Brad - The Reality Check

I am typing this on January 6th, planning to wait and post it sometime when things have settled from Makin's surgery coming up, but I feel that is something that is worth sharing.

Now, for the reality check you are wondering about. Brad went to the doctor last night (yep, 7pm, guess its good that they have late hours at this office, not so fun for me though) because he had been having a lot of trouble with headaches. He has had trouble with headaches for a while, but this last week he had one almost every day, so he finally made an appointment. The verdict? Probably caused from "slightly" high blood pressure. Yes, stress for sure is a contributing factor, but mostly weight. SO Brad is now highly motivated to drop the extra pounds so he can live longer and see his kids get old.

Not that we have not been working towards this, he did loose thirty pounds towards the beginning of 2011, which was a great start, but as usual, life gets in the way.

So anyway, I have decided to add some updates to our blog following Brads progress the upcoming months. His goal is to loose 10 lbs a month, so it will be a very big challenge, and we will just take what we can get, but would love any encouragement and tips you want to share. His main goal is getting enough exercise, which is quite the challenge with our schedule, but its just going to have to become a priority.

Wanted to share the back-story in this first post.

When I first met Brad he was at his most physically fit because he had gotten in great shape preparing for football at Concordia. However, after blowing out his knee a second time within a year, he decided he should not continue with football. And that's the switch that started the decline in fitness. He still played golf, but they did not require the physical work out that football did. Then add on that he was eating cafeteria food (Fries, fries and more fries), and going out with me at least once a week and eating chicken nuggets and ice cream from McDonald's, along with random trips with the guys from his floor to Amigos and its pretty easy to add a lot of pounds...way more than the typical "Freshman Fifteen" for sure! So, as it is for many, college was not a good way to get him on the right track.

And what comes after college? Certainly more spare time to exercise? Right. :) He worked at his full time job, worked on finishing his classes online, and then still spent a little time with his wife.

In Nebraska we did make a few efforts to get him on track, even joined a gym (gasp, I know!) and at some point (not sure if it was before or after the gym) ordered some fitness DVDs we saw on TV! And then...

Moving to Virgina Beach and KIDS! He was working full time, free-lancing some on the side, and still getting time with the kids. And then the constant attempt to balance work and family life, and still find time to exercise, when his wife certainly wants him to relieve her as soon as he gets home so we can team up two against two!

So nearly 10 1/2 years later, we are where we are today. High blood pressure causing headaches...among other problems. So, support and encourage, and hopefully the upcoming posts will have great reports of progress made!