Over the course of Challenge #6 I have made tremendous progress down the path to living a happy-while-healthy life. In the blink of an eye my entire world has changed. I feel like I am the real life version of Peter Parker with the only difference being I was not bitten by a radioactive spider that caused me to become the hero known as Spiderman. Instead, I was bitten by the Fit Mania bug that gave me the tools to become a man that I am truly proud of. Throughout my life I have been very hard on myself. Whether it was school, sports, or my physical appearance, I always expected perfection. I struggled because I knew there was something I could do to better myself but I never had the strength to do so. This challenge has given my inner self proof that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to.
Using the tools learned from this challenge I have become a much more productive person. I have energy all day long due to eating healthy foods on a frequent basis throughout the day. I am never hungry and never feel the need to overindulge. Similarly, I have been able to use this new found energy to make exercising an essential part of my daily routine. If I am not at Fit Mania running laps around Toby Borup I am playing basketball, riding my bike, or being active with my 10 month old German Shepherd. I am a very competitive person and look forward to using this new active lifestyle to push myself to be better and better every day.
Over the last ninety days, the most rewarding gift has been a stronger relationship with my beautiful wife Emily. Emily and I have been married for just shy of ten months. Emily is my biggest fan and has truly been an essential factor to my success this challenge. If it was not for her I would not even be in the challenge. Knowing how hard I am on myself, Emily urged me to join her in the challenge to see what we could accomplish. We have been working out together for 90 days and have loved every minute. We get to laugh at each other during funny workouts or race each other during suicides. To be honest, the best part about my progress during this challenge has been the way Emily looks at me. However, I don’t mean the way she looks at me because I have lost some lbs and some inches, which probably does help ;). When Emily looks at me she knows that I am truly proud of myself and impressed with what I have accomplished. Her smile towards me is bigger because my inner smile is grinning like crazy.
To conclude I would like to quote my past self, aka Pre-Challenge Jordan. When comparing myself to my older brother James I used to say, “James and I just have different body styles. He is lean and I am huskier.” Post-Challenge Jordan now says, “My brother James and I have the same body style. The only difference is that James didn’t have to earn his.”
Before:
After:
