improve my health

Got up early. Walked briskly to the Y and just worked out. Didn’t make it a big deal. Sore, yes. Tired, yes. But nearly got in the habit.

Each day I added another routine to my workout and extended the reps in the routines I was doing.

A group of folks at work are using the weight and exercise room at lunch. They seem like a nice, low-pressure group of folks. I will have to modify my word day slightly to allow for work out time but heck, I think I would have a MUCH greater chance of actually doing a routine if I only had to walk down the hall.

Next action: bring a bag of workout clothes with me to work.

1) last Tuesday I saw a doctor for a physical for the first time in, er, years. The good news is that I’m not falling apart but I do weigh a lot more than I should

2) I went to the Y yesterday and did a brief but intense workout on some weight machines and on a curious aerobics device that I believe used to be used for pulling taffy.

I have been doing a set or two of curls, etc with some barbells I have, alternating every other day. I’ve done this all summer.

I’ve been pretty good with walking which I do frequently though probably not at an intensity that’s doing much good.

I’ve been eating a cup and a half of steel cut oats in the mornings for the past 2 weeks and if I feel peckish, I eat a bowl of Cheerios with skimmed milk.

But overall I’m still very unhappy with my level of health. I’ve moved the health goals up the list so maybe I’ll focus on them more during the last quarter of ‘06.

I suppose I should break this goal down to more manageable parts. These are the four parts that occur to me:

1) Walk (or Lord save me, maybe run?) a little bit everyday. I can walk a little over 3 miles in an hour. Maybe I can do that. By the end of the summer, I could be back up to jog/running.

2) Move iron around 3x/week. I’m imagining doing circuits at the YMCA. (There’s a new Y in town and honestly I’m a little scared by how clean and shiny it it. I felt really at home in the old dingy facility. I’m serious!) I used to have the habit of stopping in after work whether I was tired or not.

3) Drink lots and lots of water. I don’t know how much exactly. A couple quarts or so. Gotta look that up. I used to just carry a water bottle with me constantly.

4) Eat sensibly. That is, I can’t eat when I’m really just lonely, or really just tired. So, maybe, no eating after, say 8:00 PM. I know it takes a LOT of walking/running to burn off the extra calories I could suck down in a careless moment. And pay attention to the food, dude. As someone said “Don’t just eat a hamburger. Eat the hell out of it.” Enjoy it and give it your full attention. Which means no snacks during TV or movies.

I think these are basically what it’s going to come down to for me to get a bit more physical health. If I focus on the ultimate goal in terms of pounds lost/miles I can run/pounds I can lift then I’ll get overwhelmed. These four areas seem pretty easy to handle.