Almost Famous

Almost Famous

–why I love cars and what I’ve done about it for most of my life

It must be in my blood. That’s really what I think it ultimately boils down to. Either that or the car business itself has a sci-fi type of attraction that keeps drawing me back to it. Looking into the evidence further though I think it’s a combination of genetics and conditioning. Whatever it is, over the last nearly eighteen years I have come full circle in my work life and realized that I’m probably where I belong (or at least where I belong for now), read the story below to find out the details.

As a kid I was fascinated with cars. I can remember from a very young age sitting out in front of our house with my older brother Dan and naming the cars as they went by. By “young age” I don’t mean seven or eight, I’m thinking more like four or five at the oldest. I had a fascination from early on with cars and with anything that had wheels and moved.

 

I can remember some of my favorite toys being Hot Wheels cars, rolling them across the kitchen floor to “race” them, or constructing plastic tracks for a similar purpose. The Transformers cartoons was probably my favorite cartoon as well. It featured action hero robots that turned into cars, how cool was that, the cars saved people and turned into robots, and shot lasers and blew stuff up five days a week on afternoon prime time for kids TV. For a car obsessed kid, it didn’t get much better.

Another memory that comes to mind was probably sometime between the ages of six and eight being asked what I wanted to do when I grew up. I can remember very plainly stating that I wanted to work with my dad. My dad at that time was the service manager for a local Ford dealer. As is common with most boys I looked up to my father, he was my hero, the one who scared off monsters under the bed, took me to work with him on occasion and knew everything there was to know about anything.

Dad had a “demo” car as a job perk, which was often a station wagon or later a minivan because there were a lot of us kids to haul around every weekend (demo meaning demonstration model). Demos used to be more common than they are today in the car business, dealers would often give managers and some other employees(usually salesmen) a new vehicle to drive for a few thousand miles each month to get some new iron out on the roads. This was also a great way to show friends, neighbors, etc what came from where you work. So a new car every month appealed to me, something new to look at, explore and appreciate in the driveway.  

At such a young age I was also able to visit my dad at work on a somewhat regular basis, occasionally he would stop by his office on a Saturday to take care of something or grab some paperwork often bringing my younger brother David and me along. I had a firsthand look at the inner workings of a dealership at a very impressionable age. Looking back now on those memories it seems very surreal, and maybe that was part of the appeal when I was so young. The sounds of tools clanking and ratcheting, the hissing of compressed air, the shining new cars, the smell of wax and glass cleaner, the crazy greasy guys in the back fixing cars and the sharply dressed smooth talking men up front selling them. There were glossy books with pictures of the newest models and “technology” for me to flip through as well. To me it was always a picture too of people working together for a common cause, when customers came in to the shop to either buy a new car or get their car serviced or repaired, someone was there with a smile to help them. When everything was finished there was often a handshake and a smile. That at least is how it appeared from child’s perspective.

It didn’t help much that my older brother Dan began working at the car dealership as soon as he was old enough either. Dan was a car nut already and I would say between him and dad largely responsible for my interest in cars in general. From my perspective as a young boy it just seemed like this was the place to be, working at the dealership was doing something important. Cars were the coolest thing I knew of, so what could possibly be better than working around them.

At the ripe old age of 14 I was going to work with my dad at the dealership during the summers. I would help take out trash, file paperwork for him, organize and clean various things. I was paying my dues so to speak. At 15 I was at the dealership several days a week cleaning cars all summer. I think as a teenager I really began getting a closer look at the real world of the car business. I loved cleaning the cars though, getting new cars ready for delivery/customer pickup or to go on the showroom floor, or detailing a used unit to be put on the lot, it was hot, dirty, sweaty work, perfect for a teenage boy obsessed with cars. 

I remember that particular summer hearing from my dad “Son, don’t get into this business”, he was at the time half joking and half serious. Much like any work situation, where there are individuals there is eventually bound to be drama between them. Conflicts of one sort or another probably occurred more often than I was aware and as a manager he sometimes had to deal with these issues. That summer some of the shine on the car business might have dulled a bit and I was no longer sure working around cars in this setting was what I wanted to do. In the meantime it was work and it paid and I got to be around all those cool cars so I didn’t mind.

I spent the summer that I was 16 again washing cars. That summer was even better, I had a license, I could now drive the cars that I was being paid to clean, now I got paid to drive them, put gas in them and organize them on the lot. Less enthused about being in the heat I spent as much time as possible tidying up the cars that were on the showroom floor. That job though was something that we rotated each day, since you could literally spend at least a half hour basking in the air conditioning while you were cleaning those cars we took turns everyday on who cleaned the showroom cars.

