New Year's Resolutions

This year, I decided that my health would be top priority when picking out a New Year's Resolution.

When I went home, there was many Christmas cookies and family parties filled with forbidden foods. It was incredibly difficult, but I stayed away from foods I shouldn't eat during my families' Christmas parties; however, I cheated a lot at home by eating most of our Christmas cookies. I realized that it was a lot easier to stick to my diet when I was being held accountable by other people. I'm not always going to be around people, so my first New Year's resolution is to stick to the diet! I will allow myself to eat one piece of my dove dark chocolate (what girl can honestly give up chocolate??) now and again, but that is going to be the extent of my cheating. As great as some of the no-no foods taste, I've realized that I enjoy being healthy so much more.

My second resolution is a bit more ambiguous. I just want to live a healthier lifestyle. I'm going to go to the gym, do yoga, sleep more... and feel good about myself! This is going to be the year that I finally achieve remission status; I can feel it.

I want to challenge other people out there - not just Crohnies - to really evaluate your health. I'm not going to go all health nut on you because I always hated when people did that to me, but there's so many bad things in the food we eat today, and we put all that junk into our bodies. You don't have to have such a strict diet, but anything processed is bound to be really hard on your system. Instead of popping a tums or something to stop diarrhea, figure out what food is causing you problems, and stop eating it.

Eating healthy can be easy, even at college. Yesterday I e-mailed the guy in charge of our kitchen and told him what's going on. He had me meet with the head chefs and I now have all their numbers and text them what I want to eat a half hour before I go to eat. Today I got sauteed spinach and fish. It was so delicious. I won't be using it all the time, but it's nice to have variety. Plus, they said they have shrimp; I know which girl will be asking for that every week (haha).

To end this post, I want everyone to think about one thing they can change about their lifestyle (eating, exercise, etc.) that would make a positive impact on their life, and go for it!