...and so it begins

The purpose of this blog is to keep me focused on my

fitness goals and accountable to myself and you, the reader.

Today is a FANTASTIC day! It's marks the 11th wedding anniversary of Rick and I. I still not only love Rick to pieces but we have grown closer together. We have more common interests than we used to (and still some very different ones-Mr. "I love camping in my hammock in minus 17 degrees. I enjoy spending time with him when we are engaging in our common activities and we both support each other's "uncommon" activities.

Today is also Beltane (or May Day) and a great day for new starts. It was a good day to get married and it is a good day to formally set my fitness goals.

Beltane is an ancient celebration of the early growth of spring. The seedlings will eventually yield the earth's gifts that will be our sustenance. It is also a potentially perilous time. The new growth is vulnerable and requires OUR intervention to keep it safe so that it can produce it's fruits.

As we protect the young plants during Beltane, I will be protecting my health from the ill effects of eating large portions, making the occasional poor food choice (mmm french fries) and not moving enough. Formal exercise and I are really not on the best of terms but I have found a few ways to move my ass in an effort to lose my ass...

My goal is to check in daily to report (mostly to myself) how well I've done with my fitness goals. I weighed myself this morning and it wasn't pretty. I understand the numbers on the scale are a small part of the overall story but I must tell you that I was not happy when I was working with a personal trainer 6 days per week for a year and a half and the number on the scale did NOT move-yes I looked better but I still had that huge amount of weight on my joints and heart and that is simply not ok.

I understand the difference between weight loss and fat loss... I know healthy foods vs unhealthy foods. I know what works for one person does not work for everyone. I know my own body...it's a body with insulin resistance that is managed with just diet and no medications (for over 10 years) and it's a body with a variety of cystic issues.

I know that I do not do well with the following foods:

sugar
refined carbohydrates
gluten
dairy
cooked tomato
artificial sweetener
carbonated beverages
white potato

I have not touched sugar, soda, or artificial sweetener in at least 5 or 6 years. I do have a bowl of macaroni once in a while, bread now and again, and french fries (usually in spurts lasting days like an alcohol on a bender). I don't miss sugar, soda or artificial sweetener AT ALL. I do not miss having gooey desserts on special occasions. I do however have a serious issue staying away from macaroni and dairy but I have done it for months at a time. The payoff was feeling a million times better and losing weight.

The one eating plan that has worked for me very well in the past was what I called "Justin's Diet". Justin is a friend of mine from South Africa who educated me in ways about food that I hadn't heard in our "FDA Pyramid", government has been Effing with our nutrition for bad reasons" environment. Since the time I met Justin, one of my bosses at work turned me on to a book called "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollen. This book explains why Americans (and now the rest of the industrial world) continue to get fatter and more unhealthy. It goes back to the 70s and 80s... No, I'm not blaming the government for my own overweight status BUT I am telling you that the book will shed some very interesting light on how nutritional studies have taught us errant information.

Here's the bottom line.. LISTEN TO YOUR OWN BODY. When I followed Justin's diet, it coincided with the needs of my own body. Through trial and error of many diets, I know what I should and should not eat. Does that mean I can never have a bowl of penne vodka? No... it means I need to not live on penne vodka. It means I need to make great food choices (per my body's response) and move my FAT ASS more...

So today is Day 1 of getting my formal exercise routine back on the radar. Rick and I have been making healthier food choices for a short period of time and we've also been adding some informal exercise (in my case short walks at lunchtime at work and "rapid fire bowling") ... we've been easing back into the changes and not doing anything too radical.

Being that it is our Anniversary, we'll be going out for a very nice dinner later and we will both enjoy ourselves. Until dinner tonight, my food choices will be healthy ones... balance is key.

It's a BEAUTIFUL May Day...an anniversary gift from Mother Nature. Rick and I will celebrate by getting ourselves to the local high school track to walk. It's time to "Get Fit".

Professor Val signing off

May 1, 2010...and so it begins.