Opening up to bigger and better things

I am an awakening health nut freak. It has always been there for me, but yet I have suppressed it at times. So I have never been one of the elite, or even someone who is noticeably super healthy. I hold on to a little extra weight. I can run half marathons, but yet I can still hold on to that extra weight. My eating habits are to blame. I love healthy food. The problem is I really love sweets and easy comfort foods too. I realize I am just going to have to put in the extra effort.

The exercise comes easily to me, the cutting out junk food doesn't so much. This is where my blog comes in. I am challenging myself to make the change. I am going public. I want to show my readers I can do it, I want them to know they can do whatever they put their minds to as well. I have spent the majority of my career in long 8-9 hour days in a cubicle behind a computer. That is the way it has been even at the jobs putting myself through college and has continued ever since. I don't have a great paying job but nonetheless I am a single divorced mom of a 3 year old and I need the health benefits and the steady and dependable income. So...in light of the fact that I found out this year that I have gallstones and have done considerable reading about my possible digestive issues, I have resolved that I cannot carry on with the I-can't-do-it-attitude.

I have instead decided to adobt the what-if-I-could-do-it attitude. So what if I did follow through and test out some of these theories out there? What if I did follow through? Instead of giving up every single day and giving into the ice cream and mocha frappaccino that seems to draw me in so intensely??! I want to see what would happen. I am not talking about fad diets, I am talking about adopting some eating habits from a few specific books I have read which are geared specifically to a person's metabolic makeup. Mine is different than yours and we are all unique in our build up which is why something that works for me may not work for you and vice versa.

That being said, the three books/theories that I am most intrigued with are "you on a diet" by dr. mehmet Oz, "eat right for your type" by Dr. D'Adamo and the ayurveda concept which there are numerous books written about by many authors, including Deepak Chopra. Now these are all different but yet some of their concepts are very similar. So I am going to do my own thing and sort of pull info from all three to do my experiment. They all insist that you go with the freshest foods with avoiding preservatives and processed foods. They all preach about me eating low fat foods and avoiding most dairy and wheat products. So, I am going to do it to the best of my ability and see what comes of it.

What spawned this endeavor, you might be wondering? Well, the pants are getting a little tight and on top of that I have been divorced for just about exactly one year. This past year has been extremely difficult to say the least. Now I am really ready to focus on me and live my life to the fullest. I owe it to myself and to my daughter. I believe that through this blog I will find a little enlightenment and maybe even spread a little enlightenment to others. It will be a discovery...I may become negative at times, might feel really good at times, I might even fail at times...but in the end I hope to achieve my goals. So better put those out there right now: My goals. I would like to go down one pant size. I also hope to lose 15 pounds. However, if I had to choose between the two, then I would like to go down that pant size for sure. My goal is to do some form of yoga or pilates at least 4 out of 7 days per week. Any other exercise I want to add on top of that is just icing on the cake but I hope to do the yoga and pilates steadily to get the flexibility and strength up for running next spring. I also hope to follow the eating principles to the best of my ability so that I can see these results. Dr. Oz states that in two weeks you could lose 2 inches around the waist following his guidelines. That would be lovely. I have already done my measurements....but I won't be posting those here, I just promise to be honest about my successes or failures!

I hope these changes will help me sleep better and reduce stress. Overall I hope I will achieve a good balance with body, mind and soul. If all goes well, I should be coming close to my goals near new years when most people are setting out to start theirs for the year. I want to be well on my way by then...my next half marathon will likely be in April or May and I want to seriously be able to wear a swim suit this year without devastation. I want to feel good about me!! Also, this will be a lot of learning as I go, I am certainly not an expert in the health field, so let it be known that I am not claiming such a thing. Join me for a new journey to being the best person you always knew you were!