Four Months Is Just the Beginning...

Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey.   ~ Alex Noble

To be completely honest, I am extremely disappointed that I didn't start this blog 4 months ago, as I would have preferred that I documented the beginning steps in detail as they happened.  However, my journey will be a long one so although I can be extremely proud of what has been accomplished in this time, I think there will be so many milestones reached, that I will not be short of material to write about.
But as regretful as I may be now that I didn't start this blog earlier,  I can't be too hard on myself.  I never imagined the first day I put on boxing gloves that this was the journey I was about to take.  
Thanks to a trainer who video taped much of my progress, I will take the time to go back and document in as much detail as I can all of the last 4 months at a later time.
For now,  I'll overview where I've been and where I hope to go.   Weight and athletic performances have been struggles my entire life.  Although I played soccer for 10 years as a child and enjoyed the games, I hated practicing.  I loathed running.  Food and, in later years, beverages have always been a comfort, a social affair and an addiction.
I fought the struggle in various ways with some very good victories over the years.   I also fell in defeat at times.   Thirteen months ago when the gym I went to started to have difficulties, I decided to look for a new alternative.  One of the options was a gym that specialized in boxing and MMA and although I had never had any interest in such things, I joined.  I began to take group fitness classes that centered around boxing on a heavy bag.   I loved the instructors, the workouts, and the fact that I was using my mind.  The amount of workouts I was doing picked up ... sometimes I was even doing 2 workouts a day.  I began to average 1 workout per day, month after month.
But, as it often happens with gyms, the instructors left, the members changed and the whole vibe was altered.  My workouts started to decrease and my interest wavered.  When the last of my favorite instructors (https://www.facebook.com/EspoBoxing) decided it was time for him to leave as well, it was like taking an actual punch.  Not only had we become friends, so I would miss that part, but I knew I would struggle to continue.  In chatting with him, I realized how strong his passion was to train people, not only because he loves boxing but because he loves to be a part of a team helping people improve, from kids to people trying to get fit to professional fighters.  True to my type A personality, I approached my personal trainer & friend (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joshs-Gym/269919573046787) about letting him train out of his gym and it worked out perfectly.  
[As an aside, another time I will love to explain what a difference in my life it has been to have a personal trainer who worked to address my limitations and build me up from there.]
One may think that this was an easy transition for me to take this trainer's class and now work one-on-one with him.  Not at all.  I was scared to death.  There is a huge difference between being with 15 other people, following instructions and punching a heavy bag and being one-on-one with mitts.  There were a few times I had punched mitts during classes and hated it.  I was terrible at it.  I was embarrassed.  I was disappointed in my abilities (or lack there of). 
Now I had agreed to do this for 45 minutes.  What had I gotten myself into?  I knew I would be terrible.  I knew I'd be self-conscious.  That was how my mind was trained to think and I wanted to be true to my track record and make an excuse to cancel.
It is four months later and I'm so glad that I did not cancel that first day.  I'm not terrible.  I'm not ashamed to have others see me train.  I'm not a quitter.
It hasn't been easy, but not only have there been changes in my body, but there are changes in my mind that I would have never expected.  I've learned a skill that I never thought I would love learning.  I have a confidence and a belief in possibilities I had given up on.
I expect this to only be the beginning of my journey.   I should get in better shape.  I know I will get stronger.  I am sure I will get faster.  But what I never expected at all when I started was that boxing would help me box myself out of box I have kept myself in for sometime now.   I don't need to be self-conscious, to fail or be frustrated. 
As I write this blog I am going to include videos to help me (and anyone else who wants) to see the progress I am making.  This is some work we put in last night.