Getting up off the mat and back into the saddle on my horse

I am not sure how many more cliches I could have fit into the section they give me to write a title, but I think my drift was received by the roughly 100 page views this will accrue. Last week's missteps must be this week's victories, yes?

The first thing I did this week was give myself a break. It may not feel so health related, but it is. The semester is coming to an end and all 60 of my students have checked out. This causes me to work harder to get them even remotely interested in what I am doing. This leads to stress, which leads to slip ups in terms of my health. Therefore, on Sunday I relaxed a bit. I had to get my mental/emotional state right. I had to re-calibrate my system. In order to do that, I started a new book. It is not great so far, but it relaxed me and prepared me for the week ahead.

My bloody heel is still causing issues when I walk, but I attempted to fight through that today. Yesterday I knew I would be doing a dance audition, so I let that be my work out yesterday. It was awesome, which kind of leads me to the point of this post.

Theater is such an interesting thing for someone like me who is trying to live a healthier life. Musicals, when choreographed by the right person provides this great work out. When I do a Gino show, I know I am going to lose weight, and I always do. I auditioned for "Joseph" last night and that show never fails to provide a good workout. I know if I get in, that can help me mightily. Yet, theater is also the bane of my healthy existence. With rehearsals running late, it is tough not to eat after a rehearsal and that usually involves eating all kinds of crap. I am hoping that with this being a summer show, my hours will provide me with reasons to get a healthy SNACK after rehearsal. This is, of course, if I get in. If I do not, well, that is antoher blog all together. This is my dilemma as a writer, once I get going, I want to write about everything. Getting far off topic.

This week my main goal is to stay focused. The money situation is making groceries tough, so I am managing my portions right now. Instead of 4 or 5 pieces of pizza and 4 pieces of crazy bread, I had 2 slices of pizza and 2 pieces of crazy bread. It is not the healthiest meal, but the whole thing cost me 9 bucks and I got 3 meals out of it. Portion control has ALWAYS been an issue for me. I know that I am not seeing the results as fast as I would in a perfect world, but I trust that these little changes will one day add up to something bigger.

I have had 2 glasses of soda in 3 weeks. It feels like a huge thing for me, especially considering in the last three weeks I have seen a few movies, which is always deadly. More importantly, it has been 11 days since my last Rockstar. I am drinking more juice which is strange for me, as I have ever been much of a juice person, but I do enjoy it.

As a concluding note, the level of encouragement I am getting from everyone is overwhelming. Every little message, comment, text, high five, and all words of encouragement are greatly appreciated. I have spent my life listening to the people I love tell me I am worth it, and I have never believed them. It is tough to admit that you do not feel worth pretty much anything. Only recently have I felt that maybe I was wrong and those who love me have been right all along. Maybe, just maybe, I am worth it. And if you are reading this and struggling with anything at all, know this, you are worth it. If you do not believe me, look into the eyes of someone you love and you will see it.