On February 29th, Disney and Pixar released Onward to theaters. I first heard of Onward more than a year ago with a teaser that featured unicorns acting like street cats and some wisps of magic. The early teaser, like Disney does with most of its films, did not give anything away. Over time, the creative team shared more information about the film. It became clear that Pixar was making a movie with classic fantasy elements.
The setting of Onward is set in a modern time but it is juxtaposed over its fantasy based history. The stories we tell of orcs, goblins, elves, and wizards is real in this land. Fantastic stories we would tell are the real history of that world. That is, until technology makes magic obsolete. The reday, , I sidents of Onward’s world forget their magical past and soon begin to lives very similar to ours.
We meet two brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot. They are played by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, respectively. The two brothers have broadly different personalities; Ian, who is celebrating his sixteenth birthday, is unsure of himself and struggles to find his way in the world. Barley, his older brother, is a history buff. He laments the passing of the days of magic and adventure. He also spends most of his time playing Quests of Yore, a role playing game modeled after Dungeons & Dragons. Although in their world, the game becomes something of a guide book for the adventures they are about to go on.
Half the man I used to be
In Onward, the boys are getting through life after the loss of their father. They were young when he died, but the loss is still felt strongly. They handle it in very different ways, even after learning they may be able to bring him back to life. I will not say any more except to say that the father is their companion through most of the movie, but as a half complete form. As the trailers show, he is only resurrected from the waist down.
I was happy to see Disney and Pixar make a movie with boys as the protagonists. Disney, a company most known for princesses, went out on a limb here. The irony is in the manner in which the story telling is accomplished. On the surface, the tale is one of fantasy and adventure, but it is the power of family that is front and center. Pixar is known for making you cry in their movies.
At the very end of Coco, I was bawling my eyes out as the credits began to roll. Up gets me right in the feels in the first 15 minutes of the film. Onward has one moment, an awakening of sorts for Ian, that I had strong emotional reaction to. I thought of my parents and my brother during that scene. It is a thought-provoking concept that takes place. Again, I don’t want to spoil anything, but is a very mature sentiment for a “kids” movie.
I would like to pause with my review of the movie itself by discussing the marketing for the film. There has been basically no marketing. That is so odd for a movie that I so thoroughly enjoyed. Perhaps Disney and Pixar do not know how to market Onward to boys since its not a Star Wars or Marvel property. Who know? Regardless, I knew little about this movie before its release and was shocked when I heard it was already in theaters.
Ian (left) and Barley (right) are brothers trying to spend one more day with their deceased father in Onward
The other thing I would like to comment on is how terrible we are becoming as a society. The theater was nearly empty. We saw it in Regal’s RPX theater, which is a premium experience. Perhaps the cost kept people away or maybe it was the marketing, as I mentioned before. Regardless, there was less than 35 people in the theater. Directly behind my family was group of people with two obnoxious children. I could not believe the behavior of the children, but it was the lack of parental involvement that struck a chord with me.
A good time regardless
Don’t get me wrong. Disney and Pixar make family films. Family films will draw families. Families have children. I was not upset that there were children sitting behind me. That was to be expected. What I could not believe was that the parent was alloying the child to cry for half the movie. Dad did take the little girl for a walk, but then brought her back where she proceeded to start crying again. They had a younger boy with them too who repeatedly grabbed and pulled on the back of our seats. The final nail in the coffin was the Chinese food they brought in with them.
Chinese food is NOT appropriate for a movie theater
Coincidentally and unbelievably, this is SECOND time I have had people eating Chinese food behind me in a theater. Who does that? Seriously…who?”
Annoying people and poor marketing aside, Onward was a fun movie. It did a wonderful job of addressing family and the difficult nature of parenting and complexity of brotherhood. Along the way, there were some very funny moments and some real emotion. Not all the jokes landed however, with my girlfriend even saying she expected it to be funnier. All in all, as a geek who grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons and as a brother, I thoroughly loved Onward…even with some idiots behind me.
Today is going to be a crazy day. I have made the mistake of packing my day with things. When I made the decision to start this blog, I had every intention of writing several days ahead and to continue to stockpile posts. That has not happened. Whoops. So, I am taking a day to reflect on the blog.
I have reached two weeks of posting daily blogs with subject matter specific to that day. Some trends are starting to show already as it pertains to my motivation and the reactions of readers. I am going to take today to reflect on the first two weeks and maybe make some tweaks to my format.
Still having a good time
This is all far more enjoyable than I expected to. I am also getting more traction with readers than I expected. With that said, I do want to make sure that I am fostering a format and environment on this blog that I will enjoy and feel motivated to continue for a long while.
I will be back tomorrow with a post. It may be Entertainment based, it may not. Even I don’t know right now. Regardless, I am so proud to have you reading my posts and I absolutely welcome any and all feedback.
It is no exaggeration to say that many of the choices I was making ten years ago were killing me. My food intake was horrific. I never exercised. Stress over life, marriage, and employment was as high as it could be. I was also a two-pack-a-day smoker. Today, all of that has changed. I have become a fitness junkie, substituting nearly all of my bad habits for good ones. Of all of them, running has had the most profound affect on me. Here are the three ways running changed my life.
#3 – Running kept me away from smoking
On June 15th of 2009, I made one monumental choice that fundamentally led me on a healthier path. I quit smoking cigarettes and I did it cold turkey. I would love to say that my entire life turned around in that instant, but the truth is that things got worse before they got better. My weight ballooned because I replaced the cigarettes with food. It was actually candy and high calorie snacks that found my stomach. Eventually I hit my maximum weight of 279 pounds in December of that year.
Beginning in January of 2010, I fundamentally changed my diet and began to workout incessantly. I started with a recumbent stationary bike, but by late Spring I had started running as well.
Running with my oldest son before my first 5k
Starting a running regimen was infinitely harder than riding a bike for me. Running’s cardiovascular requirements are, at least for me, much more demanding on the heart and lungs. My heart rate would regularly be high, in the area of 185 beats per minute. On top of that, my lungs would burn. I was only a year out from smoking at that time. While that is a significant time to allow the lungs to heal, it takes longer for the vascular system to rebound and achieve proper function.
My early running days required a constant internal struggle to stay the course. The pain of adjusting my body to running and the difficulty in staying motivated were real. There is no way I would have been able to continue running if I was still a smoker. As a matter of fact, I likely never would have started running. By maintaining running as a part of my life, I never desire a cigarette. I haven’t wanted one in years. I love running too much to risk my ability to do it effectively.
#2 – I get by with a little help from my friends
When I first got involved in running in 2010, I knew no one else that ran. I always ran by myself. My first 5k was that summer but I had no one at the start line for encouragement. When I finished that race, I did know someone at the finish line. It was a woman I went to high school with. It was nice to commiserate about the run and discuss future events.
Somewhere along my fitness journey, someone told me about a website they used to track their fitness and stay motivated. It was called Daily Mile. Sadly, the website shut down in 2019. I could write a whole story about what was great about the site, but let me just paraphrase by saying is was a Facebook for athletes. You posted your workout and race results and your friends and others could comment on them.
