Week 1

Hola-

First week. Didn't go great.

Food - Didn't have much willpower. Also, Daniel is an amazing cook. Ate things like "Stick-of-Butter Chicken", Corned Beef Brisket, "40-lbs of cheese Lasagna" (my fault), and ice cream. There was probably some fast food thrown in there for good measure, too. This week should be better - bought salad stuff, made homemade chicken soup, and not eating desert until the weekend. Also bought some cereal for breakfast. If only I'd get out of bed early enough to eat it...

Exercise - Ugh
Monday: Bike 45 minutes (medium exertion) during "Dancing with the Stars". This works well for me b/c we DVR two other shows on Tuesdays, so if I want to watch DWTS I have to watch it in the bedroom ON THE BIKE!

Tuesday: Took my carcass to the JC to "run" the track. NOTE: When I say "run" it is actually a pathetically slow jog-like motion. Daniel gave me two goals - both of which I failed: "Run" one complete lap and finish one mile in under 15 minutes. I jogged 2/3 of one lap completely and finished the first of 2 miles in just under 16 minutes. Not bad for the first day, but I had wanted to be "better".

Wednesday: Felt like an 85 year old man. My knees were KILLING ME. Totally ruined my quads. Agony. Thought for sure I had permanently damaged something. Couldn't even take the stairs at work. Lots of Motrin did nothing.

Thursday: See Wednesday. Tried to do some yoga on the Wii to stretch out, but was too sore still.

Friday: See Wednesday.

Saturday: Realized I finally could walk a regular pace. Took a really long nap instead of getting on the bike.

Sunday: Lots of cleaning, felt like I didn't sit much, but didn't really get my heart rate up. There is always next week...

Lessons learned: #1 Exercise in moderation at first, Rome was not built in a day. #2 Reading on Active.com others who can almost walk faster than their "run/jog" made me feel much better. #3 I need to have better back up food at home for those nights when we a) get home late, b) don't feel like cooking what is on the menu, or c) are lazy.

Goals for Week 2: #1 3x exercise bike, #2 no fast food Mon-Thurs, #3 Eat breakfast more days than not.

The Challenge

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Have you ever had a secret...

"Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." ~ Napoleon Hill

I've been harboring the secret desire to be an athlete for several years now. I'm blaming the Olympics. I long to be able to swim great distances, to enjoy the peace and solitude of an early morning run, or to bicycle past great vistas, or even to enjoy physical exercise that most healthy people can enjoy. I feel like I'm not only missing out on these great adventures but abusing the only body that I will ever inhabit.

I was an overweight child who became an overweight teenager and, to no great surprise, find myself an overweight adult. I've always considered myself "healthy" and in decent shape, but the cold hard facts don't lie. I have developed Type II Diabetes because of not only my genes but also my lifestyle - my diet and exercise levels probably were poor enough to increase the odds of a "normal" person to develop diabetes, let alone someone who was genetically predisposed. I knew that this was my likely fate - several family members are diabetic. Why wasn't that enough for me to change my lifestyle 5, 10, 15 years ago? Change is difficult, I'm lazy by nature. Well, lets not dwell in the past, shall we?

So, I've been thinking about making some changes to improve my all-over health, and just maybe I'll find an athlete lurking somewhere inside. I'm not one for resolutions so I'm not waiting for the new year to start. I'm also smart enough when it comes to my own habits to know what are reasonable goals, and what are foolish promises made to myself that I will break. My end goal doesn't have specific facts attached to it - no magic number of pounds of weight loss, no specific A1C number (measure of blood sugar control for those of you not in club Diabetes) I am trying to achieve. I feel like if I set specific goals then this will become a project - not a permanent change.

So, here is what I will be working on toward better health:

• Blood sugar monitoring - I've fallen down on the job here this last year (long story) but I need to use this tool to monitor how my body is responding to the food I eat, the exercise I get, the stress of the day. Also this will give me an indication of whether or not my meds are doing their job.
• Exercise - Yuck. For those of you who aren't burdened by extra pounds, exercise is not easy when you are overweight. I need to get past this. I also need to get past worrying about what other people think about when they see me exercising. Who cares what they think - I shouldn't.
• Food - My great love (besides Daniel, of course!). I need more balance here. Splurging on occasion is fine, having the diet of a 15 year old boy is not fine. Less fast food (even though it is so convenient) and more veggies.
• Attitude - This is also an area that will need to be worked on. Sometimes I'm so afraid of failure that I never try. This time I'm not only going to try, I'm going to get what I want - with a lot of hard work, of course.

Thanks for following me on this journey!

P