Like many teenage boys I became increasingly obsessed with how cars worked. I had built and still did build model cars, I had a clear model engine that I could move by hand. Keep in mind at this point in time computer animation was still in its infancy, Jurassic Park had been the high point of CGI to that day and the internet was still a dark and mysterious place that was not so easily navigated. Much of what I read in magazines was left to my imagination to visualize with only a few usually very grainy black and white photos to help.

I read nearly everything I could get my hands on about cars, various car magazines with reviews, magazines about hot rods and how to modify your cars to go faster or look cooler. I can’t count the number of car stereos and stereo components I installed not only in my own car but in my friend’s cars as well. I detailed a few cars for friend’s parents on the side and even did a little side maintenance work for some of them. Much to my dad’s chagrin I did or attempted to do a lot of maintenance or repair work on my own cars, changing spark plugs, changing engine oil, I was still a bit intimidated in doing anything more extensive but that was changing. . I was able to get a fairly good grasp on most concepts though, probably better than most people my age at the time. That technical mindedness has continued to be useful nearly every day of my adult life. 

During this same time in my life I met Tom Milazzo. Tom and I were both bored in Chemistry class and the teacher had the misfortune of sitting us next to each other. Not knowing, but quickly discovering it we were both car nuts, particularly Mustangs. There really is no way I can calculate the amount of hours I spent with Tom during my last two years of high school. Working on our cars, reading magazines or cruising around. Lifelong friends are hard to find, but Tom and I still swing wrenches together on each other’s cars over sixteen years later. 

At this point in my teenage years I also loved to write, what a great thing I thought it would be to combine my love of writing and cars with a job in the car magazine business, writing for a publication. I didn’t realize it at the time but my opportunity to do this was just a few short years away.

Much like the weather, the many pastimes of teenage boys (and my wife tells me grown men as well) can change quickly. By my senior year of high school I was looking at going into computers and technology over working with cars. After spending nearly every summer at the dealership working in some capacity the car business itself had further tarnished in my eyes.  The world of technology was changing rapidly and PC’s because they had become so much cheaper were finally in wide proliferation, the internet was about to explode and change the world forever. I thought that computers were my golden ticket to the good life so that’s where I focused a lot of my attention at school. I figured I could get into computers, make a bigger paycheck than in the car business and fund my car hobby/addiction without working in the car business. At the time I didn’t realize how deeply ingrained in my DNA cars really were. I had also not yet experienced the mystical car business vortex.

A year after graduating high school I landed a job with a local company working the helpdesk for their IT department. It was good money for a guy who wasn’t even 19 yet and the benefits offered by that fortune 500 company were substantial to say the least. 

November 1998, me with my 1986 Mustang. I miss that car like an old friend

In nearly all of my free time I was working on my own Mustang that I had bought at the end of my senior year of high school. I raced that car almost weekly (sometimes twice weekly). I had also started and was working on a web site that featured write ups and photos about local Mustangs from the track and their owners. I was writing about cars and racing one in my spare time. The internet was still pretty green in the automotive journalism area so I was having a good time and a little success as I created a nice niche for myself.

In the fall of 1998 a new drag racing organization the NMRA (National Mustang Racers Association) came to Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, KY. I headed to the event with my brother Dan who was the track Chaplin for Beech Bend through a program called RFC (Racers For Christ). Taking my camera along I shot race coverage of the event and rushed home Sunday night to get my film developed and post the story to my little web site. By Monday morning I had the first online version of the race coverage anywhere. Apparently I drew more attention than I realized when I received an e-mail from the then head of the NMRA, James Lawrence asking me to call him about my coverage. Keep in mind these were the days before digital photography was widespread, internet coverage of events of any kind and live streaming were nearly nonexistent or seldom lived up to their hype, after all it was 1998. 

Through that phone call with James I developed a relationship with the NMRA that lasted for about five years. James asked me to check in once a month, let him know my thoughts on both the local and national scenes with concern to drag racing and Mustangs, racing trends and the performance industry. The NMRA was going through its early development phases and obviously they wanted to establish as many links around the country as they could (keep in mind that no one had ever thought of something like facebook or myspace at this point). That winter during a regularly scheduled phone call with James I received an invitation from him to talk with the then editor of NMRA’s monthly magazine Race Pages, Rob Kinnan and become a regular freelance contributor. 

That moment changed the way I viewed and participated in racing forever. Rob Kinnan to me was a giant of the car magazine industry. He had begun his career at Hot Rod Magazine, served as editor at 5.0 Mustang Magazine, both of which I read feverishly on a monthly basis, he had only left that job to purse a then better opportunity with the NMRA and subsequently the parent company they formed ProMedia.

