It's Been a While

Sunny afternoon in Florida

Does anyone else out there suffer with "post weekend blues" ? I DO. Every Sunday evening, around 5:00pm, I start to get sad that the weekend is over. What do you do to get rid of them? What do you have left to do to get ready for the week? I still have to get some laundry finished and grill chicken for the next few days.... while watching Breakfast at Tiffany's of course =)

Last week I experimented with something: A.M. workouts again. My friend graciously accepted my offer to meet me at 5:30am a few times a week. The way my schedule is lately, it is morning or nothing.... for the most part. I choose to do this because I have family and friends that live in the area and I want to be able to see them after work for family parties/dinners AND get homework finished if necessary. I have a few half marathons coming up AND I have some personal fitness goals of my own, so that requires insuring that I get my workouts in... plus, the ladies that I will be meeting in the morning are INCREDIBLY encouraging and uplifting. I am truly thankful for their fellowship and wisdom that they share with me.... while we are sweating and gasping for air in between sets =)

I was asked to speak at a girls night (the theme was health and fitness) for the college group at our church last week.... and I started thinking..... each person's health and fitness goals are personal and unique. I would never tell someone to workout as much as I do in order to be healthy. I care more about helping you with your blood sugar and blood pressure than I do your pants size. I genuinely ENJOY exercising.... and some of my closest friends enjoy exercising as well, so it is my "girl" time. Other people relax by reading, gardening, watching tv/movies, or some other hobby. I enjoy exercising, training people, and reading about new fitness/health research projects..... not because I think we all need to be a size 0, but because I want to know what people are saying so that I can be aware when I educate people. There is no magic formula that works for everyone. I will tell you this though: Nutrition is 80% of your health/fitness goals. Are you trying to decrease your blood pressure? Sodium decrease and water increase will help more than walking 2 hours a day and eating crap. 

My life does not revolve around exercise. I am really not obsessed with this topic. Please understand that my JOB involves educating employees about lifestyle changes and disease management.... I read this stuff all day. Yes, my eyes light up when I talk about what strength training can do for a diabetic struggling with blood sugar control. True, when I see morbidly obese adults taking their morbidly obese children to McDonalds I want to cry.... seriously. Maybe if I did not read articles/textbooks about these things all day I would not notice..... even for grad school, my test questions involve things like "If company A was trying to show the relation between obese children and the distance they live to a fast food restaurant, what type of research study would they conduct......". I am so excited to be a nurse practitioner one day and really help adults who are struggling with these things..... but until then, I will continue to post my plethora of knowledge on the internet for interested persons to read at their leisure. Have a great evening..... ~B