Isacc Tavares sac-ranger@ alamo.edu
Theme park provides good exercise.
At 21 years old, I’ve learned that eating healthy, exercising, and just getting up and moving around can be good for overall health.
In early June, I didn’t feel like myself. I felt tired and lazy. I didn’t look that healthy. I couldn’t fit into my shorts and went from 36-inch waist to a 38-inch. I weighed 203 pounds, not a good weight for a 21-year-old, who is 5-foot-7.
I had to do something, even though I didn’t expect to like it.
I asked my mom to buy healthy foods. She got veggies, fish and juice. It took a while to get used to eating this.
Days later, I added grilled chicken and quinoa and avoided fried food, junk food and other fast food high in grease.
The diet was good, but I had to get up and do more.
That’s when I started taking my Chihuahua-dachshund mix named Jax on walks.
I added 15 minutes to our walk for a total of 30 minutes a day.
Walking a dog in the Texas heat in June was not ideal, but Jax began to lose weight too.
Later on, my parents purchased season passes to Six Flags Fiesta Texas, which offered a perfect opportunity for more exercise.
Walking around Six Flags was fun and swimming in the water park was what I needed.
Later in the summer, my dad brought a pizza home. Trust me, trying to ignore it was hard, but trying not to eat it was harder. I caved; I ate pizza. I thought all that progress would be ruined by a couple of slices of pizza. I learned limiting such treats to every once in a while meant I could still lose weight.
Isacc Tavares, radio-television-broadcasting sophomore, uses season passes to Six Flags Fiesta Texas as a way to lose weight and exercise. Courtesy
As the summer came to an end, I lost about 15 pounds.
I felt happier. I was more mobile and was in the best physical shape I’ve ever been in.
It’s really hard to keep this type of diet, but putting the mind to it and having motivation is what a person can do to lose weight.
Health is arguably the most important thing a human can have, making it more likely we can live long lives, be disease-free, be there for our kids, have money and not worry about having a heart attack at 30 years old.
As the poet Virgil said, “The greatest wealth is health.”
