“To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first.” - William Shakespeare
We've all done it in life ... we begin a journey that we feel we'll be able to conquer quickly. It's like we're the rabbit in the race against the turtle, sprinting towards our goal. Unfortunately, we become discouraged when we realize getting there is difficult.
That's been me for the past 3-4 years. I bought a fitness club membership with my family, and figured I'd be able to drop some weight quickly. Unfortunately, it has pretty much been a roller coaster ride. Lose 10 lbs. here, go back up five, go back down five. With no structure, or real push, it has been gratifying to lose what I have, but also discouraging that so little has been accomplished.
When the opportunity to participate in the Niagara Life Shifting Gears lifestyle challenge came up, I was reticent at first. Publicly document my struggles and potential failure in 50,000 copies of a magazine and on the web? No thanks. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized this is a great opportunity. This is an opportunity to really push myself to climb that steep hill. It's a chance to work with the experts to reach my goals.
Over the past 10-15 years, I have  battled being overweight. While I have always been active in a moderate fashion, one of the biggest killers has been my eating habits. Balanced diet? Does that mean you have a cookie in each hand?
I don't think my challenge will be the workout aspects. I regularly go to the gym a couple of times a week. The challenge will be working on eating properly, and avoiding the temptation of the cheap chocolate bars and pop available next door to my office.
 I have been very fortunate to have avoided health problems in my 31 years of life, but I want to ensure I work to prevent any of the diseases or problems associated with obesity (man, I hate that word!) and ensure I have a long life to live with my wife and three kids. It's going to be a challenge, but I have to do it - for my family, and for myself.

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