Dear readers,

When you first read about me in the June issue of austin FiT magazine, you learned that I was an out-of-shape, former amateur boxer who was determined to enter the ring again and emerge a winner. For the past four months, austin FiT magazine has been tracking my progress. If you’ve been reading this column regularly, you know all about my obsession with fried chicken, my struggles to make it to the gym on a regular basis and how grueling one of my coach’s two-hour classes is. In this issue, you were supposed to read the recap of my comeback fight. Instead, you’re going to hear the reasons (well, excuses really) why I still have yet to enter the ring.

Even though I struggled with my training early on, when I discovered in early September that two competitions were coming up — one the final weekend of September and the other the first weekend of October — I logged in some serious time at the gym. As the fight dates approached, I was mentally and physically prepared to put on my gloves and enter the ring. But unfortunately I never got to compete because of registration complications.

I then set my sights on a bout in Corpus Christi, to be held the second weekend in October. But things got really busy at work and I had to forego my trips to the gym in the two weeks leading up to the fight. My coach had no choice but to tell me I was totally unprepared to compete. While I can blame my lack of training on the fact that I was working too much, the truth is that I just wasn’t willing to make the necessary sacrifices to get into fighting shape.

I am not a professional athlete, boxing is not my job and as I have gotten older I’ve found that there are many distractions in life that make it hard to reach the goals I set for myself. In addition to the regular distractions I continually face with work, it’s also important for me to spend time with my family and friends. And to be perfectly honest, the reason I haven’t fought yet is because I’m still trying to find a balance between my work, my social life and my training.

I would like to believe that this series of articles was less about an out-of-shape guy trying to make a comeback in amateur boxing, and more about how busy people can incorporate fitness into their lives. Admittedly, my life is not what many would consider complicated. But for me, boxing is the incentive I needed to get back into shape and try to lead a healthy life. I firmly believe incentives are necessary and should represent more than just losing 10 pounds in two days or looking like actors on the Bowflex info-mercials (for some reason I always find myself wanting to buy one).

I plan to continue to train and hopefully fight in January when the bouts start back up again in Austin. And fortunately I have four more years of eligibility, as well as an understanding fiancé (soon to be wife), so I feel pretty confident that I’ll make it into the ring at least a couple more times. But all in all, I plan to keep up my regular workouts and continue training for many years to come — if for no other reason than to burn off thousands of calories from devouring many, many buckets of fried chicken.