This situation at the time was ideal for me. I had switched full time jobs to work for the IT department at KY Lottery. This job required that I work 12 hour shifts but in a two week pay period (14 days) I only worked 7 days and still made a full time salary (this was due to the number of hours worked). With my typically cooperative schedule at KY Lottery I was able to travel to NMRA events around the country on my weekend’s off. I was able to checkout a lot of cool cars and trucks, watch tons of great racing, get to know some of the racers and people I had only ever read about in magazines as well as meet all kinds of new and interesting people. If that wasn’t enough of a benefit I could often find enough material for freelance articles that I typically covered at least what it cost me to go to the events from my stories being published in Race Pages.

I contributed anywhere from one to four articles in nearly every issue of Race Pages for over three years. I also changed the way they dealt with photography. I bought an Olympus digital camera (I believe an E-10 was the model). It was a 4.5 Megapixel camera at a time when most digital cameras from a retail store were 1 or 1.5MP at the most. I worked with my local camera dealer and a few friends at how to correctly process digital images for print. Through my work I was able to convince NMRA and ProMedia to allow me to stop submitting film or slides and start sending work in on disc. Before I ended my freelance career with ProMedia and NMRA they were no longer accepting film or slides and instead had made the transition to all digital photography. I’d like to think I get a little credit for starting that trend.

During my freelance time with ProMedia they had also started a second magazine. There was a time when I contributed a large amount of content to it as well as Race Pages. Rob Kinnan called me on the phone one day; overwhelmed with his workload he was offering me the position of editor at this new magazine. Rob and the chiefs had met and decided Rob needed less work load, (I can hardly imagine being editor of two magazines at once). There was a hitch though; the job would require me to move to California, thousands of miles away from most of my friends, all of my family and a stable job. The pay would not be enough either for me to support myself and live on my own. Having no connections in the area near where I would be working and having no means to move on my own, I had to decline the offer. I did counter offer to do the work from where I lived, since most of it required traveling to races by car or plane, or dealing with freelance writers on the phone as well as a lot of work that would be completed on the computer. The in house staff needed someone present in the flesh though and we had not yet reached the age of telecommuting that we live in today where this might have been possible. 

My childhood friend who has known me the longest, Kelly, once remarked that the entire experience that I had as a freelancer reminded her of the movie “Almost Famous”. In some ways I might agree, a young guy from a small town gets to rub elbows, hangout and travel with some of his childhood heroes, while getting an inside glimpse at an industry he’s fascinated with and write about the experiences. With the exception of falling in love I think we have many of the key plot points from that movie (though I will admit to being infatuated with several girls that I met along the way during that time).

A few years into the freelance endeavor I decided to attempt taking my writing and photography skills into a full time career. I started my own business and spent the next year traveling the country to various racing events including NMRA both selling my photos to racers and fans as well as working on freelance articles. Unfortunately this was not an optimal full time career and between mistakes made on my part and a lack of sales I had to cease operations in late 2003 and close the company up for good in 2004. Having left KY Lottery nearly two years prior I was jobless for the first time in my entire adult life.

It would seem though that the mystical vortex of the car business would open up again and suck me back in. In January of 2004 I received an opportunity to work at the same dealer group as my dad. Byerly Nissan needed a person to serve as both service adviser and a parts truck driver. I could fit both ends, I knew enough about cars, the car business and how they worked to be a service adviser, I was good with people (which was a big plus) and I could “sell” work to customers that their cars needed. I had a clean driving record too so I could fill the second part of this dual role. My dad was the service manager for Byerly Ford located in the building next door, I was finally about to do what I said I’d wanted to do as a little kid, work with my dad, for real, as an adult.

I stayed at Byerly for about a year and a half eventually becoming solely the full time service adviser for the Nissan dealership(they needed me more on the service lane than in the parts truck so a new driver was hired). Driving to Dixie Highway from Crestwood each day, leaving at 6:30 in the morning and not getting home until 7:00 or later each night was wearing on me though. I found a job with an independent shop closer to home and left the dealership. I stayed in that next job for a little over a year, then I was made aware of a better opportunity at Pro-Tech, and I jumped on it. 

So today here I am, still in the car business. I’m the shop manager, service adviser, office manager, tech guy, whatever hat I need to wear today guy. Mostly I’m the manager/service adviser. I work for two very good owners who do a very good job not only taking care of customers and running an honest business but also at taking care of their employees (I’ve been here for over five years now). Like any job I have days where I go home and wonder if it’s really what I should be doing with my life, but those days when things click and go like they should, when everything falls into place and all the pieces work together like the gears of a clock, I know I’m where I belong, and doing what I’m meant to do (at least for now).

