The Woods Family Website

Well, for about a month and a half I’ve been trying to get my physical life back on track.  There are a number of reasons motivating me.  The major reason for me losing weight is because I want to be healthy.  Heart disease and diabetes runs in my family.  I don’t want to ruin my latter years in life because I didn’t do things right at 30 (or 29… I’ve not decided yet if I’m actually going to turn 30 next year).  Also, I want the benefits of being strong and energetic.  I want to play with my kids and not get winded; I want to try new sports and activities; I want to be vigorous.  In addition to all of those things, I know there are other health downsides to being lethargic and eating poorly, heartburn and ulcers being some of those things. 

A couple of months ago, I had a TERRIBLE stomach ache that stuck with me for about 2 weeks.  I have a feeling that my lifestyle had a lot to do with that.  Drinking energy drinks and Diet Mt. Dew every day cannot be healthy for you, especially when your diet consists of a meat and potatoes diet… and by meat and potatoes, I mean a #4 with no onions and large fries at McDonald’s.  Regardless, in an effort to fix my aching stomach, I decided to take a break from caffeine.  From that point on, my drink of choice is water.  Once in a blue moon I’ll have a pop, but I can probably count the number of caffeinated drinks I’ve had in the past month on one hand.  The upside to this change is it was probably the biggest catalyst to my change.  After you quit one thing you know you shouldn’t be doing… why not quit them all!

My workout started pretty simply.  I just wanted to increase my activity and decrease my calorie intake.  I started monitoring my food and activities on DailyBurn and working out on the Wii with the WiiFit.  While it’s probably not the best exercise program it was a great start.  The WiiFit program is slow and simple, but it is great for someone looking to start a fitness program.  From there, I looked at a couple of different exercise programs.  I really enjoyed working out at home, especially the cost!  So I looked at getting the EA Sports Active exercise program for the WiiFit.  It was nice, but what I really wanted to have was a program that would give me significant physical results.  I saw a really cool P90X program on TV and I heard great things about it.  So, instead of buying it, I borrowed it from my friend Anthony.  The program was exactly what I was looking for.  Unfortunately, I am/was nowhere near in enough shape to follow the program.  After doing some research, I decided to go with the same companies intro program called Power90.  I’m about 3 weeks in on this program.  I’ve been following exercises closely and improving regularly.  Having a baby kind of threw a wrench in my schedule, but after a couple of weeks I’m back on track.  In addition to the Power90 workout, my new phone has Nike+ so I’ve been adding in walks/runs as I can to my schedule.  I’ve learned that I can’t do both in the same day, I’m starting to substitute when possible.

So how am I doing?  Well, I’m about 20 lbs lighter and feeling much better.  My tight clothes fit, and my comfy clothes are too loose.  My friends, family, co-workers are making comments that are really nice and very encouraging.  My heartburn is non-existent, my stomach pain has not returned.  I feel and think I look stronger.  Eating right is tough.  Everyone around me tends to eat for comfort or conveneince.  I’m really struggling finding ways to keep myself on track when everyone else is letting themselves go.  The upside is, I usually only have minor slips.  I try to bounce back with a healthy day or a hard workout to keep things on an even keel.  Overall, I’m happy and I’m writing this blog as a reminder to myself.