Health Update

I've been struggling to find inspiration to write about anything lately. I have some ideas, but every time I sit down to write I just don't feel motivated enough to actually do it. This post was going to be about one of the YouTube channels I watch, but even that didn't seem very interesting. So why not a health update? It's probably one of the things going on right now that I'm actually excited about. If you read the blog, you'll know my journey of weight loss/gain and exercise (or lack their of) is always going on behind the scenes. Back in June, I wrote about the website Darebee and how it was really helping me. It's been about six months so here's where I'm at today.

Lowest Weight as an Adult
As of a week before Halloween, I started consistently weighing 175 pounds. That puts me below my all time low as an adult when I was down to 177 in July of 2019. It's been nearly a month and I've kept that weight, give or take a pound depending on the day. Back in June I said I wasn't going to focus so much on that number, but it's still a great measurement of the work I've been doing for the past 6 months. I would Imagine it would be a lower number if I wasn't also putting on more muscle. Which brings me to my next milestone.

Best Physical Shape
Even when I was playing football in junior high, I wasn't in very good shape. While I have been able to lose weight by doing a lot of cardio and calorie counting, it never translated to better strength really. My cardio and endurance got better but my upper body and overall strength levels were still very lacking. Now that I'm on my fourth body weight program since May, I've seen a drastic change in strength and body shape. I have definition in my arms and chest and the fat around my mid section is shrinking quite a bit. Not sure how I'll get rid of the stretch marks from rapid weight gain over the years, but that's a post for another day. 

In the past couple of months I've set all sorts of personal exercise milestones. The two I'm most proud of are running a sub 8 minute mile and being able to do 40 continuous motion push ups in a row. I wanted to die after running that mile, but it felt good to push myself to my limit. Running has always been a weakness of mine and I still don't enjoy it. When it comes to the pushups, I'm trying to get to 50 in a row. I'm not quite there yet but I could barely do 10 good ones at the end of September, so I've made a lot of progress on that.

Good Mental Health
Despite the many challenges that 2020 and COVID have brought, I'm in a pretty good headspace as the year is coming to a close. I attribute a lot of that to my overall health being the best it has ever been. Not only do I have a lot more confidence because I'm happy with how I look, but I also just feel good. I do have bad days when I'm feeling really down, lash out, or end up being a straight up dick to others. It's not acceptable and I really need to focus on that. I could make up an excuse about various stressors due to COVID, like the online/hybrid schooling for three kids, but everyone is dealing with something.

Plans Going Forward
As a part of my My New Decade's Resolutions, I need to stay healthy and I've set myself up for success I think. This time of year is the WORST for me because I get complacent and just eat, eat, eat, during the holidays. As long as I stick to my daily exercise programs, track my calories, and continue to try and get 10k steps a day in, I should be able to keep my weight and health in check until it gets warm again. One thing I've done recently that I think will really help was mounting an old TV, that was to be recycled, in the garage where the previous owners' had left a mount. Now I can watch something while riding the stationary bike. I enjoy going out there to watch a couple of episodes of The Office while avoiding the harsher weather that is finally falling upon us.

As far as weight goes, I'm not focused on losing anymore. I'm pretty happy at this weight, but do need to continue to shed excess fat around my midsection. Like I said in June, it's really more about body fat percentage now. Building muscle will help with that so I may add some free weights or something at some point. As long as I'm seeing improvement with just body weight exercises, I'll likely just stick with those.

I'm hoping that with the various vaccines out there that COVID will become just another thing we deal with like the common cold or the flu. That will allow things to go back to normal and that will result in less stressors and a better mental health overall. I would like to start incorporating more self care outside of exercise, but I don't know what exactly that is yet. Meditation has never really stuck and alone time to doing things outside of exercise is basically non-existent with three littles ones and a house to maintain. That being said, I want to make a couple lifestyle changes soon as a part of my 2021 resolutions so I might have something in mind.

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