I will say that I sometimes miss traveling to the races, seeing all the action, the smell of tire smoke and racing fuel, standing on the starting line and feeling my chest shake from the sound of the engines, and meeting all those interesting people. Camping with the Dedpedal Racing guys, hanging out with the ProMedia staff, heading up to Indy to see my friend Jason McGrane and his now wife Audri. Riding with Beefcake in his latest toy and being the seat of the pants dyno in the passenger’s seat somewhere on an interstate in the Tri-State area. Spending the night on the couch at Ian and Sherrie Mullane’s hosue so Ian and I can leave early the next morning to drive all day heading to the next big event. Sitting in the race control tower and talking with Mike Galimi, Dr Meyer, Cindy Edwards and others during bad weather. Strange hotel rooms, late nights at the track, sleeping in my truck or in my photo trailer a tent or a friend’s RV and long hours on the road. That stuff was for the young single me. Married now, with a house, a nearly 50 hour a week job and trying to start family I have little time for those particular adventures. I do make it to about one NMRA event each year, and Sydney and I occasionally go to the local drag strip to watch or participate in some racing. During the summers we try to hit some local car cruises and shows when time allows. I still talk with a lot of the friends I made in the racing world, and I read about it online or in print, though I don’t follow the race results like I once did. I’d love to write some articles here and there but I have little inside info these days, my finger no longer on the pulse of the racing world like those glory days so long ago.

My current toy, a modified 1998 Mustang GT

You could say I’ve come full circle in 18 years. These days writing this blog, swinging wrenches on my own Mustang and my friend’s cars during some of my leisure time seems to be my two best creative outlets. Cars will always fascinate me and I’ll always have something in the garage to tinker with, change and modify. I will also continue to use this blog as a creative outlet for the part of me that enjoys writing. That for now is more than good enough.

Personal Top 10

Personal Top 10

2011 has finally made its exit. Every December and January there are all manner of top 10 lists abound in the media. There are the top 10 movies, the top 10 celebrities, the top 10 political stories, the top 10 songs, top 10 albums, there might even be a top ten of top 10 lists.  Rather than espouse my opinion on any of these subjects I simply offer up my own personal top moments of 2011. So without further delay here are my top 10 of 2011.

10) Just barely making the list at number 10 is Getting on Social Media. I had resisted Facebook for the last few years. I will admit I was tempted to jump on a few times but always felt I had better things to do with my time. This past November however I was left with little choice when we decided to open a FB page for the shop, to be an admin on this page required me to also get on the bandwagon. I don’t regret it. Communicating with old friends is both interesting and fun. It’s also very cool to see the pictures posted by various members of my family; some of those things may not have been easily shared or would have been easily forgotten.

I also got on twitter and began blogging. Both are interesting. Twitter as a friend said is like a big party line, the more people you follow or follow you, the bigger the party, so I’m on there if you care to follow me @DonaldCreasonJr. I’ve found my favorite two things on twitter are; one how rapid I can now get news both local and national very quickly; and two doing a live tweet of a movie. A live tweet is where several friends plan to watch the same movie at the exact same time. We then tweet our thoughts, comments, or adlib dialog to one another. This is a fantastic and fun way of having a movie night with your friends when you can’t all get together.

Blogging has given me a fantastic outlet for my thoughts. Things I may not have written down otherwise.  I am finding that this weekly or twice weekly outlet is both sharpening my writing skills (which have been used very little lately) and has provided the platform for me to lay out both opinions and personal experiences. As my old friend Rhonda says in her blog, “Blogging is cheaper than therapy” and I find on some days that is definitely true even if the entry never gets posted.

9) Taking a college class occupies spot number nine on my list. This past spring I decided to see if I could hack it if I went back to school. Having never completed a degree I was also kicking around the idea of should I get one and if so, what should that be and what would I do with it.

 I signed up online and took principles of psychology class via KCTCS. I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the class though not always the time it required for me to maintain a high grade. I don’t know if I will choose to continue taking classes or not. In large part this is due to the time demands and I also do not know what I would get a degree in or do with it. My job satisfaction and security are the highest they’ve been in recent years, I make a decent paycheck; I have some stability and seniority since I have been in my position for so long. I’m not sure I’d want to give any of that up, not that I’d have to with a degree, but to have a degree for the sake of having one also doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Family Vacation at Siesta Key, Florida, July, 2011

8) Coming in at number eight is Family Vacation with the in laws, for the first time. We took a family vacation this year with my in laws. This included Sydney’s parents, her sister and brother in law and their four children. I was resistant to this idea at first, I get but two weeks of total vacation time each year, and I only get what I call the “major” holidays off. So my r&r time is very precious to me. That being said we were able to set some sensible ground rules for the week and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I would do it again under the right circumstances and I have never seen my mother and father in law so happy.

