Ever had the feeling the universe is trying to tell you something?

[lctrc]

For me, that was October 21, 2012.  I was 42 and just had a heart attack a mere 18 months after having had two strokes.  Somehow, I was both still alive and had suffered no long-term damage.  The universe was trying to tell me something - and with a (then) 6-month old son, this time I was going to listen.  Or so I told myself.

 

Let me back up for a moment...

 

On the Gabriel Iglacious scale, I've spent most of my life at "husky" with brief forays into both healthy and near-fluffy.  I'd also smoked since I was 18.  Mid-2005 I decided (again) to get myself back towards healthy, and by early 2007 I'd gone from 285 pounds to 225, from 30+% fat to near 10%, and I was strong.  My motivation had nothing to do with health, and everything to do with looking good naked.  "Well, this is awesome" I said to myself - and promptly stopped doing everything that had gotten me there.  Looking back, the day I ate most of a box of Krispy Kremes in the car before I even got them home was probably the end of that chapter.

 

Over the following few years I got married, bought a house, became a father, never exercised, and ate whatever I wanted.  Then I had a stroke or two.

 

They weren't like, "he's having a stroke!"  There were no defects.  April 2011 my right eye decided to do whatever it wanted, so I went to the eye doctor.  He told me to go to the ER.  If my wife hadn't been with me and heard him say that, I would have just gone home.  But no, to the ER we went.  A CT scan showed I'd had a stroke, and a followup MRI detected another, previous, stroke.  As it turned out neither had anything to do with my eye - muscle damage due to high blood pressure was responsible for that.

 

I was put on blood pressure meds, my eye went back to normal, and life went on.  I bought some equipment for my "home gym", but I didn't use it.  I still smoked, I still didn't exercise, and I still ate whatever I wanted.  I knew what to do to get myself "healthy", and that I could do it - I just didn't.

 

A few nights in the fall of 2012 I was woken by weird chest pain.  "Can't be a heart attack," I thought.  So each time I would just wait them out and go back to sleep.  Finally I mentioned them to my wife, who told me to wake her up next time (dammit!)  Then next time was different, worse, and I did.  To the ER we went.  Within hours I had a shiny new stent in one of the arteries of my heart, but otherwise I was fine.

 

The universe was trying to tell me something.  "I'm going to quit smoking" I said.  "I'm going to eat better" I said.  "I'm going to exercise" I said.

 

Well, I did one of those things - I quit smoking.  Actually I switched to electronic cigarettes and the occasional snus, essentially swapping an addiction that would kill me for an addiction that won't - I'm okay with that.  And to my credit I did start eating marginally better.  But I still didn't exercise, at all.

 

Fast forward to summer 2014.  My wife was pregnant with our second child.  I was 44 and no more healthy than before my heart attack, except for not smoking.  I finally realize that my state of health has ramifications beyond just myself.  I finally listened.

 

Since August I'm down 21 pounds of fat, up 15 pounds of muscle*, shrunk 5 inches on my waist, and most importantly now have a one month old daughter.  I still have a long way to go - but this time my motivation has nothing to do with looking good naked, and everything to do with my family.

 

Why am I here?  Back in the day I was somewhat active (for me) on a different fitness forum.  And while I still read the articles there, the community doesn't really fit my current goals and motivation.  I found NF a couple months ago, stumbling across the "how to do a pullup" article, and have lurked a bit.  I figure I should say "Hi".

 

(* Bioimpedance scale:  yes I know they aren't accurate, these stats are from averages not individual measurements)

[Jett]

Hi!

 

I was trying to parse your username, and ended up with "electric" with all the vowels taken out. Is that right? (I'm going to called you "Lectric" in my head.)

 

The forums are great. Whatever your favorite fitness activities are, you can probably find some other people who are also excited about it. Lots of people with kids, too.

[lctrc]

Yep, short for "Electric".  Which is itself one word from a longer nickname of mine.  And that's how I pronounce it in my head too

[MrBaldyKins]

Hey. Seems like you found a reason. Good stuff.

 

Hope to see you in the upcoming challenge this April. I'll be watching your progress with interest. Also, please keep being funny.