Happy Fitness Inspiration Friday! I hope you had a fantastic fit, active and healthy week! Keeping up with the tradition from the past few months, this week I am featuring a gentleman who is a fitness inspiration to me. I have only known him a short amount of time, but the moment I met him I was inspired.
I am excited to introduce Kase, my featured FitSpiration!
Tell me a little bit about your fitness journey.
I am actually pretty new at this whole fitness thing. I was an athlete in high school and college, but after that, nothing. Not sure where it all ended, but I stopped regularly exercising and made excuses for not eating very healthy. For nearly a decade I floated around trying for a few weeks to drop some weight, giving up after not really trying and letting my health get worse and worse. My journey back started in June. I was getting married in November and we were going to start planning on a family shortly there after. I have always wanted to be the dad that coaches the soccer team, goes for bike rides, surfs and is super active with the kids as they grow up. I took a hard look at myself and realized that I wasn’t going to be that guy if I kept going in the direction I was. I felt like an active guy, but I was in a sloppy, slow and obese body. At six feet tall and nearly 270 lbs, I wasn’t healthy and I needed to change.
Being a marketing guy with a brand new sport ID brand, I did what anyone who is serious about their goals would do; I made them completely public. I went on my blog and talked about what I wanted and what I was trying to achieve. I also did an incredibly important thing that you must do with a goal, I set a date. I put my goals out there and set a date for when I would accomplish them. The date I set was November 2, 2011. This is one day before my wedding. If I could reach my goals by that date, I knew that I would be showing myself and my future wife that I was committed to her and our future family. I had a Go Sport ID made with my emergency information, just in case something happened while I was out on a run. I also included two lines on the front that would motivate me for the next four months: “Because I can! November 2, 2011”. I put it on and never looked back.
I set out on a training program that kept me running pretty much everyday. I would go online and chat with the running community on Twitter. I’d ask questions about the areas I was struggling with. The community would answer, but more than that, they would support me. They would cheer me on and keep me going. I started out being able to half jog for about five minutes and then needing to walk. Then I could jog a mile. Then 2. Then I ran a 5k.
Sunday, October 23rd, I competed in and finished a half marathon. My fiancé was waiting for me at the finish line to give me the biggest and best hug of my life. I am forty pounds lighter and still working to reach my goals. I learned so much about myself over the last few months that I know I will always be a changed man because of it. Look out for me next year because a marathon will get checked off the list.
What is your fitness LOVE?
I am definitely an equal opportunity activity lover. I have learned to love running over the last few months, but I enjoy swimming and cycling as well. I love basketball and volleyball. I enjoy most sports and games that get me up and get me moving. The one fitness love that I have to share though is taking a long shower after I go out and give it my all. Relaxing as the water beats down on you, those minutes of reflection knowing you got it done that day. You put in the effort and didn’t give up.
What is your ONE piece of fitness advice you find helpful to keep you motivated?
Stay positive. I can’t stress it enough. There will be days, especially in the beginning, when you feel like a failure. I was only able to jog for a few minutes early on, but I didn’t get down on myself. I knew I would get faster. I knew I would be able to build my endurance. I knew that fitness takes time. It wasn’t going to happen overnight. Dramatic changes take time. Losing a couple pounds a week is fantastic.
Staying positive goes for your eating as well. You need to eat healthy, but that doesn’t mean cutting yourself off from everything. Limit poor food choices but don’t beat yourself up over a cookie. Eating healthy also takes time.
If you would like to follow and be inspired by Kase, you can check out his blog Go Sport ID, follow him on twitter, or fan him on facebook.
Please contact me if you would like to be featured as a FitSpiration.
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