7) Dan and Sherry moving back home to Kentucky is sitting proudly at number 7 this year. In 2003 my brother Dan and his family moved to Springfield, MO. This was both a happy and sad occasion for me. I was happy for them and the opportunity that this move represented. However I was very sad, Dan and I had always been exceptionally close, Sherry had been around since I was nine years old and both their daughters were the closest of any niece or nephew that I had at the time. They moved back to Kentucky a few years later but still lived an hour and half away in Cynthiana. This spring they were presented with an opportunity to move back to our area. They say this is the last move period, and I believe them. I’m happy to have my brother’s family less than two miles from my house. I look forward to all the fun times and new memories to come.

6) Number six, though it could be higher on the list is the birth of baby Micah. My baby sister and her husband’s second child Micah was born just before Christmas this year. If he is anything like his older brother he will be a delight to be around. There is no better Christmas gift than a new little one in the family and I am exceedingly thankful that Micah arrived safely and is in perfect health.

5) Overall Fitness gets us halfway through the list. I talked a lot about this in a previous blog so I will simply say this. I can run 10 miles; I have competed in multiple 5k and one 10k races. I am training for the mini marathon. I can swim 2 miles, I workout 5-7 days a week. I feel great; my resting heart rate is 48 beats per minute. My blood pressure and cholesterol are the lowest they’ve been in years. I am not going back to being unhealthy, ever.

4) Competing comes in at number 4. I competed in and continue to compete in races. I love to compete in a friendly environment; it gets me out of my shell, away from my comfort zone and lets me see how I stack up against others win nothing more than bragging rights or a trophy is up for grabs.  I have won my age group a couple times in some races, which is good but I plan to be better.

Competing gives me goals to set for the next race especially when I don’t even place in my age group. Competing humbles me as I hear results of those who completed a race five, six, or even nine minutes ahead of me. Competing is good and I look forward to more of it next year. My first competition of the year is coming up this Saturday at Cherokee Park, the Frostbite 5k, wish me luck, or better yet come out and run or walk the course yourself!

3) Taking third is joining Southeast Christian Church. My wife had been a member and I a regular attendee when we met, we had drifted to a couple of different churches but had never settled at any one.  The drifting was a result of Sydney’s family moving to a church closer to her sister’s home near Bardstown. We had no family to attend church with and we weren’t planning to drive over an hour each week to Bardstown to do so.

We came back to Southeast along with Sydney’s family last winter and joined shortly after the first of the year. It really does feel like home when we attend each week.

2) Deciding to be a parent. I covered this extensively in another blog. It comes down to this, we are trying to become parents. Even if for some reason we do not have a child biologically of our own we will eventually become parents by choice through adoption (we may eventually choose to adopt as well). I’m happy with either method though obviously having one on our own might be a little more fun in the getting started phase.

1) Making the top of the list is an important one to me, getting baptized. I finally got dunked. I had been a believer for most of my life. When I was in my late teens or early 20’s I had even made a commitment as an adult to follow Christ, for some reason I had just never finished things up formally and been baptized. Not being baptized is kind of like shaking hands but not putting your signature on the contract in some ways. So with my brother in law Terry doing the honors I was baptized with my niece Delaney at the end of January. This will always be one of the most memorable evenings of my life and something Delaney, Terry and I can share together forever.

2011 was an eventful year for us. I could write out more things and make this list even longer but I see no reason to do so. I hope that each of you reading this gets what you want and deserve out of the New Year as I hope I too can meet all my personal goals. Remember to enjoy life to the fullest, pursue your dreams and seek God’s wisdom in your decisions He will always guide your heart in the right direction. 

–Happy New Year.

Losing A Third of Myself

Losing A Third of Myself

June 2010 just before it all began

As the end of 2011 approaches and 2012 is about to dawn I thought it would be appropriate to write this installment of my blog about weight loss. Many of us have a tendency to overindulge in comfort foods and sweets during the holiday season from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve.  Really you can’t blame anyone. Candies, cookies, cakes, pies, turkey, stuffing, ham, cornbread, pudding, all manner of delicious foods are brought out during this time of year. Many people feeling riddled with guilt will turn to some method or another to lose weight as the sun rises on January first or second. Some of you are like I was just two years ago, already overweight to begin with and your holiday gluttony will make little difference in your appearance, weight, or how you feel. 

Before you step on the scale and groan though I’d like to share with you my own experience with weight loss and what I have found to be true about losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight as well as staying healthy. 

