Last night for dinner, I gave into a salt/fat-induced option and felt the effects of it this morning. My brain was sluggish and my body was puffy. I would have been perfectly happy sitting on my front porch for the entire morning, sipping on coffee to re-energize me. But then…I decided to take my blood pressure readings; something I haven’t done in a couple of weeks.
As they say, the proof is in the pudding my friends…
THIS IS WHY I MUST STAY FOCUSED on eating healthy and exercising. My “before” reading (left) really shocked me. It always does when I get a reading like that, because I don’t always feel what is shows. Most of the time I’m very energetic and feel just fine. It’s a depressing reminder that I have to take medication and cannot slack off on pursuing a healthy lifestyle. As you can see, my “after” reading changed significantly. Yes, it still looks like a high reading to all of the healthy people with regular blood pressure levels out there, but for me, it’s in a good range.
After my first reading, I decided to take a brisk walk. I went two-miles in forty minutes and this is the result. If you need proof that exercise works, here it is.
I was very active in my youth. I’m not a person who grew up struggling with weight issues. I was a runner, who actually ran with the boys because I was that fast. Call me arrogant, but I could never understand how some were unable to win the Presidential Award for physical fitness, because it came that easy for me. In high school, I was doing fifty-two sit-ups in a minute. It makes me emotional to think of where I once was and where I am now, because that young girl still lives in my heart. I long to, one day, be able to run again. The road seems so long at times, but I’m continuing to focus on the little steps that will bring the big changes.
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Today…my hope is that you’re encouraged to move your body. Take another look at my heart information above. Use it as proof that moving our bodies makes a difference…a really big difference.
Simply,
Cindy
Little Steps to Big Changes 