Power Hour

[An excerpt from Dr. Livingood, Triangle Health Center]

It's been a while since I have written in my blogspot. It's been a rough journey. I am well on my way to a healthier lifestyle. Look, I'm just human trying to make it through each second in time.

For those just reading this today, I'll catch you up to speed. I grew up in a domestic violent home. I had been surviving throughout my childhood trying my best to appease the adults of the household. Just when I thought I was on my way to freedom and independence, the person whom I loved and trusted, abused me too. After 7 years of marriage, which I tried to make a better life for myself and my family, my divorce changed everything back to square one. After 3 years of pain and suffering from divorce procedures, my best friend proposed. Granted it took 8 months for me to finally say, "Yes," to him, my health continued to deteriorate. Grateful to say the least, his kindness and patience helped me learn to be a better person at being who I need to be - me.

The reason for writing this blog today is because I came across an old pamphlet from work, while I was cleaning up my new home office/studio. I have been meaning to clean up my stuff for a while now. Since I have no where else to go, I no longer have an excuse.

For the first time in my life, I have a stable job. Well... in a long time. The Air Force was the best job I've ever had apart from Macy's. The first experience I've had as a contractor, soured my perspective of Human Resource Companies. They do not treat you as a human being - literally. You are just liable property to their company. Needless to say, there were plenty of them, which I will not recommend to you. During my transition from contractor to permanent employment, the company had a guest speaker.

His name is Dr. Blake Livingood. He got the jokes out of the way when he was introduced. He seemed like a nice guy. He stated that sitting for long periods of time will actually diminish your mortality rate. No wonder my muscles ache all the time apart from suffering with rheumatoid arthritis. Needless to say, he suggested that 10 minutes of our time at work, we could get up, walk, stretch, workout or run. These activities would help relieve the stress off from sitting down for 8 hours straight.

The idea is, if you imagine the act of sitting as if it were the act of smoking. We had a few people raised their hands who acknowledged themselves as smokers. He said, "Instead of smoking, or sitting for that matter, you could workout during your break." Basically, sitting for more than 6 hours a day will decrease your life span by 20% as a man; 40% as a woman. In addition, it decreases good cholesterol level down to 20%, your body's utilization of calorie rate, insulin levels drop down to 24%, increases your risk of being obese, having backache problems or kidney problems up to 60% in women. Smoking 1 cigarette reduces life span by 11 minutes while watching TV for 1 hour reduces life span by 22 minutes. Getting motivated to start an activity is a challenging chore. It is easier said than done. I had not done PE since I left the Air Force. My muscles were as stiff as a board ever since my child was able to walk on their own.

I was reluctant to get into Yoga because I was afraid I was going to pull and strain muscles into permanent injury. After some extensive research, I began practicing some stretches and mild workouts with a renowned YouTuber, Adrienne. I feel more confident in being committed to this exercise. Hopefully in due time, I can be as fit as Brittne.

I'm not perfect. I don't expect anyone to be. It would be nice to be able to get past my insecurities and reservations. I have so many things to sort out. Maybe, just maybe I will be able to accomplish the other things I have put on hold.