Jimi Del Angel is a regular guy, who like many of us, found himself at an uncomfortable weight with some pretty bad habits. He wanted more for his children, and decided to make a change.
My name is Jimi and I will start the story of my journey by telling you about myself and where I was at both physically and mentally on Jan 1 this year (2017) . I was 270 pounds, smoking a pack and a half a day eating fast food every day, and physically unable to keep up with two active little boys. On top of that, I had limited range of motion in my knee after not doing proper rehab after surgery to repair my acl,pcl,mcl in my right knee. Going up a flight of stairs was a task for me . Something had to change. I had given up on life and was playing a victim. Instead of, “Why me” I should of been asking, “Why not me” . It was time for me to fight back.
New years eve I was smoking my last cigarette; making some resolutions to start the next day. Gyms are always packed the month of January; most fade out in a month or so. I knew this, but told myself “This time is different; I won’t quit. I won’t let my kids see me quit. I choose life. I wanna be around for my kids.”; having the courage to start is sometimes the hardest part.
My diet was so bad, it was easy at first to lose weight by just choosing a few better options. Instead of 2 doughnuts, or a muffin with a coffee, loaded with sugar, I was having a smoothie ,and a coffee with 2 and 2 instead of 5 and 5; that comes in a large coffee. Instead of eating fast food every day, I was packing a lunch and making my own dinner. After a month of this, I was down about 15 pounds. That was just enough for me to stay on track. My size 40 pants and xxl shirts now fit me comfortably.
After 2 months of this, I planed off and had to clean up my diet in order to continue to lose weight; no more smoothies loaded with sugar; no more sugar in my coffee; no more dairy; no more weekly cheat meals; no more sweats. I added more protein, lean meats, and healthy fats. I believe sugar is what makes us fat; carbs and fats get a bad rap.
My fitness journey..
I have a life long friend of 30 years. I’m 37 and around Christmas time he decided to do a swan dive off his house shattering his pelvis and ending up in the hospital for 2 weeks. My friend was a former d1 running back and gym rat. Very driven man who wouldn’t let this fall set him back. He needed a hand getting back on his feet and so did I. On crutches he was still out working me in the gym. We started jim stoppannis 6 week to shreaded and continue to do his workouts. 6 days a week. Find yourself a good workout partner. He pushes me to just kinda attempt to keep up with him. And i can always hear him yelling out “one more,good set,you’ve got this”
My current passion with distance running..
In early Feb this year my wife convinced me to jump on a treadmill. I’ve always said my knees are too bad to run but on this day I wasn’t feeling sorry for myself and was shocked that I could run about a half mile before I had to walk. I set my first goal that moment. Run a full mile under 10 minutes with out stopping.
Accomplished that in a week. Then 2 on 20 and then 3 in 30. I was progressing well. Time to hit the running store and get some actual running shoes. I was hooked .I then hired my current coach Amanda and decided to sign up for what I thought was a 5k. It was a 5 mile race. She’s a great coach and really gets me prepared. We are currently working together to prepare me for my first marathon. And honestly 4 weeks ago I got past being nervous about finishing and I’m now working on finishing at a decent time. When I decided to tackle this race I recruited my brother in law to join me. Lucas is another driven person who has run marathons,done a iron man, has 2 degrees. Keep good people around you. He’s now running this marathon with me and I’m able to somewhat keep up with him . I keep him from going out too fast. Mostly because I’m slow and it takes me awhile to get my bum knee loose.
I’m currently 215 pounds and recently broke 2 hours in a half marathon. My long term goals are to do a 50 miler ultra, qualify for the Boston marathon ,complete a iron man. I believe in my heart that I will do these things. I’m driven not motivated. My “why” is my kids. Once you begin to live your life for someone else you become unstoppable. If you live your life for only yourself you’re gonna run into things that are tougher than you and will fail. You’ll fail because your driving force is weak. It’s selfish to abuse your body when you have mouths to feed. I want my kids to see dad waking up at 4am to go run 10 hard miles in the dark before he goes to work. I want them to see their dad sacrifice the parting to wake up sat and sun and work on being healthy. Along with that I’ve learned that
Dreams are for people who sleep too much. Make yourself some goals. My dream is to be the starting linebacker for the Texas longhorn
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You have to envision yourself crossing that finish line. I finish every long run picturing myself crossing the finish line of the twin cities marathon.
Not everyone is gonna be happy for you. You can’t let someone else control your emotions. It shouldn’t effect you in either way. I don’t need haters to fuel my fire. My children do that .I live my life for them. Not someone who hasn’t figured that out .
The term “rest day” is garbage. Take advantage of the time you have and get plenty of sleep. You’ll have rest days after they throw dirt on top of you. Grind every day.
My biggest factor besides my kids has been David goggins. I’ll proudly wear #beyondmotivated on my race shirt the day of my marathon. Check out the book “living with a seal” it’s changed my life.
***At Lift Heavy Run Long®, we are in constant search of inspiration. We are fortunate to have a Facebook group which involves people who have, for one reason or another, decided to make drastic changes in their life, in order to lead a more fulfilled existence.
We want to share with you some of the encouraging stories that have come from the people in our community. We would love for you to be part of the group.
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Feel free to contact me anytime. I would love to hear your story.
wilson@liftheavyrunlong.com
Great story from a great guy!You set goals for yourself and you go after them! Good luck at your first marathon, I know you’ll do great!!!