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Day 5

So I am already feeling better about myself and more productive than I have been in a while. Having a to do list right by me has really helped me stay on task and waist less time. Something about planning my time out has really helped. I also think the act of being able to check things off gives me little senses of accomplishment. It’s nice to be able to look at it and be like “wow” look at everything I did today. Also planning my day out has helped me snack less. Or at least plan out what snacks I’m going to have. I also made a weekly meal plan. Yesterday, my longest day of the week: I go from work to class and don’t get home until 11, I managed to plan out my food for the whole day and pack it and bring it with me. I got some Panera salad dressing at the grocery story so that I would have something yummy to look forward to. 

I can’t say that I’ve completely stopped little snacking. I definitely have a sweet tooth. But baby steps. 

I also plan out when I will work out each week. I like being able to see my progress at the gym as I can up my time out the elliptical or watch my weights go up. My goal is to eventually do a pull up unassisted. I have really weak shoulders and poor upper body strength so this would be a huge accomplishment for me. 

Wish me luck!

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Let’s Begin

So this past year, I don’t want to say that I let myself go, but I definitely started just eating whatever and whenever I wanted. And it shows. I’ve put on over 20lbs. And while I know I’m not fat, I just don’t feel attractive anymore. So I’ve decided to change what I’ve been doing. Instead of dieting or doing some crazy fad I’m am instead going to work on the problems I have that led to the weight gain. So more of a lifestyle change. 

To start let me tell you some background. 

I’m in a graduate program in hopes of getting into medical school this coming application cycle. I am taking classes part time and am also working part time. Work and class are right by each other in Philadelphia, but I’m living with family friends in the suburbs to save money. My commute is about an hour and because I’m not living on my own and other people are feeding me I have less control over my diet and there’s always snack food around. I also just graduated from college this last spring. I also started a new relationship a couple months before graduation. So, overall there’s a lot going on in my life and almost all of it is positive. But it can also be overwhelming. I’m really busy and don’t get out much unless it’s too see my boyfriend (we’re long distance this year) or spend time with family (my sister lives near by). So with everything going on it’s just hard to care much about what I’m eating. 

It all sort of started when I started dating my boyfriend. I was taking some exercise classes at the time and going to the gym but then I started going out to bars and drinking more. We were also going out to dinner more and getting more take out. But because I was exercising and busy I wasn’t really putting on weight yet, just forming bad habits. After graduation I went into MCAT crazed study mode. So I would sort of just eat anything in sight while studying. And outside of work I wasn’t doing much else. I stopped exercising. After my test I then continued to go out and eat out a lot, but because I had graduated I no longer had access to a gym for free so I wasn’t exercising. When I moved to Philli I didn’t have a car yet, but I was biking places. The biking part was good, but because I couldn’t get places easily I was staying home and watching TV a lot in my free time and I also couldn’t go to the store to by foods for lunch so I was eating out a lot at work. And then with the stress from school and looking into med school applications things just kind of got out of hand. I started to be less productive and would find myself wasting days away doing nothing. And was struggling to find the motivation do be better. But enough is enough and I’m going to change. 

So today is day 1. 

I went to the store this morning to get a dry erase board to write a To-Do list every night for the next day. I also made a meal plan for the week. I think what will really help me make a change in the end is organization. If I have a plan I will be more likely to stick to it. Also if I make a to-do list I will be more likely to be productive and actually do that stuff as opposed to sit around and procrastinate. And then stress that nothing is done. 

I also joined a gym back in January. I’ve been decent at going, but depending on the week I either go a lot or none based on how stressed I am over school work. Hopefully being more organized will help me be less stressed and procrastinate less so I can plan out my time better and go to the gym more regularly. 

I’ve also set goals for myself. Normally I’m the kind of person who will buy things impulsively. I tell myself I work hard and deserve to treat myself to whatever. Often they are things that are useful and that I need, but don’t need that minute. I also don’t buy expensive things (luckily, otherwise I would be in so much debt, or more than I already am from my student loans). However, I could show more self control. So instead, I’ve thought of all the things I want (little things) and set them as rewards for myself. When I lose my first 5lbs I will get to buy one of them. And then another at 10lbs and so on. My hope is to lose at least 20lbs total. If not 25-30lbs. 

I also want to hold myself accountable so I’m going to try and post on here regularly. Even if no one else reads it. 

Wish me luck!

[titaniumsuperwoman16-blog]

If your religion tells you to hate another person it's time to find a new religion

unknown 

[titaniumsuperwoman16-blog]

Sometimes when everything is going wrong it’s hard not to think, why am I being punished? Odds are, you are not being punished, life just isn’t perfect sometimes. Stay optimistic, do better and know that God doesn’t hate you and he’s not punishing you. 

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International Day of the Girl Child!

We’ve come a long way in achieving gender equality but we still have a long ways to go. A lot of people thing that equality means people are trying to claim that men and women are the same. Clearly this isn’t true. Equality is about everyone getting the same rights and opportunities.  Men and women should also be equal when it comes to religion. Yes we are different but we are meant to work as a team, as partners like in a marriage.  A man is not above his wife. Instead they are both equal players in the marriage each offering different qualities that make a whole. 

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Some days you will feel all alone. During those times remember that God and angels are always looking down on you wanting you to be safe and happy. You are never alone. 

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Preach love not hate

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God wants everyone to become angels 

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Everyone has their own evils that they have to deal with. Some are just more visible than others (ex. mental illness). Try not to judge people based on things that they may not be able to fix on their own and instead work on removing the evils in your own life. 

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Sometimes we make mistakes. We are not perfect. Only God can be perfect. The best we can do is learn from our mistakes and try to do better in the future. 

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“Variety arranged in a heavenly form makes perfection…and variety occurs where there are many individuals.”

—Emanuel Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell §71

To learn more about this idea, check out our Swedenborg and Life episode, “The Shape of Heaven” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX6ma_MZHKg

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...and it was good

The Bible 

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Science is so cool

Glutamate Plays Previously Unknown Role in Neuromuscular Development

For decades, scientists thought acetylcholine was the only neurotransmitter responsible for controlling how muscles and nerves are wired together during development.

The research is in Journal of Neuroscience. (full access paywall)

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@HungerProjectUK communities are sustainably ending their own hunger. How? They start with #women: https://youtu.be/vq80vZJ8n2k via @YouTube

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Educate yourself 

7.3 billion people in the world are undernourished…

The Hunger Project is campaigning to change that, can you help make a difference?

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FeelGood is a college run charity organization. I joined this club when I was a student and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my college career. 

This is a club that makes grill cheese in an exchange for a donation. All of the donations go towards organizations that work towards ending extreme global poverty and promoting sustainability. 

The kind of people who join this club are open and accepting and its amazing to be surrounded by other motivated young individuals who want to make the world a better place. 

If you are looking to start charity work I highly recommend seeing if your college has a chapter. Or you can start your own! 

BE A CHANGE MAKER!

to learn more go to www.feelgood.org