I have recently moved to the Big Island of Hawaii. Being here in this beautiful place where there are lots of amazing, fun, and beautiful activities has inspired me to try to start living a healthier lifestyle. I have only just begun a regular workout routine and have already started noticing the results. Wanting to take it to the next level I have decided to start trying out both protein supplements and superfoods. I have decided to share my results and opinions of the products I try to help other people out there who are interested in making their lifestyle healthier and more active.
A little about myself… I am currently 30 years old, I am 5’10” tall, and I way only 135lbs. I have not lived the healthiest of lifestyles so far, but I plan on changing that. Although I don’t consider myself to be the most active and healthiest of people, and I have never played any major sports, I am not unhealthy either.
Ever since I was a young teen I have enjoyed walking and hiking. Because when I was younger I used to walk an average of five miles a day. I have strong legs, and can to this day, out-hike most people I know in my age range. The last six years I spent going to college in California, and although that was great for me mentally and in many other ways, sitting at desks and working on computers for six years led me to neglect doing any strenuous activities. Which allowed me to lose all the upper body strength I once had from working construction and become kind of scrawny.
Now that I am done with school and living in a beautiful place where there are endless exciting and fun outdoor activities I have decided to do my best to change that. As I said I have just started a regular workout routine. Only about two weeks ago. I have already noticed my body responding and I can’t wait to see just what I can accomplish in the next six months. For now my working out consists of pushups, pull ups, and crunches. I don’t have any work out machines or weights so I am just using my own body weight to assist me. I don’t do it on a perfect schedule but instead just wait until I am no longer sore from my last workout and then do it again.
When I started out two weeks ago the best I could do was a measly eight push-ups before collapsing on the ground. I am already able to do sets of fifteen without collapsing and am feeling a lot better about myself.
Besides working out at home I am also have started doing some fun activities out here in paradise such as swimming, hiking, kayaking, and I even went surfing for the first time a week ago. I am proud of myself on that account. I used to skateboard and snowboard when I was younger so I already have good balance and a since of controlling a board under my feet. So, on my first time surfing I actually managed to catch, stand up, and ride five waves. The friend that took me out was impressed, she said she didn’t expect me to even catch and ride a single wave my first time out. I always was scared of surfing and expected it to be much more difficult but now that I know I can do it I plan on getting a board for myself and making it a regular activity.
Now that I am starting to feel a little healthier, and have begun enjoying the outdoors more due to my new activities, I have decided to try to take it to the next level by paying more attention to my diet and testing out health food products. The health food products I am most interested in are those that can help my workouts do more for me such as protein shakes, creatine, and the like. Secondly I have always been interested in trying out what are known as superfoods to see if they really can make me feel better, give me more energy, and make being more active easier.
I have also decided to start paying closer attention to my diet. I already do a lot as far as trying to avoid over processed foods, trying to eat organic/local foods, and doing my best to get a balanced diet. I have been a pescatarian for about two years now. I noticed many beneficial results as soon as I took meat out of my regular diet (I do, on occasion, still eat small amounts of meat). The number one reason that I have stuck with this diet since I started it is the fact that my digestion has been a million times better since I did. I have also noticed that eating nothing but fresh fish, fruit, and vegetables gives me more energy, and never leaves me feeling stuffed and lethargic after a meal, no matter how big.
Not eating meat does mean that I have to pay attention to make sure I am getting a properly balanced diet, and plenty of protein. Since fish is one of the best sources of protein anyway, and I now live in Hawaii where fresh fish is local and abundant, it is not that difficult. Either way I am also going to start being more careful about what I eat and try to cut out things I know are not good for me. Mainly I do not like eating GMO crappy vegetables, overly processed foods like fake cheese, and any weird chemicals that are put in snack foods like partially hydrogenated oils. Although that is all I can really find at grocery stores like Safeway, it is not in all reality that difficult to avoid. All I have to do is get my fruits, and vegetables from the farmers market where they are all locally grown, and avoid snack foods that are full of chemicals.
As I continue on my path to a better, more active, and healthier lifestyle I will continue to try out new superfoods and health products. While doing so I will share my results and my honest opinions here on this website for those that are interested in improving their lives, as I am. Hopefully it will be of assistance to those that don’t want to make themselves into a health food guinea pig such as myself, and would prefer to take the advice of someone that has already tried it all out.
