More Veggies, Please!

Lately I’ve been eating a ton of salads. More and more veggies are filling my daily menu, along with the addition of breakfast (protein bars) every day and more tea and water than I ever thought it was possible to drink. The whole reason I started doing this was to slim down a bit for the wedding, but the results are beginning to inspire a permanent lifestyle change for me.

Feeling better—I hadn’t noticed it at first. A little bit more energy here, a little less head fogginess there. My mood and energy didn’t seem to have noticeably changed. But that’s when I started to notice that on cheat days I didn’t feel good. It wasn’t overnight. After a birthday celebration in the office, I skipped over lethargic and went straight to cake-induced catatonia. After homemade pizzas for dinner (which were actually fairly healthy), I went from feeling quite pleased with the delicious pies to feeling a bit rumbly in my tumbly. When did this happen?? I LOVE pizza. I love cake. I love cheeseburgers and buffalo wings and all the things that make this country great.

Suddenly though, my body is communicating with me. More salad! More veggies! This feels good!

My body is working better. My body wants to move … my bowels want to move. My carefully designed innards that used to need motivation have become a well-oiled machine. Is it possible that I had become one of those people who was filling my body with absolute crap? Yes. And I hadn’t become one. I’d been doing it ever since I became the sole person responsible for my wellbeing. For years I thought I had been eating mostly healthy (it’s not like I have fried chicken for dinner every night) and it turns out that all along I’d been neglecting myself.

It’s a whole new world—I don’t plan to STOP eating anything. I STILL love pizza and wings and cheeseburgers. But those will have to become special treats. For now my body is making one thing abundantly clear: If you keep up the good work, you’ll be repaid in good moods, high energy, and (fingers crossed) the bikini body you’ve been missing for the past 6 years.

It's a gay day for us all

Thus far, I haven’t posted much. It may surprise some of you because I’ve never been shy about my strong conviction that LGBT people are equals and deserve the same rights as everyone else. Today I’ve see people celebrating in their different ways. Some shower the world with more information (or simply interesting reads that are somehow related to the subject), some show quiet support with an image, some silently celebrate. I was, more or less, quietly celebrating this victory. It’s a historical moment, so while I’m ecstatic with the news and the development that may influence future change across the country, I’m also quietly absorbing the monumental day this represents. One day, I hope my children will read about this Supreme Court decision and ask me, “But…why weren’t gay people allowed to get married??” I hope the concept will be alien to them. I hope the hate and bigotry we see today will baffle them and inspire love and tolerance.

Today is sad too, though. Despite the rampant celebration, I still see those who are disgusted. It breaks my heart to think that someone can have so much hate for the gay people I love that they actually think gay marriage is akin to Earth’s self-destruction. It irks me to the core knowing that people are so set in their own ways that they expect all other citizens of this great nation to adhere to their personal belief structure.

Well, you know what? I don’t believe it’s a sin to be gay or straight or bi or transsexual. I don’t believe it’s a sin to have sex. I don’t believe it’s a sin to say bad words. I don’t believe it’s a sin to have bad thoughts. I believe that if there is a god (honestly, there could be or couldn’t be, I can’t claim to know the answers), that higher power doesn’t care about those things.

Are you living a good life? Are you kind to people? Do you try your best to treat people like they are your equals despite differing social status, sexual orientation, religion, skin color, preference in sandwich meat? Yes? Then you’re probably good. And I probably like you.

What We Should Have Learned Our Senior Year of High School

The bit about math could not be more true. Seriously. I hate going to dinner with large groups because this part makes a lovely evening amongst friends turn into a subversive gathering of saboteurs... Don't trust anyone!

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/senior_year

The Secret Garden