Less of Me
Have you ever seen those movies when someone was in jail or trapped somehow and they worked out all the time and got into great shape? Some pushups, situps, and maybe raw eggs and BAM! They were in super hero shape.
I alway imagined that would be me…until the covid lockdown.
I went into the lockdown in pretty decent shape. I’d been working out regularly for several years and my diet was fairly clean. The stress and enormity of the situation though, got the best of me. Like so many, the stress of the unknown really hit me. When would this be over, how long will it last, will the virus mutate to something worse, will I loose someone personally, are my friends ok, can I keep my family ok, how can I help my clients make good decisions about their money and financial futures, why has science become yet another partisan political thing, will our democracy last, how to I buy groceries, why did I sign a 5 year lease that I didn’t need anymore, and so much more!
I did my best with all the roles I had to fill with the exception of taking care of my physical health. I turned to comfort food to ease my stress. I rediscovered my joy for cooking and dove into homemade pizzas, pasta, and so much more! Flash forward to November 2021 as I was beginning to go back out into the world again and was transitioning out of my daily wear of sweatpants and suddenly lots of my clothes didn’t fit any more. In particular was this belt I have. It’s my favorite casual belt that I got from REI. One of those you buy that is just one size and you trim it down to what you need. I put it on after months of not using it, and it almost didn’t fit! There was less than an inch left on what had been several inches of extra material! I decided then that I needed to take action.
I reached out to a friend who started a gym just as lockdown began. I made an appointment in November of 2021 to get an evaluation and discuss my goals. I stepped on this machine there that measures one’s body composition. Weight, muscle mass, body fat, and more! I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, didn’t want to do this, but it was time to face reality. I knew I had added fat, but I was shocked at the amount of muscle mass I had lost. According to this machine, I needed to lose 40 pounds of body fat to get to my goal…or drop my percentage bf by 18%! My coach, Eric Humes, wrote up a program for me to start exercising and gave me a few simple principals to start with. After 6 months of consistently eating at a slight caloric deficit, (Not remotely starving myself), lifting weights 4 times per week, walking daily, and some bouts of yoga and bike riding, I’ve lost 27 pounds of fat and added back 8 pounds of muscle! I still have a ways to go to him my personal goal, but I’m thrilled with the progress and so happy how “easy” it has been. Easy in the sense that I’m not under an artificial timeline, I’m making slow but steady progress, I feel better, I have more energy, and I know that I’m building habits that are sustainable.
What we lived through was difficult and stressful. During covid I published my book, launched my podcast, and structured a deal to sell my financial planning process, while dealing with a global pandemic, and the political turmoil that shocked the world. I did my best to manage all that, and the thing that suffered was my health. I knew it as it was happening, and tried to be patient with myself. As the stress from many of the above things began to subside, I reached out for help from my buddy Eric at Lift gym here in St. Louis. We set some goals, made a plan and went to work. Life has seasons, and that one definitely had aspects that felt like a winter and now I feel like it’s spring time. Wherever you are, be kind to yourself, love yourself, and reach out for help when you need it.
For many years I had known that I didn’t want to be a financial planner anymore. The worst part about the job is taking clients though a financial crises. This time period is especially bad because of the increasingly toxic partisan situation in our county. Compounding this was the unknown nature of what was happening. As I did my best to help my sons, help my clients, and try to stay healthy while figuring out how to get groceries and more, I turned to “comfort food” as a stress relief. I started making homemade pizza’s, handmade pasta, and all kinds of other amazingly delicious foods. I sat on my couch or bed on zoom calls big parts of the day and my activity level plummeted. I began wearing sweat pants nearly all the time so they just stretched as there became…more Carlo.