Changing Habits

Greetings,

The spring quarter has officially begun, and I have found new motivation. On each weekday, I have two classes back to back, ending at 11:00am. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have another class starting at 12:00pm. These scheduling facts, in addition to the recently acquired knowledge that I pay a $65 fee each quarter for university recreation center privileges, have prompted me to commit to a new workout regimen. Because I get out of class so (relatively) early on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I plan on spending an hour or so in the gym on those days.

This isn't a spontaneous decision. I've been trying to find a convenient way to get back onto a healthy track for quite some time now. I now weigh almost a hundred pounds (yeah, that's right, almost 100lbs) more than I did on the day I graduated Air Force basic training. When I realized that this is not only making me self-conscious, but that it is literally putting me in the fast lane toward a life of diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic health problems, it just made the decision easier to make.

So I've started the nutritional portion of things today - going back on the "Abs Diet" developed by Men's Health Magazine editor David Zinczenko that worked very well for me in 2008. It's not so much a diet as it is a shift in focus to building meals that focus on 12 "power foods" that naturally turn the body into a muscle building/fat burning factory. The best part about the diet is that I actually like all of the "power foods." I get to eat six times a day, and can reward myself once a week with a meal of whatever I want. I will be drinking lots of water, and cutting back to one cup of coffee per morning.

As for the workout, I will focus on abs and muscle building while at the gym, and take the dogs for a brisk walk every day for cardio. I can't start working out at the university gym, however, until I get clearance from my doctor because I have high blood pressure. I have an appointment for that next week, so I'm really looking forward to that. In the mean time, I have a heavy punching bag downstairs that could use a good ass-whoopin'.

I could use all of the encouragement I can get, so if you get a chance, cheer me on, would ya?

I am the Reverend Humpy and I have approved this message.