Jon Upchurch

As recently as 15 months ago…

I was in decent shape. I was working out regularly and was fast approaching the outside range of my ideal weight. My BMI was below the “Fat” zone by a few percentage points. Considering my age, the genetic mountain I have to overcome to be fit, and the kind of work I do that’s not a mild achievement. I had stopped eating fried foods, and cut out most sugar. I could run a mile or more without stopping or passing out, and the Elliptical and Stairmaster machines submitted to my will.  It felt great.  I even used to park at the far end of parking lots just to get the extra exercise.

Then I started my own business. The two and a half hours I spent at the gym each day became a luxury I couldn’t afford. Food became something that I needed to have just to survive and I didn’t have time to worry about nutrition.  My stress level rose, and since I had quit smoking about 9 months earlier, food became my way of dealing with the stress.  To make matters worse, in the fall I got Pneumonia and was in the hospital for almost a week.  My lung capacity which previously had been very good went to the crapper. I got winded walking up stairs, and I never bounced back from it.

So meanwhile…

I’ve now gained back everything I lost in spades, going from 240lbs (sounds heavy, but I’m stocky and large framed at 6′0″, I wasn’t sporting a six pack but I wasn’t fat either) to somewhere between 285 and 300lbs.  Even at my worst before I was topped out at 270lbs.  So now things have become sane with the business.  Oh, I probably have the same amount of work between school and the business, but I’ve learned to manage things better and to delegate more.

So in other words I have some time if I can get myself motivated to get back to the gym.  I got an offer via email from Bally’s, where I had a membership before, for a year membership for $99.00.  That’s less than $10 a month, and not something that i could pass up knowing that I want and need to get abck into shape.

And now…

I’m done with day 2 of my MWF trips to the gym.  I’ve done this before and I know not to kill myself as I’m getting back into it.  I’m amazed just how much I’ve gone to the crapper in the last year.  I *walked* for a mile and a half, and my legs hurt.  I used to *run* that far!  Today I takled the Elliptical, and to be honest it beat me.  I managed to stay on for 15 minutes, and I didn’t even look at the calories I burned because I didn’t want to get depressed.  I used to burn about 750-850 calories in 30 minutes at the pace I used to work out at.

So I’m determined to stick with it.  I’m not expecting miracles, but I don’t want to be as overweight as I am and I don’t want to be as short winded as I am.  If I can regain some muscle and wind, lose a little weight, and maybe start eating healthier again I know I’ll be the better for it. I’m looking forward to owning the machines instead of the machines owning me, and I’m looking forward to finding the hidden overdrive gears that I used to have while working out. The feeling I get when I’m at what I feel is my limit and then I crank it up to 11 despite my body’s protests, and then crank it to a burst of 13 before finishing up with a cool down is incredible, and that’s what I miss about working out more than anything.  The feeling that I’m breaking boundaries and truly pushing myself used to bring me back to the gym 5-7 days a week.

I’ll keep updating my progress for anyone who cares to follow alone and root me on!