To Be Healthy

I'm writing this more for me, than for anyone else. This is an accountability post. I hope that one or two others reading will feel empowered, as I know reading other people's stories have helped me out. I'm a geek. I think I've covered that, but, maybe not in detail.

From my best recollection, my first memory was around 3 or so, when my father who worked for IBM at the time, brought home a shiny new home PC. To date me, this was an IBM PC XT  At first, it was completely used for his internal PROFS system. It wasn't until later that year when I was blessed with my first games- Big Top, Ninja, and Zork II. The Atari was kicking around the house as well, from the time of my older brothers and sister, with amazing classics like Combat, Berzerk, and of course Asteroid. Within that time period, the Nintendo had come out, and I started looking already to the future. I'd like to say that I've grown with gaming. At that time, I was in school, and had time to game AND go outside for all those crazy adventures that one does as a child.

When I was 10, my family moved. Now, mind you, we moved about 40 miles away from our old place, but, it was in a new state, and being 10, it might as well have been 1 billion miles. The new area didn't quite greet me warmly. New school, new kids, same old cliche. I was an outsider, and was an easy target for bigger fish. I never really fit into their little cliques, so, the first chance I got, I ran out of there with a passion. During this 12 year period however, because of my lack of new friendships, I turned to technology more. I just about lived in the basement, getting that easily noticeable florescent tan from the garage style lights hanging above, pounding away at either gaming console or computer; or sometimes both. Sure I could whip your ass at a round of darts, or a few games of intense ping-pong, but my focus was technology. So, my physique suffered as a result of this. The sad thing is that during this time period, I had access to more physical fitness equipment than I ever would. Official size pool with 9 foot deep end, heated with underwater lights, full size old-school hanging heavy bag; you know the one I mean, no leather wrap here, all knuckle-bleed canvas. Weight bench with an assortment of freeweights. And, an amazing area for hiking, biking, and just about every outdoor activity you can think of. If I had a regret in life, it's not fully utilizing those tools, and still coveting my shiny tech gadgets.

Let's jump ahead to now, I've been working for about 15 years now, and half of those at desk jobs. It's sad, but I look like a computer technician. I am definitely way out of my hight/weight range, which, for reference, I'm 5'10" and 250lbs, and have the stamina of an 80 year old chain smoker. I just turned 30 in February, and have a semi-decent job, 2 beautiful kids, and a wonderful wife. I have finally come to the decision that I need to be in shape. Not triathalon shape, mind you. But, bigger, stronger, and faster; most certainly. So, I'm going to combine my love of all things glowing, blinky, and beepy with fitness. Enter the Wii. I chose the Wii originally for it's Wii Fit game. This is a decent title for people to get into routines, and develop basic skills. Balance, some good core exercise routines, and even a decent Yoga routine. But, it wasn't going to help me lose what I wanted. I went through a few others, then I found the EA Sports Active, and now Active 2. These programs give a great routine set, fully customizable to what your level of fitness may be. It was a good all around cardio+weight training game.

Wait, let me get back to that- GAME. It's amazing what a simple word can do. Now, I'm not going to gym and working out, I'm in my living room, playing a game, getting fit. I can't stress how this really helped me out, and I hope some of you will try it as well. I do not like gyms or fitness centers. I live in Sunny South Florida, and apparently to be a gym member, you have to already be in great shape. I can't stand these places; it seems like people do more time talking and hitting on each other than actually exercising. So, I decided on the Wii, which comes with ups and downs. I have absolutely no more excuses why I can't do it; it's in the living room for crying out loud. No more driving, fighting traffic, finding parking, etc. Just walk about 20 feet, and push a little button. It also adds a lot more self accountability, mostly because no one can make this fail or succeed but you. If you skip a day, it's on you. It's amazingly empowering. I'm trying to eat a little better, slowly but surely, and do a steady routine almost every day.

So, back to the beginning. I'm a geek. Now, I'm working on being a fit geek. With any luck, a few of you will do the same.