Jeff and Michele Richardson have been friends for years. We met through Daily Mile
Through that website, I connected with runners and cyclists from around the country. Most importantly, I formed friendships with some local athletes. A few of those people have become close friends and remain so to this day. These local people I connected with were often at the same races I was attending. Soon, I was participating in meet-ups and casual conversations at all my events.
Fitness is a journey without a defined destination. Along the way, there are times you feel less motivated than you want to be. There have even been times for me over the decade that I have stopped working out altogether. It is my cohort in fitness that has always nudged me back into it. By maintaining a connection with athletes through social media and fitness groups, I always find my way back to my path.
On my Tech Tuesday post this week, I emphasized how much I hate treadmills. While I admit they serve a vital purpose, I would never in my life choose the treadmill over the road on a nice day. Running on a good trail or safe road is the superior choice 100 times out of 100. Not only is the physics of the process more beneficial to efficient training, the scenery is better as well. I find peace and tranquility on a slightly foggy morning in the woods. That never happens on a treadmill.
One of the greatest joys I have had in running is competing in destination races. The problem with running a 5k or half marathon near home is that I often know the route intimately. There is nothing new for me to see. It is a glorious thing to get to see a different city or country and run somewhere new.
I have been lucky in life to be able to attend a number of runDisney races over the years, starting in 2016. In January of that year, at the age of 40, I ran my first full marathon at Walt Disney World in Florida. The 26.2 miles took me through all four parks featuring some exciting glimpses of backstage areas. Over my many trips to Disney, I have run at almost every one of the resorts as well. New Balance sponsored a series of designated running trails at nearly all the resorts on property. Each one has its own charm.
Everywhere I go, I try to get a run in. I ran in California while visiting Disneyland in 2018. I have run in the Bahamas on Castaway Cay while on the Disney Cruise. That is their private island and they offer an official 5k on the morning of the arrival there. I have also run countless miles on the fourth deck of The Disney Dream, which is the cruise ship I have sailed on several times.
My 2019 Marine Corps Marathon post-race pic
I have run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. twice. The sites and sounds of that race rival anything else I have participated in. You run through Georgetown, Potomac Park, The National Mall, Crystal City, The Pentagon, and end in Arlington National Cemetery. There are very few events as awe-inspiring as that marathon.
I have run the boardwalk in Virginia Beach, home of the annual Shamrock Run, but never during that popular race. Central Park and Times Square have been backdrops of several runs for me. The hustle and bustle of New York City has an amazing way of spurring you on to a faster pace.
The hilly jungles of Saint Lucia are perhaps the most difficult I have experienced. The tranquil wonder of that island exceeds any other place I have visited. With that said, its oppressive heat and agonizing slopes make it a difficult place to run.
Slow down with a run
Travel is the best way to vacation. Unfortunately, we are often in a hurry to reach our destination. We jump from cab to plane to bus to train. We rush past people in the street to be the first in the door, first to get a table, first to take a picture, and the first to get on the plane to go home. While we are supposed to be decompressing and relaxing, we often speed up even more.
Take the time to jog around the places you visit. A thirty minute run is the perfect way to see the intimate details of your environment that are lost in an Uber. I like to run before my family wakes up. Seeing the sunrise on the ocean or behind a mountain is the most amazing way to start a day.
If you are just reaching a point in your life that you are considering running for health, these have been just three reasons running has changed my life. There are countless other ways it will change yours. Run for your health. Or Run for new relationships. You can Run to see the world. Run for any other reason you can think of. Just Run.
A new ride has arrived in the Disney Parks. It’s name is Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. For better or for worse, it replaces a long standing popular ride in a move that has become the norm for Disney Parks. Since the opening of Disneyland in Anaheim, California in 1955, the castle in the central hub has been the trademark of the park. When The Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, Cinderella’s Castle followed the same model.
When EPCOT opened in 1982, the entire park broke from the established Disney model. Instead of a castle, there was an enormous geodesic sphere in its place. The structure stands 180 feet tall. Unlike the previous castles, the building stood almost immediately inside the main gates. A dark ride called Spaceship Earth was housed inside the sphere. While it was gone through some changes over the years, the ride as a whole is the same.
There’s something in the air in Hollywood
The next major Disney Park in the United States opened in 1989. Known as MGM Studios at the time, it was another change in direction for Disney. This new idea was to be an recreation of old Hollywood, making the whole park a nostalgic look at the history of cinema. Instead of a Main Street USA immediately inside the gates, an artistic version of Hollywood Blvd made its was into the park. At the end of that street stood the newest icon of a Disney Park, The Chinese Theater. It is nearly identical to the one located in Hollywood, complete with handprints in the concrete. It does lack the seedy “actors” in cheap costumes demanding your money for a picture with them like the real theater has, which is nice.
The Chinese Theater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a close recreation of the original
Housed within The Chinese Theater was The Great Movie Ride. This attraction was a dark ride of sorts, which is Disney’s bread and butter. It featured a ride vehicle operator who was going to take you on a trip down Hollywood Memory Lane, showing you detailed dioramas of unforgettable movie scenes. Along the way, you realized your driver was part of the show in more ways than you realized. After a live shootout, a gangster commandeered your ride vehicle to make his or her escape. The bad guy eventually gets what’s coming to them by a curse in an Indiana Jones temple scene. All in all, The Great Movie ride was relaxing but still entertaining break from the business of the park. Sadly, due to the end of some licensing agreements, it closed in 2017.
An Icon gets his due
Rumors quickly swirled of what the next ride would be that would replace The Great Movie Ride. Disney quickly revealed the ride would feature Mickey Mouse. The Walt Disney Company introduced the iconic rodent 91 years ago. He has appeared in countless films and television. He is the “face” of the organization and yet he hasn’t never had his own ride in a Disney Park. That changes with Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway’s arrival.
Mickey’s Runaway Railway was announced at a D23 event
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway features some of the newest technology Disney has been introducing in recent years. First, the ride incorporates a trackless ride system. This was originally introduced in Ratatouille: The Adventure at Disneyland Paris. It utilizes a system of magnets beneath the floor to maneuver the vehicle through the showroom. The free moving illusion also allows for complex choreographic movements with other ride vehicles. This technology has most recently been seen in Rise of The Resistance in Galaxy’s Edge, which is the Star Wars themed sub-park also located in Hollywood Studios.
The ride also features Disney’s new projection animatronics. Disney Imagineers invented animatronics at the very infancy of Disneyland, as a way of making lifelike characters in the parks. Audio Animatronics, as Walt coined them, were complex machines using hydraulic actuators to make a robot seem alive. When Great Moments With President Lincoln debuted at the World’s Fair in 1964, it was huge attention draw. It was moved to Disneyland in 1965.
Walt Disney talking about Great Moments with President Lincoln
This new technology still uses a lifesize robot to create movement, but the face is a blank canvas. On the head, light is cast by powerful projectors to bring a three dimensional face to life. This is best utilized to make animated characters come to life in our real world. It was used initially in Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure. It has been used several in several rides since, very notably in Frozen After After at EPCOT.
Opinions are like…wait, this is a Disney Post
Reviews of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway have been popping up all over the internet. Some are critical of the ride, claiming that Disney mailed it in and didn’t take advantage of an opportunity to make something more special. Most others love the ride, emphasizing that Mickey is a character that was finally getting what he is owed. Many people, however, have focused their attention on the use of the newest iteration of the Mickey art style.
