Let's get this started!

Hyrum came home from work the other day and related the following story of the "cockroach lady". He started with, "This couple came in today who just don't know how to take care of themselves." He continued to tell me about a woman who is so obese she "makes Jabba the Hutt look thin." He said her neck was literally larger than her head. To make matters worse, within her many folds and flabs of fat, lived an army of cockroaches. That's right, we're talking about a human infestation of cockroaches. They were climbing all over her clothes, in her folds, and even all over her breathing machine. It turns out she came in having problems with her breathing machine. The reason why: the inside of the breathing machine was packed full of cockroaches and poo. I may not be obese. I may not have cockroaches crawling all over me. I may actually have hygiene, but the way I take care of my body can be much improved.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we are told from birth that our bodies are temples. In other words, our bodies should be homes where Heavenly Father's spirit always resides. Our bodies are glorious gifts from God, and the way we treat them does a lot more than just harm our physical body. It is for this reason that I need to make a change. In the last General Conference, (a conference where prophets and apostles broadcast talks around the world for all of us) a certain talk caught my ear. He spoke of addictions and the effect they have on us. And the first addiction he suggested? Not pornography. Not drugs. Food. My eating habits are TERRIBLE.

To give you an idea, we're almost out of our year supply of peanut butter because I can't stop making peanut butter white chocolate chip cookies and eating all the dough. Seriously. I am truly addicted to sugar.

(My neighbor recently told me of a study where cocaine addicted mice were given the choice between cocaine and sugar. Eventually they all chose sugar over the cocaine.) Sometimes my stomach hurts because I'm so full, yet I can't seem to stop myself from eating just a little more. My exercise could be better too. I never had to worry about exercising until I had babies and realized that my body wasn't going to thin out again without some effort. (This was a very rude awakening for me) So here's the deal. I need to treat my body better. It's hard for me to not focus on the wrong thing, ie. weight loss. Weight loss should just be a natural consequence of treating my body better. So while I will watch my weight, as it can signify how I am doing, I want to focus on making healthy choices, not so I can look hot in a bathing suit but so that I can feel the peace, contentment and control that comes from that. And more importantly, so that I can invite the spirit to be with me by showing Him the gratitude and respect I feel by taking care of this gift He has given me. So here we go... I will begin by continuing my training for a half marathon in October, add strength training at least once a week, overcoming my addiction to sugar by only eating sugar on Saturdays, NOT EATING WHEN I'M NOT HUNGRY, and only drinking water. I think that is a good starting point. And since I have written these goals down here and am accountable for them, hopefully I will make some good progress. I will make weekly goals and report weekly on how I have done on the goals, and what new ones I would like to add. For the fun of it, I will post "before" pictures soon. Although it is quite embarassing, it's always rewarding to see the fruits of your labor, so hopefully that will be the case by the half marathon in October, when I will post "after" pictures!