Crystal Aura Gaze

First of all, this is not about weight… but I am really trying to make a change in my diet and fitness. This is about my health.

I’ve always been health conscious and I’ve always been interested in nutrition, but I’m trying to take that to a higher level. While I’m vegetarian, limit my eating out, and have a subscription to Thrive Market organic groceries, I still struggle with something as basic as getting my daily fruit and vegetable servings. And while my breakfasts and lunches and midday snacks are healthy and nutritious, I’m still eating either pasta or pizza every night for dinner. And on weekends, it’s much worse.

I also believe that I am good at getting my exercise in, although I’d rather be exercising daily than just a few times a week. And I’d rather be challenging myself and growing my muscles, instead of keeping all of my workouts at the same level and not making any upward progress.

For most of my life, I got away on a diet consisting of mainly bread and butter (oils and grains.) I got away with it because I was still drinking smoothies and protein shakes, still choosing whole grains, and still abstaining from meat. But that’s not enough anymore. I think my age definitely plays a factor in that I need to make more of an effort.

I know that my muscles have gotten stronger with age – I can pick up heavier things, walk more miles, and have far more physical stamina than I did ten years ago. I survived an extremely physically-demanding job for five years. I feel strong, but I don’t feel sustained. I need to be eating better.

In 2021, I was facing a lot of stress (I think we all were) and I found myself eating much worse and no longer motivated to exercise like I used to. My job was exercise enough, but I was eating more processed foods in larger amounts, and I didn’t want to do any exercise outside of work. I was so lethargic that most days I was going through two Monster Energy drinks a day, and still coming home from work to immediately fall asleep. And that caught up to me in mid-2022, when I realized I needed to make a change – which started with getting a new job.

By 2022, I had no control over the pandemic, no control over watching my Mom’s health decline, and no control over the romantic trauma I was dealing with. The one thing I could change was leave the job that once made me so happy, but five years later was making me very upset and depressed. And that’s when I stopped going to Wawa or Starbucks every morning for breakfast, that’s when I stopped having microwave grilled cheese and Doritos every day for lunch, that’s when I stopped drinking Monster Energy drinks – all of these habits that I had developed in the year of 2021.

Since 2022, I have been learning how to not only prioritize my health again, but prioritize it even higher than I ever have in my entire life. I do yoga several times a week, I have been learning belly dance online, I’m getting back into hooping. I bought a smartwatch to track my steps and I am going on long walks again. I also bought a water bottle to track my water intake.

I’ve made a lot of progress in one year, although at times it feels like I’ve made no progress at all, and I have to remind myself that forming new habits is incredibly difficult. When I say “progress,” it’s not weight or inches lost, it’s higher energy levels and better mental health. When I weigh myself or measure myself, I do get frustrated at “lack of results,” but I try to remember what the true meaning of “progress” actually is.

I’ve made these little changes in the past year but what I really hope for right now is to revamp my diet by learning to cook more, incorporate fruits and veggies in all my meals, and cutting out processed foods. Frozen and boxed meals, just because they may be organic or vegan, do not cut it anymore.

This is going to be a huge challenge for me but I feel prepared in the steps that I’m taking and I hope to keep up motivation by sharing my journey in this blog.