Hello all who read this,

I’m from the Netherlands and used to do fitness and train fighting sports.
Nowadays I’m a proud father of three children and already married for ten years.
I’ve gained a lot a weight in the last 15 years due to living a busy life, making the wrong unhealthy decisions by eating and drinking combined with to little sporting. I’ve had surgery for several times and for one time I had a revalidation period of nine months after my knee was operated. But everything is okay again.

There are people enough in the world who can’t do sports but really would love to do it. But they simply can’t because they are ill or having other reasons. For example I know several of these people who can’t practice sports because of illness which is called arthritis.
One is family, one is a good friend. But my friend, she did manage to loose 40 kilograms in ten months time just by doing her very best to change eating and move more although she was in to pain. I really respect her a lot for that. Because she had not used any help from diets and she also didn’t practice fitness. Just all by herself and a strong discipline.

Another inspiring story is what I’ve found on the internet lately about Arthur Boorman.
Underneeth is a copy of the text which you can also found on youtube.
A link to this is inspiring video: http://youtu.be/qX9FSZJu448

“Arthur Boorman was a disabled veteran of the Gulf War for 15 years, and was told by his doctors that he would never be able to walk on his own, ever again.

He stumbled upon an article about Diamond Dallas Page doing Yoga and decided to give it a try—he couldn’t do traditional, higher impact exercise, so he tried DDP YOGA and sent an email to Dallas telling him his story.

Dallas was so moved by his story, he began emailing and speaking on the phone with Arthur throughout his journey - he encouraged Arthur to keep going and to believe that anything was possible. Even though doctors told him walking would never happen, Arthur was persistent. He fell many times, but kept going.

Arthur was getting stronger rapidly, and he was losing weight at an incredible rate! Because of DDP’s specialized workout, he gained tremendous balance and flexibility—which gave him hope that maybe someday, he’d be able to walk again.

His story is proof, that we cannot place limits on what we are capable of doing, because we often do not know our own potential. Neither Arthur, nor Dallas knew what he would go on to accomplish, but this video speaks for itself. In less than a year, Arthur completely transformed his life. If only he had known what he was capable of, 15 years earlier.

Do not waste any time thinking you are stuck - you can take control over your life, and change it faster than you might think.

Hopefully this story can inspire you to follow your dreams - whatever they may be.
Anything is Possible!”

I think this is an amazing story about Arthur Boorman and he’s one of those people who is an example to get motivated again, being strong, believing in yourself, discipline, focus, not to give up etcetera.

In my case I have no more excuses not to train and sport. Although I have had my health problems there’s nothing in my way any more. The only thing that sometimes seems to be the trouble is “time”. Especially combined with having a busy family life. Unfortunately at the end of last year I lost my job. During my search to new jobs I decided to give my shed a face lift. Through time I’d found several second hand fitness equipment. Although my shed is 3 by 4 meters I’ve re changed it into a small fitness area. Recently I painted it to make the change complete. A friend of mine gave me a present, a plastic sign with a pose of Arnold on it with the text: “Anco’s gym, to be the next Terminator”..just for motivation! A photo of the shed in progress is enclosed.

As been a BIG Arnold fan I follow the spark!
At least it gave me again a little extra motivation since I was already inspired by these above mentioned people. My shed was almost ready for action. And suddenly I’d found my self a new job.
The company is almost 30 KM away from my house.
Arnold’s spark motivated me to cycle towards my work. By doing that it’s free cardio based training. For that I use an old racing bike I also bought second handly. It’s 66 minutes cycling. So more than two hours of cardio training a day!

This way I’m getting fit again. And it didn’t cost to much money, and the cycling is for free.
So open your eyes if your stuck on motivation! Look around you to all the people who can’t practice sports.
Create opportunities and take action! Be creative. Everybody knows that to train and exercise is good for your health. So what’s your excuses not to train…? I know I gave up my excuses.

Go for it, I hope for you readers that this helps you to get back on track again if your temporary of it.

Greetings from The Netherlands,

Anco