ABOUT AUTHOR EARL SEWELL
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| Coal City Century Bike Ride |
I am in my mid 40s and like many members of Generation-X, I look
at my current position life and realize that it's half over. Does this mean
it's time for hair piece and a sports car? Well, being bald has its benefits so
the hair piece is out but that new sports car has come across my mind.
A lot of guys reach their 40s and just accept that loss of energy
and weight gain is all part of maturing. They walk around with their large
bellies feeling like prisoners in their own bodies. As guys we sometimes stand
naked in front of the mirror and grab our belly with both hands and wish
science would invent a miracle drug that will restore our 40-year-old bodies
back to the way it was when we were 19 years old. Even worse, guys get
depressed by the fact that it’s much harder to lose weight at our current
position in life than it was when we were younger.
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| Chicago Half Marathon 2007 |
We don't have to settle for living as if our bodies are victimizing us. We have a choice. We need to turn off the auto pilot switch and get in the driver’s
seat when it comes to our health. This will not be easy, especially for those
of us who have not been in the driver’s seat for a long time or never been in
it at all. The benefits of taking charge in this area of our lives are
immeasurable. We can get our energy back and reshape our bodies so that it is
an ally and not an adversary. No one wants to be that guy who constantly
complains about a lower back problem that can be solved by strengthening his
core through fitness.
I personally have gone through many weight battles with my body as
I matured. In high school I ran track and was in the best shape of my life. In
my early 20s I got into cross county bicycling and loved it. By my early 30s I
had an office job where I sat on my butt and as a result I picked up a twenty
extra pounds. I got in the driver’s seat and attacked the problem by becoming a
weekend warrior. I did triathlons and marathons. I lost the weight and was
happy. However by my mid 30s I stopped because my writing career blossomed and
I had to spend time in front of my computer screen. That was my excuse for not
taking care of health. By my early 40s, I had blown up again and decided
to find another fitness program to take the weight off.
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| P90X 2011 |
I found a program called P90X that completely transformed my body
again. It lasted for a while until another life shift took happened that placed
me back in school to work on an advanced degree. I told myself that there were
be no time to work out which was just dumb thinking. Guess what happened? You
got it, I picked the weight up again.
So here I am, a guy in his mid 40s getting back in the driver’s
seat again. However, this time, it's different. I now understand that it's not
about the before and after photo. It's about understanding that there is no
stopping and it's foolish to think that you can put your health and fitness on
auto-pilot. I have to stop allowing my
mind to tell me what I can and can’t do.
So I am giving myself the gift of healthy body today so that my
future self will thank me. I am totally committed and will not give myself an excuse to stop.
Photo taken April 12, 2014
