warming up

on the showtime tv series "weeds" i learned the term "skinny-fat". i best describe a skinny fat as a person that does not exercise but still maintains a slim figure. let's face it, some people are just naturally slim; they can eat anything and not exercise but their size rarely flucuates (this does not necessarily mean they have muscle tone though). in contrast, there are people that are naturally thick; no matter the diet, it is a constant battle for them to get smaller without lots of exercise. and of course, there are the folks that maintain a healthy lifestyle with a balance diet and exercise.

i consider myself a skinny-fat; i never exercise regularly but i try to eat healthy besides the regular consumption of sweets. my bf on the other hand has always been lean and athletic; he eats tons of food and has always participated in sports and does Crossfit. 

i noticed that a number of former high school athletes have gained weight. this is not necessarily a bad thing, but an observation. it makes complete sense to me: when one participates in sports their body's metabolism is faster; they can consume tons of calories but it develops into energy and muscles. once activity ceases, their metabolism slows down and they often forget to lower their caloric consumption  which leads to weight gain. i have gained weight since high school, but since my body is not used to working out, my metabolism picks up when i do workout.

in 2009, i restarted my training in taekwondo and picked up at brown belt level where i had left off as a kid. i had to re-learn all that i had forgotten and trained about 3-4 times a week for 3 years until i finally earned my rank in August 2012. i was in the best shape of my life, but still had a lot of soft spots and weak core. i have stopped doing taekwondo and am back to not having any form of regular exercise. i have gained some weight but now that we have a dog, i am trying to put an effort in walking him so that he and i can both benefit from the exercise.

today, it was warm enough for me to throw on a pair of shorts, long sleeve t-shirt, and some tennis shoes and take him for a mile walk in the near by park. i hope that this trend will continue and that i can start being a little more active.