A long time coming

Constant procrastination sickness injury and some speed bumps along the way have hindered my progress. These past couple of years I really have let myself go and it's really embarrassing. It seems like I let myself be consumed by living in the moment and not focusing on what was important to me.  Over the past 2 & 1/2 years I've put on about  a hundred and 20 pounds doing contest recovering from injuries and just being a downright lazy bastard. I can't say that it hasn't been fun along the way. I've partied I went to Las Vegas I made it to Nathan's  made it  to Hooters in Clearwater I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted watched a ton movies laid on my ass and didn't work out almost the entire time and if I did most of the time it was in spurts I'd get on a health kick for a month or two and then get back to being lazy  as usual. In all honesty I thought about completely giving up on competitive eating before I left for Vegas I was going to quit right then and there but I had already booked my flight and it was nonrefundable so I said fuck it I'm going anyway and I  had a blast while I was out there I don't regret doing it. Winter has kicked my ass these past couple of years the first time that I got really sick I ended up with a massive fluid buildup in my lungs and was almost sent to the hospital with pneumonia. It took me months to recover. Last winter I ended up with cold onset asthma. It really was frustrating when I constantly kept getting sick because I was trying to get back on the horse but wasn't happening. I used that and the fact that I was technically and still technically am a professional competitive eater as a crutch I figured I'm fat Im getting fat same old I eat for hobby so it's expected.  I truly forgot that I'm an athlete first and an eater second comes with the territory I used bust my ass in the gym working out so that I could eat whatever I wanted it was kind of a love and hate relationship. After a while food always won. But over the years my weight has fluctuated constantly. I've been fat I've been medium-sized I've been skinny I've been ripped whatever. That's part of the reason why I procrastinate so much when it comes to losing weight. I know how fast I can lose it once I'm on a regiment and when I'm constantly running but stop & go isn't necessarily the best option when it comes to running the sort of miles that I was running before my body wasn't accustomed to it and I was constantly getting injured I would try to start off where I left off and I really fucked myself over in doing so. This time around I made sure that I respect any and all injuries/sickness that I've encountered along the way. So far so good but this time around I'm really looking to take myself to that next level. I've been to a point where I was running 60 miles a week in an average of four days there were weeks that I've done it in three or two on top of lifting weights running biking swimming and practicing martial arts. So where I was at before really was beyond that of the semi average dude. It's funny but at the same time frustrating being at the level that I was at and putting on the type of weight that I put on. I was constantly reminded by those around me. Whether they were friends family coworkers it really didn't matter everybody and their mother literally had jokes. I'm really not the type of person who takes criticism very well so in this case I can honestly say I was extremely pissed off any time someone had something to say about my weight. In the back of my mind I was like fuck you you will never ever be at the level that I was at you your mother brother sister cousin anyone you've known or met couldn't do what I do but at the same time I wasn't vocal about the way I felt I just went with it and it really did keep my mind occupied. Just something else to be pissed off about. I feel like regardless what type of person you are whether you have good intentions or bad no one wants A train full of passengers to crash but when it happens you can't help but look away Any other time that I've lost weight it sort seemed easy compared to now because I didn't get as big as I did this time around. Plus there were outside stresses that influenced my gain all the other times this time around I can honestly say I'm 100% the blame. But it's all good I have the same mindset that I had any other time that I've dropped weight before and it's basically that I'm tired of being fat. I gave myself plenty of leeway any other time that I've dieted but this time around I have been extremely strict I've actually started counting calories somewhat limiting what I eat but eating cleaner than I've ever eaten before balancing out my macronutrients keeping a log of everything and trying to stay below a certain percentage of fat every day. I shot up to 301.6 pounds this past August so this time I knew that extreme measures were going to be required in order for me to drop this weight. Ive had flip-flops back-and-forth when I first started but when I finally got my diet down packed and was able to exercise without sustaining any sort of injury I can honestly say that within the past three months I'm down about 60 pounds. It feels good looking in the mirror and somewhat seeing what my old self used to look like I'm not I was at before but I'm getting there this time around I am really going to push harder than I've ever pushed before. And I can say that this is not a New Year's resolution type of thing because I started dieting last year. As far as eating contest go I really don't plan on competing until I'm happy with where I'm at.  Most likely not until late April early May. I really want to compete in the king cake contest in AC on fat Tuesday in March but I'm going to have to flip a coin on that one. Even though I haven't yet reached 30 I feel that the window of opportunity is slowly starting to close on me so the time for doing things really is now I've procrastinated and put aside practicing martial arts for a while now and I really want to try and apply myself towards getting in the type of shape where I feel like I'm confident enough to fight. That's one of my true goals for this year. Although I do enjoy competing in eating contest from time to time it's not something that I love doing I've always loved martial arts from the time I was a kid when I was three years old watching ninja turtles trying to mimic moves that I saw kung fu films really has been a passion of mine for a while & Ive put it off for way too long. I don't want to be known for being a guy who can stuff his face it seems like that's pretty much all people know me for nowadays. The notoriety for doing contest never really enticed me I'm not a people person I don't enjoy talking to reporters or people I don't know I've always been kind of a loner and have lived a pretty sheltered life so crowds being around a ton of people never really enticed me all the bells and whistles that come with eating were more of an aggravation than something that I welcomed. That's part of the reason why I felt it necessary to kind of disappear from social networks for a while. I feel that I do enjoy my own company from time to time and being alone really helps me Center and maintain my focus I've done my best to stay in touch with people who I consider to be friends whether it be a phone call or a text. I feel as though I have many acquaintances but very few friends I try to keep a small circle and I'm not too keen on having people be in my personal life. Plus I didn't want history to repeat itself & post a million things about how I'm going to try and lose weight and do this and do that and then go about not doing it.  So this time to myself really was a necessary evil.  My only regret is that I feel as though I've kinda lost touch with some of the people are important to me & and that I haven't really worked on continuing to build a relationship with God. But that's another story all in itself. Throughout this time that I've been dieting I really haven't had much of a social life my routine is basically wake up in the morning go to work come home work out shower to sleep. I really can say that I've become a slave to my routine and constantly staying busy is now a necessity I feel like if I lay around doing nothing then I really am wasting my day and that time is more precious than I will ever know. I feel like once I get to where I want to be then you can actually start to have a life again until then it's grind time and feel as though working 24 seven everything that I do is now is to try and better myself whether it be as simple as getting a solid eight hours asleep at night which I'm finally doing thank God. Last year I Rate my year about 50-50 there were things that I've done that I never would've dreamed I'd be doing finally got on the plane started doing some traveling I competed at Nathan's on the Fourth of July I actually lived a little. Life is crazy I would've never my wildest dreams said that would've been doing any of the things that I've done last year but I hope that I do have a long and fruitful life so I really don't know what else my time on earth has to hold. But I'll do my best to value every moment of it. I really wanted to start this year off on a positive note so far so good until next time those of you who read thanks for reading and I'll try to make sure that I don't go to plus years without writing another blog.