The beginning.

Three and a half weeks ago I had abdominal surgery. Since then, I've only been to the gym 5 times. It has been strange to spend less time at the gym, and so I thought that I might figure out a constructive way to still stay somewhat active. That's how this blog was born. I've thought about doing a fitness blog for a while, but I would much rather substitute actually doing something fitness related as opposed to writing about it, so it never got off the ground. Maybe my pseudo-hiatus away from the grind is a good thing, and will allow me to get this thing going, and keep in the habit of making entries. It's a journal, of sorts, really for myself. But if in the process, someone else finds it useful in some way, for some reason, I would be pretty stoked.

Although I do enjoy talking about work, politics, religion, business, sports, etc. I am going to refrain from doing that for my blog. I suppose there are plenty of other blogs out there that are dedicated to those things, and as many people as there are that exist, you can find that many opinions. No offense, but I don't really want to tell you much about my life or beliefs. I'm dedicating my blog to only one particular thing I love - working out, getting fit, staying fit. As a doc, just about every patient I see wants to be in better shape, or lose weight. I talk with them about it all the time. The fitness industry is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. There are TV shows and products and all kinds of equipment and supplements and books. There are gyms and diets and personal trainers. There are theories and and scientific data and opinions. This blog is just one person's view of fitness - a first-person account of my fitness walk. I hope to incorporate some information about my workouts, my diet, and even my philosophies, both evidence-based and non-evidence based, about fitness. I'm open to suggestions, criticisms, questions, and feedback. I am approaching and writing this blog with an honest and open mind. Although I enjoy talking about other stuff too, in the end, I'm gonna try really hard to keep it focused on one thing - fitness.

My 5 workouts since my surgery were minimalist. I have only done very light cardio. Less than 2 weeks after my surgery I did *slow* stairs for about 20 min, and then again 15 min the next day. Sensing I may be moving a little fast, I waited another week or so before stepping back into the gym. The last three days I have done 30min of cardio, mostly stairs and walking on the treadmill at an incline every day. The workouts burn about 200-250 kcal. I'd like to keep it up daily for now, but I also want to take it very slowly, and let my body heal. I will discuss my surgery in a future post.

Staying away from the gym has been productive on a few levels. One, it's given me time to refocus. Prior to my surgery, I was most definitely losing a bit of discipline. Second, it has given me a chance to rethink some of my fitness goals. When I am back at 100% I will most definitely have some different aims in mind. Third, it's given me a chance to start this little weblog project. Writing, planning, thinking, blogging. I really do think it will assist me in my fitness goals.