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Borries 1

I have been losing weight since the holidays. I’m not really sure why but I suddenlycraved all things healthy and I’ve been on a feel better kick for awhile. My New Year’sresolution was simply to take better care of myself. Right now my weight is down to 175 and Ican feel my hip bones again. I had my little girl, Devon, 18 months ago and in my highest pregnancy weight was 227 so I feel pretty good about my recent weight loss. My body massindex is 27, which would mean that I have an increased risk for disease and I am overweight.According to BMI chart, for my height I would be in best health if I were to weigh between 120and 160 pounds. I feel best when I weigh around 135 but it is difficult for me to maintain. I havea low risk of premature death. My waist circumference is currently 36” which would indicatethat I am at high risk for disease when combined with my BMI. So obviously I’m in need of making changes if I want to live a long healthy life to see my daughter have her grandkids.My resting heart rate is 74 which gives me an average resting heart rate rating. Mymaximal heart rate is 189 which means that my heart rate reserve is 115. This indicates that Ishould reach a heart rate of 172 beats per minute to reach 50% heart rate. For me to reach 60%heart rate I would have to get my heart rate up to 184 beats per minute, which is only 4 bpmfewer than my maximal heart rate so I really should be careful to get beyond that. I have recentlystarted doing yard work for exercise. I rake leaves and get my heart rate up and try to keep itthere for at least 20-30 minutes about 3 days a week while my little one plays in the yard. I havefound that within 10 minutes my heart rate goes up to around 170 bpm so I’m getting closer tothe 50% heart rate goal. Also with the start of the semester and parking the way it is on campus Ihave been walking a ton more than I used to. I was pretty sedentary while I was at home with mydaughter to the point where it was a literal pain to go the grocery store once a week. I know Iwalk at least 45 minutes a day 3 days a week and since I’ve been feeling better I have a little pepin my step to up my heart rate for even just a minute. I also try to take the stairs when I can. If

Borries 2

nothing else I can honestly say that I have been much more physically active since the start of this semester and I feel better because of it.I started doing yoga for strength training because of this class. I had been interested intrying it out and turns out I love it and it actually helps with my whiplash injury. I needed thisexcuse to go try something new so thank you for that! I’ve definitely felt a difference from thefirst day I went and I’ve been improving ever since. I can feel my posture improving and mycore is more solid. I have fewer problems with my neck and spine and have fewer headachesalthough I can get quite sore from the exercise. I certainly didn’t expect to sweat during class or be so sore the next day! I go to the early morning sunrise class and it’s been a wonderful way tostart my day twice a week.My goal is to incorporate stretching into all of my mornings. I like to start by doing alittle cardio with the help of my Wii. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried some of the Wii games butthey can be quite a heart pumper. I like to see how many bags I can punch down in the boxinggame. Then I like to do a combination of yoga and dance stretches to work out my entire bodystarting with my neck, shoulders, back, abs, arms and legs. It also helps to meditate during thestretch to calm my spirit. This really helps me to alleviate all of the morning after aches and pains.I don’t weigh myself so I am unsure of what kind of progress I’m making there. I don’treally care what the scale says because I know how much better I feel. I know that I’ll see progress in time and I’m already enjoying the benefits of having a leaner physique and a tonmore energy not to mention the fact that I have had fewer headaches and back pains which to meis nothing short of a miracle. I’m able now to put my body back into a position where it is readyto heal itself. I have taken all of these steps to take better care of myself because of the lessonslearned in this class.