Change is a part of life. Like many people, I frequently find a comfort zone and get stuck in it, particularly in my personal life. Professionally, I tend to be more of a heat seeker, where I actively seek out change. The last couple of years have seen my slide into a comfort zone in my personal life that I have decided to change.
You see, years ago, I raced bicycles. I was in good shape and had a metabolism that let me eat anything I wanted. Then I got married, got a job, and well, as time went on, my weight went up, my fitness went down and well, it seems to have all settled around the middle. When I got married, I weighed 195lbs. When I stepped onto a scale on January 1st, well, I was a good bit over that at 240lbs. I have been struggling with a couple of nagging health issues, and I realize that much of the problem stems from my weight and lifestyle.
Well, it is time to change that, and while I am at it, I may as well fix a few other areas where I have become complacent. Truth is, I've gotten fat and lazy. When I look around, I realize that I am not alone. When the choice is the easy way or the right way, I find that more often than not, I tend towards the easy way, and that too has to change.
You see, part of this is that the last year, it has been so wet around here that it was 'easier' to just take the car. For me, that is a contributing factor. When I drive, fast food is easier. Grabbing a soda at the quickie mart when I get gas is easy. That candy bar looks good, it's easy too. When I ride, my entire lifestyle changes. I eat better because if I have to get off the bike and go in, I'm less likely to grab junk on the run. I can't really drink and eat while riding, so I don't.
At the same time, I have gone back to exercising as I can (though an old injury to a foot that has turned arthritic is not helping matters). In short, I am reworking my lifestyle to be a better person. I hope that I can apply this across the board.
I know this is off topic for the blog, but this is where I share, and as such, you have already been exposed to the personal life, this is just a little more.
All of this really started over a month ago, on January 1. Since then, I have driven the car 7 days, the scooter the rest. Two of those days were 200+ mile road trips, for which I would dearly love to by a bigger bike for (finances won't allow it right now, so if Yamaha is looking for a daily rider / commuter and blogger to be a spokesperson, just drop me a line, an FJR 1300AE would probably be more than enough to turn me into a shill for at least a week, I promise :-) ). In the first month of this adventure, I am down from 240 to 226. And I am to a point where I have started to get the body where it is starting to get back into the swing of working out.
If nothing else, posting here provides an additional impetus to keep it going. Now it's out in the open, I was fat and and out of shape, I want to be not fat and not out of shape.
Oh, and to the lady in the Black Escalade that tried to run me over at the corner of Hwy 9 and Francis road. Had you made that left turn into me a month ago, then rolled down your window and accosted me as if it was my fault that you were on your cell phone and failed to see me in the oncoming lane. A month ago, that would have gotten your door kicked in. The 'new' me just shook my head and moved on. Educating you wouldn't have been worth it.
I will say this though. The next person that asks me about the dangers of riding a motorcycle or scooter, I think I'm going to responding something along the lines of: "Riding isn't really all the dangerous. It's riding with dumb asses like you that think they are being safe wrapping themselves in 6000lbs of sheet metal and then taking to the roads in a lethal weapon while drinking coffee, putting on making and chatting on the cell phone that ultimately leads to the danger that so worries folks.".