Mickey’s new art style is not universally loved
A few years ago, the look of Mickey Mouse and the rest of his entourage changed in a very significant way. After decades of the classic look, they began to appear with a more simplistic art style. It was reminiscent of Ren & Stimpy cartoons. The look has not been popular with many Disney fans, this blogger included. I have been critical of it since I first set eyes on it. I will admit, begrudgingly, that it is growing on me. Ultimately, the choices Disney makes with their characters are their choices, and their choices alone. We can be critical, of course, but we are not in charge.
The wait may kill me
I will get my first opportunity to ride Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at the end of June of 2020 and I will certainly post my review of the ride at that time. Since you clicked on this post because you want to know more, below is a full ride through of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway by my friends at Attractions Magazine.
Full POV Ridethrough of Mickey’s Runaway Railway
The new art style of Mickey and friends actually seems to work on this ride, especially with the 3d light mapping on the faces. These videos are great to watch, but I have found through experience that Disney Magic always best experienced with your own eyes.
Have you been on the ride yet? Do you have thoughts on the new art style? Are you still angry at the loss of The Great Movie ride? Let me know in the comments.
Thank you for reading. Hope you come back tomorrow for a Fitness Fridays post.
The universe gifted me two wonderful children. Each of them has their unique qualities. My older son has an edge to his personality but he can also be sweet at times. He is great at reading a room and engaging anyone in conversation. My younger son has a heart of gold. His kindness presents itself to everyone he meets. Childhood cancer is a terrible curse on society and a new child is diagnosed with it every 2 minutes. Luckily for me, I never had to deal with any childhood cancer with either of my children. now, one of them is trying to help fight it.
For the last two years, my youngest son Michael, has participated in St. Baldrick’s Head Shaving Campaign to raise money to the non-profit. With the raised funds, St. Baldrick’s spearheads the fight to eliminate childhood cancers.
Who is St. Baldrick?
St. Baldrick is not actually a real saint. No Baldrick (to the best of anyone’s knowledge) walked the fields of Ireland at any point in time. The name is actually a derivative of BALD and ST. PATRICK because the annual head shaving takes place on or around St. Patrick’s Day.
St. Baldrick’s has been fighting childhood cancers since 2000
The first Head Shaving event took place in New York City in the year 2000 and has grown nation wide. Each year, they raise money for research into childhood cancers and the amount continues to grow. In 2019, they awarded 24.7 million dollars to organizations fighting pediatric cancer.
Please help Michael
Today’s Wildcard Wednesday post is short and sweet because I would like everyone to read it quickly and take the moment to help out.
Michael has been passionate about St. Baldrick’s for some time now. Growing his hair out every year is annoying at times, but he is happy to endure it. He truly believes in the good he is doing for other kids. That is a selflessness you seldom see in children. He would be honored to be one of the top fundraisers locally and we are trying to help him reach that goal.
This is Michael having his head shaved last year for St. Baldrick’s
Would you please take a moment to give a small donation to the cause of fighting childhood cancer in my son’s name? I promise you that he AND children suffering from pediatric cancer thank you!
When I went through my initial weight-loss journey in 2010, I lost a large majority of the pounds on a stationary bike. For distraction purposes, I parked my recumbent in front of a television. That allowed me to combat what was sometimes three hours of torture. That summer I purchased my first bicycle and began riding on the road. I couldn’t believe how superior being outside was to that stationary bike.
Running joined cycling that summer as well. I ran almost daily on a fine gravel path near my home. The scenery, with its natural beauty, was the perfect background for me to find peace while I went through the personal hell of run training.
As is the way of the world, all good things must come to an end. That winter, when the weather finally became too cold, I could no longer ride outside. At least I was able to run. I continued that right into the most frigid of months. One day, over a beer, a fellow cyclist made aware of bike trainers.
Lesser of all the evils
Bike trainers are a device a cyclist can use indoors to continue their training throughout the year. There was a limited number of options in 2011. You could go with a fluid trainer, which had its internal components encased in a viscous liquid that provided resistance. A magnetic trainer was another option. It used opposing magnets to provide the resistance while you pedaled.
There are many bike trainer options on the marker. Wahoo is my trainer of choice.
Rollers were a niche trainer option for only the most hardened and insane of cyclists. They were just what the name implies. You rode your bike, unconnected to anything, on a series of tubes with bearings that made you feel as if you were actually riding. The reality is that one wrong move would send you flying off the rollers to certain death. In reality, you probably wouldn’t die. However, I bet you would break something and it would most likely be a lamp or table.
Cycling on a trainer is the worst
I went with a MAG trainer, which was coincidentally magnetic. The first time I attached my bike to the device, I was full of hopeful expectations. I imagined it would feel just like riding my bike on the road. It wasn’t. Not one bit. I am fairly certain I only lasted about ten minutes that first time. Why? Oh, there are so many reasons:
When you ride your bike outdoors, there is a sway to your body that you can use to apply power to pedals. That isn’t possible since the bike is locked into a very heavy device.
When you ride your bike outdoors, you can view ever-changing scenery because you are generally going 15-20 mph. The absolute opposite is true on a trainer. I can only stare at that lonely house plant for so long.
When you ride your bike outdoors, you can take pedaling breaks because of downhills. Sometimes you get to pedal harder because you are climbing up a hill. Basically, things are constantly changing. Not on a trainer. On the trainer, you pedal. You pedal only what that horrible trainer gives you. That is all.
When you ride your bike outdoors, you get to feel the wind. As your body is heating up from exertion, the wind from your speed is there to keep you cool. That is not the case on a trainer unless you put a fan in front of you. That is highly suggested, by the way. However, even with a fan, it never feels the same. I believe it is the singular direction and speed of a fan that leaves it feeling artificial.
When you ride your bike outdoors, you can join and race other cyclists. On a trainer, you generally lose that. Sure, you can set up multiple trainers in your home. Let’s be honest here, how many of us have 500 square foot living rooms to fit a whole peloton of bikes?
Due to this amassed number of complaints I have about trainers, I seldom used mine. Each and every winter would come with me deciding to bite the bullet and ride my trainer. Every winter would also see me get about two weeks into that decision and then completely change my mind. Trainers suck. PERIOD.
The Dreadmill
Treadmills do not even require too much explanation. While I am certain that a relatively small percentage of the population will even ride a bike on a trainer, I am positive that a vast majority have run on a treadmill at least once. While there are plenty of benefits to running on a treadmill, the physics of it are just different enough from running on the road that I struggle mightily with it.
A fun treadmill FAIL compilation
For some reason, I am always slower on a treadmill. I am convinced it is because my gait is different on the treadmill, likely due to the sense of limited space to stride. The continuous thud of my steps mixed with the mechanical hum of the motor and belt is also a distraction that takes me out of my zen like space I try to find when I run outdoors. I have avoided treadmills almost completely during my years of running because treadmills suck. PERIOD.
Enter the great new hope
When I explained trainers earlier, I did not include one category of trainer: Computerized Trainers. There were computerized trainers on the market at that time. TacX, for example, sold a system with a slew of devices that offered a nearly realistic simulation of riding outdoors. You had the option of changing elevation and could see where you riding in the world. It came with a load of bells and whistles. It also came with an outrageous price tag. I didn’t include that category because professional cyclists and human performance organizations were the only consumers of them.
