Younger, Healthier, Fitter than Last year

It is all about figuring out what I wanted out of life.

I wanted to live a full, varied and active life.

I see myself living into the 100's and began to take steps to make that happen. I want to be active and engaged in life until I leave my body behind. Last January, I read the book younger next year. This enlightened me to the fact that our human bodies need to move every day. I am martial artist and I have been training four times a week. After reading this book I raised the bar to exercise 6 days a week. I worked on figuring out what other exercises I liked to do for the other 2 days. I started with walking and hiking. When the summer came I found swimming. Now I swim 2 to 3 days a week. The exercise was not helping me lose weight though. I was just maintaining it. Younger next year also talked about food. And it started me on a path to find out what I needed to change. I felt tired, had headaches and my mind was foggy. I thought it had something to do with caffeine so I eliminated it from my diet, only to return to it again. I tired to eliminate sweets only to break down and eat a ton of sweets. The food thing just wasn't working for me. I hated food and I was beginning to resign to the fact that I may be at my body's natural weight. I did not want to continue to feel tired, have headaches and a foggy mind because it did not live up to my desire to live a full, varied and active life

I read about the Institute for Integrated Nutrition (IIN) and thought about taking their course. Unfortunately, I was unable to afford it. I signed up for IIN's newsletter figuring I would learn something from it. The August newsletter had a write up about a nutritionist in NYC ~ Health and the City. I really liked her story and the fact that she is a 2nd degree black belt. I thought she would be able to help me best because she knew what it takes to train in martial arts. We started working together and the weight just melted off my body. I knew I finally found my answer after years of weight watchers or trying it on my own.

I ended the year 2008 3 lbs lighter than 2007. In previous years, I gained at least 5 lbs! It is now the end of January and I am down another two lbs! This in itself is huge because I am an Accountant and January is when we are closing the financials for the year. We work late and order food in. I usually feel tired, bloated and sick at the end of January. Learning about food and its effects on the body enabled me to make healthy choices and stay true to myself and my goal to live a full, active and varied life. I am starting this year feeling energized, healthy fit and lighter. I love the food I eat. I have sweets or alcohol when I want them not when I crave them. I am cooking and baking more than I did before. And I am enjoying it so much.

I set goals for this year that are reachable and measurable.

I am excited to see myself at the end of next year~ younger, healthier and fitter than this year!