This morning I received an e-mail from Colin Devroe, he’s my “online” friend. He asked myself and three others to please answer five questions about our successes on the diet. Normally I would write Colin a lengthy e-mail about why I dislike getting multiple recipient e-mails and how he should stick them up his proverbial ass… I digress and I’m kidding of course. Any-who, I thought the questions were good and felt like I should probably answer them, and in fear of it getting too long-winded I decided to take the separate blog approach as opposed to commenting on his post. So here goes nothing…

I reworded a few of the questions to be present tense as opposed to the original past tense, as I’m still “in progress” on the diet and didn’t want to give the impression that I’m done, this is a lifetime thing for me.

What are the top five reasons you started to diet in the first place?

Let’s see top five reasons I began this diet. Amy, Liam, Bryce, TP and Myself (no particular order).

Basically it boils down to this. I’m a father, a husband and myself. I need to be responsible in all facets of my life in order to make it successful. This includes watching my health and being around later in life to experience important things for my family. Graduations, Marriages, Grandkids and all their success and failures. It would be extremely selfish of me to continue on the path I was on when I have so many obligations to fulfill.

Also I have plans, big plans and they require me to be healthy and fit.

What is your biggest failure on the diet, and how do you overcome it?

Thus far, knock on wood, I haven’t had any failures, not at least in the side of progress. I do have tiny failures everyday, like missing the exact time for one of my meals or losing a couple of reps of exercise to panic and anxiety. But, I overcome each one of those things as they arise and continue moving forward. I have a long way to go to get where I need to be, and it’s not going to be easy or short. Bottom line is this; You (I) have to work hard for everything good, nothing is handed to you (me), nothing, so get out there and earn it.

Consistency and realization is what helps me get through each day’s struggles. Consistency in that I workout everyday, even if I miss my alarm and wake late, or can’t go to the gym because of snow I work out anyways (I have an in home gym), no excuses. Realization, that if I mess up and eat something wrong (which actually hasn’t happened). or don’t get as good a work out as last time that it’s alright and I can fix it next time. I never let it snowball out of control.

Does blogging help or hinder your success?

Blogging about my journey has been invaluable, the first 31 days I blogged everyday, and that kept me on track and going forward. Then I broke it down to once a week and that helped keep me focused, the support I get from people I’ve never met has been so uplifting and emotionally supportive to me, I can’t put into words how it makes me feel.

Now I only blog once a month on the subject, but even that helps to keep me moving forward.

What things do you do to help ensure your success?

I read about techniques and nutrition, I absorb more and more knowledge, to give me that edge. This is a lifetime change for me, and I have no finish line to reach. No matter what happens I won’t be going back to “fat me” ever again, I will continue moving forward and losing weight, then maintaining that weight and all the while fueling my body with healthy and natural foods. Building muscle and strength. Keeping fit and healthy is something I do now, not something I’ll look back and say I did.

What is one recommendation you’d have for someone on Day 1 of their diet?

Well in the immortal words of the S.O.S Band “Take your time, do it right.”