Captain Australia’s Crime Fighting Journal, Entry#23
It takes a lot of courage to take a long slow look at yourself. To stare unblinking into the mirror, to gaze into the soul that stares back at you. Some people make the mistake of thinking that courage means having no fear – this is not true, only psychopaths have no fear. Courage is being afraid but finding a way to move forward.
After my training sessions these past weeks, and especially the last Parkour Street Running, I’ve stopped and taken a long hard look at myself. I’m fat. I can’t deny it, I can’t excuse it. It’s even more shameful because I intend to be your hero – so I must have discipline, and be held to a higher moral authority.
I wont disclose details to avoid compromise to my secret identity, but basically after a life event about a year ago, I’ve put on twenty kilos in bodyfat. I’m still strong, and my reflexes are sharp – but I have to face the fact that I’m fat, which impacts my combat effectiveness, my ability to chase down criminals, and ultimately my credibility as a crime fighter.
So I have to turn a negative into a positive: I will lose the weight, and I will make the journey public – I will use it as an opportunity to inspire you – to prove to you that I am deeply motivated to be your hero, and also to show you, the public, that if you have a problem you should not hide from it, you should tackle it head on.
Having identified the problem, my solution is simple. A disciplined diet, and intensive daily exercise.
I’m going to put crime patrols on hold for the next 3 – 4 weeks, and focus on getting my health right. I will keep a journal of my progress here, demonstrating my commitment to solving this problem. I will report my weight daily via Twitter (just follow “RealLifeHero” if you are interested).
Once a week, I will have my videographer come around and act as a Personal Trainer, and film it, to give you an idea of the intensity of training that I will be undergoing, but I intend to undertake daily cardiovascular training & athletics workouts, with resistance training 3-4 times per week.
Below is a video of me admitting the problem, declaring my goals, and putting aside my shame to show you just how big my belly has become. Today I weigh 102.6k, which is 20k above my ‘fighting weight’ which should be 82k: a good combination of agility & power, with lean core muscle.
My activity today was confined by my work schedule, basically I took in a 7k run.
Going forward, I will be working hard to achieve a fighting weight of 82k, and become the hero that you deserve. My normal training regime is skill-based, it is good for honing combat capability and other physical skills, but not necessarily efficient for weight loss. Once I have progressed my weight loss goal, I will revert from the heavy resistance/cardio training back to my crime-fighter regimen, and will resume normal crime patrols.