Getting Healthy!

I've seen and heard it a million times. No matter how much you work out, the main factor in losing weight, is your diet. I've decided that this is how I'm going to BEGIN my personal journey in losing a few pounds and getting fit. I don't mean diet as in cutting out a specific part of what you eat or taking 'diet' pills, I mean your basic food pyramid with a healthy amount of food from each food group to sustain your body and keep it healthy. 

For as long as I can remember I have been incredibly body conscious. Most women that I know are, but not quite to the extent that I am (as far as I know). Even when I was very very thin (during my teen years) I still would stand in front of the mirror and nit-pick the parts of my body that I wanted to change. I would tell myself over and over that I was going to get my butt in the gym and get THAT body. Well, I would go to the gym for a couple of weeks, then skip it one day and then the 'one day' would turn into weeks, then months. So, obviously, I never got that thin, firm, toned body that I always dreamed of having but I was getting somewhat of a workout cheerleading. When I graduated I started gaining weight due to my lack of any sort of physical activity and my love of eating out. I was used to being able to eat all kind of junk food and fast food and not really have to worry about it. Now, 6 years and 1 baby later, I've gained almost 30 lbs and lost what little confidence I ever had in my body.

After a lot of beating myself up and making excuses as to why I could never have THAT body, I've decided to take control! Thanks to the internet, I've come across some very inspirational stories and some tasty looking recipes and I do believe that I'm ready to take on this problem once and for all! The exercise portion of it might have to wait a little bit but as I stated before, the DIET is the main factor in losing weight/getting fit. 

I started my journey this evening with a grocery store trip. While checking out, I looked at all of my items and I was proud of every single one of them. Not only am I cutting out all the junk food, I'm also cutting out foods with MSG's, added sugar, preservatives and other weird chemicals and additives. (You don't even want to know what I found out about vanilla essence!) This diet change isn't just about losing weight, it's about ridding my body of all the things that it isn't designed to process. Our bodies need and hunger for certain nutrients that we are made to think we are going to get from all these crazy foods that are on the market today. We often fill up on these fatty, sugary foods and then an hour later, wonder why we're hungry again! It's because our body is needing things on a cellular level that we aren't getting from these foods. I could go on and on about what I've learned through my research but, I'll stop here. I do recommend watching the documentary called 'Hungry for Change'. It's available on Netflix and it made a huge impact on how I look at food. If you're looking for motivation to start eating differently, this is where you'll find it. You can also check out Taralynn McNitt's blog-http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/- which has been another great source of motivation for me. She also has a lot of tasty recipes available as well as made menus and grocery shopping lists!

Next Chapter?

For the past couple of weeks I've been thinking about what it is that I want to do with my life next. What will my next chapter be? I've kind of always felt like I missed out on something by not going to college, but then again, I did try it for a few weeks (hardly the best shot) and I didn't feel like it was 'for me'. Although, that was right after I had graduated high school and maybe I just needed a break from school. Would I like it better now? I think I would be excited for the first couple of weeks but as soon as I had to write a research paper or got lost in math class I would go right back to feeling like it was something I didn't actually want to do and...why spend money on college if I'm not going to stick with it? I also have my son to consider. If I did go back to school, I'd like to go to an actual classroom rather than doing it online and that would definitely not be easy with a baby. It also wouldn't be fair for my husband to have to work all day and then come home and take care of our son while I went to school.
Another option is going back to work. Even though I don't have a degree, I was fortunate enough to get a lot of experience in a great field of work and could easily go back to that, or get another really good job. But again, I have my son to consider. I want to be at home with him to watch him grow and change and learn every day. I don't want to miss out on any of that. All too soon he's going to be going off to school and I won't have the option of getting to spend all day with him.
I don't want to be misconstrued. I do not in any way feel that my son is holding me back from anything. He and my husband are my whole world. They are most important things in my life (aside from God) and they come first and foremost, however, sometimes I like to think about what my options are and how I could better myself and that is where school and work come in. But what about other options? What about something I've never tried or have dreamed of trying but have always been too intimidated to actually pursue? I used to write songs on a daily basis, sometimes even multiple times a day and dreamed of being a professional lyricist. I haven't written a song in over a year but if I did, would that passion come back or would it feel flat and uninspired? I've also thought about how fun it would be to write a novel. I remember trying to start one a very long time ago (probably in junior high) and how when I came to the dialogue I had no idea where to even begin. If I attempted to write again would I be able to come up with the dialogue and produce a worth while story? I guess I'll never know until I try. For the first time in my life I think I'm feeling a real sense of fear of ...failing. I guess the good part is, if I try something and do well, I will have a ton of support, and if I do fail, no one has to know. Maybe I should take a risk and go for the novel...We shall see!

Take it from me

NEVER try moving with a 2 month old. (unless you absolutely have to) Which, in our case, we did absolutely have to and will be doing it again in just a couple of months but...I definitely don't recommend it! When you're trying to clean one house and get everything unpacked and squared away in another and your little one is going through a 'my world is going to fall apart if you don't pick me up RIGHT this instant' phase, things can get a little overwhelming. Not to mention trying to clean with a baby moby'd (basically, the baby is in a front pack) to you and having to worry about chemicals and having to stop frequently to feed/change him and all that jazz. All I know is that I'm pretty excited for when we get to Germany and we can FINALLY get SETTLED into our home. We've never really had the opportunity to do that so it will be really nice to have a home where everything has a place and functions the way it should. I'm also beyond excited to get to REALLY decorate our home! Paint the walls, hang pictures, change things up for each and every holiday! I've been Pinteresting up a storm so it will be fun to see some of  those things come to life in our home! YAY for decorating! Now, let's just hope Zach likes the ideas I come up with!

New year

Tomorrow is the last day of 2012. This year has been probably the best of my life. In all seriousness, the best. My husband and I shared our first full year of being a married couple (he was deployed a month after our wedding), we had our first child this October, moved twice, and are preparing for a move overseas! Oh, and the whole 'surviving the end of the world' thing. HAHA! (I'm  kidding.) Quite the year! Which makes me wonder, what will the coming year bring? A few things are certain, our move overseas and more adjusting to motherhood. But, what of the unknown? Will my husband deploy again? Will I go back to work? What new things will my son learn and do? What will he teach me? Things I don't know, but I'm excited to find out! I've never been too big on resolutions, but in the spirit of New Years, I'll give it a go! Here's my list:

 Here's to the new year! Happy 2013!

You can call me Jess (an introduction)

One guy calls me wifey, another little dude calls me mommy (well, learning to)...but you can call me Jess. I'm a 22 year old stay at home wife and mother who could use a place to 'empty her brain'...so to speak. I have another blog about my little guy, Dakota, but this one is just for me. A place where I can say what I think about whatever it is that's on my mind so that maybe (just maybe) my poor husband/mom/mother in law won't have to listen to it and then laugh at me when they realize just how 'out there' I can be. Maybe my random musings can make you laugh...that would be fun!