When I read Eric’s blog I was so touched that I couldn’t decide if I should smile or cry! He made my night! I am so lucky to work with people like him!! Read until the end and you will understand what I am talking about!

It’s shameful to me, but I must confess that last night was my first work-out since Nov 2nd, 2015 – yep I’m the fitness blogging guy and I unintentionally took a few months off from working-out. I went home every day with the intentions of starting again, but I didn’t.

Oh, and that image affiliated with this blog posting, yah, that’s from before.

You see, on November 3rd I had eye surgery (lens implants due to cataracts forming at an early age), so I couldn’t work out for two weeks. Then it was Christmas, then it was, well, nothing actually, I just didn’t start.

I write about it all the time so I knew “I should” probably better than anybody, and I knew exactly what to do.I even have some of the best equipment in the world sitting in my house and I have the time.

OK, now I really sound ridiculous.

So why didn’t I?

Truthfully, I don’t know. The only thing I can think of is “I just didn’t want to” or “I didn’t prioritise it high enough.”

I thought I was missing a ‘start’ deadline – I call it a deadline inspired inspiration.These are usually in the form of some item down the road a few months that I need to get ready for. For most people this is something like a class reunion or wedding you want to look good for, or a medical diagnosis of “get to the gym or else . . . ,” an upcoming sunny trip, clothes not fitting well, etc.

So, I had even started writing blog posts about “I will start tonight” to publically shame myself into starting. I was going to give myself a public shaming deadline.But, I didn’t even post them.

Oddly, I lecture that “starting a workout program at New Year’s is better than “not,” but why pick a random day to start, just start now.” So, I picked just half of my thoughts and didn’t start working-out again at New Years.

Oh, and for me, this is the end of Lent – a 40-day time to transform our lives by making a change before Easter. I had planned to start my fitness routine as part of Lent. Wow, that didn’t happen either (no lightning bolts hit me – yet).

So I felt like crap physically because I hadn’t done anything and mentally because I hadn’t started but knew I should. I was feeling lethargic, a bit rubbery, and frankly have a small roll on my stomach for the first time in my life. My clothes are tighter in spaces I wish they weren’t, and looser in spaces that should be tighter. My weight hasn’t change, but my form has – not good since some muscle became larger-volume but same weight fat.

Oh and then, I regularly converse with these two – Kathleen Trotter (Canada’s leading source of fitness information) and Chandell Tytlandsvik (the “I changed my life” guru) – about getting in shape and what they’re writing, and I feel a bit two-faced for it. Oh, and then I even given lectures on it . . . .

I’ll be 52 on April 14th and I’m still in good shape for my age, but I’m usually in great shape for any age.Sure, a person morbidly obese would love to get to my condition and I should be grateful . . . . but this is my wining, self-absorbed, poor me, self-pitying, wa-wa, blog.

So why did I start yesterday? I’m not sure. But, I did read this article by Kathleen Trotter “How to go from the couch to running 5K in eight weeks” from March 20th, 2016 Globe and Mail. Heck, I even ran on a treadmill last night as a warm-up to my usual circuit training on weights – what’s up with that?I never run! So maybe it really is her fault? (Grrr).

From all of this I’ve learned:

Knowing why you should work out is not enough

Knowing what to do is not enough

Having the equipment at home is not enough

Having the best equipment is not enough

Having the time is not enough

Hearing inspirational stories is not enough

Discussing fitness with inspirational people is not enough

All of the above combined is not enough

Wow, that means it’s only my fault? That can’t be true ;-). I have no-one else or anything else to blame.

And, I’ve also learned that “making a change is hard.”Or as I wrote, “It’s Never Easy.” Wow, did that one come back to haunt me.

Starting ain’t easy – and it’s all on you!

P.S. If you know someone who hasn’t gone to the gym or worked-out or whatever for a while, do them a favour, drag them there, they’ll thank you.

Originally published at FLAMANFITNESS