The first thing you must realize is that there are no quick fixes. Just as there is no viable get rich quick scheme that will make you wealthy beyond your dreams while working from the comfort of your own home selling widgets on e-bay and then selling your widget buyers the tools to start their own widget business, there is no fast healthy way to lose weight, remain healthy and maintain that weight. Much like making a fortune, losing weight and being healthy is a long term commitment, in essence it is a lifestyle change. Rule of thumb as all the exercise video and diet pill or system commercials start rolling out on January 1st, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Getting fit and losing weight is also not for quitters or those easily frustrated. It should also not be undertaken alone or without the support of someone close to you. The more support you have the better.

The last paragraph may have turned many of you off. For those who stuck around to see what I’m talking about please pay careful attention. Let’s lay out a few ground rules here. First and foremost, seek your doctor’s approval before you go to the gym or change your diet drastically. Yes you can roll your eyes but it’s true. Having a physical is a good idea, if your heart, joints and lungs can’t handle the load of exercise you’re likely to suffer some manner of medical malady from your attempt to lose weight rather than reap the benefits of it. That being said it’s also a good idea to know where you started, what’s your weight officially, what’s your blood pressure, what’s your cholesterol (total, HDL and LDL), what’s your resting heart rate. These are all numbers you should inquire about and write down.

 Next realize that this method worked for my wife and I. I am not promising you success by following what I did, however it would stand to reason that if you did follow what worked for us you should experience at least some kind of results. Last ground rule, commitment. There is no room for quitters, the quitters are the ones sitting at home right now grazing on a bag of greasy (insert snack food name here) and watching whatever garbage their television spits out and poisons their mind with. (No I am not anti-television it’s just if you’re unhealthy you can do a lot better than sit around and watch the junk that’s on tv while stuffing your face with junk and wondering why you’ve got more junk in your trunk).

Now we get down to the business end of things. My wife and I made two primary changes in our lives that allowed us both to lose significant amounts of weight and improve our overall health dramatically. This all started Independence Day weekend of 2010 (fourth of July). This was a typical weekend at our house, I was off work for the holiday and had spent most of the morning doing some yardwork. After showering I just wasn’t feeling refreshed,I was still feeling sweaty and wanting to chill out for the rest of the day. So we headed to the local public pool. 

Me swimming @ YMCA

Upon arriving at the pool we found a sign, “Closing early for Swim Meet”. Who has a freakin’ swim meet on Independence Day weekend? At least we still had a membership at the YMCA was my next thought, though I probably hadn’t set foot in there for six months or more. They had a pool and were less than five minutes away so we headed to the “Y”. Upon arriving we found that most of the pool was consumed with small kids and a few serious lap swimmers. There was however one lap lane open at the far end. So we hopped in. I felt instantly relieved, there’s just something about the water that relaxes me, I don’t know if it’s the sensation of buoyancy or something else but I always find getting in the water (as long as it’s a comfortable temperature) is relaxing. 

Since we were in a lap lane, we decided to see if we could actually swim a lap. Let me set this up for you; one lap is counted as down to the far end of the pool and back. The pool itself is 25 yards in length. That’s seventy five feet to one end and seventy five back. That doesn’t sound like much does it? I swam as a kid all the time, friend’s pools, local public and private pools, swimming was fun, swimming was easy, how hard could it be to get from one end of that pool to the other, easy right? WRONG! Oh so utterly and terribly wrong. By the time I made it to the opposite wall I was panting and really thought I might drown, or have a heart attack, or both. 

After resting for about five minutes I swam back to the other side of the pool. For some reason I decided to try this a few more times that day until I had completed four laps. A whopping 200 yards of movement.  A strange thing happened though, I had a good time, my wife and I had enjoyed laughing at ourselves, and I think we both enjoyed the challenge. Besides it felt good to be in the water. Although neither of us had great technique, form or grace in the water we decided to come back again later that week.  I had on previous occasions stated a desire to get back into better shape and be healthier, but in my laziness I had neglected to find the medium to do so. This appeared to be it. 

I also was motivated by a recent incident that previous winter in which I took my mother to the doctor and was mistaken for her husband. Now I have never thought that my mother looked her age, but the nurse had the chart, which would have indicated her age and I was sitting right next to my younger brother who is only two and a half years younger than me. So either I looked old or she thought my mother was one crafty cougar. Either way it did not sit well with me.

Three weeks after we had first tried lap swimming Sydney and I were hooked on it.  We were able to put together 20 laps at a time, it took us about 30 minutes. By the end of September I could swim 35 laps in about 45 minutes, 35 laps is a distance of 1mile in the Y pool. An entire mile, I could swim a mile. Also by that time in September I had managed to lose 25lbs, I was down from 267 to 242. Sydney also had lost about 10 lbs by this time. 

