I let myself go in college. I didn't do much better for myself in the few years that followed. I peaked right around 220 lbs in the Fall of 2007.
It was the spring of 2009 when I finally decided that enough was enough and that I needed to get healthy. I began running again and started watching what I ate. By that Fall, I had dropped about 45 lbs and run my first marathon. Following the marathon, I went into "hibernation" until the next spring.
In the spring of 2010, I came out of "hibernation" and began running again. I had still maintained a much healthier eating style than before my weight loss but I wasn't my same obsessive self during the winter. By the Fall of 2010, I had dropped an additional 10-15 lbs and run my second marathon. Following my second marathon, I once again went into "hibernation" until the following Spring.
January of 2011 was a life-altering time for me. It was during that month that Polly and I welcomed our beautiful daughter Genevieve into the world. Knowing that I would not have the proper time to train, I opted not to schedule a marathon for the Fall of 2011. I ran a 5k by myself and a 10k with my daughter, but had no other races besides those. I went through a stretch of being active and then lost motivation and then became active again and then lost motivation again. I was like a yo-yo through the Summer months. My eating habits weren't the best, but still weren't nearly as bad as they had been for 220 lb Mike Brown. Traveling to off-sites and eating crazy amounts of food did not help. I wasn't at my healthiest.
All of this lack of motivation to stay as fit as I had been in previous years culminated in my stepping on the scale for the first time in four weeks three days after Thanksgiving. Yikes! I had gained 6.2 lbs. That added to the fact that I never lost my winter weight from "hibernation" last year meant that I was back up over 170 lbs for the first time since the Spring of 2010. I tried to jump-start myself numerous times but to no avail. How could I have let this happen?
Seeing that number on the scale gave me a much needed push. Especially considering the fact that I have decided to run a Spring marathon in 2012 (because I miss them) and need to be in good shape to start my official training in January. I knew that I needed to make the change.
Coming off my Sunday epiphany on the scale, I ran when I got home from work on Monday. I ran again yesterday (Tuesday) before The Biggest Loser. I also plan to run when I get home tomorrow. That's a good start, but let's be honest...it's not the first time I've run this year. So, how can I be sure that I really mean it this time? How can I be sure that this is not simply another upswing in the yo-yo which will inevitably come back down soon?
I will tell you how I know that I'm serious this time. I will tell you how I know that this is not another upswing in my yearlong yo-yo extravaganza. It was made clear to me by my own use of six simple words and an investigation. Here's what happened and how it went down:
Prior to running last night, Polly informed me that she made a vanilla pudding pie to eat while watching The Biggest Loser. We almost always eat goodies while watching that show. I always enjoy them. But this time, instead of just saying, "Sweeeet" or something along those lines, I replied with six simple words: How many calories does it have? Polly responded that she didn't know. We had played this game before. That's when it happened. I dug into the recycling bag for the pudding box and the trash for the pie crust package. I read the nutritional value for each and established the portion of pie I could have. Yep, that's how I knew. In that moment, I realized that I cared about what I ate again. And then my obsessive nature kicked in. I NEEDED to know the calories. I only get this way when I'm serious. During my yo-yo year, I may have looked at calories, but I definitely didn't dig through the trash for them. No, this is the clear work of a serious Mike Brown.
I'm back! And I'm happy I am. This probably means I'll be back to writing more regularly too!
