Time to Change

Hello, everyone!
It's come to that time of year when everyone stuffs themselves to the point of misery and then decides at the New Year that they really will be better, and plan to make some resolutions for next year. You know it's true... most of us do it. But why? Why do we choose to make ourselves miserable and then choose to wait to be better? This has been on my mind a little more lately. I'm still struggling with health issues and I'm on 2 different diets that pretty much cancel each other out, and it's super frustrating. Especially when it's right in time for those holiday feasts, right?
A little while ago, I came across a little quote that says "Note to self: When I eat crap, I feel like crap". Never have I known that to be so true. I was still careful about what and how much I ate during the holidays, but I didn't follow my new dietary restrictions as well as I should have... and now I am paying for it in the form of pain. And it made me think about how these little decisions can affect our health in big ways. And it's true that when we eat something we are not supposed to, we don't normally end up in pain. But what damage are we doing to our bodies with these little choices.
It's funny that I'm coming to this right before the all famous "new year". However, I've decided I'm not going to wait until the new year and say that I'm going to be better this year. I'm going to start today, and commit to being better for the rest of my life.
I'm not going to make my body suffer anymore because I want something now. Our bodies are a wonderful gift to be treated with care. My body keeps going even when I want to give up, and I should help it perform it's job.
Tomorrow is not the time to change... there will always be a tomorrow. Now is the time to change.

Getting Back On Track

Hello!
Today is a great day. And the days to come will be even better.
I wanted to post today because I feel like I'm finally starting to get somewhere with my health goals again. Because of my health issues, I hadn't been able to do much of anything, not to mention work out, but today is the second day in a row that I've been able to do an intense workout. And it felt so good!!! I didn't realize how much I missed getting a good workout... the burning, the "good aches", and the sweaty nastiness... more importantly though, how I feel when I'm done. Everyone has a desire to accomplish something great and do something productive with their lives, and exercising gives me that sense of accomplishment. I love it.
As good as it feels to workout again, I still have some limitations and I have to build back up in order to be able to do what I was doing before. And it's going to take a while, but I'm okay with that. I'm not going to let that get me down or be an excuse to give up. I remembered that it's important that I need to be patient with myself and continue pressing forward, and that's all that matters. It's time for me to get back on the track towards fulfilling my dream of being healthy and fit.
Whether  you've had something holding you back for a while, you've just been slacking, or you never even had the chance to start in the first place, there is always an opportunity to start that change now or get back on track. Life is full of second chances, so go and grab yours. Remember that you are worth it. You are good enough. You were always good enough. Make those dreams a reality.

Moving Onward and Upward

Hello, everyone! I'm back! It's so crazy to be back home again and to go back to the "real world". I loved being a missionary so much. It was an amazing ride! It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but also the most rewarding. I got to meet so many amazing, wonderful people that have changed my life forever and that I love dearly. They helped me become more of who I want to be and continually are giving me the strength to be even better every day. I never wanted to leave, never wanted to stop being a missionary. Even through the hardest days. Which was why I was heartbroken when I found out I'd be going home early.
For the last 4 1/2 months of my mission, I was starting to have some health problems that just weren't seeming to go away and kept getting worse. I started making multiple trips to the doctor and taking multiple tests trying to figure out what was wrong. And everything kept coming back perfectly normal.... and it was so frustrating! On the 1st of October I got a call from Sister Russell (my mission president's wife) and found out that if my next test came back normal, it was recommended that I be released and go home. On Friday the 3rd of October, my test results came back and they hadn't found anything, so on the 6th I arrived at home. After another 1 1/2 months of several more tests without any luck, we finally found the issues. I was so relieved.
I'm sharing this because I learned something about myself. During the time I was trying to get things figured out, especially at home, I was at a point where I couldn't do really much of anything without being in intense pain. I pretty much had to sit around and be lazy, which I don't think before all my weight loss and before my mission would have bothered me, but now it was driving me crazy! I learned that I really did learn to be more active, and to have a more active and healthy life style. I was dying to get out and do something.... even go jogging.
Now things are getting better, and I'm able to go out jogging now. I still can't do very much, but I'm doing more every day and it feels so good. With the time it's going to take for my recovery, I have decided that I am staying home. It was the hardest decision I have ever made.
Through everything though, I have really come to a better knowledge that God has a plan for each and every one of us. He wants us to be happy forever. Sometimes we don't always understand why we go through what we do or what's in store for us, but it will always turn out for the best. I know that as long as I strive to be the best me I can be, everything else will fall into place.
And with that, I am going to continue moving onward and upward, because every day is a new day that will be better and brighter than the last.