I'm a tower of fitness

In graduate school, it is not always easy to live the way you want to, on several levels, not the least of which are the dietary and fitness levels. My relationship with healthy eating and working out have historically been on-and-off -- very on, and very off. In the very on stages, I was working out six days a week and eating nothing but protein shakes, fish, fruit, vegetables, yogurt and whole-wheat bread.

In the very off stages, I was 210 pounds and only watched what I ate as it was going into my mouth.
Why the inconsistency? There's always something to blame -- a dangerous neighborhood you don't want to jog through, or a work schedule that's incompatable with when you'd most like to exercise, or a tight budget that just doesn't allow for a gym membership, or a roommate who loves to cook large cheesy casseroles. It's always something.

Of course, those are all excuses. For fit people, fitness is a priority, and for unfit people, it's not. At school, I'm trying to embrace eating right and exercising as a good way to relieve stress. Unfortunately, doing so depends on a few things I particularly lack at this stage -- money and time. I have been trying to jog relatively regularly and eat relatively healthfully, but the weight-lifting has definitely taken a back seat. Three days ago I did my old routine, and I've been paying for it in unextendable elbows ever since.

With another birthday having come and gone, it's clear there will never be an ideal time to get into the shape of my dreams. After school, I'll be working hard, and maybe eventually I'll have a family. In fact, looking back, my time for that physique has probably come and gone. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to be tall and prone to a natural normal weight, and my general health is good, so that's a whole lot more important than particular points of vanity. But being a perfectionist, I always want to improve, and doing so means making health and fitness a priority, even in graduate school.

As soon as I can move my arms again, and as soon as all this candy from Mars is eaten, I'm back on the case.