Starting the journey . . .

I plan to take a trip this June and much of the time is going to be spent walking.  The winter has been hard on me and I have been hard on myself.  Living in the upper Northwest part of the United States isn't easy on those of us who need to have sunshine in our lives to keep our brains happy, productive, and positive.  Gloomy days abound: over-eating, sleeping longer hours, and human hibernation seems to go hand in hand with the lack of sunshine.  The lack of activity means I need to get myself conditioned to a point where I can walk longer distances without feeling like I need to have an oxygen mask applied.  If I don't, my trip isn't going to be as fun as I want it to be. I am extremely obese but I'm fortunate (or unfortunate depending on how one looks at it) that my weight gains are evenly distributed over all of my body.

This week I got serious about starting my health improvement journey. My first goal is to walk every day - I am ecstatic to state that I have walked at least 1 mile for three days in a row.  Now some people might not think this is a big deal . . . but, those of us who carry the sloth gene know just how much of an accomplishment it really is. I decided to use the Google Fit application as it is available on my telephone and my smart watch and call me silly but the little "atta girl" reminders from Google just make me happy.  I know it is only a machine, but it still makes me feel like someone is acknowledging my accomplishments. I am also inspired by a couple of my co-workers - they don't know they are my inspiration and that's okay - one day I will tell them. Until that time, I will just continue to watch their own progress and maybe toss in my own words of encouragement to them.

 I will eventually work on my obsession with sugars and carbs, but for now I need to tackle my physical self.  I am taking the approach of building my own pyramid and the base layer is going to be exercise because even if I eat healthier, it doesn't help improve my mobility the way I want it to.  Diet is going to be the second layer of my pyramid and I know from experience that I will more than likely have to build this layer several times before I get it right.  Maybe the fact that I love vegetables, fruits, nuts, and legumes will be my saving grace.  I may just end up having to become radical and ban certain food from being brought into the house.  Time will tell, but for now the focus is exercise and spring has come to Minnesota to help me get going.

Random thought:  I wonder if I would have developed these same bad habits if I lived in a warmer climate near an area that supplied fresh produce year round?  I am guessing I would have because even people in tropical paradises are obese.  I think the key is going to be creating my version of paradise in the plains of Northern Minnesota and it has to start with molding a better "Me".

Wish me luck :)