Who Said Finishing 5622nd isn't Winning?

Not sure getting up at 5:15am on a Sunday morning is in anyone’s plans, but that is what I did last weekend.  It was 4 degrees and I was in shorts and the obligatory running garb to head off for my first crack at the Run Melbourne Half (Pikermi as we like to call it).  Now this was not my first half marathon as readers of this blog will be aware, but it was a special one for me anyway.  This was the event I decided to sign up for and initially be my first half way back in March.  This was the event that really forced me to go a long way outside my comfort zone and try something never thought possible.

Top of hill on second lap...Not Happy Jan

This event was all the more memorable because there was a total of 7 of my training buddies doing this race as well. What made it even more special was that 5 of them were doing their first Pikermi.  Yes I prefer that term as saying Half Marathon has connotations to it that sound like you are only doing half of something or half trying.  I can vouch that NONE of us were only doing it half-hearted.  To say there were a few nerves at the start is an understatement but we were all excited as well.  The crowd of people was unbelievable and to think that there were so many people, of all shapes, sizes and abilities, all wanting to achieve the same thing was just incredible and a bit daunting.

We all had our own strategies, time goals, and hopes and aspirations.  Kristine, Greg and Melissa wanted to be under 2 hours (maniacs), I wanted to beat my previous time and hoped for around 2:15 and then Emily, Renee, Nicole and Theresa were wanting to finish and set a varying degree of times.  This was their first after all and the unknown also plays a part here.  The best part was that we were all together at the start and about to share an amazing experience together, even if it was only briefly.  The hooter went and then we were all gone into a sea of movement, legs pounding the pavement, costumes streaming past me and people jostling for the best position.  I am still confused as to why people have to squeeze through the smallest gaps for very little progress, but here I digress.

The first 7kms was a bit quicker than I had hoped but that is partly because my running buddy/training partner Greg (yes another one) and I were sucked into the pace of the group but also adrenaline had something to do with that.  I had specifically spoken to him about not being drawn into a pace that wasn’t for us (well it wasn’t for me really) and to run our own race.  At 7kms and moving along at 5:55min per km pace, I told Greg that he would have to take off and run his own race if he wanted to reach his goal.  Off he went trying to make up a couple of minutes, which I thought might be out of reach for him after running with me.  I conitinue on my not so merry way.  When I hit the 10km mark I was stoked to have noticed that I had just run my fastest official 10km time.  Now this was something I was very happy and proud of because of the hills that were covered in that first 10kms.  All of my runs have been on the flat, so to have achieved that was awesome.

Nice and early running with Greg feeling good

The second lap of the run was tough.  Not only did I have to cover those bloody hills again, I started to cramp up in both thighs at around the 14km point.  At this point it is not about training and having covered the kms, it comes down to stubbornness, determination and raw guts.  I would love to say that I possess all of these in abundance but sadly that is not true.  Well I do to some extent but I have to also admit there were a couple of times where I felt like I was about to stop.  I almost physically stopped running.  I have no idea why, because I don’t ever want to be someone that has walked in any of their races unless I was physically incapable.  There was something in me that just would not allow me to stop.  Yes it hurt, yes it sucked and I was hating every minute of it over the last few kilometres, but for some reason I just would not stop.  I couldn’t, it would have been an immense feeling of failure.  I know that is not true or the case, but that is what was running through my head and obviously the rest of me that kept me going.

Just after I reached the 20km point, one of my training buddies came running past me (Mighty Mouse as I call her and the reason I did Geelong Half in April) looking pretty comfortable.  I wanted to stick with her, but no chance of that. 

Finally Finished.....

As I ran to the finish line I saw her there and the smile she gave me was amazing.  She came over cheering and gave me the biggest hug and it was fantastic to share that with her.  She is someone we all look up to in our group.  She is trying to complete 5 half’s this year and 2 marathons and her support, encouragement and constant wealth of information keeps us all going.  I then saw my wife and kids standing over to the side waving (Julie called me to let me know where they were.) What did we do before mobile phones?  Now to weed my way through volunteers handing out water, Carb bars, MY MEDAL, and taking of time chips before meeting up with wife, kids, Greg and his family.  I sat down straight away and just had to get fluids into me and the weight off my feet.

