How It Really Began

Quick show of hands, who thinks they know the real story behind the start of the 100poundsago website?  I see a few in the back there, a few more…there is a couple.  Ok well I am betting (if I actually was a betting man) that you think you know but in reality most don’t, in fact there are just 2 people that actually know the story and the gaggle of e-mails that shot back and forth that led to the birth of this site. 

It was a night just like this one….er….ok so it was over a year ago and I was trying to lose weight.  I would frequent a website and post comments about my progress or lack thereof I would complain, I would boast, but mostly I just wrote insane posts trying (mostly in vain) to be funny and poke fun at myself.  A few people who where also trying the same suggested that we exchange e-mails and “motivate” one another.  It was a lot of fun, one of the guys was a runner another was a tri-athlete.  Did I happen to mention that they both where way out of shape and their athletic prowess was years behind them, caught in a cloud of beer, Big-Macs, and cigarettes?  I had posted something about a woman doing lunges across the gym I was working out at and everyone found it hysterical.  Suggestions came in that I should perhaps think about starting a Blog of sorts and write the stuff there that I was posting.  I did and for a really long time the site had 3 or 4 visitors and then something happened, I don’t really know what but it did.  People began to visit the site and I had no clue where they where coming from?  Oddly for a very long time I would post my ranting under a fake name even in cyber space I was embarrassed about how I looked, what I was feeling and what I needed to do to get the job done.

An inspiration?  I have been called that quite a few times over the life of the 100poundsago site existence.  I am going to go on record that I am highly uncomfortable with this.  I appreciate it yes, comfortable with it, no.  I would prefer to serve as a horrible warning to people.  Gather your kids around the computer screen and show them what I use to look like regale them with the stories of what I would eat and how much I smoked, tell them about my blood pressure and my cholesterol.  Make me out to be a nasty smelly ogre of a human…and then challenge them to never turn into me!  Tell them they simply do not want to go through what I have gone through to get to the point I am right now.  Let them be warned that a sedentary life full of lavish excess in the end is a shortened life, a miserable life a life that is void of the pleasures that a healthy body can bring you.   I will however tell you of a person that I think is a treasure trove of inspiration.  I have mentioned him before and I am going to mention him again and again because I have mad respect for him.  His name is Jon and you can find his story HERE.  Jon just completed a Century ride last weekend.  Big deal you say?  Read his story and see just what a big deal it was.  I double dog…nay…..I triple dog dare you to go to his site, read his story and NOT be inspired!   Its simply not possible!

Nice day for a ride today folks, get out and ride, or walk, or jog.  I guarantee you will find something in your neighborhood or park or city that you had no idea existed.  Its amazing what you discover when you slow down.   I will say it again, you dont need a fancy bike, or lycra, or fancy shoes, or a fancy helmet….just get out and do something!