After writing stories on the the five participants in the Times Colonist Health Challenge, it's time now to write about myself.
I hope, through these stories, that we're inspiring a few readers to start their own fitness plan. The stories have been as real and I can make them, and that's especially true with my story, which will be published in the Times Colonist on Thursday, March 7.
After all, we six are ordinary people. We come from different backgrounds, are at different points in life and from here are heading off on our own unique paths.
When the health challenge comes to an end in mid-April, I won't have lost the same weight as the others. I won't be as fit and strong as I had hoped. I'm disappointed at the way things are turning out, but perhaps I'm just a little down right now.
Who could have predicted I'd be grappling with a fractured right arm near the shoulder, broken left ankle and munched bone in my foot?
I was off work for over a week with the shoulder and when I returned, I could only type, drive and get through the day with one working arm.
I was off two weeks with the broken ankle. I sat on the couch, my foot on a pillow, feeling what conditioning I'd gained seep away. I lost some of my spirit as well.
I broke the bones doing what's for me pretty ordinary stuff. If there's a positive spin to why I had to fracture bones now, I can't fathom it.
At least now I'm more aware of what I am eating. If I'm not burning off calories, I don't want to be putting too many extra in my body. And I didn't expect instant results from the challenge workouts; I was just hoping to get a new routine established.
It could take a year for me to drop 30-50 pounds and get really fit and strong, but I will get there. After all, the year is going to pass by anyway -- I may as well be doing something positive with each and every day.
Spring is coming and I want to get running again. My journey is not going to be the same as the others, but I think it may take me somewhere truly amazing. I just need to keep the faith and believe in me.
