A little history...

When I look back on my personal history, I was in the best shape of my life when I went back to graduate school at the University of Connecticut - Storrs.

(The picture to the right is from when I was in one of my friend's wedding.)

It is hard to believe that it was 1993... 16 years ago... Wow, has it been that long?

How did I get here...

You may be wondering how I went from the person in the picture (graduate school 1993) to my current [large] size. In a few words... life, love, divorce and procrastination.

In multiple sentences... The hole I dug for myself after graduate school (currently overweight and under-wealth) was merely a symptom of everything else in my life. I settled for and stayed in a job that had lost its challenge and had no room for advancement or growth. I knew I should leave but could not bring myself to do it.

I also failed to rise to the challenges of my marriage and, in many ways, I gave up. From 2003-2009 I must have gained at least 50 lbs. (probably closer to 60-70) due to bad habits that I developed. I blamed it on many things but the bottom line was that I was no closer to my dream of owning my own successful business than I had been back when I got out of graduate school.

Let's get right to the excuses...

First, when I initially got married in Sept.2003, I was commuting about an hour each way to work (2003-07), working long hours and exercising less and less. Somewhere along the line, I stopped running in races on the weekends ... probably because I was so out of shape... or maybe because I felt that I did not have enough "extra money" to pay the entry fees. Triathlons were even more expensive and had stopped long ago. I was on the downward spiral to couch potatoe* !

*In case you are wondering... I checked the spelling with Dan Quayle.

Marriage / Food connection ...

Even before I got married, my [then future] wife and I shared a similar diet. When we met, we were both on a version of the Atkins Diet (which included "pizza top"... an incredible delicacy if you have not tried it).

Life, back then, was good ... and I still consider my wedding day the best day of my life (so far) since I was marrying someone I respected and loved. After we got married, we tried the South Beach Diet (which is similar to Atkins... but slightly different) and we both lost weight. I felt pretty good and I think this was about the time I did my last triathlon.

Months later, my wife decided that she would join Weight Watchers so that she could really enjoy the Thanksgiving feast in a couple months. Having been through Weight Watchers years ago (without success), I explained to my wife that I did not feel comfortable with the environment there. It seems geared more toward women... so I decided to "do my own thing".

In hindsight, this might have been one of those "forks in the road"...

Yes, I've been Forked ....

My wife lost weight, started running on the weekends at her health club and I did "none of the above". Picture a tub full of water ... and the plug is pulled from the drain... that's how it felt as I slowly spiraled down.... becoming less motivated to workout.

I don't want to skim over the challenges in my marriage... suffice it to say, "things got worse" and in 2007 we separated and sold our beautiful 5BR house in Rowayton, CT. I moved all my stuff into storage, lived in a motel for a month or two and eventually purchased a house in need of work (my specialty). In January 2008, the divorce paperwork was finalized.

Swirling.... Swirling .... Swirling...

... did I mention that I eventually got a big screen TV and HD cable service for my new house? The couch potatoe was starting to grow sprouts in all directions.

Shouldn't the good stuff be starting now?

Since I was on my own, I figured I would bounce back and get everything in order. I would get a dog, start the business of my dreams (while working full time at "the job") and begin running / swimming / biking to get back in shape.... (who needs to worry about dieting, right?)

The house got fixed up (enough so it was livable) but I was still not .... really living.

It took another event to finally kick me out of my rut and into a new life...

Stay tuned to this blog to learn about "The Job" and "The Driveway"!

d.Mark "Dave" Wheeler

(comments welcome... even from an ex-wife.)