As a kid, I was always the worst about losing things. While I’ve gotten much better in recent years at remembering where I leave my belongings, a recent trip to the scale reminded me that, to my chagrin, I haven’t ditched the bad habit completely.
For me, I always feel the most disappointed after I’ve gotten really excited about something only to find that the thing I got excited about wasn’t true or that I was wrong. Most recently, I was greatly disappointed to find that instead of tipping the scale at 140, my weight still sits at 135.
To most, this may not seem like that big of a difference or something to get upset about. But for me, this battle to gain weight has by far been the hardest part of this entire experience.
This all being said, it’s not over yet. I still have about a month left, and while gaining 15 pounds in this time is kind of unheard of, I’m determined to, at the very least, put a dent in the number.
And here lies the most crucial part of putting yourself through a bodybuilding — or slimming — exercise: dedication to the cause. In order to truly succeed, you have to want it with everything you have.
One of the greatest discoveries about myself that I’ve made since coming to Ohio University is that prior to this year, I was an extremely lazy person. I would always do the minimum amount of work required of me, mostly because I absolutely love lazing around.
Many of the people I’ve met at The Post are miles ahead of the hardest working students I met at community college with the amount of work that they do — and they make it look easy. These writers, photographers and editors are freakishly motivated and tremendously inspiring to me.
Surrounding myself with such positive influences has definitely helped me to realize the kind of responsibility I needed to own up to as I entered my junior year, my desired major (FINALLY) and an enterprise around which I hope to make a career.
Soon I’ll set off for the comfort of my quiet suburb in Avon and an internship in the concrete jungle that is downtown Cleveland. It’s certainly exciting to look ahead to these things because of how greatly I’ve missed my family and two dogs and how ready I am to start working on something close to a real, big-boy job.
But for now, I’m still stationed here in the hills, counting calories or reps and counting on the encouragement of the most professional people I’ve ever met to help me see this to its end.
Jake is a junior studying journalism and a stringer for The Post. Offer him workout tips at jd202409@ohiou.edu.
