Year of Health and Fitness: A New Year, A Better Me

I am dedicating 2019 to my body. Last year I mainly maintained the physical shape I gained the previous year when I had a gym onsite. I fell off the bandwagon in the spring and then slowly got back into it, and then really started making gains again the last three months or so.

My resolution this year is to get the best body I've ever had. I can't say that I have any specific numbers, any particular weight I want to lift or speed or distance I want to run. My goal is to get better every day, every week, improving my cardio and strength. I want to feed my body healthy, nourishing food. I want to walk more - 10,000 steps a day would be great. And I want to keep lifting more, I want to have a strong, toned body with defined muscles.

I used to never exercise. I hated exercise growing up, it was hard and painful and I didn't see the point since I am naturally thin. In college I exercised here and there but it was sporadic and I never saw any gains. I did some dancing and swimming which was good, but never at a level that truly challenged me and challenged my body to become significantly stronger.

In the months following college, I got a physical done, the first in many years, and I was told that I had high triglycerides. I was shocked! How could I have fat running through my bloodstream while I had always been underweight? I decided that I needed to get serious about my health. I am genetically predisposed to Type II Diabetes (confirmed with a genetic test), my grandfather had it, my great-great grandmother had it, my grandmother on my mother's side has it... So seeing a bad result in my bloodwork scared me a bit.

I started cleaning up my diet and stopped eating chocolate regularly. I got a step tracker one Christmas and began walking daily. As the weather warmed up and I was driven back indoors, I began running on the treadmill during my lunch break at the onsite gym. And then I started adding weights. As I began exercising, I began gaining weight, and for the first time in my life I was no longer underweight, but in the healthy weight range.

Since I was so thin, any muscle I was able to build showed up right away, which motivated me to keep building muscle. I love my new look. I no longer look like a fragile twig, but rather a strong woman with curves and muscle and yes, abs! And beyond the aesthetics, I feel healthier, stronger, more energetic, and more capable.

So this year, I resolve to keep building upon the work I have put in so far, and I am excited about the changes ahead for this one body I have in this life.