The plight of the doughboy

If you are a fitness person, physically active most of the time, or really into sports, I would especially love to hear from you on this one. . .

I am the eldest son of a retired US Marine, a Master Gunnery Sergeant nonetheless! From a very early age, I watched my father work toward becoming strong and maintaining his physical health and stamina through exercise, sports and running. I remember how lean, trim and (hoping not to sound too freakish here) handsome his healthy body made him. While I am sure that he went through all the effort out of the compulsion that passing a USMC physical every six months was part of the requirements to stay in the military, I also believe that he enjoyed his good health and the agility, flexibility and endurance that it provided him.

As I grew up, my father tried on numerous occasions to interest me in sports of all kinds: running, basketball, football, baseball, swimming, track & field, even bowling. Through all of his efforts, the only sports that I really took any interest in were basketball and swimming. Unfortunately, for all the endless hours of one-on-one, H-O-R-S-E and just free throw practices, I was not blessed with the athletic prowess to pursue the sport anywhere past community league. Swimming was enjoyable for a short time as I learned the four basic strokes of competitive swimming. But the only two strokes I was any good at where freestyle and backstroke. Breast stroke was tough at best, and I was never agile enough or skilled enough to make it more than 10 yards attempting the floundering I thought was the butterfly stroke.

By the time I reached high school, I had pretty much given up on any form of sports participation, other than that of spectator. Gym class was boring most of the time and torture on the worst days. Because I attended mostly military schools, gym always started with a jog or walk around the entire perimeter of the school grounds, which was usually just over a mile in length. Most days, I found myself jogging the first third of the course and then walking the rest. Of course, this was somewhat deliberate since our gym teachers wouldn’t let us participate in the rest of the class activities until that lap was completed, and some of those activities were nothing short of excruciating for me, since I was so uncoordinated.

In many respects, I felt that I disappointed my dad, not being an athlete. I took to my studies and stuck my nose into books, but never felt motivated enough to excel at anything in particular. By the time I graduated from high school and tried my best to muddle through my first year of college, I was pretty much useless and unfocused – totally disenfranchised and unmotivated. And physical activity was my least favorite pastime.

Since I am both my father AND mother’s son, my father’s genetic makeup helped keep my slim and trim all throughout secondary school and my first years of college. I could easily maintain my weight at 140 and had a slim 30" waist! But when I hit 26, mother’s genes began to awaken within me and I began to put on the weight. Now don’t get me wrong, my mom if far from obese, but her side of the family tended to be on the heavy side, especially my grandmother. By the time I was 30, I was forced to diet and try different things to get my weight down. Year after year, that number continued to increase and yo-yo. When I hit 40, I reached a milestone I am embarrassed to admit: 200 pounds!

Since that time, I have been sliding up and down between 205 and 215 and no matter how hard I try, or how much I diet or exercise I seem to accomplish, I have failed to fall below that 200 mark. And the frustrating part of it is that I can’t seem to keep enough motivational energy to make it past 30 days of solid commitment and staying power when it comes to aerobic and/or anaerobic exercising. My mind is SO ready to try, but the flesh is SO not!

My partner has been so patient and understanding but now he’s starting to be in the same boat as I, in that his average weight has increased too and he’s become frustrated that he can’t seem to keep it below 168 (don’t I WISH I could get down there). My doctor says that my ideal weight is between 170-175. . .so for all intents and purposes, I need to lose 30-35 pounds. My blood pressure is still good and my cholesterol is improving, although my LDL levels are elevated and can be reversed through better food consumption.

So the question really lies in the area of fitness and exercise. I see these great bodies on men and women and they seem to enjoy the physical activity that they put their bodies through in order to maintain that toned and lean physique. How do they get and stay motivated? I don’t want my motivation to come from a heart attack or stroke. I’m entering my later 40s now and I really want to move to a new level in my life. I’ve been the "Stay-Puft" marshmallow man long enough. So what do I do?

I thought that by my watching The Biggest Loser on television it would help to inspire me, and to some extent it does. But I don’t have the luxury of having trainer Bob or Jillian there to guide and direct me, not to mention physically motivate me in person!

To be clear, if I COULD run, I would. But I suffer from fallen arches and as a flight attendant I am on my feet almost the entire day, 14-16 hours a day. Attempting to run on top of that seems nearly impossible. But I continue to hear about new shoe technology that would allow someone like me to actually run without so much pain and agony. While I enjoy elliptical training, it can get boring rather quickly and I tend to lose interest. Weights would also be beneficial, but improper usage causes imbalanced muscular development and can also cause injury (I’m a total wimp when it comes to pain and if I tore a ligament or sprained an ankle attempting these things, I know that I would lose my motivation and it’d be tough to get re-started again.

I don’t want to come across as a totally helpless and hapless individual, but my inner strength is marginal at best when it comes to issues of physical health and development – I know myself very well in this regard and it’s something I want and need to change.

So I reach out to those of you who have either been physically active all your lives, or have been able to overcome a similar roadblock that I am facing now: what can I do to surpass it and move to a level that will once and for all shed this weight and also give me the internal fortitude to stick with it, not because I need to, but because I enjoy it enough to do so?

Your thoughts and ideas helping to reshape this "Play-doh™" body is gratefully appreciated and humbly accepted!