Greg came up and when he told me he ran 2:04 I was so disappointed for him and angry with myself.  I told him all along not to run with me and he would have smashed his goal.  It wasn’t until later that I realised that this was his first half marathon.  He had just 2:04 and never been that distance before.  That is an amazing achievement.  As for my time, I was also disappointed with it.  I did beat my last time by a few minutes and ran 2:24:58 which was nothing flash as far as I am concerned.  On reflection that was a bit harsh.  I had beaten my last time.  This course was hillier than the last one by a long shot.  I battled mentally through 1/3 of the run and overcome cramps.  I was sick for the 2 weeks leading up to the run and only had 1 training run.  More importantly than all of that was the fact that I had just completed my second 21.1km run in 4 months.  This time last year I would not have even contemplated it, in fact I could not run 5kms so I need to put things into perspective.

I might not be the fittest, fastest and best runner out there, but who cares.  There are a lot of people out there slower than me.  Who cares?  Anyone willing to put themselves out there and try something this scary is a winner.  Finishing in 5622^nd place isn’t first but so what, I am still the winner here.  I was never going to take home THE trophy, but this is a huge win for me, proving I can and will do anything I put my mind to.  Next challenge is my bike rides, but more importantly I am now going to have a crack at a marathon.  You heard it right the full monty in July 2014 at the Gold Coast.  Guess what?  No hills baby flat course……..

P.S……Well done to the lovely Western Warriors ladies & Greg Boock.

Theresa Lee

Emily Braithwaite

Renee Dennis

Nicole Puttyfoot

Kristine Willems

Melissa Wilkins (aka Mighty Mouse)

Run Fat Boy Run……..And I WILL!!!!

It has been 2 weeks since my last FFS so I will see if I can dump it all in here.

I was sick last week which prevented me from training….FFS

Said sickness developed into pains in my chest….FFS

Visited the doctor and had to wait an hour even though I had an appointment……FFS

Doctor put me on an ECG machine to check heart, just a bit scary……FFS

Lady doing ECG used the following words, which were not the ones I wanted to hear “Oh that is not good”…..FFS

She was referring to the leads not working and needing to be cleaned…..No FFS

Surely she should be aware that this can share the shit out of you when having your heart checked….FFS

I was not able to run for 10 days, leading into my half marathon……FFS

Had a shit week with nutrition and exercise, resulting in a gain last week AGAIN…..FFS

Went to football on Sunday to watch my son and left extremely proud of him.  His best game for the season and the entire match in the ruck…..No FFS

Managed a short 15km bike ride last Sunday to test out the chest before the wind and rain came in……No FFS

Have managed to now secure sponsorship to cover 2 of my 6 rides and almost there on 2 others……No FFS

We have arranged a venue for our fundraiser for our team to raise money

for RTCC (myself, Julie and Dayna)……No FFS

My #2 son Owen had his first sporting injury this week at school, bruising his little finger…..FFS

Poor little man icing his injury.

My wife is proving very difficult to get bag on the wagon which is causing me to allow myself to fall back into some bad habits….FFS

This is my own issue not hers, I will not blame anyone else for my lack of willpower……No FFS

Went for a 7km run on Wednesday night to see if I was okay for the weekend and felt awesome…..No FFS

I have my Run Melbourne Pikermi on the weekend…..No FFS

So True...Oh Yeah, I will be chasing her on Sunday

 It is not a half marathon, I am not only half doing it or putting in half an effort, so won’t call it that, nor should anyone else……FFS

Don’t ask what a Pikermi is, look it up here……FFS

My youngest son had a photo shoot today for the Herald Sun for an article supposedly in tomorrow's paper….No FFS

I think he has found his calling, yep Pilot.

Schools back this week, which makes a happier wife, sort of……No FFS

Wife hates mornings of school days…..(make up your mind) …FFS

Wife has had a chance to get back out on bike this week which she loves…..No FFS

Did I mention I am running on the weekend with a huge finishing chute/area and massive crowd.  Just a tad excited…….No FFS

I don't care if this is where I place to be honest.

I will also be sharing this experience with a number of training buddies doing their first ever half marathon.  This will be awesome……No FFS

My Tour de Fat

People that read this blog or follow it will be aware that I have a love for cycling.  In fact it is my preferred form of exercise now and I look for any opportunity to get out on my beloved bike that I can get.  So obviously with the bike race on in France at the moment, it is a perfect analogy for where I am currently finding myself.

