our health moves us

I'm realizing more and more everyday just how important it is to care of yourself. After finding out today that my dad had a mini stroke, it became clear that if you don't keep your health in check you don't have much to look forward to when you're older. I've never worried about someone as much as I do my dad. I would never want to have to worry my kids one day because of poor health. I'd want to be there for them as long as I could. Right now I can see my health deteriorating and its not helping me at all. I need to develop a healthy lifestyle. One that doesn't involve sitting around on the couch watching tv for hours and constantly eating. Something's gotta give.

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt running. It's a cheap and easy way of getting in shape so why not start now? I'm only working out about once a week at the moment and I know that's not enough to lose weight. The only thing I'm concerned about when I start running is my asthma, but I'm sure it won't be that bad. I think once I have a solid routine and start seeing results I'm more likely to stick with a plan.

One thing that I notice I do constantly is compare myself to others. It can be people on tv, in magazines, my best friend, my sister, or even random people on the street. In my head I am far from perfect and far from where I want to be in terms of physical fitness/shape. I don't hate my body I just know there's room for improvement. The parts of me I want to work on are: arms, legs, muffin top and a flatter tummy. Typical areas I suppose for most women. That can be seen as a good thing since there will always be workouts made to target these areas. It's not like I don't have a fitness magazine just collecting dust somewhere...

I have daydreams of being a thin healthy woman who enjoys doing yoga every morning and drinks green tea everyday. I've never actually done yoga but it is something I want to start doing. I'm also considering becoming vegetarian once I move back to the city. I've always felt strongly about not supporting animal cruelty and I think vegetarianism is a healthy lifestyle to adopt and stick with. All I know is I need to start making concrete plans to start living the kind of life I want. It starts now! :)