June: Fresh Start...again!

I'm not sure how faithful I'll be at posting, but it is June 1, school is almost out, and I always get better about tracking my life when I'm on vacation.

We had the 8th grade graduation today.  Sniff.  I'm not sure how those kids got to be 14 and all grown up.  Because of switching from teaching 3rd grade to 7th grade to 8th grade, I've had the pleasure of teaching some of these kiddos for three years!  I love them and will miss them terribly next year.

These two boys are twins, and their mom in the middle is one of my best friends.  I'll miss them, but I also plan to hang out at their house by the pool for a large chunk of the summer!

Love, love, love this girl!  Her little brother is my 8-year-old's best friend.  I'll miss her, but I'll see her at plenty of future soccer games.  That's me pictured with her.  My husband said it was a nice picture of me.  I don't love it, but I don't hate it.  Meh.  There's a goal: look better in photos...especially since I'm the 8th grade teacher and have to be in MANY photos throughout the year.

As for health and fitness goals, I've got some plans.  There are some pure and basic things I know:

1. I feel better when I exercise.  By "feel better" I mean that it helps me with mood stabilization (i.e. helps me avoid depression).  Feel better also means more confidence, more energy, more self esteem, more positiveness.

2. I am addicted to sugar.  Sugar is bad.  I don't handle moderation very well.  I am an all or nothing personality.  I must avoid sugar as much as possible.

I gave up sugar a few weeks ago and hung in there for about three weeks.  One of the nicest compliments I got was someone telling me I looked young and happy!  There are other benefits to avoiding sugar.  I naturally gravitate to healthier choices of food because eliminating sugar eliminates a LOT of bad choices.  My digestion is improved.  Lacking a gallbladder makes my digestive system a bit wonky, so healthier eating is key for me.

I need to decide that the hassle (at times) and temptation of eating healthy and exercising is far worth it over a lack of energy, poor digestion, and depression.  It seems like a no brainer, but I can pretty easily convince myself happiness and comfort can be found inside a bottle of Pepsi and bag of jelly beans.  It's always a sad ending, however. Happiness and comfort do NOT live there.  They live in chicken and salad!!  Just kidding!

I just finished a pretty easy workout.  One minute jogging spurts for a total of nine minutes of jogging and 22 minutes of walking.  Easy as it was, I got sweaty and I instantly have better spirits.

I want to feel healthy and strong.  And better.  BETTER!