This New Year's, I made the resolution to get in shape. I made the same resolution the previous year. And the one before that. After a few years of wanting to get fit, I haven't made progress. This is not because of anything out of my control. No, this is due to my own lack of motivation. I've gained about 20-25 pounds since high school, which isn't a ton, but has added a noticeable amount of mass to my stomach area. It's certainly interfered with my goal of someday having a six pack. There really isn't much appeal to the one pack I'm currently sporting. Since gaining that extra weight, there have been multiple times when I wondered how I could let myself go like that. Somehow, all that wondering never translated into action.
I enjoy watching vlogs on YouTube. A couple vloggers (Shay and Philip DeFranco) both decided to work to lose weight and get in shape. It got me thinking again about how I've been wanting to get fit. As with previous times, I realized that there's nothing keeping me from finally fulfilling the resolution I've made multiple times. Yesterday was Day 1 of Phase 1 of Operation Sixpack. Phase 1 focuses more on losing weight and burning fat. Phase 2 will be about building muscle, while Phase 3 will just be not letting myself go again.
In high school, I was able to maintain a weight of around 135, despite all the junk food I ate (my lunches at school were usually either cup of noodles or Hot Cheetos and a Pepsi). I got a lot of exercise playing a game called Dance Dance Revolution, a game which, if played on the harder difficulty, involves a lot of jumping and fast foot movement, which results in a lot of burned calories. I played at least an hour of it yesterday, and it didn't take long for me to get out of breath and for my legs to feel like lead. However, after about 15 minutes, it got a bit easier. The rest of the hour went by pretty fast. After the workout, I felt good about myself, as I usually do after each infrequent workout. I did the same again today, and plan to do so at least 4 times a week.
I've also begun to watch what I eat. I'm not on any particular diet, but my intake of junk food is going to be seriously limited. It'll be hard not getting to eat ice cream, bacon chili cheeseburgers, etc. whenever I want, but sometimes you've got to give something to get something. Also restricted will be my snacking. Most of the times I snack is not because of actual hunger, but just because I feel like eating. My unnecessary snacking has been mostly cut in the last couple of days, although it hasn't been totally easy. Sometimes I just want to eat something, but I know that I have to make changes to my lifestyle if I'm going to lose the gut.
I've made too many excuses in my life to avoid making the changes needed to better myself. I've regretted letting myself gain that weight, but never done anything about it. Regrets are useless if not followed by actions. (cue the cheesy inspirational music)
I can spend all the time in the world wishing I was fit, but it won't burn that fat away. You can't always get something just by wanting it. You need to work hard for what you want sometimes. It won't always be easy, but if you keep at it, you might be surprised at the results.
Anyways, that's what I've decided, and what I'm going to work for. I encourage anyone with unfulfilled resolutions to work on them. We have no more need for excuses. We need to work hard and take good care of ourselves. I wish the best of luck to all of you.
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