Losing And Finding My Health

My first recollection of being anything remotely resembling health conscious, was when I was 13 and became vegetarian because I had a crush on a girl who was vegan. Although I made this decision for the wrong reasons initially, it was a choice that began my journey to being aware of what I put in my body. I'm no longer a vegetarian but it has influenced my taste in food and cooking style since. I was a physically active child doing gymnastics, martial arts, playing soccer and skateboarding so I never thought much about fitness because it came to me easily.

"Easy come, easy go" as they say.

My teen years were filled with trauma, mental illness and the accompanying self neglect.

I wasn't eating healthy, I was too stressed to eat much although I still tried to be conscious of what I ate. In retrospect, I think I may have had an eating disorder but it went unnoticed at the time due to the general disorder of my life. My home was unbelievably unsafe and I was resorting to harmful things to cope. I stopped being physically active, I stopped doing everything, I didn't care, I couldn't let myself care because it hurt too much.

I had taken my health for granted, and my body was starting to fail me from the stress I was incessantly putting it through. I needed to build my health and strength back up.

It was then that I found yoga, it was the perfect way to heal myself; body, mind, and spirit.

Unfortunately you can't heal yourself in the environment that made you sick and it's hard to find peace in the midst of all the chaos and toxicity, so I started exploring outdoors all day. At first I'd just be walking around looking for spots to smoke, but eventually I was running, jumping and climbing anywhere I could.

I still hadn't fully gotten a grasp on caring about myself yet, because I was still incredibly reckless, crossing busy highways, scaling tall trees and buildings, jumping off stuff so tall I'm surprised I didn't break my legs.

It's amazing how good of shape you can get in, while still seeming to be actively trying to destroy yourself.

Before long my parkour habit led to me climbing on and around dumpsters and, of course, realizing how much waste we create as a society.

I was skateboarding a dozen miles a day pushing a shopping cart filled with my approximate body weight in bottles, cans and whatever treasures I found.

I was honestly in some of the best shape of my life and half of my diet was literally garbage.

I could effortlessly do some of the most intense physical tasks, pushing my body to its absolute limits. I remember being homeless and asking an army guy how much their packs weighed and laughing because I was running around with at least 10 pounds more than that and dancing with it. I had to push through tremendous emotional and mental anguish just to get out of bed in the morning, what was a little physical pain?

Of course health is a fickle balance, and a self destructive attitude only leads you to your own destruction, and again my body was failing me or more accurately I was failing it.

I was failing to meet its needs, and it could only hold up for so long before it broke.

I have gone through so much in this body, and itll stay with me my whole life, it was about time i started taking care of it.

And so should you!

With my Memberful subscription I would offer health and fitness tips.

a mix of everything:

Warm ups, yoga poses and sequences, cardio, crossfit, parkour, martial arts and even circus techniques

Workouts with minimal equipment, incorporating your environment, cross training for agility endurance and strength, exercise spotlights and progressions

Healthy eating tips, herb and supplement profiles, quick and easy healthy snacks and meals, healthy hydration tips

Self care tips, recipes for muscle rubs, massage oils, aromatherapy, soaps and baths.

Equipment profiles and reviews, making your own or customizing gear.