In January of 2012 I looked in the mirror and realized I had become a FAT GUY! As a Chiropractor it is my job to teach my patients and community about living life in the "Wellness" model, and I was certainly not doing that. I began a Journey that would see me lose 63 pounds, regain my passion for being an athlete, and start living what I was preaching.
Diet and exercise were both integrally important to my weight loss. Using LoseIt I was able to get my caloric intake back to a reasonable level, as well as begin to make better choices for those calories that I was taking in. I had also become very sedentary. I had been a very active person in my younger days, playing soccer through college, swimming and soccer in high school, but "adulthood" brought about a much less physically active life.
When I decided to get back into shape, I quickly discovered that running was the most efficient way to burn the most calories in the shortest period of time, so I ran. At first about a block was all I could do without walking, but soon enough my length of runs increased. A friend of mine had discovered running a few years earlier, and encouraged me to run a 5K with her. At that point I couldn't run a 10:00 pace, and did not want to be the last place finisher, back with the walkers, so I said no. But the racing bug was in my head, and by April I was signed up for the Chicago Shamrock Shuffle 8K, and completed it in under an hour (and under a 10:00 pace, barely) and was happy.
Before I knew it I was signed up for a sprint triathlon, then my first half marathon, and suddenly a marathon. I was able to qualify for the Boston Marathon in my first full marathon in May (3:23) and have since completed an Olympic Distance Triathlon, Ragnar Relay (200 mile relay race with 11 other crazy runners) and several other fun races.
I plan to use this blog to continue to document my journey to being a healthy inspiration to my patients, friends, but most of all to my kids!
Patrick
