How I got my Start (Part 2)

Last week in my post I shared how I got my start into fitness and a bit of the struggles I faced when I was younger.  As promised this week's post is about what I have been doing for the last year or so to become healthier and fitter. 

It has been a journey, one that I thought would be a lot harder than it actually has been.  Over the years I have taken many health, fitness and nutrition courses in my college programs and have learned a lot about being healthy and fit.  I have also continued to educate myself as I've gotten older so that I can make the best choices for myself and my family when it comes to food and healthy living.

About a year ago I decided that it was more important for me to be healthy and strong than try to be as skinny as I was in high school.  I decided that I wanted to be healthier to ward of disease and illness.  I found that working in a grocery store and not being fit was making it hard to lift those full reusable bags. They just seamed to be getting heavier and heavier - but reality was I was getting weaker.  Enough was enough, I was done with that.  I needed to make a change so I could be the person I felt I was on the inside.

I took the knowledge I knew already and started making small changes one at a time.  This is the key - taking it slow and steady.  Too many changes at once is hard to maintain and frustrating.  It's much easier to make smaller simple changes.

I also had another motive, my skin.  Which I will share in next weeks blog.

So what did I do exactly?  First I started eating more vegetables and I would be adventurous and try ones that I had never tried before. I found new vegetables that I really like - who would have thought! I have always loved my fruit so that was not something I needed to work on.  As well I upped my water intake, now I try and carry a water bottle with me everywhere.

Next thing I did was switch to whole wheat or more nutrient dense grains.  I only buy multigrain breads and pastas and I  added quinoa and brown rice to my diet as well.

The next major step was to cut out the sweets so now I only buy those on occasions, more so for the kids than for me.  I usually now bake my own so I know what is going in them.

And the last major step I have taken more recently is cutting out all our processed foods.  I rarely buy processed sausages, lunch meats, hotdogs, hamburgers, cheese slices  and even those packaged pasta side dishes (Side Kicks, rice).  I have noticed that those things that I used to think tasted so good now don't even taste that great to me.  Funny how that happens.


To get my fitness going I found something that I love to do.  That is the key - you need to have fun with fitness.  I do workout videos on You Tube about 3 - 5 days a week.  This gives me variety and fun in my workouts.

And that is it, these are the steps I have taken over the last year.  And like I mentioned before it's all about taking one step at a time, not overwhelming myself. 

I want to hear from you!  What are some healthier lifestyle choices you have made?  What are some of your challenges?  Let's share and work together.  I want to help you with your journey to becoming fit to be fab!