The beginning of the end

Hello. My name is Brad. I am an average guy who lives in an average middle-class neighborhood. I work everyday as a police officer in an average-sized town in West Central Alabama. For all intents and purposes this could be your town. It could be anybody's town. I am 29 years old. I have a college degree from a state school. I have a lovely wife and a mortgage. And a dog. I enjoy hunting and college football. I rarely see my closest friends because they all moved away. I enjoy a good steak and a cold beer. Does any of this sound familiar? I could be you. As a matter of fact, given the common demographics associated with the average blog reader, I probably am you. The two of us are probably very much alike. However, if things were going to continue exactly the way they are now this blog would become very boring. Very quickly. And you would leave. So, in the interest of keeping you around I'm going to do something a little different. Several years of sedentary living in the American fashion has left my body looking like 215 pounds of chewed bubble gum. I'd wager yours looks similar. I used to be an athlete. You might have been too. I played soccer, baseball, basketball, etc. I played sports in high school. Then, I got to college and found other ways to spend my time. After college I went to work. I joined a local gym and went there to workout...some. I injured my back. I ate like crap. I decided that work and life was too hard to schedule around and I largely gave up. My physique and my health suffered. I, like you, became accustomed to having trouble getting down to tie my shoes. I, like you, got winded after climbing a couple sets of stairs. I knew I would die younger than I should. I was living the American dream. But, something happened recently. Suddenly I was not simply "ok" with how I looked and how I felt. I found myself, for the first time, in a situation. I was standing in a room full of people, thousands of them, with my beautiful wife and I realized I was the most out of shape person there. I saw the looks on several of their faces when they looked at my wife, then at me. I could almost hear them thinking, "What the heck is she doing with him?" I was embarrassed for me and for her. I decided I was going to do something about it. Enter this blog. Notice the title. Flab to Fit 365. Here is what is going to happen- Starting tomorrow morning, May 1, 2012 I am going to dedicate a year of my life to transforming my flabby body into something that I can be proud of. It is going to be a radical change that blasts my strength, confidence, clarity of mind, athletic ability, situational survivability, etc. through the roof. Let me clear, I am going to look like a new man on May 1, 2013. I am doing this for me, for my wife, and for you. I want you, the reader, to look at what happens to me over the next 12 months and decide that you can change your life too! Remember, you and I are extremely similar. I'm not taking a year away from work or being a husband. I am simple re-organizing my time and priorities in order to better myself. Everyone can do this! If you want to take it a step further, let's do it together! I welcome comments and email from you all. Let's motivate one another. How am I going to do this, you ask? Crossfit. Heard of it? Google it. It's a phenominal workout program that has taken the world by storm. I have seen, firsthand, it's unbelievable transforming power. Simply put- it works. I am going to follow an up and coming Crossfit programmer who has been making his name programming for successful Crossfit competitors. He runs a blog on his programming called The Outlaw Way. It's good stuff. I will also be altering my diet in an extreme sort of way. I will not be following any specific diet, but rather simply eating "clean". This means no gluten, lots of protein, no garbage, etc. I will detail my diet more as I figure it out. I do have one advantage. I have been doing Crossfit on and off for a while. I have never taken it seriously and it shows. However, I am familiar with most of the movements used in the workouts. Some of these movements are complex and can be dangerous. Make sure you are trained in these movements before attempting them as you can permanently damage your body by performing them incorrectly. I am not sponsored by any company and no one gives me products to use. For this reason I will attempt to keep the brands of the products I use out of this blog. I will, however, answer any questions you may have through email if you like. How will I track my performance- I will be using photos to show the physical changes in my body. I will freely share by body's measurements and how they change. I will be performing certain benchmark workouts and lifts to track the changes in my strength and overall conditioning. I will also be sharing medical data to show you the positive (hopefully) impact this has on my cholesterol levels, blood pressure, body mass index, body fat percentage, etc. I am going to attempt to give you as much data as I can measure in order to convince you to try this yourself. Did you ever watch the award-winning documentary "Super Size Me?" I am going to attempt something along those lines, just with a much lower budget and much less production value. I will try to keep you filled in on exactly what I am doing, what I am taking into my body, and what these things are doing to my body. Also, please keep in mind that I am typing all this on an IPad in my spare time. Be gentle with my spelling and grammar. I am not a professional writer. Well, let's begin. I hope you enjoy this, but mainly I hope this encourages you to make a life altering decision for yourself too.