<h2>Fitness is hard.</h2>
There's no two ways about it - health, fitness, weight loss... it's <strong>hard</strong>. I could go on for days but the simple truth is... it's gonna require hard work, dedication, and the will to win. Neat thing is... once you DO reach your goal... it really <em>is </em>like winning. I can tell you that because... <strong>I've been there.</strong>
<h2><strong>My story may sound familiar.</strong></h2>
I started off like so many others - perhaps you might now be in the shoes I was then. I had been a big guy my whole life. On the day my fitness journey started I was 23 years old and honestly couldn't remember a time where I wasn't big. Heck, the smallest pair of jeans I owned were 36" waist... which didn't fit, and hadn't since <em>8th grade</em>.
<h2>Efforts to succeed... didn't.</h2>
Throughout my theretofore adult life I had tried and failed a number of times to lose weight. As you might guess, nothing really stuck. There were so many factors I could attribute my lack of forward progress to. There was the lack of knowledge and direction, for one, which was a great foundation to build my hopes on. Then one could consider how helpful my incredible laziness and procrastination were to my endeavors. There was, of course, the ever-pervasive sense of discomfort, inadequacy, and embarassment when I set foot in a gym. And lastly, let's not leave out the general lack of true motivation I felt.
<h2>Motivation is a funny thing.</h2>
I learned, one day, that motivation is <strong>not </strong>the same thing as <em>needing to do a thing</em> or <em>wanting </em>to do a thing. "Motivation" is not "I want to lose weight". Motivation is different for everyone, and for me... it was a deep, powerful inability to remain as I was for another moment. One day... at work... as I wore through the inner thigh of yet <em>another </em>pair of work pants due to fat thighs rubbing as I walked... Something snapped. I simply could no longer <em>be </em>like this anymore... overweight, unhappy in my own skin, uncomfortable and embarrassed with myself, and wearing baggy clothes to hide myself. I <em>had </em>to <strong>do</strong> something.
<h2><strong>And so it began.</strong></h2>
My wife and I (girlfriend at the time) began working out together. We started at home, in the basement or spare bedroom with one of those at-home workout DVD's. I borrowed from a friend. At the time, I was too embarrassed, intimidated, and overwhelmed to go to an actual gym. There's also the fact I'm incredibly cheap, so not only would I not <em>pay </em>for a gym membership, I certainly wouldn't <em>pay </em>for those DVD programs... hence, borrowing.
<h2><strong>It was hard work.</strong></h2>
Every workout we gave it our all, and every workout we were exhausted.