The Tour de France is a 3 week bike race taking in 3404kms.  If anything this is one huge and extremely tiring journey.  A lot like my own journey over the last 12 months.  If you have ever watched any of the tour you are aware that there are multiple stages that involve the riders climbing the Alps and the Pyrenees.  A number of these stages have multiple ascents in any given stage and also many rapid descents, making for interesting viewing and many incidents.  So what on earth does this have to do with me, my weight loss journey and associated struggles and high points? 

Over the last 14 months I have experienced many ups and nearly as many downs.  This journey has not been smooth sailing at any point, but the road has been eventful and enjoyable but more importantly it has taught me a lot of lessons about myself.  This is the biggest thing for me and at the moment I am learning a great deal about where I am, where I should be and what is in my way at the moment and preventing me from being where I am and my end goal.

The last few months have not been pretty.  Right now I feel like the poor fellow that started out with the rest of the peleton in good spirits and as we approached the start of a huge climb has been quickly dropped off the back and struggling to keep in touch with the others.  All of us started the round with plans to reach the summit and achieve our goals.  Each of us had a plan as to what we were going to do to achieve these goals and how we were going to implement it.  For a lot of people this has happened as set out, for others like myself, we have not been able to stick to the plan. 

I have in fact gone backwards this last 8-10 weeks.  Yes I have put on weight, not proud to admit it, but that is what happens when you drop the ball.  No excuses am I offering up.  I can’t blame flat tyres or broken chains.  I can’t blame my team mates for leaving me behind and not helping to drag me up the mountain, this is all down to me not pulling my weight (literally) up the summit and tackling my own demons.  For me this round has felt like I have been climbing my own Alpe-d’Huez. 

For this I have no one to blame and it is down to my own mindset, lack of planning and laziness.  I have been slack in all aspects of my life that ensured I was getting fitter, healthier and smaller for many months.  I have failed to log into the 12WBT to track progress for a few weeks, I have not read anything in the forums and I have generally shut myself off from everything including not blogging as regularly as I would normally have done.  Reflecting back on this and looking at where I am now, it is very disappointing.  I have been maintaining my training for my half marathon up until the last week or so when I have become ill.  This is something that I am happy about but I could still have done more.

So looking at the last 8-10 weeks, what can I take out of this?  On the positive side of it, I am aware of what I am doing wrong.  I have decided that it stops now and I get back to where I was.  Nutrition is key here.  If I nail that the other areas of my life will be more inclined to fall back into line.  Just like each and every cyclist that gets left behind in any stage and struggles to the top of the mountain, they know that the next day brings a new start and a new chance.  I may not have made the top of the mountain in the lead, but I am still going to work my backside off to get there at my own pace, slowly pedalling on my own journey not trying to keep up with the yellow jersey or anyone else that may be a bit quicker than me.

I am also proud that whilst I have relaxed far too much on the food and alcohol side of things, I have still been working towards a fitness goal.  A little counter-productive in the grand scheme of things but in the past I would have simply jumped off the bike and taken a taxi to the top of the mountain.  This time I am sticking it out and still exercising.  I have goals to achieve in the coming months and this is important to me to ensure they are achieved. 

I am determined that I will get my head back in a good space, concentrate on getting nutrition and health in check as well as water intake.  Cut out all the little bits of crap that have been entering my diet and get back to training.   I can and will get back to the 100kg mark and achieve my goal, hopefully before Christmas.  I am in control of my own path/destiny/fate, whatever you want to call it in my efforts to lose my weight, get fitter and achieve what I want to achieve.  I WILL not blame anyone else for taking me down the wrong path.  I make my own choices and if I am not strong enough to say no to the wine or the chips then I need to accept that and own it.  I will say NO from now on and I will take back control.

Being the winner of the Maillot Jaune will never be something that I will have to worry about, but I am going to be more than happy to know that I have not given up on my personal Tour de Fat.  I will be a winner, in fact I already am.  It is a longer, harder road to travel when on a weight loss journey than a 3 week ride across the French countryside.  I am battling more mental and physical demons each day than these guys (and I know they have plenty each day) but many of mine are deep rooted and ingrained in me over many years.  Hard habits to break down when you have been doing them for some time, but I will just keep pedalling and moving forward knowing that I will win this battle and I am going to be the person I want to be.

A large chunk of that person I want to be is a good example to my children.  This is slowly happening and will improve as time goes on and I can master what I need to improve my healthy lifestyle.  Part of that is also showing them that we need to also give back to others in our community.  They are aware that I am taking on a huge challenge this year with trying to raise $15K for cancer research and take part in 6 rides of 200km each.  I will do this and I have in fact raised $8K so far, but still need to work hard to raise the balance.