That began to change in 2013 when several companies introduced Smart Trainers to the marketplace. With this new, more affordable option, you could connect a pc, a tablet, or your smart phone to the device via ANT+ or Bluetooth technology. Now, you could use software to control the resistance of the trainer. Even more importantly, software companies could combine mapping technology and networking to introduce a whole new riding experience.
Zwift’s arrival brought a whole new way to ride indoors.
Pay to play or in this case, ride
Zwift started offering subscriptions in October of 2015. What that subscription gave you was access to a virtual world, akin to a video game. In this digitally rendered, three dimensional world, you could ride your bike along a network of roads until you heart was content. They had flats, hills, and even mountains in their fictional land of Watopia.
Zwift communicated through your Smart Trainer software to control the resistance of your trainer. As you climbed a hill in the virtual world, it became harder to pedal. As you descended the hill later, it became easier to pedal. Absolute genius. Another amazing aspect of the Zwift platform, is that all around you were other cyclists. Each and every person on a bike in that world was the avatar of a real cyclists in their home or gym using similar technology.
Time to join the cool kids
I waited one year from its release before purchasing my setup. I went with a Wahoo Kickr Snap. You had two options with Wahoo. With the main Kickr product, you removed your rear wheel and temporarily attached your frame and chain to the device. With the Kickr Snap option, your back wheel stayed on and you locked the rear wheel of your bike against a flywheel. The primary difference is that the first option allowed for that gentle sway I referred to earlier in this article. Basically, it felt slightly more “road-like.”
This setup was a godsend for me. That winter and the following one, I used the Wahoo Kickr Snap with Zwift and road indoors plenty. Due completely to that, my strength, speed, and endurance in cycling began to improve year after year.
Doth my eyes deceive me?
One day, during my third season using Zwift, I suddenly saw something on my monitor while I was riding that confused me. My brain was reeling. I actually stopped pedaling and turned my bike around in the virtual world. I had to ride back and confirm my thoughts…Sure enough, I had actually seen someone running on the side of the road in Watopia. Suddenly, Zwift was no longer just for cyclists.
Zwift started offering running at an option in 2018
I did some research. How was I going to be able to run in the virtual world too? Surely, this is a technology that belonged in a technoholic’s home. Unfortunately, I was quickly met with defeat. I began searching Zwift’s website for the setup information. It was only in a beta at that time, meaning you needed to be invited in. For the next year, the ability to run inside Zwift’s platform was limited to only very high end treadmills. That was a problem for two reasons. High end treadmills are unbelievably expensive and I still hated treadmills. Regardless of these truths, I still coveted the idea and felt a small pang of jealousy ever time I saw a runner in Zwift.
More ways to play
Instead of going out and spending five thousand dollars on a treadmill to join the fun, I made the choice to purchase something else Wahoo had brought to the marketplace. During the previous year, they released the Kickr Climb. With this device, you removed your front wheel and attached your front forks to the Climb. It connected to your trainer via bluetooth. While you were riding in the virtual world, the Climb would assess the gradient of the road you were riding. When you began to ride up a hill, the Climb would elevate the front of your bike, simulating the slope of the road. When you descended, the opposite would occur.
This new option on the platform created an even more immersive experience. I rode more last year with the Climb than I did in previous off-seasons. When this past fall arrived, I once again took a gander at the options for running in Zwift. While I was encouraged by seeing more treadmills availble, they all still lived in the $3-4 thousand dollar range. I was not that interested in suffering on a treadmill with that price. Again, Wahoo came to my rescue with a another new device.
Wahoo Kickr with Climb and Headwind
This blew me away
The Headwind actually popped up at the end of the previous winter, but I wasn’t going to spend the money on something new at the end of the indoor riding season. The headwind was a “smart” fan you placed in front of your cycling setup. Like the Climb, it connected via bluetooth to your Kickr. The Headwind read your speed in the virtual world and matched it with the speed of the fan. Now, you effectively felt the wind while you were riding. Suddenly, the line between indoor and outdoor riding was truly starting to blur.
Over the last couple of years, Zwift has also greatly increased their riding options. There are multiple virtual worlds you can choose from. Some are totally invented like Watopia. Others are based solidly on the real world, like London, Richmond, and Innsbruck. New York City’s Central Park is also in the software but it features a very interesting format. In this futuristic version of the park, you can ride the park loops that have made the place famous, or you can ride up technologically advanced ramps that lead to a course in the sky. It allows for the scenic New York City skyline as a backdrop while you ride up and down some pretty challenging elevation changes.
Impulse buys are the worst
A couple of days after Christmas in 2019, my girlfriend and I were walking into Dick’s Sporting Goods in Destiny USA, which is the local mall here in Syracuse. As you first walk in, there is sometimes a row of treadmills for sale. She looked over to me with hope. Unlike me, she is a treadmill runner. At that time, she had been regularly driving to the gym at night to run on their treadmills. She wanted me to buy her one. Ugh. I was pleasantly surprised to see all the treadmills were heavily discounted after the holiday.
That very night I drove home with a Bowflex BXT216 treadmill hanging out of the back of my Toyota Prius. It took me a couple of days to hook it up and several more before I gave it a real try at running on it. I still hated the treadmill and didn’t see myself using it a lot, but my girlfriend was in her glory. She spent nearly every evening on it for the next month, but I returned mostly to my bike.
I impulse bought this beauty right after Christmas
About two weeks ago, one of my clients was talking to me about her Zwift riding experiences. We were discussing the additional attachments I had purchased over the years and she asked me if I had gotten a treadmill yet, specifically to run inside using Zwift. I replied that I had just bought a treadmill but it wasn’t one of the ones listed on their website. She proceeded to tell me that the website info isn’t totally accurate. A Zwift rep told her that as long as the treadmill has bluetooth technology, it should work.
What?!?!
Is the treadmill a thing now?
I ran home after my last client and made my way to the gym in my house. My beautiful Trek Domane was sitting there, attached to my Wahoo Kickr Snap and Climb. Sitting in front of that was the Headwind. Above that was the monitor I use while riding. Next to that insane cycling setup is my new treadmill. I turned on the software, clicked on the RUN tab on the load screen. There were three options for syncing it. You can connect to a heart rate monitor, cadence counter, and the treadmill. With bated breath, I turned on my treadmill and touched the icon on the screen.
Immediately it connected. Oh my god. I stepped onto the treadmill and tried it out. Sure enough, my avatar was walking on the screen. I increased the speed and the “me” on the screen ran at the same pace. I put on my heart rate chest belt and connected that as well. Success. But I was missing the cadence. I was able to grab a Run Pod made by Zwift on Amazon. That arrived yesterday and I tried it out last night. Immediate Success.
After all these years, I now have a complete setup in my basement to allow for multi-sport training. It is perfect timing too, because I have my first multi-sport event this coming May. I will be competing in a Bike-Kayak-Run event in Schenectady. I have never participated in one of these, but being well trained will help ease my anxiety.
If you have considered the Zwift system, which works with several different trainers and treadmills, I can highly recommend it. It has been a vital part of my training regiment for many years and will continue to be for many more years to come.
