Today is the first day of the summer holidays, and I have rode my bike to work.

This is part 2 of an initiative I like to call, “get my fitness back”.

You see in my youth I was very fit. I was a Muay Thai boxer, a WWE style wrestler, and Roller/Ice hockey coach, manager, player. At one point I was training every night for hockey, and play at least 2 matches each weekend.

Then in university I started to smoke and drink, and when I came back from university I started a family, and I have found I didn’t have the time to put into keeping active.

The other thing I used to do was eat my kids food. Sounds harsh but, what I mean is I hate when food goes to waste, and as a new Dad I had no sense of portion control for my new child. But instead of throwing the extra in the bin, I would scoff it down. I got fat. I had stopped going to Ice Hockey. I was smoking more because my family was getting bigger and smoke break is a break. It was 2-3 minutes when I could have a breather (chuckle, ex smoker joke there).

I’m not body conscious, I like to think I have a Gok Wan outlook to my body, and I love my own skin. But I was referred to as fat daddy, and my kids loved the fact that I was Daddy Pig from Peppa Pig. I loved that, no problem.

All that said I realised I felt old. I was lethargic. I was depressed. I was breathing heavy going up the stairs. I didn’t want to play with the kids on the park. The people who supported my smoking and drinking drifted away. I had moved to the country from Manchester and my mates from Manchester who I smoked and drinked with were too lethargic drinking and smoking to visit. And I was too lethargic from all the drinking and smoking I was doing. So I got depressed that I couldn’t see them and the negative spiral escalated.

Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with drinking per say and I was not doing it to excess. Nor was it effecting anyone else but me. And I was happy, life was great but just sometimes I got depressed, easily. I was always lethargic.

Also some of my smoking supporters where getting sick too. The serious type of sick no smoker dares dwell on.

I have a friend who is very athletic, competitive and sporty. My teenage self wanted to beat him so bad. However, there was no way my adult self would even try. We played golf together. One tee, I said “I doubt I’ll make this shot with my luck”. I was being funny. “Such negativity,” he said “you need a bit of PMA (Positive Mental Attitude)”.

I was being funny, I thought. But looking back how many times had I brushed it away as that. How many times had I reinforced my own negativity to myself. Where had my confidence gone. And my question was simply this. Is this what I want for my kids. Is this the example I want to set for my kids, for others, for Myself.

No.

I had to quit smoking.

I had quit smoking before for a spell, however I had been stressed at work and had just one. IT ONLY TAKES ONE. All you smokers out there if you quit remember this.

This February 2014 it was different. I was determined. And I quit smoking and I genuinely feel it is for good this time, I can feel it. No gum, no patch just will power.

But it wasn’t enough. I felt brilliant but I couldn’t run. And I wanted to run, with the kids, on the park, play football, play hockey, cycle.

My friend also had a copy of the Insanity workout. I had watched a video of him doing it. The negative me had looked wide eyed, wondering how the heck he did it. Making excuses in my head like I don’t have certain shorts or the right kind of trainers. Worrying that Shaun T was an ex marine. I would never be able to to “the hardest workout ever put on DVD”.

Now after quitting smoking, I was ready to try. I watched the intro, Shaun T telling me to Dig Deeper. Next the fitness test. Which floored me. Even my wife, who has always been very positive and confident, didn’t think it would be that hard and wondered how I was going to get through the next DVD let alone the week, let alone the 60 day course.

I persevered. I took Shaun Ts advice and I Dug Deeper.

It only took a week for my fitness to improve drastically. I only have 3 weeks left on the Insanity workout left, but I’m hooked. I love exercise again and I can keep up. I highly recommend the Insanity workout to anyone.

Since I quit smoking and started exercise the improvements to my health and mind set have been tremendous. I haven’t lost all the weight I’d like, but that didn’t bother me anyway (besides I know it won’t be long). I play with the kids, my skill in any sport has improved, my positivity is endless. I even started this blog because of my healthier mindset.

Hopefully I will be able to bring this positivity and share it with the people who read my blog.

So now its time to start part 2 of the initiative, it’s bring your bike to work day. Everyday. I got 8 weeks before I need to use my car for the kids so this holiday I will see where it takes me.