Family, Fitness, and Christ

It has been one week since my birthday binge.... for those of you that think I am talking about drinking you are vastly mistaken... No my binge was on food... I had doughnuts and whatever else sounded good throughout the day from pizza roles to sushi that night for my big birthday dinner.  It was a lot of fun and I had a ton of people there with me to celebrate.  So how have I been doing since then.... Great... got back on the following Monday and not looking back.  I have hit a little plateau now, I am staying in the mid to upper 220s.  No biggie, I am going to up my work load and see what that does for me.  I have a little less then a month, until my 7th wedding anniversary and that will be my next cheat, so lets see what kind of progress I can make till then...


When I started this blog out a long time ago I wanted to make it just for fitness and leave my family and my faith for other things, but I have come to realize that all of these things are part of a bigger picture...LIFE...and in my case they are all very much an integral part of my life effecting one another every step of the way and all improving one another along the way as well.  I love my family more then I know how to express and my fitness is as much for them as it is for me.  With that I have to make sure that I do not let my quest for fitness and success hinder what is more important, my family.  As much as I love my family I love my God more, and just as Christ influences me on how I am with my wife and children I have to let Him influence my fitness as well.    Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God-1 Corinthians 10:31....You see it is not about me, it is about God, even in the gym.  He is the reason that I got my PR or that I survived murph..  The Crossfit Games is on its way with just a few short weeks left to go.  Returning champs will defend their title and other athletes will be fighting for it.  In my region our top 3 men competitors are all Christians and give glory to God when ever they get the chance.  The worlds fittest man has the reference for this verse ¹⁴ But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.- Galatians 6:14,  tattooed down his right side arm pit to hip.  It is how they are showing the world the glory of God... Thank you to Rich Froning, Dan Bailey, and Graham Holmberg amazing athletes and awesome examples.

Beauty in Power

All that can be said is wow... After a day like today you gain a different view on "fit".  I had the privilege of witnessing the fittest in the world compete for their spot at the 2012 Reebok Crossfit Games in California.  The spectacle was nothing short of amazing and its only the first day.  Thats right, the Central East regional's is on its way with day one down.  Performances were awesome and records were broke left and right, but to me that wasn't necessarily the coolest part, dont get me wrong it was really cool but something that caught my attention was the demonstration of power vs strength.

As an athlete, it is one thing to be strong, and Crossfitters are strong.  It is another thing entirely to be strong and  powerful.  When you combine those two attributes you are creating an animal, and If they can breath on top of that, then you have a monster.  Since I already know that Crossfit makes you better at all physical attributes what separates the elite?  I believe it is the ability to generate power... It is a learned skill to be able to generate power.  What I see all the time and today was no exception, was athletes who looked strong, and I mean really strong,  after all, if you look like that and have made it into the regional event, its not just "pretty" muscle you are strong.  Then I see these athletes who look great, smaller in stature but still very built, throwing weight around so much faster then the bigger guys.  Why?  Power.  They generate power more efficiently, and that in the long run is what will win.

It has been about a week since I made my declaration of real fitness, and I have to say so far so good.  Its amazing how when I say that I want to do this or I want to do that, it is so hard for me to actually do it.  However when I post on the internet where anyone and everyone (all 4 or 5 people that actually might read this but hey who cares).... can hold me accountable, it gives me a completely different mindset.  Here are my before pics as I said I would post....I am now down to 230lbs its about 5lbs in a week...