I had my first personal training session today. Not nearly as scary as I thought it would be. He sat and discussed my exercise history, my goals, my current fitness level. We reviewed stretching tips, cardio tips, and then did some core exercises on the balance ball. Considering how much I weigh, the core exercises really shook me.

I’m excited about getting into regular exercise. I’m not so happy to still be battling my food demons. That’s nothing that I’m going to get over anytime soon, but my goal over the next couple of months is consistency in two areas: medication and exercise. The food will be a continuing struggle, I know, but it’s easier to form new habits than to break old ones, so habitual exercise and remembering my meds will be important steps to getting healthy, regardless of what I’m eating.

While I was attending Day One of Wordcamp Dallas, I was lucky enough to hear Liz Strauss speak about her blogging experience. Though I came away from her talk with a lot of information, one particular thing stood out for me: finding your blogs purpose. What is the vision that will keep it going, what is the mission statement, the r’aison d’etre, of the message you want to broadcast.

In the end, I realize that my reason behind blogging is to put myself out there. To BE my blogs reason for being. I work, with erratic success, to make myself a better me. To get my health under control, and my state of mind in order. But I know that I can’t do it alone, and I cannot rely solely on my family for support. In order to truly fulfill myself, I know that I need to create a network, a web around me, to reinforce and reassure, to push and prod, to congratulate and criticize. Whether it’s the writing that I do, or the extra serving of Tres Leches cake I shouldn’t eat, I want to build around me a core that can reach out and remind me when I’m not well, and when I’m wonderful.

But this street isn’t one way. I want to give back as much as I give. I want to build, from my blog, my own personal social network. And to be part of other people’s personal social network. The web gives us so many tools to allow us to reach out to one another, anytime, anywhere, to encourage or assists, to assist or to request assistance. People can be strong, but they can be weak, and they can be beacons to others or completely lose their way. I want to build a network that can guide and give and take to get myself, and others, to the place on the path of life we want to be.

What good is the internet if not for this?

I’m still here. I’ve got a few things going on and I’ll be back to regular posting. I’m gathering my thoughts from WordCamp Dallas, and getting my workout schedule fully on track. I’m also pulling apart the WordPress docs to build my own template. My writing will be brief until I’ve got my head clear.

There isn’t really much to report yet, but I want to be sure I’m keeping up with blogging regularly. Day 2 and 3 have passed uneventfully. I’ve had about 1800-1900 calories each day, and reduced the fat that I was eating, so the balance is a little stronger towards the protein and carbs. After exercising on Monday, I haven’t been back to the gym. I could work out at home, but after cooking and cleaning up, I’ve lost a lot of my steam. It feeds on each other. I lack energy because I don’t exercise, and I run out of energy so fast, that I don’t have the motivation to exercise. Tomorrow, it’s back to the gym like I should be.

Back from the weekend, and on to Monday.

I had the roughest bout of insomnia this weekend. I didn’t sleep at all on Thursday night, slept on the day of Friday, and just couldn’t catch up my sleep schedule. I’m really not sure what’s causing it. Possibly a combination of physical aches and sleep apnea. I finally appeared to be catching up last night, and we’ll see how sleep goes tonight.

I registered today for WordCamp Dallas. Honestly, I’m only likely to go on Saturday, and this will be my first large scale conference with web developers since my old days at SXSW. I’ve been a bit stale creatively where the web stuff is concerned, so maybe this will jar me.

I went to work out after work today. My trainer wasn’t in today, so I stuck to basic cardio, and I’ll hook up with him tomorrow for my muscle groups. My calorie count worked about to about 1900 today. Not bad overall, but I would have preferred a day that didn’t appear to consist of quite so much fat. We’ll keep it up and keep you posted.