Anyone wishing to help out can do so on the below links.  If you see a ride has raised $2500 please move on to the next ride.

Sydney

Perth

Auckland

Adelaide

The Big Picture FFS........

Another week down and another set of ups and downs.  This week sadly has more downs than ups.

Says it all really

As mentioned last week, I had to work on Sunday….FFS

Thought I could log on from home for the first part at 6:45am only to have IT issues, so after an hour of trying to fix them I had to drive 20 minutes into the office for a 10 minute task and then home again…..FFS

So I had finished said task and back home by 9am after being up at 6:45am.  How does a 10 minute task take over 2 hours…….FFS

This meant no run for me or long ride as I had planned…..FFS

Managed to have a short 1 hour ride on Bruiser (my still newish bike that I am in love with)…….No FFS

Bruiser - my 5th child & the one I will be closest to over next few months

Took my son to football and watched him play his best game of the year & enjoy himself even though they lost again……No FFS

Rushed home to drop him off and then head back to office to work again….FFS

2 hours in office, totalling screwing Sunday up until project completed…..FFS

I then had to drive across town to pick up other 3 children from my wife’s work…..FFS

Poor wife trying to work in a call centre with 3 fighting kids……FFS

Wife couldn’t pass up overtime on Sunday as it is quadruple time……No FFS

Monday at work meant End of Financial Year reporting……FFS

Also meant all the issue with weekend system conversion pop their ugly head up…..FFS

Who the hell does a system conversion at FY End……Dickheads……..FFS

Staff that don’t see bigger picture obviously have to make mountains out of molehills…..FFS

Wife decides it would be nice for us all to go to the drive in on Monday night (2 adults and 4 kids, surprised she didn’t smuggle the friggin cat as well)…..FFS

The Tribe - Just another hair brained idea my wife had

Most stupid idea ever, lying in the back of the Carnival, back door open and a couple of blankets/sleeping bags with 4 kids……FFS

After a shit day I didn’t want the drive in, I just wanted wine……FFS

Shit that I don’t want to hear gets whined about for 3 days……FFS

Dumbass questions are asked of me for 4 days because people are to lazy to think for themselves……FFS

My father in law had some very serious surgery to help his battle with cancer…..FFS

Eddie - The most positive and inspiring man in my life

Did I mention I hate cancer and what it does to everyone……FFS

He has come through it well and was home yesterday to celebrate his 66 birthday with his wife….No FFS

His positivity about his disease and everything surrounding it is amazing and inspiring…..No FFS

This makes me even more determined to raise the $15K I need in total to do my 6 rides for cancer research and treatment around Australia & NZ……No FFS

Logos for each of the rides I WILL be doing

Why won’t businesses give me cash for these amazing causes…….FFS

Wife went to work on Wednesday ony to be told she is being made redundant….FFS

Our amazing friend Bec cooked us some meals in case we would not have time to do so with Julie's dad in hospital.  Bec you are a gem......No FFS

I have spent a bit of time this week (probably more than I should have) contacting businesses and people I know for support……No FFS

I was supposed to ride my beloved bike to work the last 2 days, but mother nature decided to throw in gale force winds to test me out…..FFS

The Melbourne members of Vision Crusaders doing all 6 rides

Not going to happen mother nature, I have a car as well.  Take that biatch…..No FFS

Driving to work this week has been nice due to school holidays…..No FFS

Watching the Tour de France and we managed to spot my brother in law and 3 nephews on the coverage whilst holidaying in Europe…..No FFS

My week will be finished off by watching my beloved Blues battle arch enemy Collingwood tonight.  Depending on the result that will be the first FFS or No FFS of next weeks post.

With all the miserable crap that is listed above, in the grand scheme of things they are just whines.  My father in law and many others are battling much bigger things than me complaining about the drive in, weather and whinging staff.  It truly puts it into perspective that most of the time we are worried about superfluous shit and need to look at the bigger picture.

So to all those people battling with whatever life threatening disease it is, my heart goes out to you and your family.  At this point in time it is cancer that is our focus, for others different diseases or health conditions.  FFS is a way of venting, but it still should allow us to keep perspective about what matters.  That is family, friends and yourself.

Have a good weekend people For Fuck Sake…….

