Take 2: 28 Days in -- Motivation

Motivation is a lot like faith.  Motivation doesn't just come because you want it (at least for me it doesn't...), but it comes as you start to act towards your desires.  If I sit in my wonderful recliner and wait until I want to go and run/walk 3 miles then it will never happen.  For me, motivation usually comes as I get on my workout clothes, put my headphones on, and walk out the door.  Recognizing this helps me to get out of the recliner and act.  I've never had a day that I've regretted going for my run or walk, but there have been a few days that I have regretted not going out and doing it.

4 weeks in I'm happy with the progress that I've made so far.  There's definitely still room for improvement, but I just have to keep moving forward. I've exercised over 68 miles this month and I've lost over 15 pounds.  

Thank you friends for your support!

Take 2: Week 2 - Endurance

Just some thoughts that may or may not be coherent...

In just about all aspects of my life I've done well when it comes to quick bursts of energy.  Sprinting is something in which I excel. I can do anything for a day, maybe even two.  I can drastically change my daily schedule for a week, maybe even two.  But longer...?

Similarly, I'm not sure that I've ever been accused of being diligent.  As I look back on my life I am overwhelmed by the number of things that I've started only to quit when the going got tough.  I was thinking about this as I was running today.  It was about 3/4 of the way through my run and I felt that I was spent.  It got hard.  I wanted to give up.  I started thinking of the run today as if they were my efforts for the past two weeks.  Two weeks in it gets harder to motivate myself everyday.  What will I do?

I had a thought recently that I think relates to this Journey:  It's not the big decisions that impact a person's life as much as it is the day to day, seemingly mundane, choices that will determine the course of a person's life.  One foot in front of the other.  Just keep going...

Since 1/3/15 I've walked/run for exercise 35.29 miles and I've lost 8.5 pounds.

Take 2: Week 1 - The busiest week of my life...

I'm tired.  I just got home from my 6th day of work this week.  In total I spent 68 hours at school or at school related activities.  I am a couch of the First Lego League team at my school and our competition was this week.  We (mostly the students) put in a lot of work this week and our team even won a trophy!  We're pretty stoked about that!

Anyway, maybe I was crazy for deciding to start my active healthy living the same week of the year that I'm crazy busy.  But I felt that I had something to prove to myself:  I can do it even when I'm busy.  On Monday, the longest school day during the week for me (13 hours), I got home and I excused myself from going out to exercise.  But then I got to thinking... if I can do it today then I can do it pretty much any day.  I wanted to prove to myself that I truly believe that, "There is always enough time for the things that we choose to make the most important in our lives."

I did it!  I got out to run/walk everyday this past week!  I have also returned to doing a much better job of actively choosing what I eat instead of just winging it.  It's been a successful week! I've lost 5.5 pounds! and I've walked over 21 miles!

Here's some yummy soup I made this week!

I'm Back!

Well, it's been about 4 months (what the...) since I've actively pursued my journey, and it's time to pick it back up!

I had a good 2 months of journeying in July and August.  In those 2 months time I lost 37 pounds!  Since then I've gained most of it back.  It's easy to look at that and be discouraged.  I did exactly that for a couple of months.  But if I learned nothing else, if I gained nothing (besides weight...) from this experience, I learned that I CAN.  I CAN DO THIS.  I've done it before...  I didn't know that before I initially started my journey.

This is not a New Year's Resolution.  This is a (re)resolution that happens to correspond to the beginning of the year.  I've decided to stop making excuses for myself and live up to the potential that I know I possess.  It will be challenging.  I'll have to figure out how to work all that I want to do into my School-year schedule, but I firmly believe that we always have time for the things we choose to make the most important in our lives.

Thank you so much for your continued support in this journey.

He's what I did today:

A Journey Revisited

A Journey Revisited

When a person endeavors to undertake a journey it usually means that that person is moving from one point to another using any number of available means of transportation.  When the journey is completed, the change in location - the actual displacement that took place, is often of very little consequence despite leagues that may have been traveled.  Yet the person has grown immeasurably because of the journey that took place. 

The growth that happens is a function of the journey itself rather than the arrival at the final destination.  There are scores of tales involving such journeys and the trials that people had to overcome in order to complete their journey.  The Odyssey, The Princess Bride, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The NeverEnding Story, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Don Quixote, The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, and The Lord of the Rings are just a few of such tales. 

In journey-type tales, the hero sets off to accomplish some arduous task which usually means traveling to some distant point.  By the time he arrives at the endpoint, the journey itself provided the much need strength that was necessary to accomplish the seemingly impossible task that at an earlier time loomed ahead. 

The characters are all different, and their journeys were all made for varying purposes.  But the fact remains that the journey changed them by more than just their location.  As often happens in the course of the journey, trial, tribulation, and adversity rear their ugly heads.  What may have started as a seemingly simple journey now transforms into so much more.  Instead of merely reaching the endpoint of the journey, the character now has to overcome these additional challenges.  It’s at this point where our hero is tempted to give in and to quit, but as he digs deep for motivation and strength he begins to adapt, receives special (sometimes supernatural) help from others and/or from objects, perseveres, and then at last he conquers.

Sometimes at the end of the journey the hero can look back and identify a pivotal moment in the journey that made all the difference.  Other times it is much harder to identify such a moment.  Perhaps more often than not, the changes happened subtly, the growth comes in small increments, but in contrast to the start the growth is significant.  The journey has created a new man. 

My journey continues…

Kids Say the Darndest Things and Other Thoughts

School Started last week for me.  In that time many students and a few teachers made some comments that I have found inspiring, and in some cases hilarious.

Another teacher: "John-John...I have to ask you, how much weight did you lose this summer?"  (This comment really made my day!  It was the first time that someone who hasn't followed my journey noticed that I had lost weight)

A former student upon seeing me the first day of school:  "Mr. Henrichsen, you look...different..."

Another former student, shouting in the hall before school:  "Henrichsen lost weight! Henrichsen lost weight!"

Student:  "Mr. Henrichsen, you look good!"

Another Teacher:  "You're looking really good.  Seriously, I've noticed.  I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."

There's something about other people noticing the results of the changes that I've made in my life that is gratifying, impelling, and rewarding.  Perhaps it's the distance I have yet ahead of me or the fact that I look at myself in the mirror everyday, but I've seen the numbers on the scale and I haven't been sure that I was seeing the results that I thought those number should represent.  This has helped to change my perspective.

I started running again yesterday.  My hip is still not back to 100%, but the pain I felt as I ran wasn't enough to keep me from running.  And I really needed to run again.  I never thought I would say this, but I really missed running the week and a half that I took off.  I'm glad that I was able to start it up again.

I've written before about the mental toughness that has been required of me to keep running.  Especially at the beginning of the C25K, I felt that each run I went on made me mentally stronger as well as physically stronger.  Until I didn't run for a week and a half, I didn't realize how much mental strength that running gave me in other areas of my life.  I learned that I could do hard things and that my persistence helped me to achieve new heights.  After having a couple of harder days last weekend, getting back to running has been exactly what I've needed at this point in my journey.

Since June 30th I've lost 37 pounds and I've logged over 140 miles of walking/running for exercise.  My goal weight for the end of August is less than one pound away with 5 days still to go!

Week 7 Highlights

• I had to buy a smaller belt.
• One of my coworkers asked me how much weight I lost over the summer.
• My bruised hip is quickly healing.
• A "bad" day did not turn into a "bad" week.
• I have walked/run over 130 miles for exercise since June 30th
• I have lost 32 pounds in that same time.

Thanks again and always for your support! You have no idea how much it means to me!