Wednesday 3 July 2013

Back Where it All Started

The below text was my very first post on this blog.  That was on the 18th 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

2 comments:

  1. You made me cry a bit Mr Leitch.

    Just sayin'

    ReplyDelete
  2. You have come so far, and you inspire me to keep on trucking. Thank you for your post.

    ReplyDelete