EDITOR’S NOTE: Joshua Messersmith has been selected to participate in the Year of You, a fitness challenge hosted by The Manteca Bulletin, CORE Athletic Performance and CalFit Manteca. Messersmith is keeping a weekly journal, highlighting the strides and struggles of his fitness journey. These are his thoughts and feelings shared with you.

Day 57

Another dreaded early morning. It seems even worse as I am expecting a long day. After finally waking up and dragging myself out of bed, I got ready for work and prepared breakfast. Now normally I love Mondays because after work I get to go to CORE and start the week off with a great workout, but that did not happen. I hate missing because it has now become a way to relieve stress and just get away from everything. As expected, it was a very long 16-hour day. Luckily, I was prepared and was able to make great eating choices. I had all my meals setup for the day, which made eating easy but I did miss my workout and that is a bit frustrating. 

Day 58

Fought with my alarm clock all morning. I slept till the last second possible, flirting with the danger of being late for work. Why is it that a “treadmill” minute seems like an eternity and a “snooze” minute seems to pass by in the blink of an eye? I had just got to work and I was already ready for a nap. On a positive note, today is my Friday. It is also the beginning of the Valley Oak League softball season, which means I get to watch my sister play. All I wanted to do was go watch my sister’s game and to get my workout in. After work, I went home and grabbed a quick but healthy bite before heading off to Weston Ranch for my sister’s game. After the game, I went to CORE and began to warm up. It was chest and tricep day with some abs added in … followed up by 25 minutes on the treadmill, or as I would like to call it “the Highway to Nowhere.” After my workout was complete, I stayed at CORE talking to Robert and a couple of his athletes. We all shared a bottle of wine and toasted to each other’s accomplishments and the overall achievements of the CORE family! From athletic scholarships, to weight loss journeys, to new personal bests in workouts there is much to be grateful for and it reminded me of how great CORE is and how proud I am to be part of the family. 

Day 59

I got to sleep in a bit today, which was amazing. I got ready for my first round at CORE, knowing that it was a catch-up day for working out. I went in during the 10:30 a.m. bootcamp hour and got in a leg workout. It was a different and tiring workout but still got the job done for me. After I finished the workout, I thought I was done. As I walking out, I heard Robert yell my name and tell me I still had squats and straight-legged dead lifts left. On the outside, I just said OK, but on the inside there were some expletives being shouted. I got it done and was able to crawl to my car after. I then went home to enjoy the day before returning to CORE for a second workout. It was more ab work followed by 20 minutes of running stairs. Sounds simple enough until you actually do it! I wanted to just die, especially after the leg workout from this morning. 

Day 60 

I literally had to roll out of bed from how sore my lower body was. I made breakfast and got ready to go to CORE at 10:30 a.m. Luckily, it was shoulder day. Shoulder day is usually a good quick day. Today was not one of those quick shoulder days, but I cannot complain because I was able to feel it at the end. After leaving CORE, I decided to go to Tracy to bring my fiancée lunch. I then had to race back to Manteca to get some grocery shopping done at Costco before picking up my sister’s softball gear to take to her before her game against Central Catholic. After all the running around, I went home to get ready for the big weigh-in at CalFit Manteca. I cannot believe it has already been two months! Where has time gone? It was the first time that Jeanette and I have met and it was nice to finally meet her. She is just as funny in person as she is in her columns. I can say that we are both doing great and will continue the great work. I was pleased with my results. It reminded me of all the years that I have been working my butt off but couldn’t get my body to change. It was such a struggle to know you are killing yourself in the gym but nothing is happening. So the results really lifted my spirit. 

Day 61

After waking up right at 5 a.m., I jumped out of bed – Ouch! Yes, my legs were still sore! – got ready and raced off to CORE. I wanted to get my Ultimate Frisbee fix in and have fun with my cardio. I attempted to wear my elevation mask once again for Frisbee but that did not last too long. It was a good game and I got a great workout in while playing. I then returned home to get some rest before returning at 10:30 a.m. to get my back and bicep work in for the week. After I completed that I was able to play more Frisbee. This time, Robert was playing and he actually thought that he could cover me. 

Day 62

After getting off work at 6 a.m., I slept until 1 p.m., got my meals packed and headed out to work yet again. After work, I went out to dinner with my fiancée at Applebee’s. I had planned for this in my daily diet and was able to have buffalo wings and a beer without feeling guilty. I am really beginning to love this macro thing. It seems like something I can sustain for the rest of my life. I do not feel restricted to anything, which is usually where I fail at “diets.” 

Day 63

I did something I have never done before: I went with my fiancée and her family to go shoot guns. Maybe it was a scare tactic, but it was fun … until I began to feel sick. When we got home, I was still feeling under the weather so I called into work and got some rest.