Creg Gets Healthy

My Journey

I am not the perfect essence of physical fitness.  I am athletic, but I no longer have the body I had when I played college soccer and baseball.  A few years ago, as my father was getting sicker and closer to passing away, I stood on the scale and was scared and mortified to what I had let my weight climb to.  I carried my weight ok and didn’t look crazy over weight, but I had mastered the ability to hide it.  Big shirts, certain patterns, and layers became a way to disguise it.  I was 265 lbs.  Only 33 years old and had surpassed the wight of my 61 year old father.  Something had to change!

Plan A: I’m gonna run.

Let me tell about my first running experience.  In college, and shortly, after I ran a lot.  My brother and I loved to run 5k’s together and we were both fairly good at it…..  That was 13 years, 3 knee surgeries, and a shattered Fib and Tib ago.

Imagine when one day, my much older brother says, “Hey, I’m gonna run from Decatur to Peoria with 5 other people to raise money for St. Judes Runs. We are looking for one more.  Wanna do it?”  Yes, I did say Decatur to Peoria!

Then he says, “We brake it up in 3-5 increments and rotate it, you wanna do it?”  Here is where my idiotic pride kicks in.  I begin to think about how he is 7 years older than me and surely I am in better shape than him….I’m younger (I wasn’t in better shape).

The rest of the conversation went like this:

Me: Sure I will do it.  How long do I have to train?

Brother:  2 weeks!

Me:  Great!

Brother calls the next day:  Creg, I was wrong.  The run is this weekend!!

Now, I did go “train”….. 1 time in that week.  That 1 time was bad but, I said I would do it and I did.  I ran 15 miles that day and I about died.  I had to change something.  I wanted to be healthier for my kids and myself.  It just couldn’t be running.

Plan B:  Let’s try Biking

I have learned to love biking again.  I have had a specialized Rock Hopper since 1997.   It’s a great bike that I have logged hundreds of miles on.  It’s what I first fell in love with riding on.  I rode it until the few years when I purchased my newest bike. While looking for a new bike, I stumbled across a movie about bike messengers and the fixed gear bikes they ride.  If you don’t know what a “fixie” is, don’t worry, neither did I.  I began looking around, and found that our local bike shop, Spin City Cycles, stocks bikes by the company Pure Cycles.  They make fixed gear bikes on a budget!  A “fixie” is a bike that when peddled forward goes forward, and when peddled backwards goes backwards.  This means that you can not ever stop peddling.  That all sounds cool until you are doing thirty miles per hour down a hill and realize you don’t have brakes, you can’t coast, and you can’t stop peddling.   You continue to go faster and faster until your legs feel like they may take flight by themselves.  Nonetheless, I have fallen in love with the fixie bike lifestyle!  There are no gears, so it gives your legs a better workout.  I try to bike 10 miles every other day and fit shorter rides in between on the other days.

 The rest of the plan:

It takes more than peddling to lose the weight.  I love to eat!  I love to cook!  I love to cook with butter and BBQ sauce!  I love to cook large meals and consume as much of the delightful food as I can!  This is what lead to my 265 lbs frame.  I had to retrain my cooking and my eating.  I began to cook in a healthier way and use potion control.  Portion control is critical!  Did you know that it is possible to stop eating before you’re so overly stuffed that you have loosen your pants?!?  I didn’t!  As I began to to exercise and rethink my eating habits I saw changes.

Since starting my journey, I have lost 74 lbs, around 5 inches off my waist, and I’m not done. I stood on the scale this morning at 191 lbs.  My goal is to get to 180 and then begin toning.  I want to start light lifting along with cardio.  I am currently and riding my bike and doing 10 minute abs with my wife. Have you seen my wife?  She is smoking hot and in incredible shape.  I’m on this journey for myself, for her, and for my kids. Have you seen we have 7 of them?  I want to be a healthier me.  I want to be the best man physically and emotionally I can be for her.  I want to be able to enjoy and spend time with my kids playing all kinds of games and sports.

A couple questions for our readers:

Whats your favorite bike to ride?

Tell us about your weight change journey….

Would you like to see more fit tips/healthy recipes?

Drop us a comment!  We’d love your input!