For more than seven years, I have offered a source of pain relief and relaxation for my thankful clientele. My office is locally known for having a diverse massage staff and we offer a broad spectrum of talents. We have licensed massage therapists who excel at pre-natal massage and some that offer thai massage. A couple of my massage therapists really focus on offering incredibly relaxing Swedish massage and tend to avoid offering deeper work. The rest of us are deep tissue specialists.
Deep tissue massage is a gray area term. It can be synonymous with orthopedic massage or medical massage. I am not implying that all those offerings are the same, but rather they are often interchangeable terms for clients. I will break down all the varied massage offerings in this field in another Massage Therapy Mondays post, but for now we are going to focus on a small slice of the industry.
The majority of clients that enter the doors to my office fall into two categories. They are either dealing with some sort of physical pain or they are athletes looking for assistance with recovery. Most of these clients come for an hour but some come for ninety minute sessions. The cost for these appointments is $75 and $105, respectively.
Benefits of massage
Injuries are commonplace. There are more causes and symptoms than I could ever list here so I will speak in generalities. We see a lot of instances of general pain in the neck, shoulders, back and hips. Knees and wrists also motivate people to contact us on occasion, but the main four are neck, shoulders, back, and hips.
The causes of the pain is a far more diverse and complicated list. First and foremost, we are unbelievably destructive to our bodies in today’s society. It is not that we live harder lives than our ancestors. It is the stress of modern life that lies at the root of so many issues. Maintaining our households, worrying about our children and/or elderly parents, and successfully negotiating our careers can leave our bodies under constant assault from a chemical called cortisol.
The cortisol hormone is produced by your adrenal glands. It is known as the source of the “fight or flight” response. Beyond that primary function, it also serves to regulate a number of complex balances in the body such as blood pressure and metabolism. Without turning this into a biology and chemistry lesson, let’s just agree that is vital to life.
Cortisol becomes a problem when tissue is exposed to it for too long. While cortisol can help your body in a number of ways, it can also me destructive. Long term exposure to cortisol in the connective tissues can break those fragile organs down. It can weaken tendons and ligaments and damage protective organs like fascia. Every organ, bone, muscle, tendon, and ligament is covered in fascia. It is one singular and contiguous organ, akin to an internal skin. If you damage one area of your fascia, it can have consequential effects throughout your body.
Massage for Recovery
Athletes are everywhere. While many people instinctively think of professional football or baseball players when they hear the term, athletes are also runners competing in 5ks or marathons. Triathletes, who compete in multiple disciplines are athletes. People who choose to hike the Appalachian Trail or tackle all the High Peaks of The Adirondacks are athletes. Even those of us that regularly weight train at the neighborhood gym fall into the category of athletes.
Sports massage can be in office or at an event
There are unique needs and dangers of constant exercise that a massage therapist is specifically trained to understand and negotiate. Trigger points, muscle fatigue, delayed onset muscle soreness, lactic acid, and plantar fasciitis are just some of the regular issues athletes come to us with.
Massage therapists have special training to work the common issues athletes experience. We can focus our attention on areas that require the work. There is a subtle balance the body must maintain in order to remain pain free or recover from injury, and massage therapists have the tools to facilitate that balance. Unfortunately, people are Increasingly turning to devices to address these issues.
Foam rollers have a long history
While I have been in the massage industry for nearly a decade, foam rollers were around long before me. Over time, they have become more and more sophisticated. Nowadays, they come in all shapes and sizes to address as many areas of the body as possible. The theory behind rolling is that one can loosen tight muscles by using their own body weight to knead the tissue in the same way you roll dough.
Foam rollers come in many shapes and sizes to serve different areas of the body
For years, I have even suggesting foam rolling to clients as a complimentary option to maintain the success I have during the massage. A month between appointments is a long time and if rolling can help keep their quad muscles loose, all the more power to them.
The new kid on the block
Massage “guns” are a relative newcomer to the scene. A California chiropractor invented the massage gun to aid in recovery of his own back pain. Subsequently. he began using it on his clients and its popularity spread from there.
A massage gun is a tool that looks like an altered drill. It creates a repetitive compression against the body similar to a jackhammer. It functions at a high rate of speed and features a padded point of contact. The theory behind its use is that is will soften the tissue and aid in the removal of toxins and facilitate positive blood flow to the desired area. There is no doubt that the application of that device to some areas of the body can be a very pleasurable and therapeutic experience.
The massage gun has seen increased usage in the physical therapy field as well. When operated by a trained practitioner, it can be a fine ancillary tool in the box. Physical therapists and chiropractors have been using devices as part of their treatment plans for a long while now. However, I would make the argument that you cannot beat the trained hands of massage therapist when it comes to the soft tissue of the body.
Massage guns use a repetitive compression to loosen tissue
Issues arise when individuals purchase a massage gun for themselves and use it at home without training or an understanding of the complex balance of the body’s musculature. Application of the gun to bone or areas of high nerve density can have devastating consequences. They could easily cause injury or make an existing injury worse.
Sometimes you need a pro
If you came across this article because you are injured and are curious if a massage gun can help, my emphatic massage is “I don’t know.” This article is not meant as a admonishment of massage guns in the marketplace. I am simply here to offer a cautionary warning.
If you are feeling pain that is causing discomfort beyond the normal, you should always seek attention from a trained individual. If you are experiencing issues with your soft tissue, consult a massage therapist like myself. We have experience in these issues and have an understanding of the general causes of pain. If someone comes to me with an injury that requires more than I can offer, I am quick to advise they see a doctor.
If someone chooses to address their own pain without any medical training with a massage gun, they are putting themselves at risk. Remember, many of our every day aches and pains originate from over-exposure to cortisol. A gun or a foam roller cannot address your stress, but the hands of a licensed massage therapist certainly can.
The summer of 1994 will forever be the most remarkable and mind-altering period of my life. Several events happened during that summer which permanently altered how I viewed the world around me. Specifically, I found August And Everything After by The Counting Crows. Before that, I began to dabble pretty heavily in marijuana after moving in with some friends. It was the first time in my life I lived outside of my parents’ home. I was relegated to a small cordoned off area in the attic. As I recall, I didn’t even have four walls. The entrance was a sheet strung up to divide me from the greater attic space.
In that “bedroom” was a bed, a small television, a game system, and a cd player. I survived on peanut butter & jelly and ramen while trying to get by on a part-time, minimum wage salary. At the time, I worked at a video rental store called Video Factory, which was later bought by Blockbuster. I was long gone and serving our nation in The Marine Corps before that ever happened.
With my meager earnings and having bills to pay for the first time in my life, there was nothing left for entertainment or adventure. I did two things a lot that summer besides smoking pot: I skated until my wheels wore off and I listened to music. This was long before the days of mp3s players. If you wanted to listen to something, you brought the CD with you. I generally had one of two albums in my player that summer: Vs by Pearl Jam or August And Everything After by The Counting Crows.