Back Where it All Started

The below text was my very first post on this blog.  That was on the 18^th June 2012 and boy how things have changed.  The amazing part is that all the doubts and preconceived ideas about our lifestyle change were just that.  This is our new life and embracing it has been the best thing for the 6 of us.  Reading back through it though, just shows me that some of the issues I had 12 months ago are still with me and that I am learning everyday.  I am a work in progress still and even though I have lost 45kgs, I still need to continually work on my mindset, set new goals and dedicate myself to being the person I want to be and WILL be.  Enjoy the photos I have scatted throughout to show the progress.

Me and Owen 6 years ago (Not a happy camper)

I can only assume there has been a power shortage for the last 20 years preventing messages travelling up the information highway from my body to my brain.  Why else would I have let myself get into the state I am right now.  I know I can make excuses and say that it was injury, travelling and enjoying myself and living the party life or even more recently blame my family but plain and simple it has been laziness.  Why else would a seemingly healthy and fit young man allow himself to be seriously obese and stop looking after himself.  It wasn’t the injury, I could have found a way to do some exercise, it wasn’t the travelling as plenty of others kept fit whilst I was living abroad and it isn’t my families fault either.

Julie and I at a friends wedding April 2012

Plain and simple I have made a multitude of poor life choices over the last 20 odd years that have amounted to me becoming what I was 4 weeks ago.  Thanks to my wife, who has also battled the bulge so to speak in the last 12 years (might be a pattern forming here) she decided that enough was enough and she didn’t want to be like this anymore.  I can only say good on her for drawing a line in the sand and wanting to finally do something about it.  When she TOLD me she had spent $200 on the Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation Program I was a little sceptical as to whether this would be another whim that she would give up on and more money down the drain. 

Don’t get me wrong, my wife has amazing willpower when she puts her mind to things and she has succeeded in the past, but she has also allowed herself to fall back into the traps of old habits and regain the weight.  Part of this is her own fault, but I will also take part of the blame here.  Whilst I believe I have been supportive of her efforts to lose weight in the past, it is a struggle for anyone to do things like this.  It takes a firm commitment if those around them are not 100% on board.   I wanted to see what this was all about, so did a bit of reading on the website and decided that it was about time I made some changes as well and told her that I was going to sign up also. 

Julie & I at Perth Finale after our first round

Now this is a huge change for me, not that I don’t mind exercising, but it meant a lifestyle change for not only us but our 4 children as well.  They were going to have to start eating new foods, not having some of their foods in the house that they had previously eaten and also accommodate changes in the routine to fit in mum and dad’s exercise.  Admittedly the younger of the 4 children at 5 & 3 ½ years of age will fit in with what is going on but the older 2 need to make some changes as they are capable of helping us out with the younger 2 if needed.

12 months apart - articles in the local paper

All I can say is that we are excited by what we have experienced up until now with the program, which includes the menus, workout plan and results.  Whilst I was sceptical about the sort of food that we would be asked to eat, I must admit that the recipes have been mostly fantastic.  I appreciate that there is always going to be things that are not to your liking, but overall it has been flavoursome and a really good mix. 

The support of all those other participants in the forums is inspiring and infectious and it is one place that you can feel comfortable about asking a question or voicing your feelings without any worries of people slagging you off.  I noticed this at its best when people were saying that they had gone off the wagon on the first weekend.  My initial response was how the hell can you not last a week, that is weak as p!ss, but then my wife mentioned that we do not know of their issues and circumstances and everyone has to get through this battle in their own way.  This was echoed in the forums by the amazing support dished out and encouragement for all of these people to get back on track and not give up.

During my half marathon

Now please don’t think that my comment above symbolises that I am immune to doubts and periods of wanting something from the past. I have had many of those thoughts in the last few weeks, but I am determined to make this change for the benefit of my own life, that of my wife and children and also my friends and broader family.  If I don’t do it now when will I and how much more damage will happen to me.

Melbourne Finale

The power shortage has been fixed, the switch is now on and the light bulb moment was in one of Michelle’s preseason tasks when she asked about the roadblocks we have put in front us.  Didn’t matter what excuses I had made in the past it all came down to one thing, LAZINESS and I now need to follow her mantra of JFDI – “Just F*@King Do It” and we will see the amazing results in another 10 weeks and beyond.

Queens Birthday weekend 2013 - 1000 steps family outing

Hey Fat Man, Yes You. You're A

FAILURE!!!!

