I have three children. I am busy. I woke up the other day and realized I was also overweight. I blamed it on being busy because of the three children. After thinking about this excuse for a while, I had to admit that the reason for my obesity was not my children. I was portly even before I had children. My undisciplined lifestyle was to blame for my pudginess.

Things had to change. I decided to attempt a complete lifestyle transformation that would culminate in me completing a significant challenge that I had always half heatedly contemplated. I was going to run a marathon, a slow marathon but a marathon.

I began to formulate my plan.

First step: Shape up the diet. Remove the booze, fried and processed food, midnight Mac n cheese and tubs of ice cream.

Second step: Shape up the body. Stick to a consistent exercise plan comprised of an intense running program, weight training and overall “take the stairs” fitness approach.

Third Step: Shape up the schedule and follow the early to bed early to rise mantra.

The good folks at TEMPUR-PEDIC sent me a neat little wireless device called a FITBIT to help me track my progress in these three areas. The fit bit is a small, money clip sized device, that allows you to track and catalog your caloric intake, counts the number of steps taken in a day (including tracking your runs) and monitors the duration and quality
of your sleep.

I am not sure how it does all of this but it certainly helped me manage these three specific areas of my newfound lifestyle.

It’s only been 5 & 1/2 weeks and I still have a long way to go before attempting a 26 miler but I am making progress.

Healthy diet and consistent strenuous exercise are working wonders. Down 25 pounds I look better and feel better. My base level of fitness is slowly improving and my plodding three-mile runs are actually becoming enjoyable.

Perhaps the most interesting part of it all however is the sleep component. Now even before using the FITBIT I knew what a good night’s sleep felt like. Although 7 hours of quality slumber have been scarce over the past few years given my children’s nocturnal behavior, the days following a good night sleep always seemed easier. And since I began tracking and monitoring this data I can tell you that it is absolutely true!

Not only are my workouts more vigorous and more enjoyable after a good snooze, my craving for crappy food is less intense. That was the part that amazed me!

My 2 year old, while not the best sleeper in the world, is making progress. Lately he has been stringing together multiple nights in a row of uninterrupted sleep and I am hoping this trend continues. The difficulty of my training journey may in-fact rest on his sleeping habits. I’ll keep you posted.

I know there is a big difference between lopping 3 miles around the neighborhood and gutting out 26.2 around town but I am excited to try.

For now I’m going to Sleep, Eat, Run.

This post is sponsored by Tempur-Pedic because we think you deserve to get your best night’s sleep every night.