Snow Day

 Outside my apartment looks like this right now...

#snowday #imateacher

Henry Keeps looking at me like this...maybe he's mocking me? Wants me to pet him? Tough to say.











The day off has prompted me to think about what parts of my life I feel are most important to put on here. I frequently leave out very small details of my life because I am embarrassed or concerned about how others will see me. Well, I need to change that...today...

I need to come clean about something. If I am going to live upward and live whole I need to mention how I fight a battle with my appearance daily. I have been feeling very dissatisfied with my body lately and I realized that the amount of fat in my body is at an unhealthy percentage! YIKES. In the past, I have tried going on crazy diets, removing all sweets from my diet, processed everything, fried everything and I DO NOT have the will power for that. Those of you that can do this, mad props. I begin to feel locked in a teeny tiny box in which I become claustrophobic and terrified.

So.....I decided to try something new.

What if I made small changes to my diet, made exercise a habit, and found technology that could help me reach my goals? Technology? We do live in the 21st century...why fight the battle alone?

After much research, and comparison I decided on the "Jawbone UP" as my friend and confidant in the world of weight management. It's a pretty cool gadget! It tracks steps, sleep, and you can enter in food data as strictly or lackadaisically as you choose. It's pretty neat-o!

It's even my favorite color!

Down to business (I feel like CNET doing a review or something)

 Nothing that exciting, just figured I would share some pics of what it looks like.

<------------ What it looks like when you plug it in

                                                          

This is how it breaks down your steps ---------------------->

....I'm not sure why I picked yesterday, my longest active was 11 minutes. Totes embarrassing.

<-----------------This is how it breaks down sleep.

Not a half bad night of sleep for me!















I would certainly recommend the Jawbone to anyone who is as anal about tracking progress as I am (I should be getting paid for this fantastic advertising job I am doing right now).

This little guy is part of my campaign for a more complete me. I find that instead of sitting around I want to get up and move so I can meet my daily goal of 10,000 steps and that I go to bed earlier so I can reach 100% on my sleep goal. It's like having a cheerleader that doesn't cheer but keeps score...so...it's more like a scorekeeper....whatever....it makes me move.

The "UP" is obviously not a complete package, I mean it doesn't put healthy food in my mouth or keep me from eating half a bag of Starburst jelly-beans like I did last night *whoops*, but it gives me honest data about how I am doing.


Now that I have made this whole post about a silly product I should get back to the reason for writing today. As a child of the millennium I still came from parents who told me to clear my plate before I left the table and that wasting food is a mortal sin. It seems that  this has come back to haunt me as we all live in a society which serves three to four servings at a single sitting. When food is in front of me I feel like I HAVE TO EAT IT, WHAT IF IT GOES BAD?!?!?! Anyone out there with me?

 I get embarrassed that at the ripe age of 23 I am already waging a battle against weight and feeling confident in the way I look. I am not trying to lose tons of weight and I don't want to buy into diets...I don't want to make crazy changes. I don't want to obsessively weigh myself every week praying that the Cabury Mini Eggs I ate in the last week won't reflect on the scale, it's not fun. Why is no one doing this the right way? What is the right way? All organic? Low-carb? Paleo? Nuts are bad? Nuts are good? Balanced? Eating fruits and veggies, but only fruits in the morning? No carbs after 11 am?

This is why I have decided to live whole. I eat when I am hungry, but I try to get the most bang for my theoretical buck. I make sure to have protein, vegetable, good fat, and lots of water with all my meals. I am making exercise a part of my routine. Some days I eat too much...some days I drink alcohol...but I keep telling myself that the most important thing to remember is that tomorrow is a new day, a day in which I can choose to give up or stay on the bandwagon. So far, I have stayed on the bandwagon.

Here's to hoping that I continue my journey...

Living Upward,
-J