I haven’t posted anything in a while, with work and just life keeping me busy, it feels like I haven’t had a real opportunity to dedicate to a solid entry.
I’ve been taking boxing classes for a few months know with Todd, a former Golden Gloves finalist. Now, this isn’t the in-the-ring throwing punches at each other type. This is what I would call “workout boxing,” and it is a workout. Everything is in three-minute rounds, just like boxing, and it fluctuates, depending on the class, the day and, well quite frankly, Todd’s mindset.We’ve done everything from multiple rounds of throwing punches at a bag, to throwing punches at him to actually sparring with him. We’ve done core work, arm work, rope work and even cardio stuff. If Todd is especially ticked off, there will be a circuit thrown at us, which I am guaranteed to struggle with at the present. I’ve left there after an hour workout unable to fully walk, or having my arms feel like absolute mush.
But it has been the kick start I needed at the time. Todd has whipped my butt on many of a Tuesday (and sometimes Thursday) night. He helped me in training for the 5-mile race I completed on May 22, going as far to say there was no way I was coming in slower than the last finisher a year ago (which was 70 minutes); and I didn’t, finishing in 54 minutes and change, beating my goal of 60 minutes.
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| Team Big Love Ale from the Harpoon 5-Miler in Boston. |
Todd also has helped with my diet, putting me on a meal plan that has helped me incorporate fruits, vegetables and fish into a diet that all too often saw pizza, buffalo chicken and fried foods as a staple. And it has been a blessing, as I am discovering some foods that I never even tried in the past, and I am actually enjoying them.
In fact, I went out to breakfast with Jen and friends KC and Eric last Sunday. I ordered a white egg omlet with peppers, spinach mushrooms and tomatoes, and both KC and Eric wanted to know where Kevin was, as it was slightly different than my typical breakfast orders in the past.
But I talked with Todd this past week after class and expressed my frustration. Similar to when I first started with him, I feel like I am at a crossroads again, at a plateau. The scale isn’t showing much improvement lately, and I feel like I need something to shake it up. I’ve been running/jogging regularly, trying to do at least one 5-miler each week. And Jen got my bike fixed for my birthday and, after we get her a bike this weekend, there will be plenty of bike adventures this summer.
Todd shook his head in agreement and vowed to come up with a plan to help me out of this rut. A new diet plan and (hopefully) exercise plan to kick me back into a rhythm. The current meal plan I am on calls for me to eat 7 meals a day – all of varying portion sizes and meal sizes – and this new one he promises will be eating less frequently, which I am fine with.
As I was on my run through Medfield yesterday, I was thinking about this journey I have been on. About what I have lost (yeah me!) and what there still is to lose. I am roughly 65% to my goal of what I want to accomplish to be in that healthy range for a guy of my height and size. It may not be what the medical experts say, but it is what I think my body can handle. I’ll never be as skinny as a stick, which I am fine with, but I never want to go back to where I was before this journey started.
So I am looking forward to that new plan to kick start me again. I am looking forward to my summer bike adventures with Jen and the new active lifestyle we are planning for this summer. But I am most looking forward to the new and improved me this summer and being able to keep up with everyone without breaking a sweat after walking a city block.
