Dedicated to Fitness, Motivated by Marriage

May 29, 2010 No Comments

by:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/EngagedMarriage

It hurts so much to type exist right now.

You see, I started anew this week on a quest for improved fitness. You may have heard of the P90X home training system or seen one of their super-persuasive infomercials. Trust me, it’s the real deal if you have the right sadistic serious attitude to take on some varied, but quite intense, workouts.

I know it’s the real deal not from my three days of agony training thus far, but because I actually bought and used this system over a year ago when Engaged Marriage was but a twinkle in my eye. I used it for about 10 weeks to build my base fitness level before training to ride my first Century (100 miles) bike ride on my 30th birthday last July.

I was truly in the best shape of my life. Alas, as I approach my 31st birthday and the birth of our third child this July, I sit here in probably the worst shape of my life. Completely damn annoying Funny how that happens.

Get Fit and Have a Healthy Marriage

As I look back at the last year, I can see how I basically got burned out after the big culminating event with the Century and just never returned to my active habits. I actually turned my attention to a new hobby obsession at that point…and you’re reading it right now!

That’s right, I started Engaged Marriage at the end of August 2009 right after we returned from a vacation. And unless you were one of the 10 people who were hanging out here in those early days, I doubt you’ve ever read a series I wrote called Get Fit and Have a Healthy Marriage.

Even though my writing’s changed a bit since then, and the formatting of the posts is a bit strange, I actually enjoyed reading the series again recently and ended up motivating myself to get my fat pleasantly plump butt back in gear! Here are the links if you’d like to check them out:

Motivated by Marriage and Family

Have you ever been motivated by the stark realization that you aren’t practicing what you preach?

Well, that was my initial spark when I thought back to all I was doing in preparation for my 30th birthday, looked at the Facebook pictures of my exhaustion joy at the end of my Century ride, and then rediscovered those posts where I was telling the world why they should remain fit.

However, I’ve since realized that my motivation runs deeper. Here a few of the thoughts that have weighed (literally and figuratively) on me lately and pushed me back to a healthier lifestyle:

My wife is so strong and tough at 8 months of pregnancy…I should be more like her.
We have a new baby on the way…I need to get ready physically for all that entails.
I have a very crazy active 5 year old boy who needs an equally active Daddy…and a sweet 3 year old girl who needs her Daddy to be patient and “present” even after he’s done playing outside with the crazy boy.
My Dad is in very poor health with lots of heart problems and damage from years of abuse…I need to take care of my own heart.
A good family friend is battling the last stages of ovarian cancer…I can’t take my health for granted.
God has been way too good to me and blessed me with all that I could ever ask for…and it’s only right that I honor the awesome gift of a healthy and able body by keeping it that way.
I preach taking a proactive approach to marriage and life every day…and I need to apply to this to all areas of my own life.

So I have a lot to think about each morning at 6 a.m. as I head downstairs to kick my own ass. And even more to pray in thanksgiving about when I lay down next to my beautiful wife each evening.

And it makes me smile with every painful step as my body reminds me that I’ve been complacent for too long…

So, what are some of your best sources of motivation?

___________________________________________________

Thank you for being a subscriber!

Check out the original post and leave a comment on the blog here: Dedicated to Fitness, Motivated by Marriage