Derailed

Derailed. It happens to the best of us. One day you wake up and suddenly realize that somehow, while you were busy living your life, you went off track. It is easy to lose sight of your goals in life when you don’t have any.

In my personal experience, nothing can derail you faster than alcohol.

Drinking became a “hobby” in college.  This was a hobby that may have influenced me to quit playing soccer, quit running track, and it did a great job of turning me into someone I did not want to be. I went to the gym, sometimes, but, that was my way of righting the wrongs of the night before, not that I could remember what had happened.  There was an incident when I was in the back seat of a cop car with my roommate, and somehow avoided being arrested for drunk in public. On a different occasion, I ended up on probation for underage drinking. On probation, I couldn’t drink, but I did. I couldn’t leave the country, but I did (to drink). I should have learned my lesson, but I didn’t. My life seemed normal. This kind of thing happened to everyone I associated with, so this must be “college life”.

Senior year, I decided I would prove to myself that I could get a 4.0 my final semester. To head in the direction of my goals, I moved off campus, settled down, and rarely drank. I hustled through school in 3.5 years, taking 18 credits at a time and enrolling in spring and summer classes. It was worth it because I knew that when I graduated I was moving to FL and getting a fresh start in life. For the moment life was good.

Shortly after moving to Florida, my life started to fall apart. When that happened, I reconnected with alcohol. I was essentially alone 1,000 miles from home, and the only place I knew where I could find new “friends” was in a bar. It worked; I found people to drink with, we were wasting time and money getting wasted all the time. I soon realized I was headed back down a dead end road. Luckily, it wasn’t too late to turn things around.

All it took was the ability to recognize I had a problem, and to be honest about it. I called my mom and told her that I was worried about myself. I drink too much. I drink because I don’t know what else to do. I drink when I am alone because I am bored. I drink with others to be social. I needed a new hobby to get away from drinking. OCR became that outlet.

Thanks to obstacle course racing, I have a hobby that improves my life rather than drags me down. I rarely drink anymore and I definitely don’t blackout. My workouts are tough enough when I am healthy and rested, I can’t complete them to my potential if I’m hung over. If am wasting time and ruining my body, my competitors are working hard and gaining on me faster than I can keep up.  I know how to keep myself entertained now, there’s always a workout to do or a run to complete. On Friday nights, you will find me binge drinking water and Gatorade instead of booze, in preparation for the following day’s race. Now I enjoy the feeling of a runner’s high, a better rush than anything alcohol can provide.

Maybe OCR isn’t what will be the driving force that will lead you to put down the bottle and pick up a hobby, and that is fine. What is important is having something to look forward to, and setting goals that are challenging yet achievable. If you haven’t found your passion yet, keep looking and trying new things. It took me 27 years, if you are reading this, it’s not too late to get your life back on track.

Why does alcohol derail a fit life so quickly?

·         Alcohol is “useless” calories that has little to no nutritional value

·         The body does not store alcohol so it must metabolize it immediately

·         While the body is metabolizing alcohol, it is not metabolizing other sugars and fats efficiently

·         It slows the metabolism and can contribute to weight gain

·         Alcohol is a depressant

·         It constricts your aerobic metabolism and endurance

·         Alcohol is a toxin which dehydrates you

·         Money spent on drinks can be used to fund a hobby or build a better life