Linden's first post

This will be our first post! Here's a little bit about me.. My name is Linden and I am going to the University of Nebraska and my major is Elementary Education.  I work at a daycare and absolutely love it.  I am also going to be a 4th grade Sunday school teacher.  I think it is very important to keep a balanced life.  Exercise and eating healthy is very important but other priorities get in the way like class, and work.  When my schedule is really busy I go to the gym at five in the morning.  That way I've gotten it out of the way and plus the gym is not as busy!

My favorite exercises would be swimming, biking and running.  The reason I love to swim is because you can dive into the water and then in an instant all stress is gone.  You cannot hear anything and with my cheap Walmart goggles I cannot see anything either.  It's just you and the water going back and forth.. back and forth.  I love to run because I can put in my headphones and just GO.  I turn up my headphones to max and ignore everything or try to.

I haven't always loved to exercise.  The first three years of high school I was in the band and really hated it.  I ended up quitting before my Senior year and was so relieved I didn't have to wake up early to walk around a field with my saxophone.  I decided to join a weight lifting class and my best friend and fitness role model Steph made workout routines for me to do at home.  Don't let Steph fool you, she is STRONG :) and can probably beat up most guys.  I however, could not but am working on it!

I was so determined to lose weight and I knew that if I simply could say "no" to desserts and go to the gym then in time I would see results.  I ended up losing thirty pounds that year and then slowly I gained some of it back in college.  I am not overweight but not where I would like to be.  So, my goal for this year is to continue to go to the gym early in the morning and eat healthy.  The problem with that goal tis "eating healthy" is so hard to commit to because it is really vague.  What does eating healthy even mean?  There's so much advice out there about what to eat to lose weight but people have different opinions on what is healthy and what isn't.  My goal isn't to limit myself to only fruits but to use portion control.

This blog is not only to keep me on track but also just for fun.. because staying healthy doesn't always have to be "work."

PS.. I promise future posts will not be so wordy. ;)