Once upon a time, in my life before children, I use to write posts from time to time with the label "Healthy Living." I spent a good portion of my time devoted to running/exercising on a regular basis. I encouraged other people to join in with me. I even taught a Zumba class for a semester! I was at the lowest weight of my married life and feeling pretty good about myself. I had just bought quite a slew of smaller-sized summer clothes at an Old Navy sale before I discovered I was pregnant with Zeke.
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| Zoo Run 10K, Fort Worth, TX; April 2010 |
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| Marathon Relay into Colorado Springs, CO; September 2010 |
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| Turning 25, at work; May 2011 |
The thing is, I was 24 years old, and sure, I was working my butt off, but I was missing at least half of the whole "healthy life" point -- my diet. I justified I could eat whatever I wanted, as long as my calories going in were still less than the calories I was expending. Now that I've grown older and wiser (maybe ;)) I've come to realize a couple of things.
#1. While exercise is an excellent thing to do for your body and health, it alone does not make you healthy. You must follow up with excellent foods -- fruits, vegetables, protein, nuts; perhaps whole foods as much as possible. Eating in moderation, definitely. For 29 years I would not categorize my eating habits as "self-controlled" or "disciplined." It's hard, but making a change will be worth it. Which leads me to my second point.
#2. I need to find a reason to do this that exceeds the "I want to be a certain weight" goal. After having children, my body is different. I've read articles about loving your body all the time, not just when you reach a certain weight; appreciating it for what it can do. So... what is my "Why?" Why do I want to make healthy decisions and really change my life for the better?
- To avoid diabetes, heart disease, cancer, hypertension; diseases than are often onset due to being overweight or obese.
- To live a longer, healthier life!
- To be a good example to my family; showing my children first-hand how a healthy lifestyle can be fun and is worth it!
- To be more confident with how I look and feel about myself.
- To see if by making healthier food choices I can eliminate my eczema and acne.
I do not have illusions that 6 months from now I'll be a different person, I'll be making consistently healthy choices and my body will look totally different. Change takes time. It takes focus. It take self-control and determination. Like erosion, it is a sculpting, shaping, gradual process.
... I began this post on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 2, having no clue I'd be giving birth just hours later. So I'm finally back, here on August 14, to continue.
What I'd like to do is begin writing again on a more regular basis about the topic of "Healthy Living." It is important to me and I feel that writing out my thoughts and sharing my activities might help me to press on when I want to give up. But also, maybe I will encourage others to make small changes for the better in their lives as well. As I've just had child #3, I don't intend to push myself too hard in these first few months. We'll have to adjust to life as a family of 5 and I feel that it's best to not put too many expectations on myself in the first few months. Otherwise I might end up disappointed in myself or getting frustrated more easily. My 2 goals for September - December are:
#1. Drink 100 - 128 oz. of water daily. (128 oz. is a gallon and that is my goal for health as well as promoting a good milk supply.)
#2. Once I'm cleared to do so, exercise for 20 min. per day, 3 times a week. I'm planning to get some workout videos from the library. As I was on bed rest for almost 5 1/2 weeks and am now recovering from a c-section, it's going to take me some time to get my strength back. I'll need to start slow with walking and beginner videos, but I'd rather take it slow and not injure myself and actually enjoy myself, than jump in too hard and give up.
The reason for the title of this post is that several weeks ago, Jeremiah had mentioned that if I do another 5K and followed the popular "Couch to 5K" plan it would be quite a literal interpretation in my case! And it sparked in me the idea to share my journey of getting back into shape while making better food choices and see what benefits I can provide to my health and well-being. I would like to do a 5K, but as I said, I am starting slow and will probably not take on that endeavor until either next spring or summer. But I hope you will enjoy following along with me as I work on these two goals over the next few months.
To life... full of healthy (and sometimes difficult) choices!