Pass me a bottle, Mr. Jones
The Counting Crows are an anomaly in the music industry. They hailed from San Francisco and were inspired heavily by Van Morrison and the Grateful Dead in a time when the Seattle music scene was heavily dominating radio. Their first single, Mr. Jones should have been dead in the water when in debuted in February of 1994. The album was released in the fall of the previous year to little fanfare. Geffen records had signed the band after they filled in for Van Morrison at a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
The music video for Mr. Jones was such a departure from other music of the time.
Mr. Jones was an instant hit, reaching number 2 on the Billboard Top 40. In hindsight, it is clear that a large swath of the music buying population was looking for something other than grunge rock and The Counting Crows were happy to give it to them. The song had a light aerie feel to it. It featured subtle Spanish beats and fast paced lyrics by Adam Duritz, the band’s front man. Duritz was also a contradiction to trends. He had a playful demeanor and featured meticulously maintained dreadlocks. His persona could not be any more different than other front men of the time like Kirk Cobain and Eddie Vedder.
She knows she’s more than just a little misunderstood
Mr. Jones had a more traditional musical structure with common verse and chorus arrangements. Their second released single shot that design out of the water. Round Here was a lyrical journey, telling a story so succinct that sounded as if Duritz could have just as easily been reading a poem at a local coffee shop. Round Here escaped the high pace and pounding beats that Mr. Jones introduced to the world. Rather, the guitar riffs and keyboard phrasing added a funky appeal with a much slower offering. With that said, this was also no ballad. It was a story of love and loss.
I really enjoyed Mr. Jones, but I was 18 years old and looking for something different. At that point in my life I was on a journey of discovery. I had come out of high school, unsure of who I was, and I was looking to be as cool as possible. I was still jamming out to Pearl Jam’s 10 album and trying to get a taste for their follow-up, Vs. The first Counting Crows’ single was popular and I certainly heard it on the radio, but I did not run out and buy the album. That is until I heard the follow-up single, Round Here.
Bright colors and the lyrics
During that period of my life, I had not yet acquired the musical sophistication I have today. I was definitely a pop and rock radio guy. When I would buy an album, I would just play the tracks I knew over and over. The B-side songs seldom hit my ears unless I was too tired to get up and skip the track. That changed when I tore the cellophane off August And Everything After.
I have purchased this album several times over the years.
When I grabbed that CD from the shelf of the local record store, I was immediately struck by the cover. It was unlike any of the music I had been listening to for years. The album art was brightly colored and featured hand-written song lyrics on faded parchment. The band’s name and album title was sloppily written in pen.
I popped the disc in my player and hit play. The first track was Round Here. That was perfect. I sat on my floor next to the stereo and rolled a joint. Then something happened. The whole album began to play. Round Here was followed by Omaha. What in the hell was that? This new song, which to this day never received radio play was like nothing I had ever heard. It was timeless. It had instrumentation that felt like it was country, but still urban. Like Round Here, it was telling a story and ignoring the traditional song writing tropes.
I was hooked.
Oh Lord, I’m not ready for this sort of thing
I listened to the whole album that day, stoned out of my mind and soaked in sweat from oppressive heat in that attic space with no air-flow, let alone air-conditioning. After it finished, I slowly rose from where I was sitting and hit play again.
That summer I listen to August And Everything After incessantly. As I began to learn all of the songs, I could not stop myself from singing along. There was one song that made my voice swell more and more every time I crooned along with Duritz. That was Anna Begins. There was something about that song that strung a chord in my heart. I don’t know if it was the “on again, off again” relationship I was having that summer or simply the beauty of the lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHZ7vthVoeg
I am somewhere in that crowd.
Whatever it was, that song is still my favorite track on that album to this day. The last verse of Anna Begins swells with energy. With back-up singers layered beneath him, Adam’s voice rises until it hits a crescendo. Then the band suddenly drops out and leaves Duritz to send us off with, “I’m not ready for this sort of thing.”
It was probably not the first listen or even the tenth, but there was once a time where I was singing along with Anna Begins so passionately that I wept. That had never happened to me before. I was so unbelievably caught up in the emotion of the song in that moment that is took my breath away.
I am feathered by the moonlight falling down on me
August And Everything After sends you off with A Murder of One. The song features an intense drum beat that carries you continually through with symphonic melodies that cannot help but elicit a trance-like state. As you are lulled into a sense of calm, Duritz suddenly leaves the band to do their own thing. He starts to ramble, ignoring the normal tradition of singing harmoniously with the rhythm of the song. He becomes a crow in his own right, flying above the music.
The last verse of A Murder of One features a continuous chanting of the word “change.” It implores the listener, or perhaps Adam himself, to grow within. Do not conform to the crowd. Do not be afraid to be yourself. You do not need to run with the pack. In nature, a grouping of crows is called a Murder. The message is that you can be alone and be ok. You can be a murder of one.
Thank you Adam and The Counting Crows. A young me in 1994 really needed that message and it was received LOUD AND CLEAR.
Because of August And Everything After, I have been a murder of one ever since.
There are some things in life you never forget. Memories can be powerful constructs that elicit a strong emotional connection to a specific thing or time in your life. I cannot tell you with certainty what the first game was that I ever played, but I am positive of the first game I remember playing. It was B17 Bomber on the Intellivision. The game was rudimentary by any measure today, but it was groundbreaking at the time. I was amazed how the game truly made me feel that I was flying over Europe bombing German encampments. Keep in mind that I was five or six years old. And now I am gaming over 40.
B17 Bomber on the Intellivision is the first game I remember playing
It is astonishing to me that I still remember the Konami Code and the sequence needed to jump to Mike Tyson in Punchout!! The secret levels in Super Mario Bros are as easy to recall as my first phone number. As time has progressed and the gaming industry has transformed, these types of memories have gone the way of the dodo. Today’s games have eliminated the need for codes and tricks. Now we get beautiful graphics, Hollywood caliber voice talent, and stories that rival anything on the silver screen.
The greatest generation is Gen-X
In the 1980s, the video game marketplace exploded onto the home entertainment scene in a huge way. My entire generation was caught up in the wonder and attraction of it all. I was no exception. As a child born in the 1970s, my generation is the first to have been born before gaming’s inception, but also to have embraced it wholly. My father dabbled with gaming on the Intellivision but he never toyed around the Nintendo Entertainment System at all. I may have gotten him to check some games out over the years, but he has never shown any interest in playing anything at length.
Within my peer group, nearly everyone I know is a gamer to some extent. Many of them are also gaming over 40. The reality of the gaming industry today is that there is something for everyone. You can find nearly every imaginable genre represented. This is because while there is a robust number of gaming manufacturers, the industry has invited Indie game designers into the arena with open arms.
There is an incredible number of gaming titles available and retro game stores have popped up all over the country, catering to gaming nostalgia.
My kids are addicts
When my kids were born, I couldn’t wait to introduce them to the world of video games. Both of my sons spent time sitting on my lap watching me play. I would give them the occasional opportunity to take the controls on something easy. By the time they were three or four years old, they were playing certain games quite well.
In recent years we began to fight over access to the gaming consoles in the house. Eventually I could no longer avoid the need for everyone to have their own. Now we all game separately, but we are always talking about the games we play and compare our experiences with each other.
