New page!

Hey everyone!

Just giving you an update. I did a very important blog post to me. In fact it was so important that I made it a new page. So, check it out and enjoy my Testimony up above in the pages list!

Thank you guys for reading.

John

Throwback Thursday

So, I am going to go with the “throwback Thursday” ideal with this post. I promise to keep this short and sweet, but I wanted to reminisce for a second. Have you ever sat back and just looked at who you were in the past and wonder how on Earth that you were ever that type of person. I do that a lot. Especially when I look at this mini timeline.

 

 

I know most of you have seen this picture before, but for those of you new to this page, I figured I would post it here. I simply cannot recognize myself at times and I sit back and go “wow!”. Is that me? Am I just fooling myself? Is this real life or is this just fantasy? It is as if I have been living in a bad dream for a very long time and now it is finally turning into something happy, bright, and positive.

I know it’s a long and probably life long battle though and I continue to have ups and downs, but it is just nice to look back and see how far I have come and imagine how far I could go if I keep pressing on.

I guess I am using this post to build into a longer post that I am doing. It will probably be the most important post of my entire blog. It’s going to be a bit longer than most and there will be some emotion in there and some opening up that you guys may not have seen from me before. I won’t give away too much but I will say that It will be an honest testimony from me to all you, my devoted readers, out there. A friend of mine proposed the actual idea and it is one that I am going to use. 

So I just wanted to give you all a heads up about it and to give you a post since I haven’t blogged in a week.

You guys are awesome and I truly love you all and the support you give.

Thank you all so, so much!

I truly treasure each one of you.

John

Inspiration

I wanted to thank you all for being so patient with me, I’ve been dwelling on this post for awhile. Actually, this wasn’t the post I was planning on presenting to you next, but this is a topic that has been revving it’s head recently an I wanted to share a post on it. I promise this is going to be a short, sweet, and straight to the point type of post.

During my weight loss battle, I have received a lot of compliments and I truly are grateful for everyone single one that I have received. However, I have had a few conversations with a couple folks recently that really stood out to me. During the past few weeks, I have heard from a handful folks that I am a part of / am their inspiration for getting in shape.

Words like this floor me. I mean, I honestly have no real reaction to these words. I don’t think there is a higher compliment that someone can receive, is there? A person tells you that you are the reason that they are trying to better themselves. They say they look at you as a role model of sorts.

A role model?!?!

I don’t know how to respond to that. When I think of role models, I think of famous people that have great talent and showcase their amazing skills on a big stage like actors or athletes.  Perhaps close family members like parents or siblings that they are close to.

When I look at myself, I just see a regular guy trying to keep himself on the healthy track. I have no special talents, no special skills. I’m just a guy trying to make himself better. To be totally honest, I don’t see myself as role model material. I will happily except that title, though no doubt. Maybe, I’m just too modest? I mean, I look at these people telling me this as role models for my own journey. I couldn’t believe that they view me in the same light.

So, I just wanted to thank those people who paid me the ultimate compliment over the past few weeks. Your support and kind words mean so much to me and I cannot thank you enough. You have given me the greatest feeling in the world.

I pledge that I will continue to do my best to give you a reason to stay inspired.

Stay inspired, my friends.

______________________

Overcoming.

So, I am sure a lot of you are heading out to work on this early Monday morning. I would say I know your pain, but I am enjoying my first day off since last Friday and am greatly enjoying it.  However, this was not a “rest” day for me. I woke up at the crack of dawn to go to mass today with my sister. Now, anyone that knows me knows that getting up early to go to mass on a weekday is not a typical occurrence for me. Today, I went to mass with a side quest. I had a demon to conquer. Ironically enough, I would have to go to church to do.

Let me give you backstory. Now, this is a story that I have never told anyone, but it is a story that I never will forget and will have lasting effects. I went to a catholic grade school so mass was obviously a frequent event for me during my younger years. The infamous day occurred in 5th grade, we were at mass just like any other day. Now, in my church there are a few pews that have nice big pillars sitting on the ends. Now, they’re bigger pillars, but there’s still enough room to squeeze into for an average person. So, we got to mass and I was sitting in a pew with this pillar on the end. Well, when we got up to leave the pew, I simply was too wide to fit through this space. Humiliating doesn’t begin to describe it. You ever have those moments where you want to hide your face in the sand and disappear from the world? Yeah, that was me. One thing I am good at is hiding my feelings on the outside and letting them all fester inside. This is what I did. It’s bothered since that day and I realized that I finally need to do something about it.

So, here’s what I did. I made my sister woke up since I needed a second person’s help. I went to that church, right up to that pew and climbed right past that pesky pillar.

 

If you have to ask why I filmed it / had to do it, then you’re clearly don’t get it. I’m sure a lot of people won’t understand why I had to do this, but for those that do will get how much better I feel after this. A weight has been lifted off of me (very obvious pun, not intended) and it was a rejuvenating morning because of this.To be able to put this moment behind me, for the most part, is nothing short of a victory.

I think it’s best to get these events out in the open and confronted if you can. It is healthy and better for you in every way. Unfortunately, some events cannot be rectified like when my endlessly round teach in high school had the balls to call me fat and tell me I need to lose weight. Yet, if you rolled this woman down a hill, she’d keep on rolling. That’s how round she was, but that’s a story for another day.

I hope you guys are having a wonderful Monday. It’s been a refreshing day for me thus far.

Talk to you soon.

Why?

So, for my first September blog, I figured I would do a post that I have been contemplating for a little while. It all started with a question posed to me by a friend some time ago and I guess I never really gave them a definitive answer. I guess that was primarily because I didn’t have one at the time, and honestly, I still don’t have a complete answer for them. Maybe this is just a question, for me at least, that may be hard to put into words. However, I am going to try here. The question was this:

Why do you run?

Seems like a simple question. I run to get in shape and to get healthy, right? But that answer just seemed too general and stereotypical for me. Of course, I run to get healthy/keep in shape/ stay active, but there are other ways to do all those things that have no running involved. So, I could just say “oh I do it to try to get in and keep in shape and staying active”, but there is definitely more to it.

Let’s treat this question with a flashback…. (and if you get this pop culture reference, you earn more brownie points)

Picture it, The Philly suburbs, the late 90s/early 2000s. A very obese John has been slowly gaining weight for a variety of reasons (ones that I will not delve into now, but maybe down the line, I will happily share). He struggles with his weight, the taunting of others throughout his grade school and high school years, and the lack of ability to do anything really active. His body is a mess as well as his psyche. Granted there are a few good, supportive folks he knows, but let’s face it: being a fat kid in school is a daily struggle. Simple things allude him because he is too depressed about his appearance. He can’t be very active, his confidence is nearly shot, and the ridicule is really rough at times. \He plateaus (weight-wise) during his junior year of high school at around 350.

Then it all changes. Slowly, but actively, he starts to lose some weight in college, but really picks up steam towards the end of his senior year and beyond. After many years of intense warring with himself, he finds himself just about 10 pounds from reaching his goal of  being sub-200. Now, he can do a lot more than he used to. His confidence has been slowly rising, his body is healthier than it was, and he can move. Holy hell, he can move! He can be more active than he ever thought possible! The changes are overwhelming, but make him feel better than he has ever felt. The thrill of running and not needed to break down panting and gasping after just a few blocks is so indescribable that he cannot put it into words, except…. why didn’t I do this sooner?

So, if you want to know why I spend so much time running when it comes to my fitness?

It’s because I can.

And I have a lot of lost time to make up for.