Blogs > Lighten Up With Jim

55-year-old James Horejs, of Mentor, is a contestant in The News-Herald's Lighten Up in 2013.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Seeing Eye-to-Eye

Two interesting experiences occurred this past weekend.  In one of those experiences, my improved fitness made an impossible task bearable and even "fun".  The other experience most likely made a difference in the life of a total stranger.  Heartwarming to say the least.

The first experience involved a mundane garage sale.  My dear girlfriend and I have been stockpiling gently-used keepsakes (in other words, "junk") for several years now.  We always hoped to throw a garage sale, but never got around to it.  Well, the neighborhood decided to have one, so we hitched up with theirs.  To say we have a lot of stuff to sell is the understatement of the year.

What does this have to do with fitness?  Wednesday night, after working my 8 hour day-job, I did my 7 mile run.  I should be exhausted, right?  Nope.  With my dear girlfriend squirreled away in the crawlspace of our basement handing me stuff, I made about 50 trips up and down the stairs carrying all kinds of stuff.

Remarkable.  Six months ago, carrying all the extra weight I have lost in the contest, I would have been lucky to make two trips.  And those two trips would have taken all my breath away and led to at least one beer break.

The second experience occurred as a reward for our successful garage sale, or as I call it "getting your neighbors to pay you $300 to clean out your basement".  Saturday night, after all the sale items were sold or carted off to Goodwill, my dear girlfriend and I decided to treat ourselves to a few adult beverages out on a waterfront patio.  (I know.  I wasn't supposed to be drinking, but I made a teensie-weensie exception for myself that day.)

While on the patio bar, we met a nice couple, about our ages, from Aurora.  They had taken their 30-ish year old daughter who was visiting from Milwaukee there for a night out.  Dad had recently had a heart problem and needed to lose about 10 or 12 pounds.  It turns out that the daughter is a personal trainer back home.

Do you think the daughter could get Dad to move off the couch or eat healthy?  Not a chance.  All of her health and fitness knowledge and expertise fell on deaf ears with Dad.  Here's where I come in...

The Dad and I started taking about weight loss and diet.  I mentioned Lighten Up and the success I've had so far.  Dad opened up with me.  He was fascinated about how I planned my diet around my basal metabolic rate and calculations of the cardio burns I have been able to sustain.  You could see the gears in his brain work, adapting my program into a scaled-down version he could use to lose his 10 or 12 pounds over the course of a few months.  He was happy to hear that I have not needed to starve myself, nor eat wacky weight loss products or supplements out of a box or can.

Those wonderful people left, thanking me for talking with them.  Somehow, I think I made a difference in Dad's life.

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