The outcome.

December 9, 2018December 9, 2018 jaquarryLeave a comment

This blog was very fun to work on. I wrote about a topic that I had dedicate myself too since September. It came as a surprise to see that anybody even read my posts, or would have given me feedback. When it comes to health and fitness, there are so many different topics and areas of discussion. I feel like the main tools that were effective for me would be the tags feature that WordPress incorporates. I didn’t tag a couple of my blogs and I didn’t get any views, but I tagged every other post and I got a lot of views.

I don’t think the twitter widget was effective. I personally feel as thought he twitter widget acts as a distraction from the written content on my blog that is suppose to be the main focus. I tweet about random stuff and I don’t want some of those tweets to show up on the widget, in my blog about health. I might tweet about being at McDonalds and I don’t want that on my blog.

This experience will benefit me in the future because I need to maintain familiarity with tools like WordPress and coding HTML/CSS. I love to write and this could act as a platform for me to reach way more people versus just printing something out and handing it out to people in my city. I appreciate the fact that I have write quality content and be cautious of errors, it keeps me on my toes. I wouldn’t mind being a writer or a critic, and reviewing different restaurants or different album releases. These are some of the skills I will use in a job like that.

My most popular week was the week beginning November 19th- November 25th. I got a total of 14 views, which may not seem like much but it’s a lot for me. I don’t expect anyone to read my content so when someone actually does, I’m thankful. My most viewed blog post was from October 14th. I coded that post myself using HTML/CSS I learned in class so it was really fun to work on that. I think it was my most popular because I talked about trying to get my regimen started only to encounter various setbacks.

Untitled — Photo of some of the stats for my site. Photo by Jaquarry Wilson

I was really surprised to see some of the viewership I gained from people who live outside the U.S. I got views from China, India, and the U.K.. At first it threw me off but then I thought to myself, health is pretty universal. So even though I may think people don’t care, there are people who feel as I do who need ideas. I really enjoyed writing about my health journey so far and I plan to continue to keep the blog going.

Temptation

December 7, 2018 jaquarryLeave a comment

It’s like every time I try to be healthy and take a step forward, I end up taking 2 steps back. I know that I must try to balance out my diet and stay disciplined but it has been difficult. I’m never really able to cook because I don’t have the time and when I do cook, the food is usually gone that same day. I’ve tried, I really have but my schedule has been hectic and it hasn’t stopped. Not to mention the temptation I have around me.

My job keeps snacks around. I’m not usually the type to have a big appetite when I first wake up in the mornings so I don’t tend to eat breakfast. When I start the day, I just have a cup of coffee and go on, but as the day goes on and I get hungry those snacks start to call my name. I’ll reach for the chips of some fruit snacks and eat. I work in a sales environment so it can be stressful. I guess I’m eating my stress away.

I have to stop eating the junk food. I think my job keeps the unhealthy snacks around because they know it can be a stressful environment. They know that the food will make us feel better, so they give us the snacks as a stress reliever. Unfortunately for me and my goal, the snacks are more harmful than good. I have to find other healthy alternatives to snack on while I’m at work. Diet is just as important and exercise.

Restarted: Cardio

November 16, 2018November 16, 2018 jaquarryLeave a comment

I haven’t been as consistent with this workout and lifestyle regimen as I wanted. I learned to keep making goals that are attainable instead of trying to reach too far, and get discouraged. I found myself setting goals such as running 4 miles, for example, and eating only lean foods. I would run one mile, take a break and walk, and then just give up on the rest of my workout. Now, I feel determined

Strength exercises (push ups, olympic lifts, pulls ups, etc.,) are what I normally go for in the gym. I find them to be the most functional for me and what I believe I need most, and it’s fun. It’s been said that we should try to engage in cardio activity for a minimum of 10 minutes. I’m making that my goal first. 10 minutes of cardio isn’t too bad.

I will try and focus on doing my cardio first. I believe in getting the harder things over with first, then doing the fun stuff. I have to do at least 10 minutes and since I’m usually able to run a mile in anywhere from 6-8 minutes, I’ll just run a little over 1 mile before getting to my strength workout. I have to continue to remind myself that goals should be realistic and attainable. This is a goal I think I’ll be able to achieve.

Slight Work

October 6, 2018October 7, 2018 jaquarryLeave a comment

This week I decided to get rid of everything I felt was of no nutritional value. I thought about the decision for a while. The same day I made that decision I ended up changing my mind. I can’t afford to throw anything in my kitchen away. Hard earned money was spent on making sure there was food to eat.

When I was growing up, I would usually eat the breakfast and lunch that was provided by the school. I qualified for the free school lunch program. I don’t know how healthy the meals were, or even if they would have been considered balanced but I will admit that I didn’t get hungry again until after school, sometimes a little earlier. The point is that I was never really taught about what exactly makes a meal a balanced one because I was just eating whatever was there as long as it tasted good.

Luckily, I was taught about junk food and to avoid them especially since I struggled with my weight in my early teen years. Anything with excess amounts of sugar or sodium are bad for you. I’m going try and buy mostly things I can add my own sugar and salt to. I haven’t completely given up all my bad habits but I’m cleaning up my diet little by little.

