Weight Loss, Go-Karts, and One Big Promise

When I was a kid, my family’s go-to vacation was to Hampton Beach in NH. Some years we would go for a week, other years just for a weekend or two, but you could always count on at least one trip there during the summer. Not far from the beach was the coolest go-Kart park ever (probably not nearly as cool now that I’m an adult, but it was pretty freakin’ awesome as a kid). All I ever wanted to do was ride those go-Karts and I begged and pleaded with my parents every single time we went. However, my parents thought they were way too expensive and so I never did get to ride them. By the time I was a teenager, my parents divorced and so we stopped going to Hampton Beach, but I still always wanted to ride those go-Karts.

Flash forward to 2014, and to this day I have still never driven a go-Kart! To be honest, it’s not like I’ve been aching for years and years about this. It’s not some lifelong dream or bucket list item, it’s just something that I’ve always wanted to but never had the opportunity because of my size.

I’m sharing this with you because of something that happened to me recently. Earlier this month we went on a family vacation. The resort we stayed at had a go-Kart track and the moment I saw it my heart sank. My oldest (11 years old) of three daughters asked “Can we do that Daddy”? Without hesitation I said “Sorry sweetie, but I’m too big to fit. You don’t want to ride these anyway, the track is small and they don’t go very fast. It’s not nearly as fun as it looks.”

NOT AS FUN AS IT LOOKS??? People were going around grinning ear-to-ear. I’m surprised my daughter didn’t call bullshit on me right then and there, but she just nodded her head and we moved on. I was instantly depressed! Not only could I not fulfill a childhood dream, but I also did my best to convince my daughter not to do it as well. My other two kids weren’t quite tall enough yet, and I’m convinced this is the only reason why my oldest gave up so easily.

Oh did I mention they also had zip lines? Now, my daughter is smart enough to realize I’m too big to ride a zip line so she didn’t ask me, but she still wanted to do it. Again, I did my best to convince her that these were somehow “inferior” zip lines that wouldn’t be fun at all while deep down wishing I could ride those lines (hanging upside down and splashing into a pool if they would let me). Again, she gave me that fake smile that kids give you when they are trying to hide their disappointment and we moved on.

Now at this point you might be wondering why I wouldn’t want my daughter to do those fun things and why I would do my best to convince her that they weren’t any fun. That’s simple… because it would have been too painful for me to watch her do it without me. I’m the dad! I’m the one that lives for this stuff! Not only should I be riding go-Karts and hanging from zip lines with my kids, but I should be the one convincing my wife we need to go “one more time”! When we go mountain biking (when I was thinner), my kids know that I will be disappointed if they miss a single mud puddle!

Some of you will relate and some will just not get it. I know just how selfish it sounds, and that just makes me feel worse. Heading into 2010 my kids were 4,5 and 7 years old. I started my blog and my transformation back then knowing that in just a few short years they would be big enough for Water Parks, go-Karts, Zip Lines, Rollercoasters, Mountain Biking, Kayaking and all the other cool and awesome things that dads are supposed to do. My family didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up so I didn’t get to do a lot of things I would have liked. As an adult I’ve done well for myself and all I’ve ever wanted to do was give my kids some of those experiences, but together, as a family.

I wanted to be ready for them… and I failed… and I had to face up to that fact not more than a month ago. To date it has been my most painful realization about my health.

Since we’ve gotten back from vacation I’ve started making some small promises. My first was to stop eating off my kid’s plates. My second promise was to avoid alcohol for the next month.

I’m going to end this post with my third promise… to my kids… by the time you are all tall enough, I’m going to find the coolest, most pimped out go-Kart facilities I can and when we get there, WE WILL RIDE!

Thanks for reading.


Acknowledgement - I’ve been following Sean Anderson’s Blog since I started blogging in 2010. The other day I made a comment on his blog and he encouraged me to go back to the beginning of postings because he felt there was a lot there that I would be able to relate to as I restart my transformation. I went through a lot of his old posts, but one in particular struck a chord with me because of a recent experience, and it inspired me to share this story with you. You can read the post that inspired me here HERE. Thanks Sean for the post. It might have been painful to write this, but now that it’s done, it’s clear to me why I need to get this stuff out.