Weight Loss and Leadership

Forward to F.I.T
First posted  on March 2016
This was a great week on my fitness journey – especially in terms of fitness. I broke a personal record for a single day on my FITBIT – 22,117 steps or 10.43 miles. Not quite back up to a half Marathon but close! And a lot better than the half mile which was all I could really do back at the start of 2015. For this blog, I would like to discuss three things that helped me to move Forward to F.I.T (more about this acronym later).
On January 1, 2015, I knew something had to change. I was at my peak weight and had a key event that I wanted to attend – my 30th Reunion at West Point. Everyone wants to look their best for a Reunion, but this is an imperative when meeting a group of former and current Military Officers. So I had a vision and goal to get fit by August 2015.
The first thing that I did was create a Vision Board. I learned this trick from Weight Watchers. They have confirmed studies that show people who visualize their goals have a better chance to realize them. So I created a Vision Board shown below.

In this Vision Board was pictures of my classmates both in the past and recent. My class motto – For Excellence We Strive, 85! (Now, you know my approximate age). And a few pictures of me reaching for my goal – note the cool retro headband my youngest gave me for my last Birthday. I looked at the Vision Board each day along with the goals assigned. It was on my phone (BTW it is called HayHouseVB on IOS – there are others).
The next tool of the trade is I joined a gym – LifeTime Fitness (Austin North). I always loved group exercise (hold over from Army morning PT). The only problem was I was not in shape for strenuous exercise. So I did the only thing I could. I did Water Aerobics every Saturday. For those just easing back into exercise it is the best thing. It is easy on your joints but can give a great workout. My instructor was a lady named Pam and she helped me to start to realize my Vision outlined on the Vision board. More about Pam later.
Soon, I could get out of the pool and do more strenuous exercise on the land. Not a huge leap yet – Elliptical training and walking with my Fitbit. One activity on the Fitbit – the Challenges – really helped me up my game. I love competition and the challenges allow you compete against others. Below, I show the challenge I won this week on the Fitbit – this is my first victory. For you with Fitbits, I recommend you get some friends and participate in some challenges. It will cause you to do some crazy things (yes competitors, I walked around in circles from 11:45 to Midnight to win. Woke up the wife and Boots the dog!) Here is a screen print of the challenge for those of you interested in jumping into one).

Now to the conclusion and back to Pam and the acronym F.I.T. Using the above mentioned tools, I was able to go to my Reunion and hold my own with my classmates. Below is a picture of me at the Army Football game at the Reunion (Beat Navy – please one of these years!). I also got to meet Pam again this week in her other class Functional Integrated Training (F.I.T)  at LifeTime Fitness (Austin North). This is my gym’s rendition of P90X or Insanity – one hour of heart pumping; butt thumping; muscle aching; legs quaking exercise. When I was done and a puddle of sweat was on the floor, Pam came up to me and said I recognize from somewhere but you look a different. Is this really your first class, here? I said yes but I was the guy that used to have problems making arm circles in your Water Aerobics class. See the Vision; be the Vision!