Back to Basics

With all of the great produce that is in season right now, and having over half of a lean, local, organic, grass fed cow in our freezer, I've been thinking about food and health a lot. I have also felt a huge amount of energy and been so encouraged by my workouts at Crossfit Murfreesboro.
Link
Thank you, Evan Satterfield and David Branch.

That gets me to today's blog topic. I'd like to get back to the primary value of this blog as it relates to my passion for health and nutrition.

In the last few months, I have gained muscle and lost fat, but more than that, I am stronger and can do things that I couldn't do before. Now when you read that I did that; I can imagine many of you saying to yourselves, "Whoopty doo, good for you," with a proper amount of sarcasm. But, when it's you, it is so much different. When you can walk up the stairs and not be winded, when you can fit into your clothes better, when you see a different person in the mirror, it changes everything.

I cannot give enough emphasis to the value of a healthy lifestyle that includes strenuous exercise and smart eating choices. I want to scream: "Do not believe that you are incapable of being fit!" That is a lie from the devil that will rob you of the best version of yourself. You may not be a lanky supermodel, but you can always improve.

When I was in Junior High School, I was chubby. I wore "huskies." Is that supposed to make a kid feel better? Husky!? I say why not call em' what they are. They're for fat kids! In my house, like most houses, where I grew up, we ate pretty much whatever we wanted. Even if that meant picking up a Snickers, or a bag of greasy chips for an after school snack. If we wanted it, we ate it.

In their defense, my parent's parents were close enough to poverty to remember true hunger, and that memory runs deep enough to pass down for generations. Now, except in rare situations, in the USA, even the poor have enough food to eat, and machines now do much of the physical labor that once kept us healthy. We equate food with so many things besides what it is: fuel. We exchange it for comfort, love, attention, celebration, mourning, reward, entertainment, or a remedy for boredom. You can fill in the blank.

We have to call a spade a spade here. Something has to change, or the next generation will go right on eating themselves to death the way we are! If we don't change, we are sure to lose the very thing we trying to gain when we choose to indulge in crap, and that is, quality of life.

Now, I still have room to improve, but I am pretty fit. And I know that when my health improves, my productivity in every other area of life improves, not to mention that I'm able to have more fun because I have more energy!

So are those extra 20, 30, 50 or more pounds you have by not exercising and choosing bad foods really adding to your quality of life? Are you ready for your heart bypass surgery or diabetes diagnosis?

I really mean for this to be inflammatory. I want you to think. I want you to know that eating healthy and exercising can be much more satisfying than the alternative. It takes work. Basically, it takes stepping out of your comfort zone into the scary unknown. Is that really so bad though? What we fear is almost always worse in our imagination than it is in reality. Start somewhere.

In the photo my Mamma and I are grabbing an opportunity to sweat a little at our family's Fourth of July bash. I am so proud of my Mamma. She has been working out at her local gym, while balancing a full time job and caring for my Mammaw. And she is seeing results.