I like your idea of a community blog about getting healthier. So here’s my story. For the past few years I’ve gained about a pound a month. Getting older, this happens–but the math doesn’t look too good. A pound a month for the next 20-30 years? No, really bad idea. So I did two things. Cut white carbs, all of them. White bread, donuts, white potatoes, rice, pasta. I found good substitutes. Yams! Carrots. Quinoa. (A different kind of grain.) And dark chocolot is fine to eat, and now they say it’s good for you. So I’m not missing much. And I used my rower for a half hour every morning. Just one half hour, rowing steady while watching the news. I now lose 2 pounds a month, maybe mostly because of my diet, but I need to keep my skin tight, not flabby, so I add muscles, which weight less. So that’s my story. I swear it will work. Twenty-four pounds a year. Pounds that will stay off.

A friend of mine recommended I go with her to her weekly tango dance class.  At first I was extremely skeptical, since I don’t have an ounce of rhythm in me. When I walked in the studio, I saw a huge sign saying Fitness though Dance. I quickly found out that the class was targeted more to fitness, then having good rhythm, and I was thrilled. We stretched and strengthened our upper arms, abs, thighs, calf muscles, and buns.  Not only that, but it was fun! I haven’t had fun working out since High School. They also offered levels for beginners, intermediate, and experienced. Now I’ve become a weekly member!

Woke up today at 7:10 am PST. Stretched for 10 minutes then did 200 pushups (a bunch of sets of 30), then jumped in the shower. For breakfast I ate half of a grapefruit, a bowl of raisin bran and two slices of rye toast. Then I went to work in front of the computer but I got the feeling that I really needed to exercise more and since today is Memorial Day I decided to go to the local middle school and use their rubberized track to get some running in. I walked 2 laps (1/2 Mile) then ran about 14 laps (3.5 Miles). The key to running is making sure that you are not beating up your knees, ankles, hips and other joints and bones. Rubberized tracks and treadmills with quality suspension system are your best bets. After the light jog I felt much better and went home to do some real work.

When lunch time came I was ready and had burned off most of what I had for breakfast so a big good lunch was really needed. For starters I ate a salad with lettuce, cucumbers, carrots and tomatoes with some Italian dressing. Protein is crucial to my diet so I made some tuna fish and mixed it with celery and chopped up hard-boiled eggs.

When you workout and physically train at high intensity levels always make sure you are hydrated. No matter whether you are jogging on the Treadmill or Elliptical Cross-Trainer, climbing stairs on a Stair Stepper or riding an exercise cycle, you will need to make sure that you are properly hydrated. Eating bananas are extremely beneficial towards remaining hydrated and staying focused.
For dinner we had pasta with chicken and steamed vegetables. The rest of the night consisted of stretching, running on the treadmill, working out on the elliptical and using the home gym for some strength training.