Being Healthy, Part 1 (17% Body Fat)

     "Be more healthy." I don't think I could have have been more vague if I tried.  Shortly after my new year's resolutions post was up on this blog, my lovely wife asked me to explain myself.

     Well.  Here it goes, and I hope it makes sense.  My health has slowly deteriorated since I moved to San Antonio.  The two main culprits were my allergies and my sedentary lifestyle.  The allergies kept me from going outside a great deal, and I've never really liked going to the gym.  Being on a treadmill gives me images of a hamster running in a wheel, and stationary bikes make me sad because they remind me that I could be outside on a real bike.  To satisfy my wife's and my need for some relative privacy, specially when it comes to medical stuff, I'm only going to say that I'm getting my allergies taken care of.

     With my allergies under control. I felt I finally had the opportunity to go on walks around my neighborhood.  I was free to explore the trail system in the closest city park on my BSO.  In the past 21 months since we got our first set of bikes from a LBS, I feel I've been more physically active than the previous 10 years in San Antonio.

     While trying to find some direction on how to be healthier, I stumbled upon several indicators and tons of different points of view.  The one that has been stuck with me the longest is the inaccuracy of weight as a general measure for health.  I've known from my own research that Body Fat Percentage (BF%) is a much better indicator.  In addition, in my own humble opinion, it is a less daunting number.  I find it a lot scarier to hear that I have to loose 50 pounds of weight than having to loose 10% Body Fat.  Also, I believe that BF% accounts for the fact that muscle is more dense than fat.  I have seen several people in my life get really discouraged when they loose a little bit of weight through exercise and then gain some of it back due to muscle gain.  Something tells me that if they had been looking at their BF% instead of their weight, they would still be exercising on a regular basis.

     With that said, my ultimate goal is to have 17% Body Fat.  It is the maximum allowed for men to be in the "fitness" category, and I plan to achieve it through both exercise and eating better.  Notice I didn't say diet.  Diets are evil (and yes, I'll explain later)!  Also, I don't plan to achieve the magical 17% goal anytime soon.  It took me 12 years to get where I am now, It's only fair that I take my time getting there.  For my new year's resolution, as long as I finish 2013 with less BF% than when I started, that will make me happy...

Be Safe and Be Green.