Welcome
If you are overwhelmed with what it takes to change decades of bad habits, so you can be healthier, stronger and fitter, join the club. I understand. That’s where I was in December of 2011.
The key to my progress was changing my mindset. If I thought “diet”, I thought of sacrifice, or giving up stuff I loved.
But then I approached it like I did other positive achievements in my life. I embraced it as a “personal productivity” goal. I wanted my goal, more than I wanted my status quo. If you want different results, you must have different behavior.
I changed my mind, and I was able to change my habits. When I changed my habits, I shed fat, and I grew stronger. I did it, and you can too.
My Story
My name is Chuck Miller and I live in a small Massachusetts town, with my wife, Suzanne. I’m in my mid-sixties. Until a few years ago, I was like many other middle-aged guys who spend the day in an office…sedentary, overweight, tired, etc.
Today, I’m not like every other guy my age. I rise before the sun. Walk a few brisk miles at the track, then load up my barbell for back squats, deadlifts, and more. All before going to my stressful job.
My decision to transform my habits was immediate, but the transformation of my body and my well-being, took longer, and it is ongoing.
My motivation to change was stress, exhaustion and the high risk of a second heart attack. I no longer trusted my health to the conventional wisdom that had aided in aging me prematurely.
In my ongoing quest for a healthier lifestyle, I discovered CrossFit and I began eating differently. The result was that I dropped 30 pounds, I got strong, and I improved my speed and agility.
My doctor and my cardiologist are amazed how I have turned my health around.
My Writing
Here is where I merge my curiosity about health, food and fitness, with my passion for story telling.
Originally Defiant Wellness was simply a personal diary. I spent two years journaling about my successes and my failures in this blog. The failures provided me with a great deal of writing material.
After a while, I began sharing the blog with my friends at the gym. I was surprised by the reaction that people had to my “story telling”, and to my presence in the gym.
When I would compete at local events, people would approach me and comment that I was a role model for aging athletes.
In CrossFit and Weightlifting circles, we are called Masters Athletes. Since the Masters category begins at 40, and I am decades past that, I am honored with the compliment.
My writing is very transparent. If I fail miserably, I write about it. If I am hurt, or feeling defeated, I write about it. Then I get up, try it again, or try it differently, and I write about that too.
My Purpose
I write what I know. And what I know is that I am an “Accidental Athlete”. I arrived here desiring to get healthy. In the process I discovered I enjoy the “physical culture” I found so late in my life.
People have told me that they appreciate my candor, often shared at the risk of my own embarrassment. So I embrace that as my style. I simply try to be myself.
After two years of writing predominantly about CrossFit and Paleo, my subject matter is evolving. My view of fitness and food are expanding, and I share my explorations in these areas.
A key theme that is emerging in my writing is sustainability. As a Masters athlete, the ability to keep doing what you’re doing is essential. Exercising wisdom is the key to longevity in exercising the body, particularly at the Masters level.
With that in mind, I am focusing more on what a 50, 60 or 70 year old athlete can do, to ensure they are truly active, physically, mentally and spiritually, for the long haul.
My goal is to create insightful and relevant stories that will educate, inspire or entertain you, in your quest to be a healthy and vibrant Masters athlete.
Stay in Touch
I hope this blog inspires and motivates you to get your body in motion and to get strong. If it does, drop me a note. I’d love to hear from you. If you have a friend who you think would benefit from Defiant Wellness, please share.