The Good, Bad & Ugly: Facing the Battle of Health and Fitness

When you start a journey of health a fitness you typically always began to lose weight and look healthier, when that happens people will begin to ask you what you are doing and how you’re doing it; and even though there is no one size fits all plan you have to start somewhere and the fundamentals are the same, eat right, drink lots of water, workout and get a good night’s sleep.


I am going to share with you what I’ve been doing and not doing and what I need to stop doing. Some of you will understand where I am coming from and some of you may not be able to relate and that’s perfectly ok, right now I am going to shed a layer of myself and expose my deep dark secret which isn’t such a secret but honestly I don’t think many people have taken me seriously when I’ve “confessed” that I have an issue.

Let’s start with the good stuff; I work out daily one to four hours a day depending on the day, during the week I work out no longer than 2 hours on weekends a bit longer especially on Sundays. My routine consists of running 4-5 days a week, strength training 4 days a week and core training 7 days a week, I also do additional cardio during my strength training. I eat 5-6 times a day.

My water intake sucks horribly and I am struggling with getting enough daily, my sleep pattern is terrible as well; these are the two areas I need to improve on greatly and increase.

What has kept me from reaching my goals sooner and what has my mind in such a state of confusion is my addiction to certain foods. Every time I am on the right track I find myself binging on unhealthy foods. My binge will last over a few days, these foods cause pain, bloating and overall sickness to my body and yet I tend to “need” them at times like an addict needing their next fix. Even though my desire for refined sugar has gone away my desire to stuff my face with a sweet snack or some kind of unhealthy carb keeps popping itself up, eliminating sugar from my hot beverages is a huge step for me so I don’t take it lightly, not going after a candy bar is also a huge step towards my progress but it isn’t big enough. Sugar is my ultimate enemy and I find myself craving it and needing it. This has been the hardest time of my life especially as my days have become busier and filled with multiple activities and not enough time to prepare meals on the weekends to take with me on our outings.

I feel like every time I take two steps forward I keep taking one step back, so even though I’m only going back half way, I’m only seeing half the result I would see if I could beat my addiction. My daily food intake is still good it’s just those moments of “needing” certain foods at certain times. I keep asking myself “how am I going to overcome this”, “how am I going to beat this” and “why am I not strong enough to say no 100% of the time?” The answer is, I don’t know. I’m working on it one day at a time and it’s easy for me to point out what needs to be done, it’s easy for me because I already know, it’s just hard for me to do it at those moments my mind overwhelms me with this craving, this itch, this overwhelming desire for something that sometimes will last for days and I eventually give in.

So if you feel this way know that you are not alone, you are not the only one. It’s a battle and the fight is hard, battling your own mind is the hardest battle of them all but when there’s a chemical effect it makes it even harder.

I know I need to tackle one thing at a time and I hope that by battling one it helps the other. Maybe if I can find a way to increase my water intake it will help fight off the cravings and same goes for the sleep. I don’t know but I do know that I have to start somewhere and now is as good a time as any.

And…It Is What It Is!