Being Healthy

I am 26 years old. That is about half the age of my biological father when he died. I never really knew him so it didn't "bother" me that much but his cause of death really does bother me. In his mid 50's he died of a heart attack. He had several heart attacks (from my understanding) before that final one and it is really a wake up call for me.

Now I am "thin", I have the correct BMI for my height, etc, however I *know* I am not healthy. I don't eat enough veggies, I don't eat enough fruit, and I was eating FAR too much sugar.

Diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and a myriad of other ailments run in my family. These are bad things folks, things I don't want to have to worry about as I age. With the genetic background I have, being healthy is even more important.

So, 3 weeks ago I decided to start exercising. I wasn't interesting in losing weight, I knew I likely wouldn't given that I am at a "healthy" weight already for my height. I also know that muscle weighs more than fat so if I toned up I actually expected to GAIN weight.

Admittedly I don't do a LOT of exercise. I do a 20-30 minute DVD a day along with the normal chasing after children/housework that a stay at home mom does. I have a yoga DVD with 6 20 minute works outs, I have 30 Day Shred with 3 20 minute work outs, I have No More Trouble Zones with a 40/50 minute work out on it (you can pick and chose any of the 6 minute circuits), and I have a 6 Week 6 Pack that has 2 30 minute work outs. However, even just 20 minutes a day, 70 days a week is 140 minutes of exercise a week...that is over 2 hours that I wasn't getting before. These are all also pretty intense exercise with cardio and strength training all in one. It is a big step for my health, for sure.

The other REALLY big step I took 3 weeks ago was cutting out as much sugar from my diet as I could. It was pretty difficult at first. I had been eating 100 to 150 grams of "added" sugar a day (candy, cookies, brownies, etc). This wasn't from fruit or juice, it was from the "bad" stuff. Since then I have cut down to 30-50 grams of added sugar a day. It is a pretty big jump for someone that LOVED candy as much as I did.

You see that? "Did". The oddest thing for me since cutting out the baked goods and the candy has been the total lack of desire for these things. Now, don't get me wrong, those first days were HARD, really hard. I walked down the aisle with the Easter candy and it was extremely difficult to keep my hands off the mini eggs and the peanut butter eggs, but I did it.

I do have the occasional chocolate chips (semi-sweet) and I even got Nantucket Dark Chocolate cookies from the store and have one a day if I want them (only 9 grams of sugar per cookie). However I don't even find myself WANTING these anymore. I made brownies today because I love to bake and it seemed like a fun activity. They are still sitting there on the stove completely untouched. I have NO desire to eat them. Zero. I am hungry, I want food at the moment, but I find myself thinking about cheese or an apple or maybe a bagel thin with peanutbutter...but NOT the brownies on the stove.

I am working on slowly adding in more fruits and veggies but I admit that veggies are a new thing to me so finding ones that I like and figuring out what to do with them has been hit or miss. I know I like corn, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes and even lettuce. Beyond that it is a challenge for me. I am hoping though, that with persistence, I can change my tastes to be fond of these things. I already know that taste buds can change, I have proven that with the decrease in sugar, I just hope that they keep working towards liking green beans and carrots.

All the while, I am trying to set a decent example for my children in activity, trying to be healthy, food, and not "dieting".