My oldest son has settled into Action RPGs as his genre of choice. His most recent games of note are Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. I have also played both and can vouch for their exceptional quality. My youngest son loves virtual reality. He splits his time between that and Roblox. His popular games right now in VR are Boneworks, VR Chat, and Beatsaber. I have played Beatsaber and understand its appeal, but I prefer Audica by Harmonix. I can honestly say I have never played Roblox but it has been on his play list for years.
Audica is my favorite VR game. It is made by Harmonix, the developers of Rock Band.
The games I play and why
When it comes to my current gaming habits, I seem to ebb and flow with my favorite games and genres. I generally have several games going at once, taking turns playing a different one from day to day. The current carousel of titles comprises Astroneer, Cities: Skylines, Batman: The Telltale Series, and I just finished the story in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. I still need to go in and complete all the loot quests.
That is a phenomenon that is new to gaming for me in recent years. I have this compulsive need to complete not only the main story but also the side quests and acquire all the elusive extra things. Some games are more involved than others. Red Dead Redemption 2, for example, has so many side quests and loot crates, that I almost lost my mind.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is the first game that ever gave me that level of dopamine fueled pleasure. Now that coveted 100% Completion Achievement is my constant lover and enemy. I get to the pinnacle of accomplishment just enough to keep me hooked at trying but not too much to cause me to find it useless.
Batman: Arkham Asylum was the first modern game that I achieved 100% completion on.
So many genres, so little time
As I get older, certain games attract me more than others. I also find that I go through cycles when it comes to the types of games that hold my attention. Additionally, some of the same titles will pop back into my playlist from time to time.
Some games that I have played a ton but seem to keep coming back to are:
Those are my favorite games of the last ten years. As a matter of fact, I will count down my favorite games of the last decade beginning next week.
Playing with my kids
As I mentioned earlier, I introduced my kids to gaming at a very young age. The first games we played together were Hasbro Family Game Night and the Lego Franchise games like Lego: Star Wars, and Lego: Batman. The fun was endless until they outgrew those titles.
Rock Band is a game that I have played since it came on the marketplace in 2007. Both of my kids were far too young to play it for many years, but they would tinker with the drums or wail into the microphone on occasion. The irony is that as soon as they were actually old enough and coordinated enough to play with me, they had no interest in it anymore. That is tragic, because I still pull that game out from time to time and I would love to play with them.
I spent countless hours and ridiculous amounts of money on this Rock Band when it was released in 2007.
When Minecraft showed up in 2011, my kids were both immediate adopters. I resisted playing it initially because it seemed childish, simplistic, and trivial. My mind quickly changed when I finally caved to the insistence of my children. I loved that game. I haven’t played it in a long while because it has evolved into a game that is so complex and involved that only the die hard players can truly appreciate the scope of its options. But for a few short years, barely a week went by that I wasn’t playing Minecraft with one of my boys for a few hours here and there.
Multiplayer sucks
The original Doom is the first game I recall having network play. It allowed you to enter a three dimensional world with your friends. The graphics and physics were not great but the experience was transformative. The first good title that brought it to the mainstream of acceptance was Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64. It allowed for 4 player PvP or Player versus Player. I literally burned away days of my life battling it out with friends in those maps.
There was a dark period of gaming in my life that I referenced in last week’s post. I was sort of broke most of the time and couldn’t keep up with the gaming world. When I finally rebounded and purchased an Xbox 360 I dove headfirst into the Multiplayer Gaming world with Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare. The argument can be made that CoD2 is still the greatest multiplayer game every made.Even in my early 30s, I was staying up until dawn killing adolescent children in the UK on a daily basis.
I would stay up until dawn on a nightly basis playing this game.
Eventually I stopped playing online multiplayer games. Why? Because of asshole kids. It is astonishing to me that young children are playing some of these games to begin with. Beyond that, it is mind-numbing to hear the language that comes out of their mouths. I once had a child tell me to go fuck myself. He could not have been more than ten years old. 10 YEARS OLD. Tops…
Multiplayer continues to dominate
The industry of multiplayer gaming has taken the world by storm. Today we have tournaments filled with players from around the globe battling it out for real money. They have been dubbed Esports and they are constantly growing in popularity. I have loved gaming my whole life, but I cannot bring my self to watch Esports. I am sorry, but I just can’t. With that said, I am excited for the industry of gaming today. For the first time in history, the video game market made more money than the film industry. Without doubt, the production quality of some games rivals Hollywood productions.
For a period time a few years ago, I felt the gaming industry was forgetting about those of us that are gaming over 40. I think that changed when they saw the success of the Nintendo Wii with older audiences. The mobile gaming market has exploded recently and I am noticing more and more titles on PC and console that have adult themes, featuring characters that resemble me more than a hyper stylized Japanese teen.
I have hope for the future of gaming. I have a seen a resurgence of single player titles of late after years of multiplayer being the only option for the most popular releases. You may have noticed that until this point I have not mentioned Fortnite. I take issue with that game for one simple reason. Fortnite is a science experiment. It’s purpose was to stimulate award centers of the brain with reliable hits of dopamine. The whole game is one giant loot crate. In essence, it is free gambling. Of course there is no evidence of any of this…it’s just my opinion.
Fortnite has been melting the brains of teenagers for year.
Regardless, fuck Fortnite. Never played it. Never will.
Christopher Hess, LMT
You can find me on gaming networks: Xbox: ZeroOctane LMT Playstation: ZeroOctaneLMT
In last week’s Fitness Friday post I recalled my history with weight gain and how I began my fitness journey. I will not recount the whole thing here for the sake of time, but I encourage you to click the link and check it out. The short version is that I reached my max weight in December of 2009. I tipped the scales at 279 pounds. The breaking point for me was a double whammy. It started one day that fall when my oldest son walked up to my ex-wife and pushed out his belly and said to my ex-wife that he wanted to be fat like his Dad. The straw that broke the camel’s back was walking into the bathroom one morning around my birthday and seeing actual stretch marks on my stomach.
In January of 2010 I made the decision to restrict my calorie intake while working out as much as I could. I bought a recumbent stationary bike and got to work. By the end of that spring, I was riding the bike three hours a day. That summer I started running and ran my first 5k in August. In less than one year I lost 100 lbs.
This is me jogging warm-up with my oldest son before my first 5k in 2010.
Over the years, I gained a lot of it back and then lost it again, and then gained it back again, and then lost it again. This is not an uncommon cycle.
I believe I have finally found a semblance of balance. While I am not at what I would consider an ideal weight, my other fitness markers allow me to feel content. I currently weight around 200 lbs depending on the day, but I have struggled with some diet choices in the last year. I will talk about that in further detail in Step 2.
Our weight and its effects are a uniquely human anomaly. We often gain weight at an alarming rate all whilst denying the obvious and explaining it away as a temporary change. For example we will proclaim that we always gain weight in the winter. It’s just winter weight, after all. Or we will put on ten pounds during the holidays and tell people that we do this every year and it will come off on its own. Worst yet, we will dismiss the weight gain as a unfortunate reality of getting older.
Losing weight has the opposite effect on our psyche but it is actually more devastating. As we lose the weight, we fail to sense the progress. Our need to be thin clouds the positive changes. Once we accomplish our weight loss, we will look at ourselves in the mirror or in pictures and still see a fat person. The absolute worst thing generally comes from our loved ones. When they see us with a dramatically different appearance, they will often tell us we look too thin. We look sick. This has a tragic effect on the mind. We often allow that mind-trick to derail our willpower and we slip back into old habits. And the weight begins to come back.
