August 18, 2006
wreck effect
This morning was a sharp reminder that I've been taking my health for granted for far too long.
So today, I decree that I'm going to take active steps to reclaim a "healthy" lifestyle (which I've actually never had as far as I can remember).
The things I'm doing wrong:
- Horrible sleeping hours - I need to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. I've done enough self-experimentation on sleep during the past four years (during freshman year of college, I went two weeks sleeping every other night) that I don't need to continue going on 5-6 hours of sleep a night
- Horrible eating habits - I've actually taken steps towards this goal over the past few months - I've cut out coffee and caffeine (I drink Sprite maybe twice a week) and fast food (Wendy's maybe twice a week). However, I've found that I haven't necessarily replaced the fast food with healthy food - sometimes I just don't eat. I will stop skipping breakfast and will start eating full, healthy meals three times a day
- Horrible exercising - I made an effort by going biking last week, but besides that, I lead such a sedentary lifestyle. This will probably be the hardest habit to break, so I'll set small goals for myself: I will exercise twice a week to start, one hour a day on the bike. Then I will push to three times a week and hopefully will going four times a week for two hours (that seems pretty healthy).
Ok, so I pretty much hit the trifecta - the only thing that could potentially make things worse is if I was abusing substances.
But this weekend - take it easy and rest. Start to get on a proper sleeping/eating habit, and I'll tackle next week with a fresh mind and body!
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hapy
spaceinthewho
dragonboating is great because you've got a whole team around you cheering you on.
or perhaps taking lessons in a martial art or tennis? i'm sure your city parks & rec dept has lots of stuff that is cheap.
plus... my friend says NC is the PERFECT place to play tennis! i'm so jealous...
roy
but yeah, i should probably start playing some sports. get back in shape and all that... hmmmmm
thelast30pounds
For a little extra inspiration, see Morgan Spurlock's movie, "SuperSize Me!" It's great and a fun film to watch. Available on DVD. I was able to reduce my sugar consumption after watching the film. Actually seeing someone go through things you read about makes a bigger impact. Get some sleep!
catherine
Allen
i hear you on the sedentary thing though, I sit in my cubicle all day, and I needed to get back to the gym.
I know you're dedicated to bike riding, but three two hours sessions a week sounds like it might be hard to put into action. You might have more success working out for an hour or so. I find its easier to get myself motivated for a smaller time commmitment.
good luck mang
Phatcorndog
1) Sleep is huge, but I bet there are countless times you just lay there in bed not really in deep sleep but just lying around trying to fall asleep. The time you spend doing that doesn't count as sleep, so what you need to do is physically make yourself tired enough to fall asleep quickly after getting into bed. More on this later.
2) Eating - replace soda with juice. Soda is not only awful for you in that it doesn't give you any nutrients, but that it makes your bones brittle. Even iced tea is better than soda (no carbonation). Definitely try to cut coffee out (you won't need it if you're getting more efficient sleep). As for the fast food, I would say max once a week. Also, it's better to eat 4-5 small meals a day then 3 large ones.
3) Exercise- probably the most important part of a healthier lifestyle. An hour on a bike to start is a bit much (you'll find out the first day). What I did was started off lifting twice a week and running twice a week. Two months later, I'm now alternating lift and run days every day. I still don't spend that much time; my lift sessions run about an hour (if you spend more time than that, you're either screwing around too much or you're unnecessarily overexerting yourself), and I run maybe about 2 miles every other day (less than 20 minutes). If you're going to use a bike, you may be able to do more (less strain on your knees and shins), but don't start off running or lifting too much; it will not pay to be sore for 4-5 dsys because you did too much too soon. Interesting tidbit: every pound of muscle on your body consumes 30-40 calories per day through sedimentary lifestyle. Therefore, if you go and put on 10 pounds of muscle, that's 300-400 calories additional per day you burn just by "existing." That allows for a lot more choices when eating, no? :)
The healthier you are, you'll find you will have more energy and focus while doing tasks. It seriously helps, and I think that's a major reason why I struggled so badly last year in school; I wasn't fit and healthy enough to take on the stress.
Hope it works out for you.
tonylee
just live a hedonistic lifestyle like me!
1.) sleep when you're tired! DUH
2.) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPqXcnIdoL4">eat what you like! YEAH!</a>
3.) no pain... no pain!
yuhoo7
