Tim's blog, week 5: Slow and steady

Here’s the latest:

• 113,263 steps;
• 133 floors;
• 49.57 miles;
• 21,005 calories burned;
• 11,355 calories consumed; and
• 1.8 lbs. gained

I’m going to keep my blog short this week, but here’s what’s new: I feel like I’ve settled into an eating/exercise routine. I’ve not been perfect and had some rough spots. I’m at that point of the process where things are feeling a little monotonous, so I’m happy that I have my first out-of-town trip scheduled for this upcoming weekend.  Thankfully, the food will be very healthy and I’ll have plenty of support and probably many people who will happily volunteer to exercise alongside me.

I did want to share a little about what’s on my mind, and that is my misconception of what’s considered healthy. I notice that I have to keep going back to my mantra of “This is about my health.”

Like many in our society, I think my interpretation of what’s considered healthy has become so distorted that my expectations of myself at this point of the process are probably way too high. I have to admit that it’s easy to become disillusioned by the fitness magazines that line the checkout lines at the super market. Yes, the men and women in the magazines are very fit (not to mention half my age), but attaining a healthy lifestyle does not equate to being a fitness model. Note to Tim: I’m not, nor am I trying to attain the designation of, a fitness model – I’m in my own “get healthy” process.

Come to think of it, maybe at this point, having a monotonous routine isn’t such a bad thing. As a very wise tortoise famously said, “Slow and steady wins the race.”

Tim Castallo is a coordinator for mHIMSS