A little over 6 weeks ago, I finally decided to get my life on track, health-wise. I am not sure what prompted this sudden change after 25 years, but I am pretty sure it had something to do with my parents. You see, my family and I are going on a cruise in a couple weeks and both my mom and dad have been on this kick of losing some weight before the cruise. In doing so, over the past year my dad has started running. He is 57 (ish?) years old and can run about 8 miles and does so a couple times a week. When he told me that, I was astounded. He is more than twice my age and can run 8 times more than me. Still, after having run for 6 weeks, I cannot run a full mile without stopping. I think my mom and, especially, my dad's dedication inspired me to turn my life around.
To get healthy is also a necessity for me. For the past year I have been having stomach pains. My worthless (and I say this because he's a jerk) doctor cannot figure out what it is that's causing pain and I am supposed to see a G.I. sometime soon, hopefully. It may be IBS, which could be triggered by stress. Although stress is also part of "being healthy," that is something I do not foresee leaving my life anytime soon. The parts I can control, however, is what I put into my body. I would like to give my body as few reasons as possible to be giving me pain. One large thing I had to cut out of my diet is dairy. This isn't necessarily for health reasons but more because I just can't take it. Lactose intolerant AND IBS- what a joy it is eating for me!
I have always been a bigger girl and embraced that for most of my life. While it is fine to be comfortable in your skin, no matter what that skin is, it is not fine to be un-healthy. So, for the first time in my life, I have decided to start eating healthier and exercising regularly. In addition to cutting out dairy, I have also cut out a lot of carbs and sugar and added a ton of fruits and vegetables. What I like about this new way of living is that I do not consider myself "dieting" but changing my lifestyle completely. Because this is NOT a diet, I do let myself have some treats in very small portions every once in a while. By treats, I mean sugar substances. I have not had any greasy or fast-food in 6 weeks and I would like to keep it like that as much as possible.
As far as exercising, I have gotten into running. I have always kind of enjoyed running and that has always been my go-to exercise. Do I love running? Not so much, but I enjoy it enough that I am doing it 3-4 times a week. There are times when I get excited to go running but most other times, I really am not looking forward to it. It isn't until about my 2nd mile when I start to have fun. By then, my muscles are starting to hurt which let's me know I am working my ass off. Not only that, I start to get into a zone and my surroundings seem a lot more peaceful and my endurance seems to increase.
The point of this blog is to track my progress. I realize that the beginning of this process will be the most difficult, but I want to keep at it and hopefully be a healthier me until I am nice and old. Some goals I wish to accomplish in the near future are:
- lose 30 pounds (so far I am down 22 so this will change soon!)
- run a full mile (This is tough since right now I can only do about a third of a mile.)
-try a new healthy recipe at least once a month (I have already tried two this month)
Another reason I wanted to start this blog is because I have run (literally) into some really amazing people while out exercising and I feel it's something that needs to be put down for others to see. It is truly touching to have a complete stranger route for your health and well-being. Hell, I have known some people my whole lives who I couldn't say the same for them. I will get introduce some of these people next time, because if I don't stop typing not, I may never...
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