Day One.

I am out of shape.

But let me start with a little background information, anyway. I used to be a tennis player--quite a good tennis player, in fact. From age 8-18 I went to clinics with all the dedicated tennis pro hopefuls and the homeschooled kids who dropped everything just so they could be on the courts all day everyday. It was torture.

I am a competitive person, it's in my nature, and I love that about me but tennis drove me insane. My coaches claimed I was the most natural player out there among all the other 'eat-tennis-sleep' kids, they said I could be a pro if I really wanted it.

Ha.

I didn't want it.

I'm just not that good of an athlete! I'm lazy! I'm tall and awkward and thick-legged and I find it really irritating that I can't run for more than five minutes without gasping for breath! Okay, so it wasn't really that, I was keeping up with the others it's just that I was always coming in last, especially for the 10 court suicide drill. (I took that title seriously, I wanted to die half way in. "Oh GOD look how many courts are left. I will pass right here on this clay.")

I'm also a drama queen if you haven't noticed. I imagine every physical activity I do as if it were a Nike commercial, slow motion close ups and all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4TbxS_CdWE

I walk into the music building and see that the elevator is far away from the ground floor. Do I walk up the two flights of stairs and not be lazy? Awwwww yea cue that slow mo and the bad ass soundtrack, I got this.

Okay so back to reality. My love of tennis and drive to compete started fading when the cut throat lifestyle (dealing with all those horrendous tennis moms and their spoiled, bitchy daughters) started to bring me down and on top of that I was getting injured. I also started playing my instrument around that same time when I was 12 and I found I was naturally talented at that too and with a bigger opportunity to be somebody. I blew out my right shoulder when I was 16, I remember the tournaments stopped around then. The pain was so great, I had to hit through the agony to warm up my serve (which was a killer serve, but killing me). When I was 17 I damaged my right knee and was out for 6 weeks only to return with a lack of enthusiasm and a nasty tan line from my knee brace.

The reason why I am starting this blog is because I feel that I am falling off the map of where healthy lies. Even though I wasn't ever planning on picking out my white clothes for Wimbledon or getting the proper detergent for red clay stains, I was in shape. I was healthy and hearty and I want it back without all the drama and the pain. Throughout the course of this blog, which I will be updating every day without fail for the next year, I will be writing about the difficulty of starting a fitness routine (from scratch for me!), the daily struggles of choosing the right foods, the tolls of body image issues, and the rewards from taking a step in the right direction to address all of these things in my life and set it straight once and for all.

I refuse to be winded by those two flights of stairs in the music building. I want to preserve my body so I can make music until I am old and tired. I want to feel good in my own skin, regardless of how many pounds I lose or how much muscle is gained.

Day One:(EDIT---did the exercise after posting, did more bike than I planned and drank more water)

Height-6'2"
Weight-185 lbs
Caloric intake for today-2500
Cups of water-4
Exercise-Bike for 25 minutes (when I blew out my knee, I stopped running, lost muscle mass, joints went to hell, have to work up to exercising my legs more)

It'll be a long year. :P

B.B