Getting Healthy is Killing Me!
I've always tried to stay fairly healthy. Growing up I played baseball (my favorite), I ran cross country, ran track, and played football and basketball. The problem with the latter two was, my growth kind of stalled out in Jr High. Continuing to play football would have put me into the hospital for sure. I decided I was probably allergic to 200 pound linemen. I swear I think the coach was trying to get me out of football without coming right out and telling me (Coach Morrison??). Who puts a 90 pound kid in as a running back?? Seriously! I'm thinking I would have rather he just come out and said, "Dougherty, go do something else. They're going to kill you out there." When I graduated from high school, I was somewhere around 120 pounds, fresh out of the shower.
Basketball was much the same. I'm 5'11" now. But I didn't reach that towering height until I was in college. I realize that being short doesn't preempt a guy from playing basketball, but the inability to dribble the basketball and run at the same time over 10 feet probably does. Just sayin'. So I stuck with what I could do. I ran. Being small, I was used to running...from...bigger guys (see football comments above for one example). So cross country and track really were my thing.
As the years went by, I was a program director at a YMCA, so working out was a regular part of my life. I played slow pitch softball in leagues in Missouri and Oklahoma. Later I was a personal trainer for a while in Tulsa. I've always tried to do something to stay fairly fit. Just like most everyone else, self-discipline doesn't always come easy. There are so many things that seem more attractive at times than ripping muscle fibers down, making them get inflamed and wait for them to heal. I don't know, I'm just kind of weird that way.
I'll get to the point of my little story here. It seems I've been a bit remiss in staying active and eating healthy for a while. It seems like, being the freaking genius that I am, I'd realize that once I break the tape on life's halfway point, staying fit and eating healthy are possible even MORE important. The result has been that my weight has broken my dreaded 200 barrier (which I only did one other time in my life. The boys' mom was pregnant for the first time, and I got pregnant right along with her...it was her fault!). That and I've been sick more in the last year with flu, getting diagnosed with adult onset asthma, and allergies kicking my butt for the first time in my life. Those are pretty good motivators to do something about it.
So, presently I'm in the midst of a 7 day detox plan. I'll tell you more about that later...right now, suffice to say that it's been interesting. I'm trying to get the crap out (one of the exit strategies of the plan) of my system so I can deal with filling a little cleaner 'container' with better 'stuff'. I've honestly never felt better, but I've had to make a daily trip to the grocery store to get the little food that I can eat. I ate turkey today for lunch, on whole wheat bread. That's it. Turkey, whole wheat bread. No tomatoes, no mayo, no lettuce. Bread. Turkey. I HATE turkey. This was one of the best meals I've had in years, bar none! Seriously! It was AWESOME! (By the way, that wasn't all I had for lunch, I also had 3 cups of raw veggies...also AWESOME!!)
Simultaneously, I broke down and bought one of those e-cigarettes...a vapor cig. I don't smoke...I used to. But I've used chewing tobacco off and on since I was about 13 years old. I'd rather quit smoking. Chewing is like mainlining nicotine, and no, I don't need you to lecture me on how nasty it is, how my teeth will fall out, how much cancer I'll get, how my gums will rot, or how nasty it is...again. The bottom line is, quitting cold turkey is out of the question. Someone...will....get....hurt. And it wouldn't be me. Thanks to my boys (and Casey), who I owe ungodly amounts of money to from past failed deals I made with them concerning quitting, for being persistent. It was past time to quit.
I also started running again. I'm doing interval runs (run a little walk a little) to get myself to the point where I can run an entire 5k again. The first few times, I swore my lungs shrunk or something. I couldn't get enough air in my lungs, I was sucking wind so hard. Walking the next day was nearly out of the question. I'm in week 3 of that little project.
As I type this, the thing you don't realize is the number of times I've had to retype words....this blog post has taken three times longer than normal because I can barely move my arms. I did a chest, back, and deltoid workout a little bit ago, and my arms and fingers aren't working so good. I know what I'm going to feel about 2PM tomorrow...sore...very sore. I can't freakin wait!!
The bottom line here is...yep, getting healthy may just kill me. It sure feels like it anyway. It takes a lot of work. It's painful. It takes time, commitment, discipline, stamina, guts, good looks, intellectual genius...but I digress. It also take money. I've layed out a little cash money on this project. No...a LOT. Why is it that McDonald's, which isn't particularly healthy can get me full for $3.50, and eating what I'm supposed to eat costs me a minimum of $43.50 per meal?? OK, maybe that's a bit exaggerated, but not by much!
I've determined the payoff is well worth it. My son's will be off my butt about quitting chewing tobacco. I feel better, lots better. It will save money over the long haul with doctor and hospital bills. It may not make me live longer, but it will probably help me live the years I have remaining BETTER. I may not be able to move as fast for a while, and I may have to get a second job to pay for it, but I figure I'm worth it! FG
Basketball was much the same. I'm 5'11" now. But I didn't reach that towering height until I was in college. I realize that being short doesn't preempt a guy from playing basketball, but the inability to dribble the basketball and run at the same time over 10 feet probably does. Just sayin'. So I stuck with what I could do. I ran. Being small, I was used to running...from...bigger guys (see football comments above for one example). So cross country and track really were my thing.
As the years went by, I was a program director at a YMCA, so working out was a regular part of my life. I played slow pitch softball in leagues in Missouri and Oklahoma. Later I was a personal trainer for a while in Tulsa. I've always tried to do something to stay fairly fit. Just like most everyone else, self-discipline doesn't always come easy. There are so many things that seem more attractive at times than ripping muscle fibers down, making them get inflamed and wait for them to heal. I don't know, I'm just kind of weird that way.
I'll get to the point of my little story here. It seems I've been a bit remiss in staying active and eating healthy for a while. It seems like, being the freaking genius that I am, I'd realize that once I break the tape on life's halfway point, staying fit and eating healthy are possible even MORE important. The result has been that my weight has broken my dreaded 200 barrier (which I only did one other time in my life. The boys' mom was pregnant for the first time, and I got pregnant right along with her...it was her fault!). That and I've been sick more in the last year with flu, getting diagnosed with adult onset asthma, and allergies kicking my butt for the first time in my life. Those are pretty good motivators to do something about it.
So, presently I'm in the midst of a 7 day detox plan. I'll tell you more about that later...right now, suffice to say that it's been interesting. I'm trying to get the crap out (one of the exit strategies of the plan) of my system so I can deal with filling a little cleaner 'container' with better 'stuff'. I've honestly never felt better, but I've had to make a daily trip to the grocery store to get the little food that I can eat. I ate turkey today for lunch, on whole wheat bread. That's it. Turkey, whole wheat bread. No tomatoes, no mayo, no lettuce. Bread. Turkey. I HATE turkey. This was one of the best meals I've had in years, bar none! Seriously! It was AWESOME! (By the way, that wasn't all I had for lunch, I also had 3 cups of raw veggies...also AWESOME!!)
Simultaneously, I broke down and bought one of those e-cigarettes...a vapor cig. I don't smoke...I used to. But I've used chewing tobacco off and on since I was about 13 years old. I'd rather quit smoking. Chewing is like mainlining nicotine, and no, I don't need you to lecture me on how nasty it is, how my teeth will fall out, how much cancer I'll get, how my gums will rot, or how nasty it is...again. The bottom line is, quitting cold turkey is out of the question. Someone...will....get....hurt. And it wouldn't be me. Thanks to my boys (and Casey), who I owe ungodly amounts of money to from past failed deals I made with them concerning quitting, for being persistent. It was past time to quit.
I also started running again. I'm doing interval runs (run a little walk a little) to get myself to the point where I can run an entire 5k again. The first few times, I swore my lungs shrunk or something. I couldn't get enough air in my lungs, I was sucking wind so hard. Walking the next day was nearly out of the question. I'm in week 3 of that little project.
As I type this, the thing you don't realize is the number of times I've had to retype words....this blog post has taken three times longer than normal because I can barely move my arms. I did a chest, back, and deltoid workout a little bit ago, and my arms and fingers aren't working so good. I know what I'm going to feel about 2PM tomorrow...sore...very sore. I can't freakin wait!!
The bottom line here is...yep, getting healthy may just kill me. It sure feels like it anyway. It takes a lot of work. It's painful. It takes time, commitment, discipline, stamina, guts, good looks, intellectual genius...but I digress. It also take money. I've layed out a little cash money on this project. No...a LOT. Why is it that McDonald's, which isn't particularly healthy can get me full for $3.50, and eating what I'm supposed to eat costs me a minimum of $43.50 per meal?? OK, maybe that's a bit exaggerated, but not by much!
I've determined the payoff is well worth it. My son's will be off my butt about quitting chewing tobacco. I feel better, lots better. It will save money over the long haul with doctor and hospital bills. It may not make me live longer, but it will probably help me live the years I have remaining BETTER. I may not be able to move as fast for a while, and I may have to get a second job to pay for it, but I figure I'm worth it! FG
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