Healthy Relationships

10/03/18
I would say that I have very strong, healthy relationships with everyone important in my life. While they are not all picture perfect, they are all great in their own ways. The book focuses on intimate relationships in this chapter and just to touch on it, I think my girlfriend and I have an excellent relationship. We’ve been together for a few years now and although we have minor disagreements, we are both able to communicate effectively without arguing. We both push each other to do better and are completely honest with each other. We have both struggled with our self-esteem at times but we both boost each others confidence. When I don’t feel like going to the gym she can motivate me to get there or remind me that missing a day is not the end of the world. I can do the same for her.

My girlfriend has been motivating me for the length of our relationship and it’s no coincidence that she helped in motivating me to make it to the gym 4 days this week as well as going for a run. When we run together it is a good way to have healthy competition in our relationship as we both try to beat each others time and our own personal best. It is also more time spent together and more experiences shared. All of this to me is invaluable and I am very thankful to have someone like her in my life.

One Step Closer to Fitness Goals

9/26/18

As for my goals this past week, I wanted to get back on track with my gym routine. I managed to churn out a 3 mile run on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I was also able to make it to the gym four days on top of that for some weight lifting. I feel good about starting back on the right track but still feel like I could have done more. As I mentioned earlier in my blogs I go for 1 or 2 long, brisk walks a day with my dog as he needs to get his energy released in a proper way so squeezing a run in is tough some days. What I really wanted was to get back into a weightlifting routine. I still want to get back to 5 days a week. The chapter this week mentions stress and how it affects us and how we can manage it. I don’t usually feel over stressed but when I begin to feel the strain of everyday life going to the gym has always been a release for me. It allows me to get away from my problems and focus on myself and self-improvement. It raises my self-esteem as I feel better and more confident on days that I work out or on a Friday night after a week of eating healthy and exercising. This love for exercise has gotten me to my healthiest weight in a long time and I think that getting back to my routine is not only good for my physical health but mental too. This is part of my reasoning behind choosing this is a goal for the semester. I know I am not far off but tracking my progress in a blog is really going to motivate me. I included a picture of my pup and I on one of our walks.

Week 1 Health Blog

September 16

So this week I really just tried to set up the foundation of my health goals.  I am currently hovering around 195 pounds and have been slacking at the gym and on my diet.  I like going to the gym and have been going consistently for about 3-4 years now and I was going about five days a week.  I recently got promoted to a full time position at work and am in my last semester at BSU which seems to be taking all of my spare time.  On top of all this I have a 5 month old puppy that my girlfriend and I need to find the time to exercise and play with.  It seems that I have become complacent with leaving work most days and coming home and spending the rest of my day with the puppy rather than making sure I get to the gym.  I still manage to go three days a week but the first step I plan on taking this week is making it to the gym all five days.  I feel like my cardio plan has slipped since we got our puppy as I have been counting daily walks as my cardio when I used to run about 3-4 miles every other day.  I would like to get back into running on top of weightlifting, maybe on my off days.  This is going to require a lot of time management skills that I feel have developed very well for me throughout my college experience. This is simply another test. Dieting is the hard part of staying at a healthy weight for me, and I plan to figure out my diet situation after I get back on track with my gym routine.  Attached is a photo of where my physique was about a year ago.  I chose this picture because it was probably one of the few pictures I had of myself but one where I remember feeling confident.  Image-1.jpg

Bouchard Health Blog Week 1

My name is Ethan Bouchard and I am a second year senior at BSU.  I am a Criminal Justice major and it has been a long time life goal for me to assist my community in a law enforcement role.  At one point in my life I was working at McDonalds and eating the food frequently and living a less active lifestyle once high school football ended.  I weighed in at about 255 pounds and realized that something had to change.  I started going to the gym and dieting and really staying on top of my nutrition and exercise in a whole new way.  Three or four years later and now I weigh in between 185-195.  As of late, I have been complacent in my tracking nutrition and have been giving in more to unhealthy foods with little nutritional values.  Monday through Friday I am usually tracking everything and paying attention, but come the weekend I have been completely undisciplined.  I have been paying attention to how I feel after eating certain foods and I know that Monday through Friday I always feel my best while the whole weekend I usually feel like crap.  I want to get back to feeling like the best version of myself where I truly feel like I can accomplish anything and the best way for me to do that would be to fuel my body as best as possible more consistently.  When I first started this weight loss journey I was working out 5 days a week but lately I’ve struggled to make it to the gym more than twice a week.  Another goal of mine is to make it to the gym on a more consistent basis and get stronger in the weight room.  I feel that I am at a point in my life where I could easily slip back into being overweight and I want to avoid that before it happens because I did not like how I felt 5 years ago.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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