My Old, New Self

I'm beginning to feel like my old self again. Well, my old, new self! What am I talking about?

I'm sure you've noticed the lack of posting over the last few months and the majority of the times that I did post, I had to be honest about my walls, my pitfalls, my sin. Life got complicated a few months ago and instead of leaning on the new, healthy principles that I've learned over the past year or so, I fell back into old habits and allowed my emotions and stress to dictate what I ate and whether or not I exercised.

I say "old, new self" because I feel like my healthy lifestyle isn't so new anymore yet it's more recent than my old, fat, disgusting lifestyle. Yep, I said fat and disgusting! No matter how you sugar coat it, that's what it was. I'm not Willy Wonka so it's time to stop sugar coating everything!

Normally, when I say things like that, I get several of the, "you were beautiful before," comments. And while I appreciate the sentiment and the sincerity behind the comments, I have to say that unhealthy is not beautiful, no matter what you look like. It's time to live up to our potentials and we can't do that if we die early because of complications due to obesity and unhealthy lifestyles and habits.

I recently posted on my blog's Facebook page that I was going to start being selfish and focusing more on me because no matter how much I want to help all of you, my healthy lifestyle and weight loss journey is about ME! I have to take care of me before I can really help take care of anyone else. And I've been doing that and I will continue to do that.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been relearning some important facts about nutrition, diet, and weight loss. I've been rediscovering my love for healthy foods, cooking, and exercising. I am once again enjoying finding new recipes, coming up with new snacks, and being in control of my body again and...IT FEELS GOOD!

There are several factors that have had a part in my renewed passion for eating healthy and losing weight. One is that my husband is currently at BCT for the Army and I want to look really good when I see him again. I know that he is working hard and I want to be doing the same thing while he is gone. Second, my dad is getting ready to start teaching a health and nutrition class at church and if I'm going to be helping him with that, then I need to have my act together. Three, I recently completed a five day food cleanse that helped boost my metabolism, clear my body of toxic buildup, and reset my body to want the good stuff and not the bad stuff. Four, I'm one day away from completing my first week of P90X. It's hard but it's so rewarding when I finish a workout. It reminds me of how I felt when I completed the Couch to 5K plan last year. Every workout I complete makes me feel empowered and strong and even more determined. And lastly, I'm currently reading Bob Harper's book The Skinny Rules. Has it been earth shattering? Not really. Most of the rules are things that I had at one time or another already been doing. A couple were new but they were all things that I needed to hear again. Bob does an excellent job of backing his rules with scientific facts and examples. I'm only half way done but the latter part of the book is more or less, meal plans and recipes. If you are struggling to lose weight, I highly recommend the book!

It feels good to have my passion back. It feels good to be back to my old, new self.

Your new, healthier self is waiting but are you willing to do what it takes to find him or her?

Peace, Love, and Healthy Living,

Jessica