OKAY, So my title might be a littler over the top...or under whelming. Whichever makes more sense...
Nonetheless, I entered the new year without making my usual resolutions of: "I'm going to lose weight/get fit/work out more!"
I'm 27 years old and I have finally realized that those types of resolutions are immature...at least in terms of me and my life.
I have been slightly obsessed with nutrition and health since about the 9th grade. It has become second nature for me to choose healthy foods when I grocery shop, or to avoid fried foods on restaurant menus. Working out is a little harder, but being active is always something I strive towards. I go through slumps (which is where I am at now), but somehow I realize my human-ness in all of my efforts. I am not perfect. I will fail. But I will always keep trying. So, who I AM is someone who will always care about health, nutrition, and fitness. I don't need to make resolutions to lose weight and become more healthy because it's become a daily desire for me. I am okay with my human-ness. Thus, I didn't make any resolutions this year.
I came up with a word for my year...kind of like a theme for 2014. I'll talk about that in a later blog.
Warning: Real Talk below. Stop if you enjoy jolly fun stories. Continue if you're okay with moments of vulnerability:
I have often felt insecure when I tell people that i'm a Kinesiology major. Mostly because I don't look the part, ie: buff/fit, and tan.
Post high school, I found out that I had two conditions which basically cause my body to not want to lose weight as easily as a healthy functioning body would. Sounds like an excuse right? I was diagnosed (sounds pretty dramatic) with hypothyroidism and PCOS. " It's well known that hypothyroidism causes a weight increase together with a decrease in basal metabolic rate and thermogenesis [1]" If you have a background in Biology or Exercise Physiology, that sentence might make sense to you. If not, basically, i'm not making up excuses when I say my body does not metabolize fat the same way a healthy/normal functioning body would. PCOS is a hormone related issue also which I don't care to get into.
All of this is to say, working out and eating right has not only become a journey to achieving how I desire to look on the outside, but a journey to discovering how I want to nourish my body from the inside out and bring it back to its optimal level of functioning as best as possible, and hopefully, without resorting to lifelong medications.
I remember when I was at my "best" physically. Oh the good ol' days. I was running 5 days a week, 3-5 miles a day. Great. However, I was not nourishing my body with food at the time. I was not supplying it with enough fat, calories, and nutrients. In spite of how I looked, which was pretty great compared to how I look now, my BMI was still too high yet I appeared healthy. I typically ate a couple eggs for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and had a couple beers (natty lights around 100 cals. each) for dinner. I would love to look that way again, but I would also love to feel great too.
So this is me, accepting what I've been given (my annoying conditions which contribute to obesity), and acknowledging that I must strive towards health first and foremost, and enjoy the journey that I am on now in order to achieve my goal of a happy, healthy body from the inside out.
What does this have to do with being a beer snob? Everything and nothing at the same time. I imagine this will come into play when I accept the fact that, though I love craft beer, it cannot be the hobby i'd like it to be for me. Being a beer snob is a great description of me, currently. I do imagine one day it will be something I look back and laugh at. So for now, it might make sense as a title for my blog; it might be a cute and funny description of a tidbit on my life; but for me, it's going to be stories of my journey towards being healthy...which is what I am passionate about.
So, welcome to my HEALTH BLOG (of sorts)!
[1] Rotondi M, Leporati P, La Manna A, Pirali B, Mondello T, Fonte R, Magri F, Chiovato L. Raised serum TSH levels with morbid obesity: is it enough to diagnose subclinical hypothyroidism? Eur J Endocrinol. 2009;160:403–408. [PubMed]
