Purpose

I know that there have been a ton of articles and clippets and snippets from tons of magazines and what not telling you that you can be skinny or be a sexy new you in less than x number of days. I plan on testing out a theory of my own. A plain and simple: eat what you want (healthy, of course), exercise how you want - making it as fun as possible and keep in mind that the goal is not to lose weight, but to enjoy yourself to a new you.
Now, critics may ask me what it is that I am doing that is different from everyone else. My answer to that will be quite simple: I won't just be telling you how to exercise and how to eat, but also what I eat and why that makes me feel good and how that affects my mood and my personality. Beyond that, I will be chronicling the activities that I love (so not telling you every gory detail of my life with charts for calories and weight loss and other crazy things like that, but just enough to let you know that I do in fact sleep, somewhere in the midst of blogging about said path to a new life and actually doing it).
This morning, for instance, I started my day with a banana and about 3 - 4 glasses of water (approx. 750 ml.). I do this almost everyday. It's become a routine. It helps me focus, concentrate and get the day going right. Unfortunately, because I am at my parents' and my mom is a vegetarian and does not approve of eggs in the fridge, they are the thing that is missing from my morning chow-sesh. So I am starting off with some brownie points in the bag already: my BMI is approx. 22.5, which falls under the healthy category, I am curvy and so do need to tone my inner thighs and belly is I want to look even better than I do now, I am in university (in a program that makes me exceptionally satisfied), I read a ton - everything under the sun, and I have gorgeous eyes. I am very very lucky to have a gym right downstairs as well as a swimming pool.
I have several goals that I will be setting out for myself: finish my novel, paint a ton, relax a ton, because as a university student, I require my peace during the holidays... if that means neglecting to inform a couple of friends that I will not be attending their parties this year, so be it. I've learned to put my own happiness before that of a commercial one anyway. (I think that they would prefer a decent conversation over coffee instead of getting drunk, anyway. If they don't, I am fairly certain they are not my friends ;)). I will  be working out a lot and sharing the details of it as well as having a couple of days where I simply loaf around the house because, let's face it, we all have those days. Let's hope that is not coupled with binge eating chips or chocolate... but it's not likely to happen if I let myself eat a piece of dark chocolate every day.
Of course, keeping you updated through this blog is one of the many many goals.
Let's begin by saying that we are all beautiful. Because to be quite honest, we really are, even the men are quite beautiful. We all have a little bit of good in us and we are not all bad. We are worth everybody's time, because in my experience, the conversations with strangers on the street or in coffee shops, cordial as they are, have been exceptionally enlightening. We deserve respect and hope and encouragement from everyone, everywhere we go. But, criticism is a part of the encouragement to do better. These are our collective strengths, while the individual weaknesses need to be acknowledged and then changed. These weaknesses are not just individual, though. We can all learn to respect other people more, encourage the people around us to do their very best and give and receive hope.
In light of that, my mantra for today is: I will not lose my temper, even if I feel like I am being wronged. I will acknowledge the misunderstandings in communication and face the fact that not everyone is on the same page as me. If someone is angry at me, I will listen and try to make amends.
What's your mantra?