Staying Healthy

I am not nor have I ever been one to care about being healthy... Man was life good when I was younger. However not burning off 6000 calories a day with swimming apparently makes staying healthy a little tougher. I figure I could die at 50 doing whatever I wanted or possibly live a lot longer by taking care of myself. While I don't mind the thought of an afterlife I would prefer that it was AFTER I fully enjoy this life. So my word of the year is Improvement. One of those big subsections in improvement is creating a better lifestyle and creating healthier habits.

I listen to a lot of radio while at work, Kentucky sports radio and some mike and mike, and they kept hearing about “Smallstep.gov” another multi-million dollar BS project by our government to stop fat kids, but political rants are for another time. I went to the site and printed out there ‘tips for being healthy’ and despite being terribly checked, several are just repeats of other steps. There are quite a few good ones in there that I noticed. To sum up the 200 or so healthy tips I put them into a few categories into my head that I need to work on.

• A lot of emphasis on whole grains, and whole wheat. I’ve been on this train for a while, but not because it was ‘the healthy choice’. I just enjoy the flavor of whole grain, and think it has more taste then just white bread or white bread snacks.

• Eat a lot of Vegetables. With meals because they are healthy and they will fill you up or as snacks. Fruit was also a big thing with this for deserts because of the natural sugar or snacks as well. I do eat a lot of fruit as a snack at work usually bananas n apples. I will try to expand and eat a wider variety of fruit, berries and oranges possibly. Also I need to eat more Vegetables with meals so that I eat less main dishes and can start to eat less.

• Exercise is obviously one of them, and one I absolutely hate. It’s a good thing we started playing basketball because that is something I find rather entertaining and doesn’t feel like work. With the weather it is hard to get up and even think of walking to my car in this terrible weather but as it gets warmer I don’t think it’ll be a struggle. I plan on going twice a week to start at around 5 am because I know no one will be in the gym. It recommends easy things, like just walking and doing the little things. Sitting up in your chair at work (something I have consciously started doing as I often slouch). Hopefully we can start taking Max on more walks BUT again this weather is just terrible for that. Even stuff like do push-ups and sit-ups while watching TV. I might try to do those during basketball games for points scored since we don’t watch much TV. Or during loading screens during video games.

• Pay attention: To me this is the biggest thing. You just have to think about it, notice your habits and understand them. I eat a lot because I love food. I love the taste, I love to cook it, I love to experiment with it. I just need to make smaller portions. I have a bulk mindset but when I do that I tend to eat more than I would have made if I were just making one course. Also I need to not wait till I’m overly hungry to eat because I tend to fix way more then I need just because I’m super hungry when I’m fixing it.

However there are a few things that I have started to do that are included in some of these tips. (I like to also stay positive on this stuff).

• Drink Water: I have been drinking water at work for the longest time now I usually drink between ½ gallon and a gallon a day of water. This also goes into the next thing

• Less Pop and Sugar heavy drinks: I have nearly cut off all Mt. Dew consumption, something I bet people (including myself) never thought possible. The only way I keep from it is I just don’t buy it, if it’s around I will drink it but if it’s not I won’t go out of my way to get some. So as I just pass it up at the store and move on.

• Eat Breakfast: I usually have a banana and a light yogurt every morning, I might try to see about ½ a whole grain bagel each day or mixing that up. I stay away from pop tarts and other heavy sugar kind of breakfasts.

• Fat Free Milk: Only kind I’ve drank for years now

• Walk around office instead of calling/emailing: I do this because I have always thought it worthless to call or email someone 30 feet away. Also if you want an answer then going to ask is a much quicker way to get that answer.

• Cut back on salts: I have made a conscious decision to do this as well. I will use spices or just pepper rather than adding salt and pepper.

I’ve made some progress and I am definitely healthier than I was in the last month of college. I also want to look into some vitamins and fish oil. Since my family has high blood pressure I need to take care of my heart and arteries as much as possible. Also VINAY if a bottle of pills says ‘Dietary Supplement’ it doesn’t mean it’s a weight loss pill. Diet in English means: the usual food and drink consumed by an organism. Everyone has a diet. It’s your inability to understand and comprehend this language after you’ve been here for 10 years that makes it whatever you like, a Vitamin is a supplement to a person diet, or the food they eat, now stop being dumb. Ok I feel better off that rant. I do understand that I have a ways to go but slow progress and small steps are a much healthier way to get there than a quick drop and random products. Also changing your habits is a great way to make sure you keep it off.