Life changes.

I recently made the conscious decision to change my life for the better.

This was not a resolution for a new year. I started in December 2011.

I am was tired of feeling lethargic and lumpy. I saw my metabolism slowing and what used to be an easy ten pounds to shake once a year became twenty, and then thirty pounds that are not going anywhere.

This is not about losing weight.

When my Grandma passed away, I was very sad. Obviously. I had a hard time with it. However, I saw her in the thirty-one years of my life as someone who made little effort to maintain her own health. She did quit smoking. She didn't drink much in the late stages of her life. But she just wasn't healthy.

I don't want to be like that as I age.

Who's to say that I won't walk out this door and get hit by a bus and die. (God, that's morbid, but true.) I am fully aware that life doesn't always deal what you expect. However, I do recognize that there are certain facets of my life that are within my control exclusively.

I needed to make exercise a priority. I needed to just eat better. I've never been a regular fast food eater, but I have been known to imbibe from time to time. (Honestly, if I was really craving something these days, I'd give into my craving.) The truth was that I was eating way too much. If I got a little hungry at work, I would go to Walgreens and buy myself and beef jerky and eat it. ALL of it. Sometimes two packages. I've never been good at preventing a binge. I was drinking 2-3 glasses of wine every day (weeknights!) without seeing it as a problem. I wasn't working out. Scratch that, I was working out, but barely. I'd hit the gym up maybe one to two times per week and do the bare minimum of 45 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical machine. I was not sleeping well which meant I could not get myself up to work out many days each week. I just wasn't taking care of myself.

I'm fortunate in that no real health issues caused me to reverse my path into bad habits. Really, it is knowing that I want to live a long and healthy life. I want to have children and live to see them grow and be healthy. I want to raise children to have a healthy outlook at food and exercise. I want to feel good every day. I want to know that the choices I make benefit not only me, but also the people that love me.

I just decided to change. For me.

I started incorporating some weights into my workouts. I signed up for an 8K with the intention of doing a 10K later this year. I am starting to try to improve my running workouts so I am faster. I have been working out four to five times per week.

I am eating a ton of fresh vegetables. I am making my own hummus. I am trying to eat whole foods. If I want to splurge on something, I do. But I allow that splurge to stand and then go back to eating mostly vegetables and whole foods. I have one glass of red wine a night, if I drink at all. Some nights I don't have anything to drink. I plan our meals. I try to change our dinners and lunches so that we enjoy our meals. We don't eat salads all week long. I am aware of every morsel that goes in my mouth, good or bad. I let myself have a second glass on the weekends and have been known to have a bloody mary or two (WHAT? I'm testing out my husband's recipe, it would be rude to NOT drink what he makes). I'm not worried about that.

Right now? I sleep like a baby. I am not starving myself. I drink a ton of tea. P.I.C. and I enjoy dinners at our kitchen table and savor our one glass of wine each night and really enjoy mealtime. I have lost two pounds and am starting to see some biceps. I feel so much better about myself. Of course, the weight loss is a very lovely side effect of my changes. When I put on my bikini next week in St. Thomas, I'll feel better about it.

But really, this is not a diet. This is a life change. I'm so glad I made it.