My 90 Day Challenge

I write this in hopes of inspiring a reader or for a response from a reader that will inspire me to go further.

I started my 90 Day Challenge the week before Thanksgiving. I knew that Thanksgiving was a time that I was going to eat more along with Christmas, but I knew I could do it without getting a second plate at either dinner. But that is not the hard part.

I was 239lbs when I started the Challenge and dropped 15llbs in the first 30 days. I was getting discouraged because my weight would fluctuate to 232lbs a few days after. I tried not to worry about it and continue on the plan for my goal was to have a similar transformation as Matt Mason who at 40yrs old went from flab to six pack abs.

After speaking to Matt in my second week, he gave me some tips on eating and to increase my cardiovascular activity. I was already playing basketball and hitting weights, but I knew I would have to do more to burn more fat. I started running a couple of days a week. After all, that is how I had lost weight in the past. I tried to run even when it got cold and it wasn’t that cold since I live in Orlando, Florida.

Unfortunately I got sick the week before Christmas. I was a little depressed that my 30 day picture did not look that much better than my starting picture and now I was sick and had to limit my exercise to just in the gym.

I was asked at the World’s Largest Challenge Party at Field’s BMW if I was going to restart my Challenge. To restart my Challenge was like me giving up on the my dedication to my first Challenge and I don’t give up on anything easy. I ran a couple of time that next week and by the next Sunday I weighed in after playing basketball and before eating lunch – 219lbs!

For the first time in 5 years I was below 220lbs even if it was for a moment. Playing basketball did not help me lose weight. The Challenge was the change in my life that I needed and I knew I could reach my goal with 34 days left. I decided that I was going to run every day in the morning for the next week and I was going to get to 210lbs in the next week and even go beyond my goal of 36lbs lost and drop down to 194lbs. I have not weighed that little since 1998 when I graduated college.

I woke up Monday morning full of excitement and started my run. I was running 10 sprints in my neighborhood from light pole to light pole resting between light poles. Today I told myself I was going to push to 15 light poles. I was running the fastest I had ran in quite some time. After the 10th, I told myself “That wasn’t so bad. I can  do 5 more!”

In the middle of the 14th sprint, my hamstring pulled very badly and I hit the ground. I picked myself up and thought of the wimps in the NBA and NFL that have to be carried off to the sidelines. It was 5:30 AM and nobody was here to do that for me and I will walk it out the last couple of light poles.

That morning I had a dream that I was not going to be able to play basketball on Wednesday. I did not like that dream. It came true as I was limping all week. Today is the second Wednesday that I cannot play basketball because I cannot run. At least the swelling in my leg had gone down tremendously, but I can barely jog.

With 3 weeks left my Challenge, I will have to do it working out without running for another week and possibly longer. My 2nd 90 day Challenge may just have to be an extension of my first one. I am thankful that I do not have any disabilities. I know there are many people who have it harder than me.

Please share your story with me.