We also made changes to how we eat. We started by reducing our portion sizes at all meals. I went to eating a half sandwich for lunch a handful of chips and a pudding cup. I ate a single cup of yogurt and half glass of orange juice for breakfast, no more doughnuts. I ate one serving/portion at dinner instead of two or three. I began curbing and eventually all but fully eliminating my intake of fast food. I love a good burger and fries, but eating the “Supersize” was literally killing me. I went to eating off the dollar menu, $1 fry, $1 cheeseburger, $1 diet coke. I switched from regular coke to diet sodas (although I don’t drink that much soda to begin with). I decreased the amount of sugar we put in a pitcher of tea (Sydney drinks water only except at breakfast).

1 year later, July 2011

Sydney and I both have a sweet tooth. Sydney is also a great cook, but we made a choice to stop keeping sweets stocked up in the house. No more stacks of cookies, large pans of brownies or cakes. Instead we keep granola bars, yogurt, nuts and fruit in the house. These things tend to fill you up faster and are better for you (if you buy the right kind). Eventually I phased out fast food burgers nearly altogether, instead choosing to go for low fat sandwiches at Subway, occasionally I will still eat a burger from a fast food joint but it’s a rare occurrence. 

 It is worth mentioning as well that if I eat fast food now for lunch I pay for it later. I don’t pay for it on the scale, but I truly find out what the meaning of empty calories is. Within three hours of consuming this type of junk food I am dragging, I’m tired, my stomach hurts, my head hurts, I just want to lay down and sleep, my skin feels greasy like my body is trying to purge the offending fat through its pores, I honestly wonder how anyone can eat like that on a regular basis. I really wonder if it’s like a drug and people get addicted like I imagine smoking is, seemed good at the time, but after you’ve been off it for a while it’s terrible.

Running on the beach, July 2011

By Christmas of 2010 I had lost over 50lbs, I was approaching 215, Sydney had lost nearly 30 lbs. I was already satisfied at this point with the way I looked and felt, and that was what I consider a crucial key to our success. We counted every pound as a victory, by that Christmas I knew if I didn’t lose any more weight I was already healthier, I was already doing so many things right. 

By April I was down to 200 lbs. I decided to add running to my weekly regimen. Sydney can’t run, she had back surgery a few years ago and the surgeon specified no running. So she stuck to swimming only. By my 32^nd birthday in September of 2011 I was down to 185lbs. Today I’m at 182. I have run in multiple 5k races and one 10k race. I’m signed up for the Derby Festival Mini Marathon this coming April. I just ran 10 miles for the first time a few weeks ago. I am up to swimming 2 miles a couple times a month when time permits me to do a one hour swim.  We swim 30-50 minutes 3-4 times a week and I run an additional 3 days a week for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours at a time.

So what’s your secret? That’s the question I am asked the most when I encounter people who I haven’t seen in a while. I will sum it all up below for you and I promise there is no other magic or tricks, no pills or secret formulas, just what I list.

1.     Commit that you are going to change your life to be healthier. Realize that exercising and eating healthier are like marriage, they are intended to be a long term commitment for better or worse and til death do you part. AND if you cheat you are only cheating yourself and you WILL feel guilty about it.

2.     Exercise 3-5 times per week for 30-60 minutes at a time. This needs to be exercise that gets your heart rate up, preferably aerobic or close to it. Running, biking and swimming are great for this. There are also dance classes, step aerobics, zumba, aqua fitness, jazzercise, all manner of workouts you can do in this area.

3.     Exercise at the YMCA. The YMCA worked great for us, we were able to get solid advice and tips from the people who work there. The “Y” is family oriented and does not tend to be intimidating.  I suggest if you can’t go to the YMCA because of location or scheduling that you locate a family friendly gym or, interview and hire a personal trainer. The bottom line here is you need some guidance, do some research and get some help with setting up your program. If you can’t do these for financial reasons then do one of two things. Find somewhere to make some cuts so you can fit this in your budget, or do some research online, read some books and some articles and work with your doctor to help you develop a basic plan that you can follow at home.

4.     Have a partner. Just like going through life is easier with a partner, so is getting in shape. It does not have to be your spouse although I tend to believe that if you are working out together then you’re both on the same page about where your health should be and your marriage will be better for it. It also helps keep you off the couch when laziness and frustration strike, not wanting to let your partner down or them getting you back in line and motivated is a great asset in the war against your waist.

