Day 1 of 56: Why 24 Is Not 17

So, for those of you who don't know, I used to have an eating disorder back in my ballet days. I was bulimic, which basically means I would go for days without eating, then binge on something I loved (primarily ice cream and fried rice) and make myself vomit it all up. Somehow, I had convinced myself that this was normal - even healthy. Sure, there *were* skinny dancers with eating disorders, but I couldn't be one of them. Not me.

WRONG.

Anyway, fast-forward to now. I am recovered, through the grace of God and a lot of hard work. I enjoy food. I don't binge or purge any more. I am in a healthy frame of mind, and I want my body to be healthy as well. I don't want just to be SKINNY any more. I want to be HEALTHY - muscular. Fit. Flexible. Whatever.


Unfortunately...I'm also pretty lazy. I don't eat nearly enough protein, and I hardly ever drink anything but coffee and sweet tea. These habits are not conducive to good health.

Now, caveat: I love ACTIVITY, but I really hate EXERCISE. For example: I will happily spend an hour paddling around in circles in a sea kayak that I don't know how to steer (this recently happened while on vacation in the Keys), but ask me to take that same hour and go to the gym, do some crunches? Not likely.

Anyway, now that I'm a teacher on summer break and have a lot of time on my hands, I've decided to take 8 weeks - 56 days - and try to form those healthy habits that I've been saying I wanted for years. This blog is mostly for me - to help me stay accountable, even if it's only to somebody out in cyberspace - and also to provide some kind of a forum for anyone who knows more about fitness than me (which is probably everybody) to throw me some pointers if the inclination strikes. My program so far is tri-fold, and looks like this:

THE WATER INITIATIVE
Everyone I talk to, everything I've read, agrees that pure water, and lots of it, is ESSENTIAL to your well-being. So, I have eliminated coffee (AGH), energy drinks (SOB), alcohol, sweet tea and milkshakes, replacing these with a gallon of water daily, bringing us to

THE PROTEIN PROGRAM
I don't consume enough protein, mostly because I like carbs too much. So, I have added in 10 ounces of protein daily, plus 3-9 tablespoons of liquid amino acids (thanks, Mac, for the suggestion). Hopefully, this will help with

THE WEIGHTLIFTING TRAUMA
I hate working out. I really do. Enough said.

Today was my first workout. I filled up my water bottle with amino acids and H2O, and headed off.
Look at me, all perky and anticipating. Clearly, I'm thrilled.

This is what happened:

1 mile on the treadmill to warm up (alternating between a power walk and a sprint in speed)
30 reps leg curls at 40 lbs
30 reps leg extensions at 50 lbs
Obliques - 100 reps
Abs - 100 reps
15 minutes intense stretching
5 minutes cool-down stretching

All in all, it wasn't too bad. I still have to choke down a couple of protein shakes and half a gallon of water. Wish me luck - it's arms tomorrow. Yikes.