Ouch. This word is one that we are taught from a very young age has very negative connotations and is not something we ever want to be called.  It is where so many people have deep seated issues from a young age after being called a failure or told they have failed at something.  It wasn’t until I started on my weight loss journey how I realised that there is no such thing as failing in my efforts to lose weight and become a better me, father, husband and all round person, provided I don’t stop trying to improve myself and keep going.  Yes we all have moments where we regress or “fall of the wagon” (still don’t know what wagon it is or when I hopped on it) but it is what we do after these moments that will ultimately prove whether or not we have failed or just stumbled.



The above definitions of failure a very cut and dry.  There is no grey here at all.  You haven’t achieved what you set out, YOU FAILED!!!!  Well I don’t look at it like this as I have said in the above intro. My reasons for talking about failure today are two-fold.  I have been reading some blogs lately and some admissions on Instagram about how people have struggled and gone AWOL recently.  Strangely it dawned on me, I have gone AWOL as well to a certain degree.  I haven’t posted on here as regularly as I normally would.  I have been no existent on the 12WBT forums where I have been a support for the fellow men for the last 12 months.  I haven’t even logged into the program for a couple of weeks.  This to me highlights 2 things.  My mindset is in the toilet.  Yep, even been flushed into the sewer so to speak. Just disappeared.  I have allowed some old habits to creep in with wine being all to frequent and then the subsequent snacking that came with it.  I have even partially convinced myself that I am at least maintaining my weight whilst not doing the right thing.  Dickhead, delusion is what got you into the state you were in prior to joining the program.

So here I sit writing this basically admitting to failing this round of 12WBT.  But have I?  Yes it is 8 weeks over and I have blown 2/3 of the round by actually putting on weight.  From the outside looking in it is a failure to be on a weight loss program and put on weight, so I have failed.  Only in one aspect have I failed though.  I am still winning in other areas though.  I have still been training when I haven’t been ill.  I have run 3 long runs in the last few weeks, each of them 14km, 16kms and 18kms.  This is not done by a failure.  I cycled to work and home 1 day which is a 72km round trip.  Failures don’t do that.  I am still training for my half marathon in 3 week’s time.  Would a failure be doing a half marathon and training for 1200kms worth of cycling over the next few months?  Not on your life would he.

So in order to succeed we need to stumble a few times and ensure we learn from these lessons.  This round has been my stumble.  Yes it has been a big fall flat on my face, but you know what, it is another instance where I have had a chance to learn a valuable lesson before it gets out of control and I spiral back to where I was.  I have decided that I am on for Dry July.  This will be a month of no drinking.  I can do it as I have done it most of the last year but it comes down to how much you want to do it.  I need to lose 6kgs at least in the last 5 weeks of 12WBT to be where I want to be.  I will do it because I want to do it.  I want to use the lessons and learn from my mistakes.  Yes mistakes, not failings.  I haven’t failed because I haven’t stopped.  If I was to give up and sit on the couch for the rest of my life and eat shit and drink beer and wine then yes I would have failed.  I am still 50kgs lighter now that start of last year.  That my friends in not failing.

What we need to remember is that even some of the most successful people in history have failed in the eyes of many prior to being successful.  If you want to know who, have a look at this list.

Walt Disney – Fired by a newspaper editor because he lacked ideas and imagination (Really?)

Jerry Seinfeld – First time he went on stage he froze, was booed off but never gave up. Rest is history.

Fred Astaire – First screen test hey said “Can’t act, Can’t sing, Slightly Bald. Can dance a little.” Wrong.

Steven Speilberg – Was rejected from film school three times.  Thankfully he persisted and we have all the movies he is responsible for.

The Beatles – the Fab Four were dropped by their record label after recording 15 songs. They didn’t like their sound.  Bad Move Guys!!!!

Steven King – was rejected 30 times on his first book. Finally got a break and we all know about the rest of his stuff.

Michael Jordan – cut from his high school basketball team, went to college on a baseball scholarship, wanted to play basketball.  Ended up being the greatest basket baller ever!!! Nuff said.

Steve Jobs – was removed from the top job of the company he started.  They brought him back to rescue the company and now Apple rules the world.

The key message here is simply don’t give up on what you want or more importantly yourself.  If something means that much to you then stick at it.  We are allowed our setbacks and they will come.  Accept it but don’t accept that as your fate.  Don’t let that crappy day, week or month (2 months in my case) define who you are or where you are heading.  If you do then you will have failed, but you are better than that.

Saw a cool blog the other day that shows just why we shuld remember this. We aren’t perfect. Even when we get to goal weight (whatever that might be) we will still have our problems.  We are still awesome.