Healthy Living

 

WP_20150411_08_37_48_ProThere are two things you can’t shake in life: taxes and genetics. A few years back, my doctor was reminding me of this fact reviewing with me the medical histories of my parents and grandparents. Though I had none of their medical issues at the time, if I didn’t start taking care of myself, it could happen. The phrase, “You might end up like your parents” is enough to scare anyone.

One area I changed was increased physical activity. Santa helped me along and bought me a membership to the gym on Christmas. The amazing thing is that I started going. Man, it was tough at first. After my first session with a trainer, I had to sleep in my truck for a few minutes before I could drive home. Slowly, I developed the legs and stamina to make a decent runner. Suddenly, the young whipper-snappers who might have looked sideways at me before were getting left in the dust. I even left the gym and ran my very first 5K. While running the 5K Pride Run, I was feeling pretty slick passing many folks much younger than myself. But as luck would have it, a woman in an AARP shirt passed me on the final length to put my ego in check.

purple shirtAs great as the running has been, it is only half the battle. My eating habits needed to change as well. Before my transformation, I was an avid carnivore and soda junkie. Someone suggested I try eating vegetarian one day a week. I protested but tried. With one day under my belt, I was encouraged to try another. Pretty soon, I was able to remove meat completely from my diet. Soda was another difficult challenge. The sound of a Diet Coke can opening used to be music to my ears. However, the more I read labels and really found out what the ingredients were, the more I wanted to stop polluting my body.

With exercise and changing my eating habits, I am fifty pounds lighter.  I am not forcing life changes on anyone because everyone has to do what’s right for them. I just know I feel great!