Month: December 2013

I Can Do Anything

Video

Saturday I woke up to something that had become unfamiliar to me at this point in December – the sun. Looking at the forecast I knew it was set to be about 50F with zero clouds. I got up and stepped on my FitBit Aria scale (which I highly recommend) and sadly saw numbers glaring at me that I did not want to see.

Determined to not get discouraged I decided that I would still ride my bike outside – even if for an hour. So after it warmed up a little bit I suited up in all my crazy cold weather gear and set out on my bike.

By the time I got to my first turn I realized just how far out of shape I had let myself get. As I rode for the next hour and fifteen minutes I went through a series of emotions: disappointment, anger, determination, happiness. I finished the ride and though it was the slowest pace of the year I and I felt like I was somewhat dying – I did it.

Later in the evening my friends invited me to workout with them at their gym. As I thought about the invite my body was screaming no but my mind was saying yes. My mind won the battle and off to the gym I went.

I got on a treadmill to warm-up and was going to just do some full body exercises afterwards. So I’m rocking out to the Top 100 list on Rdio and get this wild idea in my head. I decided that I should “run” a 5k! Let’s just get real here for a second – I’ve never “run” anything in my life. The last 5k I participated in I was walking at a very leisurely pace and it was years and years ago.

So the first mile and half I was fine. I was alternating between a 3mph walk and a 5mph fast jog. The second half I started to feel like death but being the stubborned person I am – I pushed through.

The last mile I started listening to the song above. The whole song has a really great message but here is the line that stood out to me,

“A hundred thousand disbelievers couldn’t keep me on the ground,
I’ve invented a momentum that’ll never slow me down,
I believe it ’cause I feel it, and I shout it out loud,
I can, I can, I can…”

The next thing I knew – I had hit 3.1 miles in just over 50 minutes! Which – for me – is huge.

I have some lofty goals for 2014 and this will be my theme song. Tomorrow I get a BodPod assessment to see just how bad the damage really is and so I know how far I have to go next year with my fitness.

Later,
John

Looking Forward

Image

I’ll admit it – I’m a bit of a Pinterest whore. As someone who enjoys reading “life hacking” articles and finding new things to cook, ideas for organization and items to dream about – Pinterest has become a great resource for a dreamer like me. It’s also become a great place to find quotes and motivation – these particular pins live on a board of mine called, “Word to Live By”.

One quote in particular has stuck with me recently (pictured above): “Life Beings At The End of Your Comfort Zone” – Neale Donald Walsch

So as 2013 comes to a close and I’m looking forward to 2014 – I want this quote to be part of my personal mantra. I think in many areas of life I’ve become comfortable. It’s time for me to start doing things that are scary and outside of what I find comfortable.

Hopefully you’ll join me on this journey. One of my biggest goals is to write more and document my journey in 2014 so if when I’m successful in achieving my goals it might serve as some encouragement for someone who is in a place where they think they can’t.

Here’s to 2014! More details to come soon.

John

Let’s try this again…

Standard

I’ve missed you blog! It feels good to be back.

JohnMassie.com is getting a much more full re-design but I’ve been busy with life and it took a back burner for now. I felt like I had a lot to share and wanted a space to keep it all so… here I am. I’m going to use this generic Automattic theme until I can get the full theme up and running (hopefully sometime in Q1 of 2014).

Speaking of my busy life – that’s what has brought me back to my blog! I’m making a lot of positive changes and I’d like to chronicle the good, bad and ugly so that maybe next year and the years to come I can look back and see what was truly a good change and what “course corrections” I made along the way.

What changes? Budgeting, Weight Loss, Healthy Eating, Paleo, Cycling, Running are just a sample of the topics that I’ll be talking about in the coming days and weeks! Come back – let’s have a conversation and talk about stuff! I miss the days when my blog was active and there were conversations going on – so hopefully that will be the case again soon!

Until Next Time!

-Massie