Tuesday marks the start of a new lifestyle

They say it takes 21 days of something to make it a habit - to adjust to a lifestyle change. That's what this is for me, a lifestyle change. I don't want working out and being in shape to a temporary aspect of my life that comes and goes. I don't want to say that I was in the best shape of my life when I was in high school balancing three varsity sports, or in college playing Division 1 softball. I want to be thirty years old and feel like I'm twenty. I want to feel invincible, like I could run for days; I want to feel strong, refreshed, healthy. I decided to take this last semester of my sophomore year off from working out to let my body recuperate from the stress that athletics has put on it, and now it is time move towards the next step. I've always had a reason to be in shape, because I've always been involved in a sport in some way; but, I won't be playing sports for the rest of my life, particularly not on a team like I am used to, and don't want to lose that aspect of my life when I move on to the next chapters. I want to amaze people with my commitment, and be the one that my friends and peers look at and say "wow, I wish I had the motivation to be in shape like that."

So Tuesday marks the start of a better lifestyle. I am not looking to deconstruct how I have been living and eating and rebuild myself, because there is a difference between a "change in lifestyle" and completely altering how I have been living. Let's get this straight: I am not trying to lose weight, I am not out of shape, and I do not need, for health reasons, to change my diet; I simply want to feel better. This is much more about how I feel vs. how I look. So, I won't be saying goodbye eternally to bacon, or coffee, or Coca-cola, or chicken tenders; but, I will try to drink more water than I do Coke (I have an addiction, it's fine), and if I'm choosing between fried chicken tenders and a pasta dish I will try to go with the not-fried option... and pasta, I will buy whole wheat pasta and bread instead, and maybe grab a banana instead of that grilled cheese in my school's cafeteria when I need just a little more to eat. And all of those things that I love to eat and drink - popcorn, bacon, Coke, curly fries, pizza, mac & cheese, chicken tenders, coffee, etc. - I will still eat, just a little less often.

So June 12th should mark the end of the "21 days" it is supposed to take to make these new changes a lifestyle. I can't wait to check back in and see how I feel.