Get Up and Go!

I’m going to begin by telling you what I had for breakfast…the real version, not the “what my mother would like to hear” version. A coke, because that’s just standard. Not a coffee drinker. Two Chips Ahoy, string cheese, half a piece of leftover pizza, and a glass of V8 fruit and vegetable juice, primarily because I knew I’d be writing this down. Without a doubt, however, I can say that the days that I start off with some V8 (peach and mango) and/or oatmeal, I hit mid-afternoon in a much better mood. 

Horrible habits, tough ones to break. I list my breakfast menu for you for no other reason than to let you know, even as I list out all that is healthy and good and nutritious and everything that goes along with it, that I am very well aware of how difficult it can be to maintain a healthy lifestyle each and every day.

It is most important that you try. The best part about giving it a try is that the more you do it, the better you feel. And you begin to notice that you feel a whole lot better at 4 pm if you had a salad for lunch than if you went through the drive-thru for a double cheeseburger. And so begins an upward spiral.

And while an awareness of what you are eating is always important, it has to go hand in hand with something else: activity. I use the word “activity” rather than “exercise” for a number of different reasons. Mainly because of the stereotypical images that are provoked before the word has even been completely articulated. But also because I’d like to invite you to grab on to a new outlook each day. Don’t worry so much about implementing a rigid, rigorous exercise routine into the week; instead, wake up each day and figure out what you’re going to do to have some fun.

Admittedly, to some of us, “fun” does include a sometimes little bit intense workout. So add that in if you choose. But even an ultramarathon runner would tell you that “activity,” just by nature, is fun.