Take Care

I am not a fitness expert. I am also not a fanatic. It’s just that as I get older I realize the importance of taking care of myself. And since I have $38 coming out of my checking account every month it would behoove me to get to the gym on a regular basis.

I have finally found my groove. Going to the gym in the morning before work is the best thing I could have done. I’m telling you, getting a good sweat going first thing in the morning is awesome. It only takes between 30-40 minutes a day and I’m done and I don’t have to think about it again for the rest of the day. All I’m doing right now is cardio but there are so many benefits to “just cardio” that I can’t complain. Some of them are:

· It's one way to burn calories and help you lose weight
· It makes your heart strong so that it doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood
· It increases your lung capacity
· It helps reduce risk of heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes
· It makes you feel good
· It helps you sleep better
· It helps reduce stress

I feel great. I’m hoping that when springtime rolls around I’ll be able to add consistent strength training to the mix. But until then, I’m happy with what I’m doing. I do not have a weight loss goal. I take that back. Ideally, I’d like to lose five pounds but I’m not really stressing over it because I like what I see in the mirror and my clothes fit. For me, it’s not about a number. It’s about getting off my butt and doing something.

In addition to the workouts I’m also paying attention to what I eat. I do not diet. I pay attention. I normally am pretty strict with breakfast and lunch and I do what I want for dinner. For example, today I had a slice of bread with peanut butter and a small bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. For lunch, I’ll have a Hea.lthy Choi.ce meal that only has 280 calories I’ll snack on an apple and some 100-calorie Chex mix. For dinner, I’m sautéing zucchini, squash, tomatoes and shrimp and serving it all over linguine. I don’t know what the calorie count is for that … it’s really good though.

Anyway, my focus is to improve every aspect of my life. My mental state, my physical state, my finances, my relationships. There is always room for improvement and I know that nothing gets done without me taking some kind of action.