Eat to Live--Thoughts

So, a bunch of my family members and a few close friends have been recommending this book to me for a long time. Now, I'm NOT a fan of diets, or anything fad-like for that matter. I think it's all about businesses...businesses wanting to scam the well-meaning American who just wants to take care of their body. Nope. My fitness advice was coming from common sense, nutrition textbooks, and maybe OCCASIONALLY the Biggest Loser Show.

But then I read this book. It was more out of curiosity to see what all the fuss was about. I was a little self-conscious reading it, because I didn't want people to think that I was trying to lose weight, because that is not where my goals revolve around at all.

I decided to try it out. I'm a driven person, and I LOVE challenges...especially ones that are hard and push you to be better. I've been doing this for 2 weeks now and I have never felt such an amazing transformation in my body. I'm not absolutely perfect with it, but I will say that when I even make the tiniest deviation from it, I instantly regret it. Cheese makes me sick now. Kinda sad, because it tastes so good, but my body doesn't seem to want junk food anymore.

Another thing: I used to think I had hypoglycemia. Well, turns out I don't. I am completely cured. My body just had a food addiction, and I was constantly going through "toxic hunger" instead of "true hunger." I was used to over stimulating my digestive system, and I thought that was what I needed. Turns out, I just needed more nutrient-dense foods.  I used to get sick when I thought I was hungry. Now it feels more like "I'm excited to eat some good food now." It's wonderful!

Some disclaimers: No, I don't know if I actually believe what he says about animal products raising your risk of cancer. I'll have to do my own research on it to become a true believer. And the book is quite poorly written in the sense that it's VERY repetitive, almost to the point of being annoying. But I suppose there is a good reason for it being repetitive. "Eat more vegetables. Eat more fruits." "The salad is the main dish." "Eat more vegetables." OK, ok, I get it. ;) Also, this method of eating gives you every nutrient you need besides vitamin B12 and sufficient vitamin D. I am afraid to go supplement shopping because I HATE swallowing pills, especially the big horse-pills. *shudder* That right there is probably the main reason I can't feel right about going all in 100%. But I'm getting closer.

But I do promise you that I have felt my taste buds changing, just like he said they would. Salad dressing is becoming less and less appealing to me, and I crave fruits more than candy. I don't know if it'll last forever, but we'll see. I'm also more motivated to exercise, because I feel like I'm on a drug that gives me more energy, constantly, and I just want MORE.

If anybody decides to do it, please know that it will most likely make you feel sick for the first 3 days or so. But if you're strict with yourself, it will only last 3 or 4 days, and then you'll feel great. He talks about a "detox" that your body has to go through. I don't recommend this to everybody, because I don't feel like I have done enough research yet, but this has been my experience so far. Eating more fruits and vegetables can't be THAT bad for you, can it?

Something's Got to Give

For those of you who know me well, I am an extremely passionate person. If you don't know me that well, this may not be obvious to you because either 1. I am too busy to look like I sincerely love every second of what I'm doing each day or 2. I may come across as a bit shy sometimes, even though I'm really not.

I love my life, really. I love being able to get enough sleep each night. I love my classes and projects that have been assigned to me. I love the way that graduate school is pushing my brain so hard that I don't feel like I know anything about music anymore. I love playing the flute more than ever, because I feel like I just broke through this massive brick wall that was threatening to limit me in my performance for the rest of my life. (See here for details of my epiphany.) I love how I am growing to understand music better, and to see the big picture. I love how I am able to read the scriptures and philosophize about them with Matt each night. I love teaching flute--never in my life have I done anything with my music that is more instantly rewarding. I love exercising and discovering what my body can do physically. I love the thrill of competitions...all parts of it: looking through them, deciding which ones I want to do, signing up for them, purchasing new music, learning new music, and being able to distance myself from being nervous on stage and focus solely on letting those judges experience how much I love what I do. I love EVERYTHING!

Sadly, there are only 24 hours in a day, and for a typical college student, finances are limited. How much money can I spend traveling around the country playing for people? How much extremely difficult music can I cram into my brain in a matter of weeks? How much time can I sit there and think critically about the words "sonata form" before I have to move on in my textbook reading?

I feel like I'm in a situation where one thing has to give each day. Just one...whether it be sleep, practicing all that I want to, exercising, teaching, schoolwork, spending time with Matt, or eating. Why can't I do all of these things in one day? I guess life is like a gopher game...you know that one where you have a rubber hammer, and you pound the gophers into the ground, and one of them has to pop up? So, the game I'm playing these days is alternating which thing has to give each day.

