It’s Not Just Diet and Exercise

By Chris Boothe
Messenger Sports

Here we are at the end of January. Just a month ago people were making New Year’s resolutions about losing weight and getting fit in 2018. Everyone looks for that magical diet that shreds weight fast, or the new workout craze that has people flocking to gyms. Maybe it’s that old high school workout that had you at All-State levels 20-30 years ago. Whatever it is, it’s going to take more than just a little diet and exercise to get that weight off.

Let’s rewind a little bit first. Let’s go back to 2011. Just seven years ago, things were good. I was covering sports full time, enjoying my daily trip to Subway, and life was good-ish. I was also tipping the scales at a mere 280 pounds. By far the largest I had ever been, and every time I stepped on the scale it was a downer. I would sit there and wonder where things went so wrong for me to gain that much weight.

Of course it was an easy realization. I wasn’t active at all, and I ate horribly. My entire lifestyle in general was not good for weight loss. I would try things here and there, looking for that lose quick scheme. Whether it was a diet I never stuck to, or a running/workout regimen that I would get sore one day and drop, I couldn’t get things going in the right direction.

It would take four more years before I found what it was I was looking for. It wasn’t a diet or exercise. It was a complete and total lifestyle change. It would take a little prodding from my wife, after I made fun of her for going to a “weak” boot camp, and meeting a man named Milton Green to open my eyes to what needed to be done.

With Milton, everything is about results. That’s what we work for, and it isn’t just the physical ones. It is the mental victories as well. It is about developing self-discipline and giving yourself the strength to make yourself uncomfortable and make the changes needed in your life to be happy and healthy.

I’m not going to lie. That first summer was brutal. The heat, the weights, the new foods, it was hard. I was sore six days a week. I was soo hungry and just wanted a burger to eat, or tacos from the taco stand down the street. But every time I stepped on the scale and saw a little more down, every time I put on a shirt that was getting too big, it was encouragement for me to move forward. Every time I was able to play with my kids and not get exhausted after five minutes made me so happy.

The results were real and it wasn’t a diet and exercise change. It was a changed mindset and new lifestyle that pushed me to stick to my resolutions.

At the end of that summer I ran my first 5k. Last year I ran several more 5k races, and completed a Tough Mudder Obstacle race. I am set to run in my first 10k later this month and plan on running in several other obstacle course races. Not only did the new lifestyle get me happy and healthy, it has me trying new things, and pushing myself to do better.

At one point I was down almost 90 pounds from my largest. Not bad for a New Year’s resolution.

It isn’t easy, but results and changes like that aren’t meant to be. But boy, when you see the results, when you feel the results, there is no feeling in the world when you have straight up earned them.