Be aware of the situation that has developed and tap into your encyclopedia of life events and devise a possible strategy. All the time know that the situation could get worst before it improves. Your mindset can prove to be the difference. Erase doubts that may creep in and get into the mindset of someone that CAN and WILL get through this. You haven’t come this far in life to let ONE situation cripple you. Know that others in the world have probably went through the exact same or even worst, and come out successful. This kind of strategic thinking can get you through tasks small and large.

Life isn’t just about the good times, it’s mainly about how we get through our difficult times to get to our good times. Without pain one cannot truly celebrate joy.

5/22 – Warm-up lap plus 4 miles in 39:09. I will need to work on speed but at least I am logging some significant miles now.

5/24 – Warm-up lap plus 1.28 miles in 10:30. This was a pretty good sprint.

5/25 – Warm-up lap plus 4 miles in 39:12.

5/27 – Warm-up lap plus 4 miles in 37:25.

Though unfortunate, the event has introduced me to the idea of doing a warm-up lap with the dogs every time I run. It will give them exercise and I can take that time to get focused on running.

Well today I did a warmup lap and ran a bit further. Unfortunately it was REALLY hot so I wasn’t able to keep a good pace. 3.27 miles in 34minutes.

Paulette and I are continuing to eat in and really make some great meals. We’re saving money and really getting good nutrients. I really want to include a wider variety of vegetables in my diet but I will need to find some recipes for that.

I have also been watching my alcohol consumption. All in all I’m smoke free for 3 weeks and binge alcohol free for 2 weeks. I need to up my mileage (as far as running is concerned) but other than that things are moving along smoothly.

The overweight co-worker’s boyfriend has apparently lost 24 lbs in three weeks. It breaks down to a low sugar diet where one has oatmeal for breakfast and lunch along with 2 fruit or yogurt snacks throughout the day, diner consists of a low fat meal of meat and vegetables.

It should be interesting to observe most of this unfolding as I have never really seen this first hand. They have already been discussing what to do when… situations where friends bring over sugar loaded foods etc. One good thing that is coming of this is that they are both going to start exercising (since that is apparently also part of the diet). I also decided to have them break down the diet for me it it came to a ~800 calorie diet. *sigh* The humorous thing is that they are quick to criticize one of their friends for going on a 500 calorie diet (apparently the 300 calories makes all the difference).

I honestly can’t understand the need for immediate results at the risk of health. Work around life and try your best to live healthy. Make choices that your body will appreciate and get exercise. Be conscious of what you are eating and enjoy it. Don’t just shovel food into yourself. Look at it and appreciate it as it will sustain you. I guess I have an odd way of looking at things but I feel if people truly did that they would be able to live healthier.

I’ll probably update this as things progress. I’m probably more excited than they are.

Quite a lot has happened in my life that is worth noting. I am now a married man and the wedding planning and everything else involved was actually not too bad. We kept things in our budget and actually made our invitations, save-the-dates, place cards, table numbers, and a whole lot more. In the end everything went beautifully and I couldn’t have asked for more. We then went on a cruise where all I did was really eat and sleep… Still the excursion at Grand Cayman can’t be put into words. Essentially we rented wave runners and went out to Sting Ray City and then to a reef and snorkeled at both locations.

In the end the one thing that has suffered is my health. I haven’t really been working out but am starting my running again. I’ve logged around 4 miles so far since Sunday.

I have improved from last year and am going to continue to do so.

In the study, about 51 percent of overweight adults, or roughly 36 million people nationwide, had mostly normal levels of blood pressure, cholesterol, blood fats called triglycerides and blood sugar.

Almost one-third of obese adults, or nearly 20 million people, also were in this healthy range, meaning that none or only one of those measures was abnormal.

Yet about a fourth of adults in the recommended-weight range had unhealthy levels of at least two of these measures. That means 16 million of them are at risk for heart problems.

The wording appears to compare healthy to unhealthy. Most comparisons make a clear point by showing the contrast between like things. In any case, I later found this to be how the original journal article was also worded. I decided to stop reading journalists’ take on the paper and decided to show the data from it directly.

Unfortunately the journal article did not mention age specific percents for the overweight category.

Looking at the data in that form one does not see obesity as equaling unhealthiness, just significantly MORE unhealthy than being a normal weight. Also the risk factors affect the obese at a very young age. This should have been what most of the news sources were reporting. Instead we saw headlines like “Some Obese Individuals Appear ‘Metabolically Healthy,’ Without Increased Cardiovascular Risk,” “Half of overweight adults may be heart-healthy,” or “Overweight doesn’t always mean heart risks.”

The news spread like mad into blogs and with that came several entries like this. Browsing through the comments one quickly sees how the majority feels that they fall into the obese but HEALTHY category (statistics from the study shows otherwise). The sad fact remains that this study only focused on ONE aspect of health. Who knows what other diseases follow similar trends. 

In any case, the study shows that not everyone lives a healthy lifestyle (regardless of size). BMI remains an archaic method of determining health. Childhood obesity needs to be addressed, as potential risk factors are significantly higher for obese children.

Living a high quality life free from disease may be impossible, but cutting risk factors can aid you in the goal. This study shows that losing weight can help.