Kettlebells. They look so innocent. Like picking up a pot of coffee or something. But kettlebells are not your friend. At least not when you aren’t in shape! Last week we started doing some stuff with kettlebells at the “Back to Life Challenge” at Life – The Evolution of Personal Training, located in Somers Point. The Back to Life Challenge is a 30-day course aimed at teaching people about strength, flexibility and how to live a healthier lifestyle. Last Wednesday we did a lot with the hip joint, which included hip thrusts with kettlebells. I capped off that night with a doubleheader in my Wednesday night adult baseball league, including seven innings on the hill. Let me tell ya, my hips and groin muscles were screaming on Thursday morning! But hey, you have to put in the work to get anywhere with fitness training, and muscles that you haven’t used much in the past are going to be sore. You just have to work through it, keep stretching and get a good session in with the foam roller every morning to loosen up those dormant muscles. This morning the group did a lot with kettlebells, including more hip thrusts, alternating military presses, truck twists and so on. (Trainer D.J. Morton loves the kettlebell military press!) I feel like I am making progress, albeit not at the pace I was hoping for. Time to step up my game! I weighed in on Nov. 1 at 213 pounds; this morning I was down to 208. If I can keep up that pace I should be down below 195 by the end of November. (Thanksgiving will be a huge challenge this year!) My ultimate goal is to reach 175-180 again – about the weight I was in my early 30s – and feel lean, strong and fit. The biggest hurdle so far hasn’t been the actual working out part of it. I’ve been an athlete most of my life and enjoy working out. It’s more the mental side and conditioning the mind to overcome the body’s desires when it comes to nutrition. For most people it’s very easy to grab something quick on the go, maybe a muffin or donut in the morning or, say, a quick cheesesteak for lunch, something like that. But good nutrition is such an important part of a healthy lifestyle and you have to have the will power to say “no, I don’t need that order of French fries right now.” It’s not easy, for sure. Especially when you have been making such choices for many years without so much as a second thought. But as with anything, once you start convincing your mind that you are not going to be a slave to junk food anymore it becomes easier and easier to make better choices. Take soda for example. Millions of people consume millions of gallons of it every day in the U.S. But if you just stop drinking it for 3 or 4 days, maybe a week, all of a sudden you lose a taste for it. Then you start to wonder why you were so addicted to it in the first place! So that is my task for the remainder of the month. Work my mind as hard as I work my body. It won’t be easy, but obviously the choices I have made aren’t working, so I am ready for the challenge! Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays.