indulgences

An acquaintance of mine is starting to take his health seriously.  This takes me about 4 years ago and to my decision to get fit.  Oh how clueless I was about it all.

So many things to learn, so many things to decide and to actually start doing.  I don’t envy him the learning curve that he’s going to have to go through.  Learning the ropes was a nightmare to me.  But I have to admit that I’m glad I took the plunge and committed myself to a healthier lifestyle.  Without that radical change in my habits I think I would be in serious jeopardy right now as far as my health goes.

The food portion of my plan was and still is the hardest part.  I can get a handle on the exercise portion.  Even though I may complain from time to time I keep to my fitness regimen.  The food though…

Finding something that my system would be satisfied with was a huge hurdle but I was finally able to find something that I could eat on a regular basis and keep my palette from getting bored or feeling empty.  Still, all it takes is one over indulgence to ruin an entire day’s work.

But from time to time you do have to give yourself that indulgence.  Your body is a bit of a child and will rebel if you don’t give in every once in a while.  A couple of cookies here, a slice of pizza there, something from the naughty side of the menu.

The trick is to keep a check on those indulgences.  My acquaintance related how he plans to cut his alcohol intake and only drink a few nights a week.  Hopefully he will learn how quickly calories from alcohol can add up and how slowly they burn off and how long it takes to burn them off on the jogging trails.  Time and effort will teach him.  It taught me.