Getting Healthy: For Life and for Darts!, Stop the rot!

Hi Guys

This is abit of an appendix to my return to darts blog post. Really its concerning longevity and making the necessary adjustments to excel, stay in or continue with your chosen hobby or sport. In this case with me its darts.

Now during the everyday hustle and bustle of life in general it is easy (more like inevitable) to fall into bad habits, especially when working long hours, travelling or dealing with children and responsibilities (or all of them) where eating and health is concerned.

I am the biggest guilty party in this. I have been a bodybuilder, boxer and wrestler and know exactly what is good and bad for you. Its pretty simple really and nowadays you only have to google whats healthy and whats not and a plethora of information is there.

Now, did that stop me?????? of course not!!!!

 Sure i've talked a good talk before about being healthy and yes i gave up alcohol for 30 days in January and yes i have abstained from cola for a week or 2 etc etc etc however as with anything within a few weeks the convenience (and deliciousness) of crap food and drink reestablishes its grip on you and before you know it your in the same place.

I'll give you an example. A typical week for me would/could include:

1 Chinese Takeaway
1 Indian Takeaway
1 Dominos Pizza takeaway
McDonalds
KFC
Anywhere up to 40 cans + of 440ml 4% lager (maybe more)
Fried breakfasts
Pasties and pies at lunchtime
Gallons of coffee and cola

+ numerous bags of crisps, chocolate bars, ice creams

Incredibly despite this tsunami of unhealthy stuff (none consumed in moderation) i was still only around 215lbs (and looking in decent physical condition).  Unfortunately i felt hideously toxic inside, always felt rough, had a terrible complexion and generally just felt horrendously sluggish (the bodywork was covering an engine severely needing a service). Before i had always looked young for my age, but at 35 if anything i looked 40! I felt tired but couldn't sleep, i was irritable and whats more i had zero energy!

Now everything in moderation is fine, however mine was far from moderate and everything was to gluttonous excess. Now before i go any further i am not preaching or condemning any of that food. I love it and still do however when things go from a treat to a regular consumption that's when the accumulation of waste builds up.

Now when your 25 you can get away with it but there comes a time when you have to take precautions to ensure that you are still capable to do the stuff you love and this is why i realised that in order to be a better husband, father and darts player that i needed to get a grip of myself.

Now i'm not recommending this but i went cold turkey. I cut out:

Caffeine
Alcohol
Processed Sugar
Dairy
late night snacking
snacks
cola
excess takeaways

straight from my diet, and went on a diet of

breakfast: low sugar rice cereal (in water), banana, and pint of water
Lunch: healthy (no crisps)
Dinner: Healthy

with

1 gallon of water consumed throughout the day
1 fresh lemon squeezed into warm water and drank (daily) - just remember to rinse mouth out after as the acid can hurt your teeth
2 cups of green tea
handful of nuts when hungry

and light exercise

The first few days where harsh to say the least and a decidedly miserable experience, however and in a testament to just how amazing the human body is within 4 days i:

Already looked better
My clothes fit better
Lost weight
Was sleeping better
Had more energy
Complexion looked much better
toileting less
had more focus and clarity of thought
had a resting pulse of 58 (which is excellent for my age)


As soon as i picked up a dart i felt clearer and within 10 minutes of picking up my first dart in 6 weeks i narrowly missed a triple bull and hit a beautiful 180!!!

Now i know that if i carried on down the path i was unchecked this would have led to excess weight, health issues, stress on joints (back and knees)  and i probably would be a physical wreck by 40 and this would not only impact and affect the quality of my life with my family but also the level of darts i could play at/

Of course i will have the occasional takeaway and treat, however i want to be able to function and enjoy myself at 60 and be like Bob Anderson  was (and still is) with his darts.

So after all that was the message??

Well, id say its 'nip it in the bud' when you can! don't wait for the wheels to fall off the car before you fix it and it'll run better and last far longer!

Luke