It annoys me that I can't stay healthy at all, but then again I am probably being a hypochondriac about this subject. I'm 24, 5'8" (173 centimeters), and 175 pounds (79 kilograms). And yet, information my dad pulls from the Chinese newspaper says that at my age and height, I should be in the 138-166 pound range (62-75 kilograms). That's quite a stretch! With the work that I do, which is mostly sitting in the office on the phone, I can stay between 170-180 pounds pretty well (77-82 kilograms). I have ample opportunity to get out of my seat and walk around places. Yet, I find myself studying charts and learning that I am one color tone below actual heart disease risk.
And it does make sense, sort of. I do have a bit of a gut, but at least I can see my toes. But losing weight and achieving twig status with a six pack has not been easy for me since taking a 40-hour-a-week job. At the end of the day, I find myself wanting to do nothing but idle in front of my computer. During my lunch hour, I rotate between sleeping 40-50 minutes on the car or in the meeting room where it's usually empty, or driving to various fast foods to eat 5-6 dollar meals (15% McDonalds, 15% Jack in the Box, 15% Panera Bread, 40% Chipotle, 15% everywhere else), or both. I eat a bowl of cereal every morning and my mom packs me a small sandwitch and a carrot/apple side to go with me. I feel like I eat too much; sometimes all I do is eat my mom's stuff for lunch, but it doesn't feel enough for me to carry me until dinner.
I do, however, go to the gym, but it's sometimes hard to convince myself to go there - even if it is along the way home. Sometimes all I want to do after a stressful day is go home and unwind because I don't think exercising can help relieve stress. Sometimes I have trivial plans that I think is more important than losing the fat I consumed on that McChicken (and like I said, I'm mostly on my computer at home). Overall, I go to the gym like twice a week. It's enough to keep my muscles from being sore the day after I work out after not doing so for a long period of time, and I can stay between 170-180 pounds that way. But if I can just change something, I can probably hit the target I want to reach in the first paragraph.
But enough about me.
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Topic is Health, Fitness, and Maintaining It. You may have a 40 hour work period but can make time to gym like I do, or you may still be in school with regular P.E. an hour a day. Maybe you have hobbies that involve healthy exercise. Maybe you eat enough and eat right. Share how you maintain yourself so that your system doesn't give you an actual "blue screen of death".
- For me, it's the gym primarily. When I do go twice a week (or more), I spend 1.5 to 2 hours there. 30 minutes on stretches and core exercises, average 90 sit-ups and 30 push-ups (weak?). I lift avg. 35 pound weights on each hand and I run the treadmill or elliptical 20 minutes, getting my heart rate to where it needs to be, getting to what the machine tells me is approx. two miles.
- I like soda, and I would hate to give it up. However, I may have found an alternative to Pepsi. Hearing it on the radio, I decided to give
Zipfizz a try. It's caffeinated powder mix with 10 calories, 2 carbs, 0 sugar, and a ton of vitamins (Vitamin B12 is at 41667%), and I think it tastes great.
- Drink water. Lots of water. Supposedly, the body can fool your brain into thinking you're thirsty when you're actually hungry, and vise versa. Drinking water can make you less hungry, in a way. I have a cup ready on my desk at work when I feel bored. I avoid getting a soda when I'm at the fast food unless the comes with it by default. Then again, McDonalds does label the McChicken meal as just fries and a sandwitch. I should just say "no" to the soft drink.
If you're not embarassed and want to share, share here. You (and hopefully, I) might find a plan or workout that's worth inheriting into your routine. And no, I'm not going back to P.E..