Day One

Today is the beginning!

I want to share with you all the easy and hard times that I will be having while I make my lifestyle change. J Because today is the first day, I am very excited and motivated so there isn’t much pressure to fall back to my old unhealthy ways.  However, I was tempted when my father-in-law called this morning and we met him and Nana for lunch at Ryan’s.  If you know me, then you know that Ryan’s rolls and honey butter spread is my absolute favorite!!  However, to jump start my new healthy lifestyle, I am avoiding foods high in carbs and fats (2 things that the rolls and butter spread have). I was able to control my wants and I ate a huge salad with EVOO and vinegar dressing and some dark meat chicken.

So far so good J

My Inspiration/Epiphany!

People all over the world make New Year’s Resolutions to eat healthier and exercise more in the upcoming year.  Personally, I have made this resolution 6 years in a row! Never, until today (yes, it is 16 days into the new year, so I’m not technically starting January 1^st) did I truly feel confident in actually keeping this “resolution”.

Why do our resolutions fail? I can’t answer this for everyone, but I can answer this question for myself.  I failed because I was inspired by all the wrong reasons! I wanted to eat healthy and exercise so that I could lose weight and look like all of those women on the front of the magazine. Yes, I know they aren’t flawless and those pictures are airbrushed, but it was still nice to think that I could look that way.  Doing it for outer beauty was most definitely the wrong reason for me and the ultimate reason for my failure.  I allowed myself to come up with any and every excuse when I was wanting a mountain dew (I needed the energy to stay awake for school work) or a sweet snack (I deserved it because _(fill in the blank)__), and after I had the first soda or sweets, that was the end of my ‘healthy eating’.  I was trying to do it for envious reason of the people around me. Jealousy is a mean thing!

When I would fail, I would tell myself “It doesn’t matter, you have 2 kids, are back in school and working ~ you are too busy to look like those models”.  My mind set was all wrong! I didn’t need to be doing it to look like ‘those models’, I needed to do it for the very first “excuse” that I had; MY CHILDREN!  Did I want to be overweight with health problems by the time they were in high school?  Of course not! Did I want to get outside and play with my grandchildren? Absolutely!

The moment that I came to this realization, I felt for the first time that I could make this resolution and stick with it!

Healthy Living is more than just having the body society has deemed attractive. Healthy Living is actually treating yourself with respect and being healthy, not only for yourself, but your family, and most importantly, for God.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

 ¹⁹What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

 ²⁰For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

I have never created a blog, but my sister Jaime (whose dedication to a healthy lifestyle and running also played a huge part in my inspiration) suggested it would be a great way to help me be accountable! Thanks Sis! J