Christmas has come and go.
New Year's is just upon us - like, 2 days away.
It seems that time passes really quickly and with one blink of my eye, I'm thrown a few weeks ahead in time with nothing but a small kick of dust behind me to remind me that yesterday, I was there.
It seems almost unreal to me that 2013 is days away. 2013 is the year that I get to have a wedding with my family and friends. 2013 is the year that I, crossing my fingers, get a job that helps me shape my career into one that I really love. 2013 is the year that a lot of things start, a lot of things end, and a lot of surprise things will more than likely crop up out of nowhere. I know that many people see New Year's as that day that everything becomes 'new.' They make resolutions and promise to be better people, in some sort of way.
I think it's important to really reflect on all of the goals that I've accomplished this year, but remember that there are definitely some shortcomings that I need to make up for in this upcoming year. I think my most important realization in life, up to this point, is that my happiness sincerely comes from within. Do I really like what I'm doing? If I do, then it is great. Do I really enjoy my life as it is? Is there something that I think I should change (not what others may view as weird or wrong or bad)? If I think I should change something, what should I do to fix it? (Not relying on others to change things in my life for me.)
As people, we grow as the years pass by and every day shapes us into the person that we are continually becoming. Maybe I physically stopped growing when I was 16 but that doesn't mean that I have mentally, emotionally and spiritually stopped growing. I think I've grown more in leaps and bounds since I stopped at 5 ft, 6 inches.
I really want to make my resolutions this year something that creates something inside of me that I haven't been able to touch yet. What can I do to make myself a better person, for myself and for everyone else? What steps can I make that will help me grow? Help me change? Maybe I won't accomplish the things in a year, or even two years. But what can I do right now, today, in this exact moment, that will help me to accomplish small goals that lead to bigger goals?
That's what I'm thinking about when I sit down to write my resolutions.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Quitting - For the Second Time
A few years ago, I decided that I would quit drinking sodas just
because I wanted to see if I was able to do it. At the time, I was an
avid soda drinker - meaning I would drink at least 3 cans a day. I
decided that I would quit cold turkey and see if I had enough willpower
to get over my soda addiction. I was successful in my endeavor with no
slip ups at all. It helped me lose some weight, too.
Fast forward about one year and I was in Honduras,with some sort of weird sickness that seemed to literally tearing the insides of my stomach into a thousand pieces. I was heavily nauseous and could barely sustain sitting up in bed, and I didn't even want to think about walking. I chalked this up to my body getting used to totally different types of bacteria, eating types of foods, and just a new environment in a different country. Javier persuaded me to take some alka-seltzer, which is, by far, the worst tasting medication in this entire world, hands down. After taking some, I was feeling a little bit better but I still wasn't completely healed, so he attempted to persuade me to take some more. I absolutely 100% refused, deciding that it was better to writhe in pain than take that horrid salty-water medication that made me want to gag.
But then he told me that if I took the alka-seltzer with some Coke, I wouldn't be able to even taste the medicine. After over one entire year of not touching any soda, I drank one glass with alka-seltzer and I got hooked again. Down in Honduras, the Coke is so much sweeter than the Coke we have in the USA. It is probably because they use pure sugar cane, but it's really, really sweet and delicious. I started drinking Coke on a regular basis and it again become part of my lifestyle. Everyone in Honduras drinks Coke. Everyone. Seriously, everyone. I think it's the country's national beverage.
After coming back to the USA, I decided that I was going to stop drinking soda because I wanted to lose weight and I knew that drinking less or no soda would help me in that goal. So on October 29, 2012, I stopped drinking soda again - cold turkey. There were times when I really craved it, but I did not give in. Only once Javier was drinking some Coke for dinner and took a tiny sip - but told him that it was just too sweet for me.
It has been helpful to quit drinking soda. There are times when I really want to drink some, but I tell myself no, that I've gone this long without it and instead I drink a Vitamin Water (0 calorie ones), water, or natural juices. It's also nice that it has helped me lose some weight. I'm down 25 pounds (going to the gym regularly as well), and although I have to lose a lot more, I know that by changing some of my dietary habits, it will be easier.
Fast forward about one year and I was in Honduras,with some sort of weird sickness that seemed to literally tearing the insides of my stomach into a thousand pieces. I was heavily nauseous and could barely sustain sitting up in bed, and I didn't even want to think about walking. I chalked this up to my body getting used to totally different types of bacteria, eating types of foods, and just a new environment in a different country. Javier persuaded me to take some alka-seltzer, which is, by far, the worst tasting medication in this entire world, hands down. After taking some, I was feeling a little bit better but I still wasn't completely healed, so he attempted to persuade me to take some more. I absolutely 100% refused, deciding that it was better to writhe in pain than take that horrid salty-water medication that made me want to gag.
But then he told me that if I took the alka-seltzer with some Coke, I wouldn't be able to even taste the medicine. After over one entire year of not touching any soda, I drank one glass with alka-seltzer and I got hooked again. Down in Honduras, the Coke is so much sweeter than the Coke we have in the USA. It is probably because they use pure sugar cane, but it's really, really sweet and delicious. I started drinking Coke on a regular basis and it again become part of my lifestyle. Everyone in Honduras drinks Coke. Everyone. Seriously, everyone. I think it's the country's national beverage.
After coming back to the USA, I decided that I was going to stop drinking soda because I wanted to lose weight and I knew that drinking less or no soda would help me in that goal. So on October 29, 2012, I stopped drinking soda again - cold turkey. There were times when I really craved it, but I did not give in. Only once Javier was drinking some Coke for dinner and took a tiny sip - but told him that it was just too sweet for me.
It has been helpful to quit drinking soda. There are times when I really want to drink some, but I tell myself no, that I've gone this long without it and instead I drink a Vitamin Water (0 calorie ones), water, or natural juices. It's also nice that it has helped me lose some weight. I'm down 25 pounds (going to the gym regularly as well), and although I have to lose a lot more, I know that by changing some of my dietary habits, it will be easier.
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