![](\"http:\/\/www.angelsdesk.com\/photos\/2007\/04\/mowing_25March2007.jpg\")
\nLily asking Daddy a question.
\n25 March 2007<\/p>\n
\nLily asking Daddy a question.
\n25 March 2007<\/p>\n
HotSchedules<\/a>, Matt’s work, started a corporate wellness program.\u00c2\u00a0 The company\u00c2\u00a0pays for Matt’s gym membership to a really<\/em> nice gym, Lifetime Fitness<\/a>, and we pay for mine and the kids’ memberships.<\/p>\n Before Matt and I got together, we both led very active lifestyles.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Then, like many couples who fall ecstatically in love, our life became about enjoying each other, and absolutely everything else faded into background noise including proper exercise and diet.<\/p>\n Over the past six years, Matt and I\u00c2\u00a0have become\u00c2\u00a0sedentary and our diet has\u00c2\u00a0detiorated into fast food and easy meals.\u00c2\u00a0 (Well, I always ate badly, but Matt had a decent diet before me.\u00c2\u00a0 He was introduced to the American diet when he moved here in 2001.)\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0At first, we didn’t notice our descent into\u00c2\u00a0this very unfit lifestyle — it was slow and subtle and easy to miss in the day-to-day minutiae<\/span> of living.\u00c2\u00a0 It was only after a few years and\u00c2\u00a050 extra pounds that we said, “Hm, maybe we should do something about this.”<\/p>\n So when Ray, Matt’s boss, told us about the gym membership, Matt and I were excited and hopeful.\u00c2\u00a0 We\u00c2\u00a0had been talking about exercising for so long, and here was the opportunity literally handed to\u00c2\u00a0us by\u00c2\u00a0fate and kindness.<\/p>\n We have just finished our fourth week at the gym.\u00c2\u00a0 We go four times a week, doing both cardio and weights.\u00c2\u00a0 This is also\u00c2\u00a0our fourth week of no fast food (well, very little; we still go out once a week).\u00c2\u00a0 And in just four weeks, the psychological shift has been amazing!\u00c2\u00a0 I have greater patience with the kids and am enjoying my time with them more.\u00c2\u00a0 Matt said he can focus better\u00c2\u00a0and can concentrate longer.\u00c2\u00a0 I swear, even my vision has improved.\u00c2\u00a0 All this in just four weeks.\u00c2\u00a0 It’ll be interesting to see what other things happen to our minds and bodies as we continue with this exercise program.<\/p>\n In\u00c2\u00a0my teens, I used recreational drugs a lot.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0It was\u00c2\u00a0a combination of fun,\u00c2\u00a0disaffection, withdrawal, and ignorant youth.\u00c2\u00a0 I quit using\u00c2\u00a0drugs when I was 20-years-old, and I really dislike drugs now.\u00c2\u00a0 I have been on drugs and off drugs, and I can tell you from\u00c2\u00a0actual\u00c2\u00a0experience,\u00c2\u00a0you live a half-life when you habitually use drugs.\u00c2\u00a0 Everything is muted.\u00c2\u00a0 Your vision, your hearing, your memory, your ability to change and adapt, your brain\u00c2\u00a0— everything<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 Muted and muffled and covered in cotton.<\/p>\n And here is the amazing thing I just discovered: when you live an unfit lifestyle, the same thing happens.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, it’s to a lesser degree, but it still happens.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Your world becomes muffled; a thin, white haze settles down\u00c2\u00a0over your life, and you don’t even realize<\/em> that you’re living in a world of dull edges and muddy colors (not to mention you’re moody and your brain doesn’t work as well).\u00c2\u00a0 I had no idea\u00c2\u00a0that eating badly and not exercising could have such negative psychological and physical consequences.<\/p>\n So there ya go.\u00c2\u00a0 Choose life. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lily asking Daddy a question. 25 March 2007 HotSchedules, Matt’s work, started a corporate wellness program.\u00c2\u00a0 The company\u00c2\u00a0pays for Matt’s gym membership to a really nice gym, Lifetime Fitness, and we pay for mine and the kids’ memberships. Before Matt and I got together, we both led very active lifestyles.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Then, like many couples who fall […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.angelsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.angelsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.angelsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.angelsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.angelsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.angelsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.angelsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.angelsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.angelsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}