Let's start at the beginning

Happy New Year!!!
I hope Christmas was blessed and you feel energized for 2012.

It's that time of year, right? When we vow to clean up our act after the holidays. We allowed indulgence. We skipped exercise. We took some time "off" because we were either, a) too busy, or b) felt we deserved it. 
And then, we made resolutions or set some goals.....
Lose weight.
Get in shape.
Quit doing this.
Stop eating that.
I know the drill, and I've done it myself. But we know this cycle doesn't work. There's far more to getting healthy than fitting into your skinny jeans, running a 10k, or getting back to the weight you were in high school. Becoming healthy takes intentional effort and hard work....two things we just "don't have time for" anymore.  Becoming healthy is boring and entails too much sacrifice.  Becoming healthy takes the fun out of things. Am I getting close?

For the last few months, I have had some honest-to-goodness "ah-ha!" moments in terms of health and fitness.  I have done some research (that, quite honestly, I avoided because I didn't want to face some truths) and in doing so, light bulbs ~of all watts~ illuminated in my naive little brain. To list all of my revelations would take days, but the bottom line is this:
WE HAVE SOME BIG TIME HEALTH ISSUES ON OUR HANDS AND BEING OVERWEIGHT AND/OR OUT OF SHAPE ARE MUCH TO BLAME.

My wake up call, I believe, is not meant to merely better my own health and fitness levels.  No, it has been laid on my heart to share what I believe to be true. God is using me and stretching me, and I am so humbled by that fact. He has shown me that in order to serve Him, I must take care of my health. I only hope I can offer the same insights He has so freely offered to me. So, having the amazing folks at Back-To-Basics (B2B) as a built-in audience, I am sharing. I hope you feel inspired to read on and adopt what you feel best suits your situation. And most of all, I hope you read something that gives you an "ah-ha!" as well.

I am not a nutritionist, dietitian, or physician. I have no decorated degrees in chemistry or anatomy/physiology, nor have I trained or worked with elite specialists in the field of Wellness.  But having been in the fitness industry for more than 20 years, I finally realized that there's more to this than our vanity or personal agendas. 

As a whole, we are unwell. We are living under par. Our eyes are fixed on an end result built on no solid, fundamental foundation. Culture's emphasis is not on how healthy we are, but on how healthy we LOOK, and we buy in; many times, at the expense of our health.  I truly believe that if we learn to care for our inside health first....getting as healthy as our individual makeup allows......we won't have to obsess about our physical appearance any longer.  It will take care of itself ~ the way God intended it to be.  We don't decorate a home before the walls are up.....yet we spend crazy amounts of energy trying to reach exterior physical goals without any awareness of our foundation.

What if....what if....we tried it the other way around?  What if we started from the inside out and reaped aaaaaalll the benefits: healthy hearts, robust cells, brilliant brains, strong muscles, exceptional lab work, and also, yes....a slimmer body. We must break this crazy concept that a scale or a pant size determines our overall health.  That's like saying, "there's blue sky, so it must be hot outside." No, we've gotten away from the truth and that's why we've found ourselves here.

I believe we can reach true health and become Optimally Well. I believe we can feel better, look better, and live better.  And I believe we are responsible for feeling our best. It starts with an "ah-ha" and not with trips to the doctor and certainly not drug companies. Sadly, many of us don't know what our best is, but I'd sure like to find out. You?

I have nowhere near mastered what I hope to accomplish in the months and years to come. But with dedication, patience, and continued learning, I hope to reach new levels of wellness I have never known.  And, friends, I wish the same for you. 

Let's do this.