I’ve been a FIFO husband / dad for nearly 10 years now, all those 10 years I have been over weight and deep down inside unhappy with my physical image. My journey to becoming healthy started nearly 12 months ago when I started on my latest project, a long term LNG construction job in WA. Now people that know me well (and there are not many) will all say that im a pretty happy guy who doesn’t seem to have many worries in his life. Truth is I have been unhappy for a very very long time, unhappy with myself and my physical image. So I decided to do something about it, I decided to get fit, I flicked the switch inside my brain that said just do it.
You know, all the holidays I have been on with my wife (childhood sweetheart), there we are in the photo, my wife stunning as usual, and me with the big gut, more chins than a Chinese phonebook, baggy clothes to hide the body shape etc. I hate these photos because I know I can look better, it was just pure laziness that got me there, no exercise, binge eating, take away food, soft drinks and alcohol all contributed to me looking how I was. Always up for a beer and chips, over eating, loading up my plate with rubbish, eating until I couldn’t eat anymore.
My wedding photos I hate (and that’s a strong word) but I do hate them, one of the three most happiest days of my life, and im not proud of my personal presentation. Likewise with my professional photos we have of me with our two children – but I will never dispose of them, as they are the precious pics that highlight wonderful parts of life, however I would prefer they stay in the cupboard. We have a 30” x 20” framed professional pic of our wedding day in our entrance to our house – later this year it’s coming down and being replaced with something that represents the new me, I don’t want what I perceive to be a horrible pic of me in the entrance to my house.
I have tried for many years and promised for many years that this time im getting fit only to not see much progress and give up and feel sorry for myself and remain unhappy – but then cover it up and act all happy around friends / family etc…..I was fake, I would never have admitted that in the past, im proud of myself for being able to admit this now.
I was a huge social media user, mainly FB, I would have it on all day, when I decided to finally get fit, I also felt as though social media was becoming a problem for me, I would wake up, check FB, would have it on all day, would be interacting with my wife and kids but only halfheartedly as I was on FB, at night I would be sitting on the couch on FB etc.. I trimmed my FB page down to approximately 15-25 friends (people who I actually care about), I now am hardly on it when at home, I needed to refocus my time and energy on my wife and kids – it’s been the best thing I have done. How many households in Australia sound exactly like what I have just described? To many I presume
Yeah I’ve tried the meal replacement shakes, I’ve tried all these fabulously touted weight loss programs, I’ve been there and done that and failed, and failed in epic proportions, weight would balloon etc.
When that switch flicked in my brain last year, I told myself that this is it, this time you must get fit and not give up – im not stupid, being overweight is not cool, it brings unwanted health concerns, It makes me struggle to keep up with my kids, it makes my wife not find me physically attractive (though she has never once told me that), it makes your sex life suffer because I didn’t love myself. I owe this to not only myself but to my wife and kids, I want to be a family who is fit and healthy and I need to lead by example. My wife is tall and lean and will never have physical body image concerns, my kids are both lean and looking as though they will be tall, I want to be lean and short (im not tall sadly).
So im proud to say that this morning I hopped on the scales at the gym at work and it read 98.4Kg. that’s a whole 10.6kg I’ve gotten rid of since about June last year. I have no intention of getting it back. Despite all the fads about quick weight loss etc which I have tried and failed at I decided to do it through nothing but hard work and pure grit & determination. I was being brutally honest with myself, I could see one day that it could end up affecting my marriage, people have commented my whole marriage (10 yrs. this year, 16 yrs. together) to my wife, I don’t know why your with him, you could do so much better, and you know what? She no doubt could, but we have this union together, we love each other, we have a wonderful partnership, one that I never want to end. But I need to keep my end of the bargain so to speak, I need to look after myself.
I go to the gym every day when on site, I wake up and just get out of bed, I don’t find it tough, sure I get tired, but I have this overwhelming feeling of wanting to exercise. I spend a good hour to hour and a half doing weights in the mornings, different parts of my body each day, then at night I do cardio, this consists of spin classes ( yes we have spin classes here at work), time on the x trainer or running. Im going through a whole body transformation and im loving it, im so motivated, my FB wall is covered in motivational quotes etc. when home I have joined a gym, and go to the gym 3-4 time s a week on my week off ( I do 3/1 roster), last time home I even joined in a group class called step, I was the only bloke in there amongst all these mums who had their coordination spot on and here I was having a crack, not quite in time, but hey I did it.
Healthy eating, no soft drink, no alcohol & no take away and plenty of exercise are what is working for me, I only drink water now, I don’t have meal replacement shakes etc, just good healthy foods, im finally making the right choices. Yes I take a couple of supplements as they seem to be all the rage these days, I take a pre workout supplement and during my weights workouts I sip on a protein formula that helps to build and repair muscles and I have the same protein formula directly after the workout – none of this is food replacement. I still eat and I eat a lot these days. A lot of the right stuff. I allow myself one cheat day a week, generally Sunday where I might get myself something form the desert menu, but even now days im finding that I don’t do it often, because im not craving it, I don’t feel like it, my habits have changed.
I have no weight goal because im doing a lot of weights and I know muscle is heavier than fat (unfair hey). As long as im seeing a positive change in my physical shape I’ll be happy. I have a way to go yet but today was a milestone and I feel ever so proud.
As part of my new leaf I’ve turned, im becoming a runner ( strangely Im enjoying becoming a runner) my first run event is in two weeks’ time. Im running 6km and raising money for our local children’s hospital – something im very passionate about.
Lastly Im looking forward to a long and healthy life with my beautiful wife and two kids & not being called “big fella” anymore.
Thanks Kieran as always
xxD
