Welcome!

Thanks for stopping by!

As the name of this blog suggests, my intent is to focus my posts around fitness.  However, as someone who spent most of his life convinced that being fit and healthy was not something that I could do, I am also planning to share information and thoughts about all aspects of truly being fit.  As anyone who has taken this journey can tell you, there is so much more to it than just working out... and this has probably been the most important (but also the most challenging) part for me as I've tried to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

A little about me, so you understand my perspective....

Growing up, I was always interested in the arts.  I loved to draw, and was always drawn to anything that could give me a new way to create and share my art.  Up until high school, I was certain that I was destined to become a comic book artist...

...but that was before I discovered the world of show choir.  From the very first time I saw a show choir perform, I was hooked.  I immediately audtioned, and my life turned towards a new direction.  The adrenaline rush that comes with performing is like nothing else in the world, and I knew I had found my new passion.  Once I graduated high school, I went to college with the intent of being a performer for life.  However, my passion shifted slightly over the next few years, and I ended up graduating in 2002 with a degree in music education. 

In addition to the arts, I also had a passion for video games (I was a child of the 80's, after all!).  I loved to play whatever the newest offering was from Nintendo, and eventually shifted that over to computers.  Video games led me to develop a greater interest in computers and technology in general, and I am still fascinated with the amazing new advancements that happen every day!  I'm definitely a "gadget" person, much to my wife's annoyance....

Anyway.  I share all of this to illustrate that while I have many passions that have been with me since childhood, phyiscal activity and fitness was never one of them.  While I had many friends who were athletes, I never took more than a passing interest in it.  I would consider trying out for various teams, but always decided that I just "couldn't possibly" be any good at it.  I dabbled with a few things here and there, but never made it past the "beginner" stage.  As a result, I entered college with the mindset that being physically fit was just something I would never acheive, because that was for people who must have a natural ability for exercise. 

In college, I became involved in Taekwondo and weight lifting, which started to increase my interest in phyiscal fitness.  I found that I could perform decently in both of these activities; but I was still not one of the best, and this caused me to lose confidence from time to time. 

My first year out of college was a whirlwind of changes for me personally.  As I began my life as a working adult, I fell into the same traps that many people do: eating certain foods because they are fast and cheap, decreasing my physical activity because I was just "too tired" after work, and finding any excuse I could to continue this pattern.  As a result, I began to gain weight steadily.  I did not like this, but I also wasn't willing to make the changes that would stop it.

After almost a year of this, some events in my life caused me to decide I needed a fresh start.  To kick start my new life, I enlisted in the Army National Guard.  Talk about a change of lifestyle!!  Boot camp was a life-changing experience, and one that truly helped me change my outlook and attitude.  Specifically, my attitude towards fitness changed one day out on the track, when our drill sergeants informed us that we were all going to run 2.5 miles... and if even one person walked a single step, we would all be punished. 

Now, this was alarming to me... because up to that point, I hadn't even run a single mile without walking.  EVER.  My inner voice always told me I couldn't, it hurt too much, I wasn't a natural runner, etc.  Hearing the drill sergeant say that was like a kick in the face, because I just knew that I would be the one who got everyone in trouble, because there was no way I could do it. 

But then, an amazing thing happened:  a good friend that I had made at boot camp jogged up beside me, and said "stick right beside me; you can do this".  He told me that he would help me set a pace that I could do, and that he would stay right with me to make sure I could finish.  I started in with my excuses, but he cut me off and said "You can do it; I'm right here with you.  Let's go."  He encouraged me the whole way, and never left my side.  And with that... I ran 2.5 miles without walking, and my life was changed.

That was the moment when I realized that I had been wrong for my whole life: I COULD get in shape, I COULD be physically fit, and the only thing keeping me from doing it was the excuses I let creep into my mind.  I came home with a new passion for fitness, and I haven't looked back!

After boot camp, I began teaching show choir at a high school in Indiana, which I truly loved for eight years.  I met a wonderful woman during that time, and we are now married with two beautiful children.  Recently, I changed careers again, and entered school administration.  I am currently an assistant principal at a high school, and really love my work.  The hours I put in make it difficult sometimes to workout as much as I would like, but I give it my best each week to do a minimum that keeps me feeling healthy.  I have also recently become a Team Beachbody coach, as another way to share my love of fitness with friends who might need someone to help them stay motivated on their own fitness journey. 

So there's me in a nutshell!  I will expand on some of this in greater detail in the future, because so much of this motivates what I do each and every day.

Hope you enjoy what I have to say and share!