Heartilly

... we went surfing and managed to stand up on the board. Score.

As an end of semester celebration, a 22nd birthday celebration for a friend, and a test to see just how fit my friends and I had become over the past year, we decided to go on a 20km hike/campout at Wilson’s Promontory last week.

Originally the hike was meant to span over 35km, but because we were silly enough to take with us a 12 person tent which weighed well over 35kgs, we decided to cut the route short and hike for only 20kms.

Anyway, the trip was nothing short of amazing. We lived off trail mix for a large portion of the trip, got burgled by possums, waded through creeks, explored natural caves, and saw sights that we’ll never forget. So many memories, which is why I won’t write them here. A complete recollection of the trip could span pages.

So, camping. That’s another I can tick off the list, and will continue to do in the future. Waking up with nature on your doorstep is something everyone should experience at least once.

Health and fitness is something I’ve struggled with for the past 4 years. Since leaving high school (which meant the end of compulsory sport classes), getting a car (which negated the need to walk everywhere), and taking up full-time uni (which meant high-stress and unhealthy eating patterns) I managed to gain a fair bit of weight. Every year for the last 4 years, I’ve continually pledged over New Years that I’d try to lose weight and get fit in the process. But every year up until 2008, I’d managed to fail miserably. I just couldn’t seem to take my health and diet seriously.

At the beginning of this year that I began looking back at some old photos. It was then that I came across one photo in particular. This one photo was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” (or so to speak), as it was then that I’d realized just how much weight I’d put on over the years. That’s when I decided to get serious.

So after about 6 months of some serious gym work (ie. running 6kms every night, then switching to an alternating cardio & weights program), and maintaining a healthy diet (ie. cutting out all fast food and sugary junk, and replacing with fruit, veg and lean meats), things started to turn around. My fitness increased from the heavy cardio load, and I went from looking like this:   to this:  

And as a result of the weight loss and increased fitness, my lifestyle changed completely. I went from living like a couch potato to having an active lifestyle, doing things like hiking, camping and rockclimbing – things I’d always wanted to do.

Don’t get me wrong – what I went through in that 6 month period was tough. But the benefits I’ve reaped from it far outweigh any pain that I went though. So thus ends the saga of my unfitness. From here on, I’ll never go back.