An Attorney’s Fitness Quest

A person’s metabolism is a fickle thing.  Not in the sense that it varies wildly over time (although it does), but in that it will make life a living hell for any male interested in getting in shape, regardless of whether you intend to do so by losing weight, adding muscle, or both.  For years, it seemed as if my metabolism was doing everything possible to make me into the next Cosmo Kramer.  For the first 18 years of my life I was in the 10th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height.  I was a tall, skinny white boy and no amount of resistance training would change that.

Then, after my 20th birthday, my metabolism performed a disappearing act.  Muscle no longer evaded me.  I consumed massive quantities of protein and, more importantly, information regarding a healthy lifestyle.  Chicken breasts sauteed in EVOO replaced Hamburger Helper.  Tap water replaced Mountain Dew.  Life was good…for about two years.  Then I started law school and the old recipe for success - lifting regularly and clean eating - proved useless.  Whether it was the lack of sleep, the constant state of stress, or simply the fact that I spent virtually every waking moment sitting at a library desk, the old habits no longer worked.  I longed to have my old metabolism as I watched my weight creep up from 190 lbs. on the first day of class to 225 lbs. on graduation, some three years later.  A 35 lbs. gain was actually on the lower side for my class’s average weight gain, a difference I attribute the clean eating and exercise to, but after you pass a certain threshold the exact number doesn’t really matter anymore.  Simply put, fat isn’t fun.  It doesn’t feel good, it doesn’t look good, and it rips your self-esteem to shreds.  A combination of no longer being under intense stress (I lost 15 lbs. in the month after graduation despite exercising less and eating more) and a feeling of disgust helped me lose most of that weight, only to put it right back on while I was studying for the bar exam.  The good news is that I passed and will never have to experience any of the legal education that drove my weight up ever again.  The bad news is that I passed and now am working 70-hour weeks yet again (unlike in law school, however, I am getting paid for this work, which is a bonus).  If history is any guide, I’ll put that weight back on yet again and won’t have the opportunity to lose it until I retire, some 40 years from now.
This blog will document my quest to break that cycle.  Studies have shown that people remain committed to exercising when they have a workout partner which, by extension, indicates that they really just need something to keep them on the wagon.  I have acquired a vast wealth of knowledge regarding fitness and healthy living over the years, meaning that I cannot plead ignorance should I fail.  I also have a salary for the first time in my life and can justify purchasing ancillaries such as a gym pass, whey, creatine, etc.  I hope that the ability to document my efforts here, with the fitness world’s version of "peer review," will provide me with the motivation to keep exercising even when a cluttered schedule and mental exhaustion do their best to sap it.

No more excuses.  Just results.