Day 3

I slacked off. The morning came around I stayed attached to the bed. I could feel the aches and pain from the previous day. Maybe I’ll make this my rest day, I said trying to comfort my mind into agreeing that it was okay to stay in bed a bit longer.

It was my off day, so I would work out once I ran all of my errands. I had other things I had to do which were “FAR” more important than my daily workout. I just HAD to run to the store to get some hair moisturizer and batteries and I just HAD to play that one NBA 2K16 game. Oh, let’s not forget an interview to go to later on. There was just no time to work out.

Time passed. I wasted my day away getting unimportant items (even though the batteries were for my scale) and the interview proved to be only a waste of time. Yet another dead end. It always seems that on your days off the day seems to be on fast forward. Before I knew it, it was 5 PM and I was lounging lazily on the sofa watching re-runs of the First 48.

A whole day of lounging and lying around wasn’t going to benefit me in no type of way. The hours spent in front of the television wouldn’t make me feel better in the morning. Pain leading to gains is much more rewarding than relaxing and gaining (pounds).

I dug deep and pushed myself to get ready. I was not interested in going to the gym but knew it was a necessity. Just like many of us are not interested in going to work but you have to sustain a living, the same goes to working out. If you want to lose weight you have to put in the work.

Today, I decided that I’d take a rest on the weights for today and hit the treadmill hard. I’d dedicate my whole workout to cardio. The gym was humid, yet again. This only meant that I’d be drenched in sweat in about 5-10 minutes. I was ready. I stretched out making sure my muscles wouldn’t tense up on me after my work out.

I started slow, gradually speeding up until I was at a steady jog. I was surprisingly able to maintain this speed for some time. Usually, after about five minutes or so, I’d start breathing heavier. Not this time. Hopefully, this was a sign of improvement.

Shortly after 10 minutes on the treadmill, I began to feel it. There was an aching in my leg (just one) and a slight pain in my back. If I stopped because of a little pain then I’d just be copping out. If I wanted to feel good about myself, I would have to challenge myself to finish. That’s exactly what I did. I turned my music up and concentrated on breathing and less about the pain. I kept my pace, every so often I’d check the time. Doing so only discouraged me. For how tired I was, I’d expect to be at least three-quarters of the way done. Negative, I was just about halfway through.

Just like the day before, I was drenched in sweat. It poured off my forehead into my eyes, fell from my arms and dripped from my face. It was uncomfortable, but it was also uncomfortable to haul around the extra 30 lbs. One way of thinking of it was that I was halfway through and a lot further than I was ten minutes ago. If I was able to put in 20 minutes, I’d be able to grit through.

I didn’t pay attention to the time. Before long, I noticed that my workout was nearing the end. Twenty-eight minutes in. Only two more to go. I was hurting but it was manageable. I was just happy to be done. I did some seated rows, back and bicep exercises after jogging.

I know I slacked off today considering all I did was a brief weight lift and 30 minute jog. I was just happy to get off the couch and do something productive. Day 3 was over!

There’s so much to losing weight outside of exercise. It’s about eating right, getting enough sleep and (for me) keeping a positive attitude. The days of late night snacks and sugary drinks are over. I would have to limit my carbohydrates, eat foods that would provide me with the nutrients I need for the day. Caloric intake is another thing I have to watch. I have a pizza addiction. Knowing that all the best food (including pizza) is not necessarily good for you is depressing. But I have to rationalize that losing weight is ultimately worth more than slice of pizza.