Before I start, I just wanted to express how sad I am. I lost another former classmate - this time to a massive heart attack. It's incredible to me that someone so young could die from a heart attack... but really, when I think about it, it shouldn't be a surprise. We are such an unhealthy nation - stressful jobs and lives, living too fast, not getting enough rest, eating poorly and not exercising enough. I have no idea if any of this applies to Maurice, but it has certainly applied to me and many of the people around me. SMH...
I have decided to regain control of my life and my health. At a certain point, you have to ask yourself - what's more important? A long healthy life or that Big Mac and fries from McDonalds. Why do we continue to do/eat things that are bad for us when we KNOW they are bad for us? I've been as guilty as the next person but it really is time to change.
With that said, today was my Day 1 of Power90. I've been super excited about starting the actual program. I was so motivated that this past weekend, I took the guide with me to the CAL game and read it during halftime. Crazy I know but this is important to me. Some of my friends have even been joking around about my newly found commitment. This is serious though and I'm serious about it. I'm very fortunate to have a ton of support from a number of different sources, including my challenge group.
Today's workout was both harder and easier than I expected. The program does a really good job of easing you into program - you start off just getting to know the moves. My initial thought was to wonder if it was too easy, but that thought quickly went away LOL. I can see how as you add weight you get an even better workout with the program even at the beginning level. I think the real eye opener for me though was how much flexibility I've lost and how weak I am. I can't even do push-ups from my knees! I had been able to do up to 10 from that position. I was even able to do a number of normal push ups but no longer. I mentioned today on my FB page that I'd be glad when I could do a push up and that's true. I can't wait until I'm able to do a normal, full range, push up. Although one of my friends suggested that I focus my goal on pull-ups which are harder, I am all about the baby steps at this point. I hope to get to pull ups but in this program, I think I'd be super happy to be able to crank out 10 perfect form push ups without struggling.
Today was B+ for nutrition. I had Shakeology for breakfast, fruit for snack, 2 turkey tacos for lunch, yogurt snack and chicken breast and broccoli for dinner. I still need to drink more water and will try to get another couple of glasses in before the night is out.
Think about how small changes you can make to change your life. You don't have to do anything crazy or too drastic and certainly I'd never suggest that you turn into a vegan wheat grass, tofu eating foodie (although this is exactly what my uncle did after suffering a mild heart attack). Decide on something you can do to make a positive change in your life - do you drink too much coffee? Don't cut coffee but maybe switch to 1/2 caffeine or switch out every other cup with herbal tea or water. Maybe you eat too much sugar. Find a way to cut back - figure out how many different sources of sugar are in your diet and make a decision to cut out some. If you can't give up those chocolate chip cookies, give up a different source of sugar. Or, go for it all - engage in a Lent-like fast and give up something altogether. You can do this... for your life and for your health, you MUST do this.
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