Becoming Well Again

If you read my blog back in December, you know that I hit a low when I turned 28. Not because of the age, but because I don’t look of FEEL 28. I feel A LOT older. It was a depressing – and eye opening – birthday. I tried to workout and eat better for about 4-weeks, and lost about 10 pounds. But I was still Young Women’s President, Joseph was still getting up in the middle of the night, and I was totally overwhelmed with my life. So, I stopped. I knew I needed to get some relief before I started to make the necessary changes.

The past few weeks I have been praying for the energy, drive, and determination to get my health in order. And true to His word, Heavenly Father has heard my prayers. I am motivated. More importantly (for me anyway) is that for the first time I’m not focused on ‘loosing weight’ as much as I am on ‘getting well.’ My body is sick. I can feel it. I’m sluggish and unhealthy. I am functioning at a fraction of my true ability. And worst of all I haven’t had the energy to spend REAL time with my husband and my children. Plus, my inner self is being starved for something…more. I want to be healthy and energized. I NEED to be healthy and energized.

This week, I’ve been trying something new. I’ve been testing recipes from the Eat-Clean Diet. I wish it wasn’t called a ‘diet’ at all. It’s teaching me a healthy way to be. My sister Amy (the personal trainer) introduced me to the ‘diet.’ So far, I’ve only read about it from their web site. I’m going to borrow her books this weekend. Before I invested all my time into reading the books, I wanted to see if the food was any good. I tested three of the recipes this week; JERK-SPICED TILAPIA WITH ASPARAGUS AND RICE PILAF, CRISPY CHICKEN BITES, (which I served with brown rice and steamed veggies) and CHICKEN AND BARLEY SOUP. They were all delicious. Actually, while we were eating the Tilapia, Deland kept saying how yummy it was. I mentioned something about, ‘Yeah, I can’t believe it’s healthy and tastes this good!’ He was like, “Wait. Your telling me this meal is good for us?! Wow.” We’ve had the Tilapia twice this week. Yeah, it was THAT good.

The other thing I’m going to do is join the YMCA and start swimming again. About 10 years ago I was a Lifeguard and Swim Instructor for the YMCA. I was never on a swim team in high school (hello, homeschooler remember?) but when I was a Lifeguard we had to complete a mile swim test in 10 minutes, and we had to pass it off every month. So I swam a lot. At first just to pass the test; then to see how good my time could be. (I got to a mile in about 7 minutes.) I just fell in love with swimming. The “Y” just around the corner from me hosts the “Masters Swim Team” every Tuesday and Thursday, at 6AM. (It’s a competitive swim team for adults.) Joining the Masters team is really exciting…and a little intimidating. I’ve been told that the Lake Mary Team is pretty laid back and not a lot of them actually compete in just swimming. (However, Rowdy Gains – Olympic medalist - practices with them here in Lake Mary, so how laid back can they be?) Most members practice just to stay fit and/or to do Triathlons. Right now, I just want to use the team to get into a workout routine. I’ll consider competing in adult swimming later. I have always wanted to do Triathlons, so that (hopefully) will come in the future as well. But for now, I just want to get back in the pool.

So, there is my plan. I’ll join the “Y” in the next few weeks. (We're working on some big projects, so we have to make our $$$$$$$ last until we get paid.) But in the meantime I am going to continue to eat the ‘Eat-Clean’ way. I’ll publish my favorite recipes so you guys can try them if you want. Here are the ones we’ve tried so far. Go to their website for more!

Enjoy!