5th wheel

With as much traveling as I've done in my relatively short life, and with all the plans I have to see our great country in the future, I've a big believer in carrying a spare tire with you in case of emergency. However, I'm not a fan of the spare tire I've developed around my midsection.

Stepped on the scale this morning, and it read 183. That's really not that bad, as I've fluctuated between 170 and 180 pounds as my optimum weight. So why don't my clothes fit anymore? Why have I developed a noticeable fifth wheel on my belly?

It was very noticeable this past weekend when Elizabeth and I went to Dallas to visit my mother. On Sunday night, we decided to take a dip in the pool. Now I've always, at least since I was in 3rd grade and beyond, had a little bit of a gut. You would never escape me for John Basedow or any of these other fitness experts who show off the rock-hard abs. Yet I've also always been able to flex my abs and show some definition. Flexed on Sunday night -- and all you could see was flab. Very discouraging. The scale has been lying to me. While I haven't gained much weight, it's definitely shifted from muscle on my arms and legs to the spare tire roaming around my gut.

Because, quite frankly, we just can't afford the luxury, I haven't been able to join a gym. And I don't have Tech's intramural center at my disposal whenever I want it either. So I haven't been able to lift any weights. My bicep definition is gone. I've even developed a little bit of the dreaded *gasp* "man-boobs". Trust me, it's not a pretty sight. Just ask Elizabeth. I have been playing basketball with some of the youth guys up at church once or twice a week, but that's obviously not enough to keep me in tip-top shape.

So I decided to start a workout regime -- pushups, crunches and running. Then I proceeded into Day 1 of said workout regime. Wow, am I out of shape or what!

I remember when I could do two sets of 25 pushups and stand up feeling good about myself. Today, I got to #7 and could feel the burn in my triceps. I stopped at 10 and decided 2 sets would be a good start.

Crunches and situps -- now I'm a master at those. In high school, I could do 3 sets of 50 in my sleep. But a month or so ago, I started doing some crunches (trying to get a little definition back in my midsection), and I couldn't do more than 25 per set. So, after the pushup fiasco, I decided to start slow and build up. 2 sets of 10. Yes, I could have done more. I was just starting to feel something at 10 and could have done 20. But we're doing baby steps, right?

So onto the running (or jogging, actually). Oh, for the days of high school, when I once ran a mile in 5:50. Now that's not an elite time, which is somewhere in the low- to mid-4:00's, but with no training at all, I could have competed on the track at a small school in the state somewhere. I could also run 2 miles in about 14 minutes. Today -- again, baby steps -- I just decided to do a jog around the block. Took me about 6 minutes. Afterwards, I got in my car and drove to get the distance. About 3/4 of a mile. Not bad. That's about an 8-minute mile pace, which for not running at all in a long time, isn't that bad of a start. Except, I couldn't have gone any farther. My legs were shot. My calves were on fire. 3/4 of a mile is as good as it gets?!? Well, like I said, baby steps. The more I get into this routine, the better my body will feel (or so I tell myself) and the more I'll be able to push myself and do more.

So what's my goal in all this? I'd like to lose about 15 pounds, which would put me around 170. But more important than the weight loss is the reshaping of my body. I'd like to be able to fit in my clothes again. I'd like to be able to feel good about my fitness level and the way I look. I'm getting older, yes. I'm not in high school anymore. Or college. But you know what? Many professional athletes aren't even in their prime yet at 24. I've got plenty of years left on my body. And I want to get it back in shape (or as good as my body will allow) and start functioning in an efficent way.