Saturday, May 14, 2011

And you may ask yourself, how did I get here?!

Welcome to my first blog post. I'm not necessarily new to blogging - I was on some teenage angst filled diary site back in 2001 (think black backgounds with pink font - very emo before emo was mainstream) and still have a LiveJournal account that I barely use. This is my first time on an actual blog site, so we'll see how this whole thing goes...

Long story short, what I'm hoping to do in this space is discuss my attempts at becoming a healthier, leaner, stronger me. You may have noticed the title of this blog - Reluctantly Healthy - and though, what the hell is that all about? I truly want to be healthy, but also really love the unhealthy practices that are apart of my typical lifestyle. I mean, come on, who DOESN'T love bacon? Well, besides those who do not eat it for religious reasons, vegetarians/vegans, etc... Growing up in the South (Birmingham, AL), I've been raised on all things tasty and unhealthy - cornbread cooked in bacon grease and covered in butter, biscuits and gravy, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, country ham, casseroles full of cheese and cream, and all kinds of pie. Things foods are home - they are comforting and flat out make me happy. That's a common theme in my life - using food as a source of happiness. But I'm trying to change that, reluctantly as I still love all those unhealthy things, but I know I really have to take care of myself in order to live a long healthy life.

I'm definitely over weight and have been my whole life - but not quite to the degree I am now. I'm on high blood pressure meds, had back surgery at 20, grew up with pretty bad asthma and allergies (asthma is mostly gone, my eyes are currently watering like mad, so not so lucky on the allergy front...), have normal bad cholesterol scores but less-than optimal good cholesterol scores. So it's not just about weight loss with me, it's more so about getting healthy and feeling better. My partner and I have been going to a personal trainer 3 times a week (she's been there for a couple months, I've only been going for about a month). We're dropping to once a week this coming week, but adding biking to work (I work about 2.5 miles from my office) and working out more frequently at the gym where I work. I especially like to play racquetball, but working with our trainer has given me lots of great work outs to do with medicine balls, kettlebells, the bosu ball (I really enjoy that thing!), and resistance bands. We've also been working with a nutrition-minded friend of ours on planning better meals to avoid all of my food pitfalls. Last, but not least, are supplements - including udo oil (a vegetarian DHA omega 3 source), greens supplement via pill, probiotics, and other multivitamins.

A little bit more about me, in case you're interested (look, I'm writing like people will read this!): Name's Jay, married with two dogs (+one foster dog) and a cat and live in Omaha, NE. I teach university students Sociology and love science fiction and music. I'm going to try to keep this blog updated pretty regularly, so come back by if you want to see how things are going for me.

My confession for the day: Ate IHOP for breakfast and had chicken fried steak and gravy, eggs, and pancakes. Though I only ate half my hashbrowns and had sugar free syrup. 'Cause that makes it better... right?!

On my plan for tomorrow: a bike ride to campus to map out my route, making a few recipes for the week (low cal oatmeal-cranberry pancakes, vietnamese vegetable salad, and all-fruit popsicles for deserts), and getting everything ready for the start of my summer course.

1 comment:

  1. Boo-Ya, Jay! You're gonna rock this! Lovin' that I get to follow your journey! :o) Keep on keepin' on! You're one hell of a strong dude! You can do ANYTHING!

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