I managed to do some slight work. I cleaned out my freezer of almost all of the junk food that was in it. I had the following plus more: Ice cream, hot pockets, microwaveable corndogs. When I say I cleaned it out, I really mean I ate it. I decided that I was going to finish what I had and not buy any more junk. Now, I have mostly meats that require me to actually cook.

Hopefully I make some good, healthy meals this week or, at the very least, one. I don’t consider myself a beginner in the kitchen because my mother and my girlfriend have taught me a lot of the basic stuff, but I won’t say I’m a great cook either because I make mistakes. I’m going to try to be creative with recipes that I find on Google. I hope I have enough time to make something fancy. If you have any ideas, leave them in the comments section.

Week 1: A slight change in my morning routine.

September 23, 2018September 23, 2018 jaquarryLeave a comment

Living a healthy lifestyle is not easy if you’re not eating the right foods. Remember, food is suppose to provide us with energy to live and not just for our enjoyment. It is okay to eat whatever we want every now and again because it keeps us from binge eating foods that we have been craving. It is when we over indulge on our favorite foods, especially those that do not have that much nutritional value. Chips, crackers,sweets, and pretty much any other junk food are not a really source of nutrition. Even though we cannot put all of the blame for our weight gain on our junk food consumption, it definitely doesn’t help keep the extra pounds away.

We are often told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. On average we go eight hours without eating, so every time we are asleep we are fasting. When I first wake up in the morning, I never really have much of an appetite. My first meal of the day is my lunch. Normally, I am in bed by 11:15 p.m. and I usually take my lunch around 11:30 a.m. the next morning, so I typically go over 12 hours without eating. I don’t think this is healthy because after my body wakes up from sleeping, I feel sleepy and lazy when I get to work. For this reason, I am going to start trying to eat a small breakfast before I go to work in the morning.

Photo of my smoothie from Smoothie King. Taken by me.

I believe the reason I don’t wake up with much of an appetite is that I am not as physically active as I have been in the past. Now, because my schedule consists of spending 8 and a half hours at work and 3 hours at school, I don’t have as much time as I’d like to have to dedicate to exercising. I know that by being less active, my metabolism slows down and I’m burning less energy, thus decreasing my appetite throughout the day. Even if I do eat something, I only end up taking one or two bites and then I get full. Every now and again, I am scheduled for a later shift so I have some time to spare before work. I didn’t feel like eating all of the empty calories that are in a breakfast sandwich from a fast food place. So, I decided to get a smoothie.

The blend of fresh fruit and protein gave me the energy I needed throughout the day. I wasn’t technically eating anything, so getting too full wasn’t something I was worried about. This particular day, I didn’t have to be at work until later so I stopped and got the smoothie before I went in. By the time my lunch came about 5 hours later, I had an appetite and I was still able to eat without feeling like I was forcing myself. While I can’t see myself getting up early to go and buy a $5 smoothie every day, I can see myself grabbing one before work on one of the days that I work a later shift and when I’m needing the extra energy. I’ll be sure to try a different flavor next time.

A New Journey

September 17, 2018September 23, 2018 jaquarryLeave a comment

Writing my first post marks the start of a new journey for me. My name is Jaquarry Wilson and this blog will follow me as I make changes to my diet and overall lifestyle. There were a couple of things that motivated me to start changing my lifestyle. Earlier this month, I had an appointment with my doctor for a check up. That day, I learned that I had gained 25 pounds since the previous visit I had last year. I’ve never really been the type to look at the scale or care too much about the actual number, but one day I decided to use the BMI calculator from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and I found out that i’m actually overweight.

I remember being the chubby kid growing up. I was pretty thin until 3rd grade but I gained a lot of weight from the age of 9 until I was 15 or 16 years old. I went from being overweight to being obese and I struggled with my weight. I wasn’t always participating in physical activity as much as my brother or cousins because I stayed in the house a lot on the computer and playing video games. When I did exercise it was never consistent unless it was football or basketball season and I was on the team. At 16 years old, I changed my diet and I started to lose some weight. I also joined the cross country team and over the course of maybe 3 or 4 months, I had lost 75 pounds.

I’m 22 now and up until this year, I managed to maintain a certain weight. I don’t want to have to deal with any health issues that come with being overweight. When I was heavier I remember doctors telling me lose weight because I was at risk of developing diabetes. Every morning I used to watch my grandma test her blood to make sure her blood sugar was at a good level. This was more motivation to get back shape and start eating healthy.

My schedule is tight and I have very long days and evenings during the week so it is sometimes difficult to find time to prepare healthy meals and exercise. On top of being at work for 8 hours a day and being in class for 3 hours a day, I have to make time to study for my classes. If your schedule is hectic like mine hopefully some of the ideas, stories, and tips that I will write about will help you out. I’ll be sharing how I find the balance that will allow me to live the healthy lifestyle I am trying make for myself. You’ll find time management tips, quick recipes with my personal reviews, work out ideas, and my thoughts and feelings as I go through this lifestyle change.

Quest for Healthiness.

Tag: health