Have faith you can do this. Here are the five steps to go from fat to fitness.
Step 1: See your physician
It is important to note that I am not a doctor. I am also not a certified trainer, a nutritionist, or a dietitian. All I am is a person who has a long history with weight issues and I have had success transforming my body. With that said, before you attempt any weight loss journey, consult your physician. The first step is to get a full physical and have your labs checked for any possible health concerns.
Seeing your physician is paramount before beginning any fitness journey
Once you and your doctor have a clear understanding of your health, you can discuss what the best first steps are. If you are a life long smoker and have developed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, you may not be able to run. For those of you that have extensive osteoarthritis, you may not be able to run. If you have diabetes, there may be dietary restrictions you have to follow. The benefit of having a clear understanding of you health is that you can compare your numbers once you have accomplished your goals.
When you get the green light from your doctor to begin your journey, you may want to find professionals to help guide you along the way. The first two that come to mind would be a personal trainer and a nutritionist. There is something important to keep in mind when choosing your health and wellness professionals. Personal trainers and nutritionists do not require any former schooling. There is also very little regulation of their industries. Be sure to consult family and friends to find a reputable professional that will be a good fit for you.
Step 2: Decide on a diet and stick to it
Before you ever step into a gym or start walking for exercise, you need to begin eating right. There is an expansive number of dietary options out there and they all have their benefits and detriments. As I stated above, when I went through my initial weight loss journey, I subscribed to the idea of Calories In / Calories Out. That is the idea that if you burn more calories than you take in, you will lose weight. This is common sense, in theory.
The reality is that the metabolism of the human body is unbelievably complex. It depends on a certain balance to maintain health and while you may lose weight quickly through starvation, the body will make evolutionary hormonal changes to ensure it returns to its set point. What that means to you is that if you starve yourself to lose weight, you are practically guaranteed to gain it all back.
During a period of effective weight loss a couple of years ago, I found lasting success with the Ketogenic Diet. The Keto diet, as it is often called, requires you to avoid carbohydrates at all costs. With most plans, you must remain under 35 grams of carbs a day. With Keto, even protein should be reduced with fat becoming the primary source of energy. I will save the science of Keto for another post, but I have had success with it. As a matter of fact, I am currently living a Keto lifestyle.
The ketogenic diet has brought me a lot of success but you need to find the diet best suited to you
Other eating lifestyles that many people have healthy success with are Whole Food and Plant Based diets. These are both self explanatory. Separate from food intake, another type of lifestyle choice I advocate for is Intermittent Fasting which is otherwise known as IF. This requires you to go for extended periods of time without eating. We all fast for a period of time every day. We do not eat while we are sleeping, thus the first meal of the day is called breakfast. In other words, we are breaking our fast. There are several methods, or IF protocols you can follow, but try them until you find one that is best for you. The longer the fast period, the better the benefits. I participate in The Warrior Diet protocol. This entails a 20 hour fast period followed by a four hour eat window.
Step 3: Begin an exercise routine
When I lost the weight in 2010, I was incredibly out of shape. I was still strong from my years in the Marine Corps, but I had nearly zero cardiovascular endurance. When I first bought my stationary bike, I would be exhausted after less than thirty minutes. By that summer, I was easily pedaling away for three hours at a time. In the summer, I started running. At first, I could not effectively jog for more than a half of a mile at a time. By the end of the summer, I ran a rather fast 5k.
Fast forward ten years to today and my fitness is at its peak. In 2019, I participated in 26 events. They were a mix of running and cycling. I ran 10 Half Marathons (13.1 miles) and 2 full marathons (26.2 miles). I rode my bike in five charity events that were 100 miles a piece. Three times in the last four years, I have participated in The Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World. This is four races over four consecutive days. The runs consist of a 5k (3.1 miles), 10k (6.2 miles), half marathon (13.1 miles), and a full marathon (26.2 miles). That is a total of 48.6 miles in four days.
The 6 medals I received for the 2019 Dopey Challenge. Four races and two challenges. A total of 48.6 miles.
You can get there, but it won’t happen overnight. You have to walk before you can run. I hear people say all the time that they don’t like to run. I agree it is an acquired taste, but trust me when I tell you that if you keep doing it, you will fall in love with it. They call it the runner’s high and it is a real thing. It is an endorphin surge that occurs in the brain in response to long periods of high cardiovascular activity. If you get there, you are effectively hooked on running.
The reality is that not everyone can run. You may have limitations from a previous injury or arthritis that restricts your ability to bear the weight and impact of running. If that is the case, get on a bike. You can get an amazing workout on a bike without the strain on your joints, whether you ride on a trail or on the road. If cycling is also not your thing, swimming is a wonderful full body workout that takes all the gravitational effects off your body. This may be especially helpfully if you begin this journey morbidly obese.
Step 4: Set realistic goals
Once you decide to get started with exercise, set a realistic goal and work toward it. Depending on your current weight and health, setting a one mile walking goal may be it. If you have been healthy in the past but declined in recent years, perhaps a 5k is a good goal. If you are more ambitious, set a half marathon as your goal. Regardless of your goal, keep your eye on the prize.
Your exercise journey is not complete if you reach your goal. That is the time to set a new goal. Health and fitness is a lifestyle. Once you start to live it, keep living it. I did not run my first full marathon until I was 40. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how heavy you are, set a realistic goal and get to work.
Setting a weight goal is difficult. We all have an ideal weight, based on national health standards or past weights where we felt our best. But I will caution that weight isn’t the most important marker. Health and fitness and your measurements are the primary benchmarks of success. Instead of focusing on pounds, aim for a clothing size. How you look and feel is infinitely more important than what the scale says.
With that said, weigh and measure yourself often. Track your progress in the app of your choice. I have used a number of them over the years. I am currently using Samsung Health to track my health markers and I use Strava to track fitness.
Strava is my app of choice for tracking fitness
In a future post, I will break down some of the apps I have used over the years.
Step 5: Join a group or several
In today’s fitness world, there are all kinds of groups you can belong to. There are peer social groups like Meetup that will organize runs, bike rides, or hikes. There are local run groups all over the country that schedule group runs and sponsor event training. Nearly every city has a cycling club that offer weekly rides of varying difficulty. There are even online groups that you can join that are effectively all over the world. I am a member of several of these groups. Regardless of the race I attend, there is someone from one of those groups there.
RWB is just one of several running groups I participate in.
The best thing to do when you are getting started is to find friends that are into fitness and tag along with them. Eventually, they will introduce you to groups and you can find the best ones for you. The primary benefits to these groups is that they provide a sense of community and they also help to hold you accountable. That is invaluable to achieving success.
I have done all of this and you can too
They often say that it is about the journey and not the destination. This is especially true when it comes to your health and fitness journey. The last ten years of my life have provided the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I have had pitfalls along the way, but I have always returned to the correct path.
It will be hard at times but it will also be hugely rewarding. You just need to stick with it.
As you are preparing to begin your fitness journey, please know that the first step you take will be the hardest. Everything gets easier as you do it.
Have faith you can do this.
Christopher Hess, LMT
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