My Revolution

There was a show that aired once upon a time called The Revolution. I watched the show with intrigue off and on. Ty Pennington went from making over houses to making over lives, and he has brought others along for the ride. The intrigue for me comes because the show promotes a healthy lifestyle. It promotes making positive changes and not crash-diet craziness.

I have been thinking about things for the last month. My body is less than ideal and I know I can do more. I have been examining items in my house, my pantry, and my other food stuffs. Thirty days ago I wrote about Yesterday You Said Tomorrow. I wrote about my struggle with food, how I started to make changes, how I struggle to keep changes, etc.

About three weeks ago I decided to employ the help of Adrian Conway. He is one of the best in Utah and I feel fortunate to have met his acquaintance and be coached in his classes at Wasatch CrossFit. Each time I have an encounter with people, I know we are crossing paths for a reason. Thankfully I listened to Bonnie Smith and gave CrossFit a chance. 

It will be a year ago in July that I began my journey. I will admit there have been months I have "donated" to the Box. But now that I seem to have gotten some things in my life under control, I am ready to press forward. 

Training begins tomorrow. At the beginning of that training, there are 10 days of vacation. Speaking with an acquaintance tonight who is a fitness model, she pointed out the need to ask the following questions when planning on travel meals:

- Does my goal have a specific date?
- How important is it to me?
- Will I miss out on an experience of a lifetime if I limit my food choices?
- Will food be a social experience there?
- Is it worth it?
- Etc. You start to get the idea.

#1 - Yes
#2 - Very!

Those are really the only two important questions out of the bunch for me right now. The other day I posted an article on Facebook entitled 10 Mistakes Women Make with Diets. At the end it makes a great point in stating, "A female trying to change her eating patterns for good will need to get her friends and coworkers used to hearing her say "I don't eat that stuff.""

I wrote at the beginning of the month, "The heartbreaking answer: I don't know. But right now, I am working on little things. When I am ready, I will attack it like a CrossFit workout." So, what has changed in 30 days? I have found someone I hold in high regard that is willing to work with me. I will be accountable. I want to be better (even though I am having shoulder surgery in August). It seems I am finally pulling my head out of my behind and ready to face the world. 

So, here is to my revolution. Here is to something better, something more, something extraordinary. I look forward to sharing these first eight weeks with you!

Eat Pray Love

I found this video today. It occurred by accident, but perhaps it was something that I needed to experience.


This whole week I have been buried in my paper, and rightfully so. I finally found a direction and I am running toward it at full speed. But I am also paying a price. My body is tired and I am feeling sick. But today, with half of my paper down, I am starting to feel a little better. 


Perhaps in life we spend too much time doing what it is we think others want us to do. Or we think we will become content with our lives at some point and time. But will those things really bring us happiness?


I find that when I go back to basics, is when I find myself again. When I let go of what others want from me and go for what I want, I find the girl inside. In order to find balance, we must find ourselves. 


The journey to finding self is different for everyone. For some it is long. For others it is short. But if we stay on the path, we will find ourselves. 


There are others still who say that self is created, not found. I agree with them, but I also believe that journey to create involves some finding. In the movie Eat Pray Love one of the characters tells Liz that if she wants to get to the castle, she has to swim the mote. And who knows what is in the water of that mote ... But how bad do you want the castle? 


Henry David Thoreau is one of my heroes. He embodies finding simplicity in life. He sold everything he had and went to live in the middle of the woods. "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

Perhaps some day I will be as brave as he, or as brave as Liz. But for now, I relish in finding simplicity and marking things off my bucket list one day at a time. For now, I relish in finding myself and perhaps sharing a little of my journey along the way.

Eat Pray Love