM EDT 0 recs
I wish I knew...
at around 35, something clicked. I bought a program to track calories and it was soooo easy to lose weight. People asked my secret to keeping on track. I just wanted it, finally. Why then? I don’t know.
If I knew, maybe I could apply it to other areas of life. I keep looking and thinking.
Roland
by Roland on Jun 10, 2008 11:29 AM EDT 0 recs
Wow
A lot more traffic on here when JP’s is down, huh? ;-)
by Mark57 on Jun 10, 2008 11:59 AM EDT 0 recs
Damn!
You discovered my secret plan to boost MPF at JP’s expense!
by Lou Schuler on
Jun 10, 2008 1:15 PM EDT
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Jiggling
When I walked down stairs and I “jiggled” - the layer of fat around my mid-section moved as I walked. I didn’t like that. I had always been skinny and didn’t like that feeling. I just didn’t like it. To me, that meant I was fat. So I started eating low carb and working out via NRoL. 11 months later I have lost 32 lbs of fat, gained 12 lbs of muscle, and my body fat % is about 13%.
But, most importantly to me, I don’t jiggle any more.
by samoore on Jun 10, 2008 1:52 PM EDT 0 recs
I looked in the mirror and realised that the reflection I saw was not “me”... not the idea I have of who I am… and I got pissed off and decided to do something about it.
by ecoeng on Jun 10, 2008 2:35 PM EDT 0 recs
Same here
I was sitting on the bed in a hotel room one day putting my socks on and I happened to look over and see myself in a mirror. That fat guy in his underwear looking at me scared the living shit (and about 40lbs of fat) out of me.
by Mark57 on
Jun 10, 2008 4:11 PM EDT
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First, I quit smoking.
I quit smoking when I met my husband because he wasn’t a smoker and I really wanted to stay with this guy. Then, I started working out a little bit to prevent the ex-smoker weight. I didn’t lose weight but I did start to make exercise a part of my life. Then, I wanted to do a mountain bike race. My husband raced and I was really fascinated by the idea of a physical challenge like that. I decided to enter a beginner race, but didn’t really train. The day before we went out to ride the course and I couldn’t finish one lap. What an eye opener. I spent the next year training and won the second race I entered. Eight years later, I’m 40 pounds lighter and at 36 I’m in the best shape of my life.
by Amblus on Jun 10, 2008 4:42 PM EDT 0 recs
the new JPs
So where is the politics subsection here?! C’mon Lou…
I’ve seen it click with clients after they start losing a few pounds and they realize it’s not that hard and training can be fun. Sometimes it takes awhile to get to really click but what never, ever works is for someone to train because their spouse wants them to.
It really clicked with me once I started seeing some good gains after finally getting on a good program following years wasted on Muscle and Fiction type of routines.
by CBathke on Jun 10, 2008 5:27 PM EDT 0 recs
I’ve always found that some external motivation helps. I’m always less likely to miss a lifting or cardio session when I’ve got something coming up that I really want to be in shape for. Like my wedding or a beach vacation.
I enjoy lifting, so I rarely have a problem sticking with that, especially since I just use a set of weights at home, so I have no excuse about not having time to “go to the gym”.
I don’t really enjoy cardio, but as part of trying to stay in better shape, I’d put myself on a “Couch to 5K” running program and challenged myself to run some 5Ks last summer. Over the fall and winter, when I didn’t sign up for any races, I found it too easy to slack off and I’ve payed for it this spring trying to get back to where I was last summer. When I have the pressure of a race that I’ve signed up for looming, I’m much more likely to keep training rigorously. My “offseason” (which I realize more hardcore runners than I don’t have at all) will be much shorter this year.
"He’s in trouble. Whatever he throws me, I’m going to hit it."
-- Alex Cintron
by BrianS on Jun 11, 2008 1:26 PM EDT 0 recs
Motivation
The motivation was seeing family photos of a beach trip and seeing how plain I looked. My stomach was bigger than my chest and my back was rounded and unmuscular. Not cool.
To figure out what to do I got Arnie’s Encyclopedia and started lifting bodybuilder splits. It was OK, but the next big change was actually finding NRoL (that’s why I read this blog). NRoL quickly convinced me to shelve the encyclopedia and start thinking full-body functional.
The last big epiphany was finding Gym Jones and CrossFit (from Alwyn’s blog). Once I got pulled into those communities I went from working out to seriously training.
So it started with physical/aesthetic dissatisfaction, launched with NRoL, and progressed to online communities. I don’t know how people survived in the old days!
Damien
by ddelruss on Jun 11, 2008 2:17 PM EDT 0 recs
A bunch of little things...
After years of being out of shape and moderately obese, a couple of small things came together at the end of last summer to help me commit (again) to getting fitter. First, a two week family vacation in the UK helped me reset my biological clock on my return for an early morning (before the 7:09 to Manhattan) workout routine. Secondly, my “high maintenance” middle child started college away, and my wife and I suddenly had significantly more personal time for things like exercise. Thirdly, my youngest child, now a sophomore in high school, finally decided to get serious about a something, the sport of rowing.
As the fall progressed, I moved from just doing the Stairmaster to lose weight to doing some upper body dumbbell exercises. Around Thanksgiving I found a decent home gym (Lou, I know you don’t like machines, but this one was well worth it, not intimidating at all for the bride and decent high/low cables for pulldowns and rows) on eBay for $200 which got my wife and son interested in working out at home. I also started doing some research and found your Home Gym Bible. We added a set of barbells at Christmas and I found NRoL under the tree as well.
So for the last six months, we’ve all been able to compare workout routines and results, which have been on the plus side all around. It gives me something positive to engage my son about, instead of just busting on him over homework and grades. Thankfully I can still bench a little more than he can, but since he’s spotting me 60 pounds I can’t lord it over him too much – and it help keeps me motivated to improve. My wife is thrilled with her new-found definition and muscle mass, even if it hasn’t led to much weight loss on the scale (certainly not that she needed any! Hi honey!) And I’m down 20+lbs in 9 months, down 4 notches on the belt, and I set a record on something every workout.
So nothing cataclysmic, just some undramatic lifestyle changes creating opportunities, some mutually reinforcing family dynamics, and the satisfaction of seeing progress. I’m a big believer in your last rule; we’re having some fun!
by kuchaja on Jun 13, 2008 12:18 PM EDT 0 recs
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