5.     Adjust your diet appropriately. You don’t have to eat sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower 24/7 to eat healthy. You don't have to become a vegetarian or give up pizza or steak. There are tons of low fat, low salt, high protein, high vitamin, incredibly tasty and good for you recipes out there. There are loads of them online.  Do the research, your body will thank you.  Cook at home often.  Plan your meals ahead of time and even prepare your food ahead of time as much as possible.  Then you will not be tempted to eat out when you are tired after a hard day of work.  Also don’t deny yourself. If you’re at a party and you want a piece of birthday cake, eat it. Don’t be rude by not having at least as small piece, but don’t go back and eat another piece followed by two or three more. You can still have a steak or a slice or two of pizza, you just need to look at those foods as treats instead of staples of your diet.  Take a break once in a while and hit your favorite restaurant for a good sit down meal. Divide your plate in half or split it with someone. Save the leftovers for lunch or dinner the following day. This keeps your portion control correct but allows you to really enjoy something you might have been craving.

6.     Reduce your sugar intake. Switching your drinks to water is the best bet, but you can also switch from regular to diet sodas, just don't drink them in excess. If you prefer tea or coffee try using less sugar, and give yourself time to adjust.  Also realize that alcohol, (beer, wine, whiskey) is full of sugars or empty calories even though you may not be able to taste it.

7.     Understand that getting in shape and getting healthy takes time. It can take you a year or more to get in shape and get healthy, depending on your goal and your current condition. Stay focused, stay motivated and seek support when you feel down.

8.     Set realistic goals and count every pound, every mile, and every lap as a victory. Focus on the positive, look at what you accomplished today, not what the scale says you haven’t accomplished YET. Also if you’re having a down moment remember that if you are off the couch and moving you’re doing way more than you would be if you were sitting still.

9.     Eat a snack. I tend to pack a snack for in the morning and late afternoon. I will munch on a handful of almonds, an apple, a cheese stick, something healthy between breakfast and lunch then again between lunch and dinner. This helps me not feel like I need to eat as much at the next major meal, it also keeps my energy up.

10.  This last one is a controversial one. I canceled my satellite TV service. I grew tired of having over 200 channels and flipping through to find only something numbing to watch as I veg’d out and fell asleep each night. I was truly disappointed with the offerings on TV during prime time, either disgusted by the things I saw or unimpressed at the lack of imagination in it. I’m not a huge sports fan either so many nights there was little on that I actually wanted to watch. So I cancelled my service, subscribed to Netflix and now I watch about an hour of TV a day and the local news before work and before bed. Some days more TV some days less, but I don’t have it pulling at me to come watch something that I might miss, or DVR 100 hours to catch up on over the weekend instead of exercise. With Netflix it’ll still be there when I get back home.

I'm pretty sure I could keep going but this blog is already long enough.

Old pants (navy size 44) and new pants (khaki size 32)

Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, heart attack, coronary artery disease, arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis, are all scary terms. I can’t promise you that by doing what I’ve done that you will not at some point in your life face one or more of these dreadful ailments. What I can tell you is that even if you do, if you are healthier your chances of coping with those conditions and improving your health are much better.

I started out at 267 lbs, maybe more since I didn't weigh myself for about 2 weeks at the beginning; I was in a size XXL shirt and a 44 waist in my dress pants. I weighed myself on the first and third weekends of the month for the entire year as I progressed. When I started out my elbow, my shoulder and my knees would pop and creak as I got out of bed every day. Seldom do I have a problem like that any longer. I can keep up with my young nieces and nephews when I get together with them; I’m able to play whatever game they’re into at that time. Today I wear a medium in most shirts, a large in some but that’s usually due to my shoulders not my stomach or waist. My dress pants are a 32 and that's at my belly button not hanging below, I weigh 182 lbs, I'm the size I was when I walked across the stage at my high school graduation.

Old shirt XXL, New Shirt M

Recently I had to do some work on my roof at my house, I noticed my balance had dramatically improved from the last time I was up there a little over a year and half ago. I also recently helped my brother move into a new house, again not being out of breath at every step when I was helping with something heavy was a great. It's also nice to not run out of breath playing tag or any type of ball game with my nieces and nephews.

The last thing I will say is this. We only get one life, one chance to be here on this planet. I want to be with the ones I love for as long as I possibly can, hopefully exercising and making healthy choices will lead me in that direction. Chances are your loved ones want you around too; there is no excuse outside of being limited by a medical condition that you can give me or them that is a good enough reason to not make an effort at being healthier. Even if you don’t get to live that longer life, you will at least be able to say when your time is up that you did everything to get the most time possible from a health standpoint. Too often we look to mediocrity as the standard or the acceptable achievement in our society, accepting it as ok. What we should be looking towards is excelling, especially in the area of our health.

This blog contains the author's experiences with weight loss. The author is not a health care professional or fitness instructor. This information is presented as an example of how two people lost a significant amount of weight. If you are planning to undertake a weight loss, diet or fitness program you are strongly encouraged to seek professional and medical advice. The author assumes no responsibility for anything good or bad that results from your use of the information contained herein.