This is awkward

I'm not good at introductions, and even less informative on starting blogs, so please understand that this may seem choppy and slightly terrible.

Our dedication to fitness started 2 years ago, around my 28th birthday. Jasmine and I weren't much for exercising. It always seemed too hard, took up too much time that we didn't have, was too hot or cold, etc. We could always find a reason not to do it. On top of that, we were caught up pretty deeply in numerous hobbies and extra-curricular activities that killed any desire to get outside and run around, and basically anything else in our lives. Our health began failing, our energy levels dipped, and our relationship was nearly effectively strangled.

Our eating habits were atrocious as well. We would eat out 4-5 times a week, and I'm not talking Subway or take out salads. McDonald's and various pizza places were our go-to dinners. When we would cook our dinner it was usually something like corn dogs, hamburger helper-esque box dinners, macaroni and cheese, and so on. Vegetables were a rarity, and we didn't know how to cook them even if we wanted to eat them.

One day I stepped on the scale and found my weight to be 335 pounds. This was a shock to me, as just 5 years ago I weight 270 pounds. Now, I know the 270 is big in itself, but I went to college weighing 255 and played football there. Still, 65 extra pounds was not something I was expecting. I had only saw myself adding on maybe 10-15 pounds over the years, even though my clothes stopped fitting long ago. I was seriously out of touch with my health.

Immediately that night, I began feeling very sick and run down. I had to leave work and go home. I mad a promise to myself to start working out, to do anything I can to start dropping weight. I started running the next day. I could only make it about 100 yards before I had to walk, and even then my shins and sides would kill me for days after wards. I pushed through it and eventually started increasing my time running and decreasing my time walking. Long story short ( I know, too late, right?) I ended up running an 8K last March and finished under 1 hour. (barely)

This was the farthest I have ever run in my life and aim to run the half marathon coming up this summer. I couldn't participate in it this year because I jacked my knee up ( another by product of my weight and bad pacing/stride length). However, that has resolved itself, and I'm back in better shape than ever. I am wearing smaller sizes than I did in high school, and things are going well. I'm currently sitting at 265 pounds. I only recently started incorporating weight training in my schedule, and I can see definite results that started literally the first week.

Jasmine has a similar story with her health, that I'll let her explain if she wants. She bought an elliptical machine and several workout DVDs and has been pretty good about keeping up with them, and has lost a considerable amount of weight too, probably as much as I have. She has just started running with me within the last week, and like I did, has to start off slow and low mileage. We will get there eventually though.

As far as eating habits, we have almost turned a 180 degree shift. Fried foods are almost absolutely banished from our house, except and occasional french fry or Chinese meal. This happens maybe once every 2 weeks, and pizza is called for even less. I haven't eaten a hamburger in months, and rice or couscous is in almost every meal. I also started experimenting with vegetables, and quickly found out that I love asparagus and roasted Brussels sprouts, which are two things I have never tried before because of the stigma of nastiness that comes along with them. They are incredible. The only meat we really eat is a roasted chicken breast or tuna. these meats are so versatile, they can be used in any millions of ways. We can tell a definite energy increase since we began limiting the fatty and fried food and began eating the vegetables. It is amazing.

Well, I suppose I have went on way too long in this introductory blog. Stay tuned for updates on our progress, and if you have any questions for us please don't hesitate to drop a line. We've been where you are right now, and trust us, it can be done, if you put your mind to it. Thanks for following, I'm headed to knock out 5 miles around town. Bye!