Health and Exercise v1.0

Sit back and put your feet up. This is a long post, folks.


I'm obviously no pro when it comes to diet and exercise but I have maintained my weight throughout the years and learned so much about myself and my health. I love the responsibility of knowing I control what we eat in our home. Don't get me wrong, my husband helps me make dinner every night but ultimately, it's on me. And I love it. I would totally be a 1950's housewife...cook, clean and bear children? Yes, please.
I have never really had a weight issue. When I was younger, I was a bean pole. Seriously, zero curves. When I was in high school I was very active. I ate what I want and ran when I was stressed but never enjoyed working out. I would never run for fun. I was 5'7 and weighed about 115-118. My workouts consisted of dance team practice after school 3-5 times a week. Also something you should know about me is that I do not have an athletic bone in my body. Thanks Mom. I can barely catch keys or the remote when thrown to me. I hate watching any kind of sports unless I'm at a game (really only baseball) and have a cold, yellow, carbonated drink in my hand. But I digress.

Onto college. Again, I didn't play any sports but tried to remain active. I was terrified of gaining the freshman 15 so I made Tommy 'teach me' to like exercise. I walked to class everyday unless it was raining and we would run in the evenings. We both went to college at Lindenwood University in St. Charles and would do river runs. I hated him for this. We would run from campus to the St. Charles River and back. At night. In the cold or rain. I was always about a quarter mile behind him but I still did it. We ate terrible during college...lots of pizza, Rally's, McD's, Taco Bell, etc. Nothing good but I managed to only gain about 5-7 lbs throughout college. Not too bad considering my eating habits. This puts me up to about 125-ish.

My senior year of college, Tommy and I got engaged and started planning our wedding. About 2 months before we bought our first home, I moved back home with my parents. My parents are active, healthy people. My dad is always on the go and my mom exercises every morning. My mom is an amazing cook and always tried very hard to make sure we were experiencing all types of food...except fish because she can't stand the smell. She cooks smart and healthy and I think in the two months I lived back home, I was very influenced by her. Knowing we were closing on our house in a month, I wanted to learn all I could from her. Having an interest in cooking is half the battle...making the recipes is the easy part! So she taught me how to grocery shop to save money and buy healthy foods and how to cook them. My mom is 62 (sorry Ma) and she doesn't look a day over 40! I attribute this to three things: good genes, exercise and eaiting right.

When Tommy and I moved in our new house in December 2007, I cooked 4 times a week and kept our fridge stocked with fresh produce and lots of healthy snacks. I went to Soulard Farmer's Market every Saturday and took pride in our healthy lifestyle. My husband wasn't totally on board but I kept up with eating healthy but never exercised. When we got our dog Ozzy, I started walking him twice a day but I felt like I wanted to do more so I joined our local YMCA just 2 1/2 miles from our house. I joined solo because Tommy was busy and not really interested in working out at the time. Around the time we bought our house, I also started a job in public accounting as an external auditor. During my first busy season, I stopped grocery shopping, going to the Farmer's Market, exercising all together (after signing up for my first half marathon and having to back out of it) and eating healthy, less and less. Also, the firm I worked for had food out at all times. Very unhealthy, greasey, food and candy...and I ate it.

During my two years in the corporate world, my weight got up to between 135-140. I stopped weighing myself but I felt terrible about it. That is my highest weight to date (and I can't believe I'm admitting it on the internet). I didn't look bad...but I didn't look like myself. And no, I'm not saying that anyone that weighs in that bracket is fat, I just wasn't comfortable at this weight. Bad food is unfortunately more convenient than healthy food. It sucks but it's completely true. I was busy working very long days and didn't have time to workout or eat right...or so that was my excuse.

When I quit my full time job, I was transitioning into a part time position and a full time photography career. I made it a point to start fresh and with my husband on board this time, we were determined to live a healthier lifestyle! Exercise would have to become part of my routine, like brushing my teeth and showering.

And here is where we're at now...

with food:
Tommy and I eat dinner at home 5 nights a week (usually eating out Friday and Saturday nights...sometimes just Saturday). We are doing this to save money and for our health. As I mentioned in my previous post, I am going on week three of a non meat diet and I feel great. It's amazing how much lighter and healthier I feel. I am full of energy and have lost about 10 lbs since May of last year. I am down to about 128 which is a great place for me right now.

with exercise:
I never loved running and I couldn't figure out why. I realized that I truly dispise running indoors on a treadmill. I do so much better when I'm outside because I have a very short attention span. When I'm outside, there are always cars and people to run by and it passes the time. We are very fortunate to have an entrance to a bike trail in our subdividsion that runs through our town and the surrounding towns. Tommy and I try to exercise 4-5 times a week. He does more than I do because he plays a lot of raquetball, baseball, tennis and basketball (I swear if our kids end up with my sports genes he's going to be devistated because the man loves all sports) but I make it a point to do something. Whether it's a workout dvd, running, abs or yoga, I do something. During the winter we don't walk Ozzy outside because he doesn't have much meat on his bones and he freezes (not to mention he pretty much refuses to walk) but come March, we'll resume our twice daily walks with him in addition to what we're doing. It's hard because I often have meetings, photo sessions and editing to do in the evenings, but I make time for it. I am a happier person when I exercise. There is nothing like the feeling of pushing your body to its limits and feeling the results of a long run. Right now I am working on building muscle and toning my body. Yoga, running and Tracy Anderson dvds are helping me a lot right now. I feel like I'm in a good routine and like where my body is heading.

I plan to write more installments of Health and Exercise including specifics on how I workout, clothes I wear because let's face it, everyone can run a little faster and a little longer when you look cute, and recipes I make that are healthy and tasty! Feel free to ask any questions...again, I am no expert but I have learned how to love running and the rewards of cooking healthy for my family. I can only speak from experience but I will do my best to answer any questions or post some things that may benefit you all.

Cheers,
Lynsey