Chitown And All Around: A Healthier Me: Enough is ENOUGH!

With the loss of another family member, I started to do a little self reflection. On both sides of my family you can find an array of health issues mainly due to poor eating habits and just being unhealthy in general. From bad heart, high cholesterol, diabetes, gout, glaucoma, high blood pressure, you name it, someone in my family probably has it. Even some of the slimmest and healthiest LOOKING family members suffer from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart issues where it usually is due to our diet. Most of these issues are not uncommon for Filipinos in general. Heart disease is the number one killer in Filipinos and my grandmother has lost her brothers to a stroke way too early. Most of the time situations like these can be avoided with something as simple as a lifestyle change. My maternal grandfather has had to have intense heart surgery over the past year and although he's in his late 70s, he's trying his best to get healthier. Better late than never I guess. I lost my paternal grandmother to a heart attack, along with other health issues and circumstances but a heart attack ended up being her cause of death.

My grandma's 3 brothers that have passed

It got me to think, "what am I doing?!" My family jokes around about being overweight or loving fried, greasy, fatty, salty Filipino foods or excessive amounts of red meat, but no one ever sat us down and told us that X amount of family members have died from unhealthy eating habits and lifestyles. After Tito Flory died from a stroke, it honestly put me in check. I know it shouldn't take a family death to wake me up but sometimes I guess it was what I need. So here's my public declaration and cry for help. I'm not so much worried about being skinny and being a size 2 within 3 months. I want to make a LIFESTYLE change. I want to be healthy. I'm tired of being tired (literally). I'm forever sleepy, always craving, eating what I want, when I want, how much I want. Portion control is my weakness. I know it sounds fatty but I legit have a food issue I think! If something tastes yummy to me it's like I have to keep eating it until it's all gone! Out of sight out of mind or something. I don't know. I could barely breathe sometimes and I'll still pick at my plate for whatever reason. No self strength or something. I was raised to not waste food either. "Clean your plate" they tell me. "You know how many people are starving around the world and look how much food you waste" they say. Also, growing up I was used to eating a certain amount of food. Nowadays, if I see that I only ate a quarter of my "usual" portion, my brain is like "there's no way you're full because you only had X amount of food. I could feel content physically with the little portion I ate but my brain is telling me it wasn't enough.

No more. I feel like I'm young enough where I can still make a change for the healthier. I want to life to be 110 years old if I'm allowed the privilege. I want to see my great-grandkids and run around with them too. No more getting winded by just walking up the stairs. No more borderline high blood pressure. JAM's going to be 7 years old this year! Let's shed that extra 35-40 lbs. of baby weight I've maintained over these 7 years. It's time. I'm ready. I hope my family joins me on this venture so we can be healthy TOGETHER! It's not funny anymore. My grandparents are outliving people 5 to 10+ years younger than them to health issues that can possibly be reversed! I don't have many health nut or positive role models surrounding me when it comes to living this healthy lifestyle change. Where do I start?