One More Round

One more round of finals and it is O.V.E.R. Well, at least the law school part anyway. Then it's obviously time to get ready for the bar. And then there is that little matter of finding a job. But whatever. In a week and a half from now, I'll be celebrating finishing the last final of my educational career. I'm seriously never ever ever going back to school unless I somehow come in to a ton of money and can pay just to audit courses. Because while I love learning, I don't love finals. Just saying!

Food Confessional Part II: A Happy Beginning

I've been cleaning up my eating habits and renewing my commitment to health and exercise. I've had a lot of encouragement as I've tried to this. My brother, Zeb, checks in with me weekly about my progress and gives me advice and encouragement. He's a great cheerleader. It helps me feel like I don't have to do this alone. And I've seen a lot of programs lately about the consequences of what we eat. I've give a lot of thought to whole foods...fruit, vegetables, whole grains, unprocessed meats, etc. I'm trying to use that type of food as my main source of energy (i.e., probably should have paid more attention to the "do's" of the word of wisdom). I've even been keeping a food journal, an exercise notebook and have been tracking my progress from week to week.

Some people may say that is extreme. But this is what I realized today. You can't make bad things good. No amount of wishing that I could enjoy peanut butter cups and ice cream and fast food and cupcakes will make any of those things good for me. If I choose to eat them in excess, then I cannot avoid the consequences of weight gain, and other more serious health issues. Just the same, good habits bring good results. Good habits are built by consistent committed effort.

Last time I posted about this, I was discouraged. I felt overwhelmed by what I knew had to change and frankly, I was not quite ready to give up the bad eating habits. Even though I refocused my efforts on exercise, I was eating junk food daily. Funny thing has happened, though, over the past five weeks as I've committed to change. My body feels better. I want to continue to feel good. That motivates me to keep going. So now instead of my daily sugar fix, I'm eating a piece of fruit and some natural almond butter. Instead of coke, water. Instead of burgers and fries, chicken and squash. So even if cupcakes and cookies and ice cream cannot be a part of my daily menu, I feel good anyway. In fact, to be totally honest, I feel better. All that junk food was a crutch. Doing what is right for my body was the real solution all along.