So I'm starting to take my blog in a new direction. I'm still doing arts
and crafts and whatnot, but in light of my recent health issues, I'm
trying to get myself to a healthier place. For the past couple weeks,
I've been routinely exercising in the mornings and on my lunch breaks.
First, I do several sets of stretches followed by some basic Army PT exercises (like flutter kicks, leg spreaders, overhead clasps,
planks, push-ups, toe touches, squats, ski jumpers, donkey kicks, and
finally mountain climbers). I do two sets of each exercise, for a full
minute per each set. It takes 20 minutes, but it helps me wake up and I feel great afterwards. Then on my lunch break at work, I walk about 2.4 miles, which takes me about 50 minutes. When I started this walking routine a couple weeks ago, I was only able to walk two miles during those 50 minutes. I
have to say I definitely feel better overall when I exercise, but there
are a few issues I have to work around when I'm exercising, like:
having ASD and asthma, so I can't push myself too much, and I
have all the precursors of arthritis, including both my parents having
arthritis, and I can already feel it in my joints. The worst is when I'm
walking and my knees, ankles, and feet feel like they're popping off and crack
loudly and then go numb...I may actually have plantar fasciitis too...I
should probably get that checked out. But the great news is, I can
already tell a difference...I haven't lost but a few pounds yet, but
what's most important to me is my body mass index.
When I was in high
school, I was taking Tae Kwon Do regularly and constantly
running/jogging/bicycling and I had a BMI of only 20 (which is ideal for
my height and weight at the time)! I would love to get back to that
level...right now I have a BMI of 37.6, which is considered "severely
obese." :( But I'm not going to the gym or dieting, I've never been
successful at those things; instead, I'm just cutting out fast food and as much sugar as I can stand (until I go into a sugar rage and HAVE to eat something sweet) and
staying active. And as I start lessening my body fat, I'll start losing the weight too. My goal within the next 6-8 months is to have got down
to a more healthy weight and a BMI of 25-30. That's still considered "overweight," but it'll be out of
the obese range. I'll need to loose about 40 pounds and that's gonna
take some real focus and dedicated work, but once you tip the scale at
200, you know it's time to make some changes...and yes, I just revealed
my weight to you interwebbers, dun-dun-duuunnn! But it really doesn't
matter what you weigh because you have to start somewhere and once you
start to make changes that will benefit you, you've got the right
mindset and you just need to maintain the willpower to keep it up! So,
yes, for a while I'm going to be concentrating mostly on my exercising
regimen and my weekly updates will focus on my progress with getting
healthier and any drawings that I do or anything that brings me great motivation that week, I'll be sure to share that too!
(And for the record, I really missed out on joining the Army right out of high school. I wanted to join and I was in perfect physical condition, but I was so focused on going straight to college and majoring in art; however, that really hasn't done much for me as of yet, and I regret everyday that I didn't join the Army back in 2001. I'm a huge supporter of our Armed Forces, especially the Army (even though my entire family has been Navy) and I wish that I was a part of it).
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