10-net 3: Encourage Others

You could be the final push for someone to get healthy. I don’t share my story and my success to brag, or remind myself of what I have accomplished. Quite frankly, I don’t view this success as my doing, but something that was a product of faith in the Lord and a tremendous amount of support from others. I could not have done this if it wasn’t for people pushing me to start. So I share my story, because if one person sees my story - and the dramatic change that has occurred in my life - and is inspired to make a change in their life, then all this is worth it.

Maybe this story has inspired you to make a change, then continue to spread the word! Share my story, and share yours! Maybe this message isn’t meant for you, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share and encourage others. If you know a person that needs to make a change, be the one who steps out and challenges them. They may resent you for it at first, but one day they will thank you for. Get out there and encourage others to make a change!

10-net 4: Find What Works For You

There are two different sides to healthy living, and those are diet and exercise. Dieting is pretty straight forward. If you are deciding between a burger and fries, and chicken and veggies, you know what the right choice is. But even in dieting there are many options, whatever you choose to do, stick to it, don’t let the diet expire.

When it comes to exercise it is crucial that you find something you enjoy. For myself it was riding. You get to ride in races, wear cool flashy jerseys, and riding a bike is very entertaining. For my wife, she hops on the treadmill an hour a night. She doesn't run in big races or marathons because that’s not her. She turns on Netflix and just runs for an hour in the privacy of our own home. You have to find whats going to work for you. If you want to ride, I’ll help you get set up with a bike and get you spinning. If you wanna run, my wife will do the same. Maybe you want to swim, or rock climb and hike, or do interval training and weightlifting. What specific exercise you do doesn't matter to me! Just get out, get active, and get fit!

10-net 5: You Can't Do It Alone

"But it's called Today I Can! Why do I need help??"
Because, hypothetical stranger, accountability is essential.

In October of 2013 I was featured in an article in the Dallas Morning News and I talked about weight loss and my road to a healthy lifestyle. In that article I talked about my good friend Doug Walker, and referred to him as my "Fitness Mentor". Doug was key in helping me get to where I am today. I am not a very athletic person, but he is, and when I first started riding he could have left me in the dust. But instead he dragged me around and patiently held back with me, always challenging me to work a little harder than I would have challenged myself. He is actually going to be joining me in the later part of the Tour de Pac 12, helping me stay motivated, and doing what he does best, challenging me to push harder.

Another man who I get the pleasure of riding with is Ozzie "The Wizard" Buckler. He too helps me stay motivated and rides with me at least once a week.

These two men have been essential in my road to health, especially when I was first starting out. Exercise is hard, and quite frankly it hurts sometimes, and if you're going it alone, it's pretty easy to say no to yourself. But it is hard to say no to someone standing in front of you saying "time to ride". It wasn't a constant battle for me to stay at it, but on the days that it was, having someone there to keep me going was crucial.

Find someone to keep you going, and if you need someone, I'd be glad to help.

10-net 6: Don't Be Afraid to Call an Audible

The road to a healthy lifestyle is not easy, and obstacles will arise. You could be running and sprain you ankle, pull a hamstring, or maybe even just get sick for a couple of days. For myself, I rode into a curb, flew over my handle bars, and fractured my wrist. I could not put pressure on my wrist for 6 weeks, which meant I couldn’t ride outside. In the past, this would have been the end, I would have been defeated, and stopped riding. But I didn’t do that. I called an audible, hopped on a stationary bike, and simply road in my house. Not only did I not let this injury halt me, it actually helped me figure out a great alternative for when there is inclement weather.

When obstacles arise, do not get defeated, call an audible and overcome it. Its not always going to be easy, but I pray you keep pushing, because its so worth it.

10-net 7: Goals are good!

Now I know this may seem counterintuitive to the “Day One” mentality, but having something to strive for is great! But you should strive for the right thing. My objective remains the same, make good decisions today but somewhere along the way, I decided I would ride from Vancouver to Tijuana so I started to think about and study what my daily exercise routine would look like if I was going to do that and what my diet will look like heading into and during the ride.

When people go on diets they say “I am going to go 10 days without eating a cheeseburger” and then they celebrate by eating a cheeseburger. If that's the reward, I want it now, what do I do to get it faster and what can I do to get two? Your goals should be in line with the habits you are making and the reward should be something that fits in with both of those as well. I want the reward of a new bike after I ride the wheels off my old one is a goal and a reward that doesn't get in the way of my daily routines or potentially get caught up in the details of being real tangible. It does line up with what I'm doing.

Eliminate prescription drugs, get your blood pressure down. Run a marathon, run two! My wife’s goal for 2013 was to run 1,000 miles, and she did! Pretty tangible goal but she's not like me, my goals are generally to ride more this weekend than last weekend and if I don't I just reload for the next weekend. When she did that she didn’t stop running, she continued, I might not react the same but this weekend is always coming up and last weekend is always something I can improve on. So Aim high? Dream big? Absolutely but not at the expense of living in the now.

10-net 8: Maintain a Day One Mentality

The Day One mentality is how I operate. Each day is day one of my diet and exercise routine, it ends today. A life style is not a “10 day juice cleanse” or a “30 day work out program”, it's a fundamental change in what you do today. When my family went on a 21 day cleanse diet, I finished the 21st day of the cleanse, and started again on Day 22. My new start date is today, my end date is something I simply don't focus on. If you put an expiration date on healthy eating then your healthy lifestyle is destined to expire! You are living to reward yourself by doing something that, in reality, is not rewarding. 

My approach is not complicated, I simply hope to make the right decisions today when it comes to what I put in my body. Today is my day one, if that works out, I will try it again tomorrow. Today is your day one as well, you just need to decide of what. 

10-net 9: The First Step

The most important step in any journey is the first one, and my story was no different. And my first step was quite literally a step. I had to start exercising, but I could only walk, so that’s what I did. And I started eating healthy. I decided to have a piece of chicken instead of a cheeseburger, and steamed veggies instead of fries. Those first steps were hard, but they became easier, and they eventually became habit. Those steps turned into gears on a bike, and thousands of miles ridden, but I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t take my first step.

The path to truly changing your lifestyle starts with the first step. If you are contemplating that first step, I hope you will take it. I pray you will take it. If you know someone who needs to take that first step, then talk to them. If you need help taking your first step, talk to me, talk to a friend.  Its hard, but its worth it. This is so much better than a cheeseburger.