This time last year I made the decision to start living healthier. I had just signed up to run the IOA Corporate 5K in April. Having never been truly healthy before, training was a true feat. Through running every morning and eating healthy, I was able to run the entire race without quitting.
This began a my relationship with running. Throughout 2008 I ran a total of 6 races, 5k each. I was in the best shape of my life. Also, I was the first one in my entire family to ever run a race. By October, I was back to my high school weight, 215 lb. I had lost nearly 20 lbs!
Then final exams hit. The finals kept me up all night, which hindered my ability to run the next morning. Often I slept in, which meant I had to work late after class. After work, it was straight to study time. Excuses aside, I stopped working out. I stopped cooking myself healthy foods. I started to drive-through fast food restaurants so I could eat in my car on the way to work/class. I knew it wasn't healthy, but at the time I had more important things to worry about. "But it's okay, I'll start back up after exams," I told myself.
Well, naturally following exams were the holidays. My family lives on the West coast, while I live on the East. Visiting them meant leaving my world to visit a whole new one. I could eat, let myself go, and return to my normal lifestyle once I got home. Even worse, I didn't really know anyone in California except my family, so I wasn't too keen on keeping fit. Access to plenty of junk-food along with nobody to hang out with meant many evenings watching marathons of Netflix shows and a bucket of popcorn. "But it's okay, I'll start running again and eating healthy when I get back," I told myself.
So I flew back. Classes started again, this time with a lighter course load. This was the perfect opportunity to improve my health and get back in shape. I had everything going for me. I wasn't in a rush, so I could get a leisurely start on my healthy habits again. Honestly, I smiled at the prospect of running again, especially across the finish line of a race. A part of me couldn't wait to start.
But as stories like this often go, I found another part of myself awakened by the late-night study snacks and the junk food of the west coast. This part of myself compelled me to stop by McDonald's before work to grab a sausage biscuit with egg meal, complete with the coffee and hash brown. I found myself giving into the temptation of a $2.99 Double Cheeseburger value meal during lunch and dinner. And of course, I only gave myself time to run in the early mornings, when I had to wake up extra early. Note: I have not been awake to run in yet in 2009.
So here I am today. I went to the doctor yesterday to check out a ringing ear, and they "measured" my health. The last time they did this was before 2008, when I had started running. The result:
Weight: 241
Blood Pressure: Worse (I don't know the numbers)
Height: 6'1
BMI: 31.8
I was in worse shape than before! I took one step forward, and two steps back. I entered my info into Traineo, and I had gained 6 lbs. The doctor recommended that I get screened for diabetes. I knew I was at a valley in my health, but this was a serious wake-up call.
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