OVER 40 MUSCLE

I normally don’t write posts like this because I do not like to sound like I am bragging. And I am not meaning for this post to be a brag session either. But this week has been rather unusual – in a great way. Let me explain.

I have been on this transformation journey now for about 8 months. In that time I have been able to drastically change my appearance. As of yesterday I have dieted, sweated, pushed, pulled, ran and cried off almost 56 pounds. Along the way many of you have given me words of encouragement and support. For that I am grateful. However, when I get those same words of encouragement from people I live with work with and see everyday it means just as much or even more.

This past week I have received more inquiries and complements regarding my transformation than any week I can remember. As an example, there are two “professional” guys who come to the gym every morning. These guys literally worship the cardio room. They do anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour every day of cardio then go to the weight room and lift for a few minutes. One thing I had noticed about them is that they look the same they did 6 months ago, belly and all. One of them approached me between sets and asked how much weight I had lost. When I told him he was floored. It was like you could see the wheels in his head turning. Maybe he got the message that it is not all about cardio. It’s about the entire package (cardio, eating clean and resistance training). After the obligatory congratulations, I moved on with my workout.

The next day another strange thing happened. There is this older lady at the gym that I have seen every morning for these past 8 months. We talk, exchange pleasantries and have small talk but we have never really had a conversation. She approached me (after hearing the above exchange the day before) and began asking questions about my program. Questions from how much weight I had lost (and if I was planning on loosing anymore), how I handle carbs to what my daily schedule included dominated the conversation. Now this is a 52-year-old woman who is in the gym every time the doors are open and looks great. And she is asking ME questions? At the end she said, “Well, what ever it is you are doing, it is working and you look great!”

Move ahead to Friday. After leaving the gym I went by the payroll office to pick up paychecks for the office. I go to this office twice a month and see the same people every time. This time was different. The girl who hands out payroll said, “Have you lost some weight?” I gave her the nutshell story and she commented that she wanted to loose some weight too. As I was leaving, she said, “Keep it up, you look great!”  

Please do not think I am blowing my own horn here. I started not to write this at all. But then I decided that if nobody got anything out of it that was fine. At least I would have something I could go back and read later when I hit a wall or get discouraged because of a bad weigh-in or workout.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 at 9:39 am and is filed under Other, Journal, Motivational. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.