Moral of the story: I'm in love with my life, but I just can't handle it all. Hey, I'll take it!

15 minutes a day

Rules to having a productive day as a BYU student:

1. Get at least 8 hours of sleep. No matter what.
2. Read the scriptures! Miracles will happen if time management seems impossible.
3. Exercise at least a couple of times that week. This and numbers 1&2 are prerequisites to feeling your absolute best. Oh, and eating enough as well. A car won't run if it doesn't have any gasoline.
4. For the things that you have to do a HUGE amount of, do a little chunk of it VERY FIRST, whether it be practicing or studying.

This leaves the question: What about the things that I want to do but are not required? Cleaning the house, reading, or other forms of recreation? Well, this won't work in ALL scenarios, but I learned from "fly lady" (the cleaning house genius) that the ONLY way to handle an impossible project (that doesn't have too much overhead of setting things up) is to do it in 15 minute chunks. No more, no less. Just 15 minutes. I'm writing a letter to Nicole, a dear friend of mine who is on a mission. Each day I set the timer for 15 minutes, and I write a little bit each day. That way, she won't go for months without a letter from me like last time because I could never set aside a huge block of time to do it. I'm approaching writing in my journal this way, as well as doing dishes and other things of that sort.

When getting everything done seems impossible, I know that sometimes I have to turn to little habits that might seem a little silly and possibly ridiculous. But it's worth a shot, isn't it?

Little miracles of inspiration come to me every so often. And for them, I am so very grateful. Without them, I would probably have much more periodic emotional breakdowns.  So, to those of you who are conducting the impossible schedule, I won't tell you to stop signing up for too many things. You probably already know that, as I do. To you, I simply tip my hat and bid you good luck!

Epic Name Fail

Growing up in hick town Vidor, TX, you see a few things that you never forget. One of these was a sign right next to the elementary school that I attended that said "Babby Ducks." Around Easter time, people like to buy colored chicks and ducks to have around their yard. We bought some one time, and apart from one of the chickens being so disgusting and sickly that it wouldn't even peck for its food--it would just lie on the ground next to the seed and let it fall into its mouth, and the ducks that pretty much ate the bottom of one of our back doors, it was a good experience.

Back to my point. "Babby Ducks?" What's sad about this is that in Vidor, you aren't too sure whether or not someone really thought that was how to spell "baby," or if they were just being "clever" to grab your attention on the road. To be honest, I really don't think this is a clever ploy. Sure, I looked at the sign, but I was not motivated to do business with the sort of person who wrote that sign.

Such is life on 700 East:

I knew the old comedian joke "Affle House" because the "W" on "Waffle House" was always burnt out. But I never thought that someone would ACTUALLY name their waffles "awful"...even spelled right. Honestly, I haven't been brave enough to try it, but I am thoroughly entertained and curious to see how the business will turn out. Like I said before, I look at the sign every day when I walk to school, but I am not necessarily motivated to do business with a food company with "awful" in their name. I like my body too much.

Anniversary

Who went and saw Josh Groban for their 1 year anniversary? That's right. We got to see him live from the 10th row! Thanks mom and dad for the tickets! It was our anniversary, so we decided to dress up in a tux and formal gown. We were about 10 levels dressed up over everyone else, but we didn't care. We kept getting comments from the 75-year-old ushers elbowing Matt saying, "This is how I used to dress for concerts." Cute!

Before the show. My hair is crinkled from the curling iron. Turns out I'm pretty good at straightening my hair, but no good at curling it.

My hair looks a little better in this one.

Unfortunately we weren't able to get any good shots of Josh Groban. And the videos I took were too long to upload onto Blogger. But we did get all dressed up and pretty before the concert, and I wanted to showcase at least that.

I was so impressed by Groban's performance. Not only does he sound EXACTLY THE SAME live as he does on his recordings, but he is so good with his audience. He's funny, classy, and a good showman. It was amazing to see him that close. One of our friends got to grab his hand, tell him she loved him, and he said he loved her back! It was pretty cool.

Anyway, just another update of the past few weeks from the Seeley family. Until next time!

Gwaduation

Alrighty folks. I'm sure you've been hurting for some pictures. I'm just bad at taking pictures. That's probably because my camera broke, and at big events I have to resort to borrowing other people's cameras, which we all know how stinky that is. Good news is that some of these cameras that have been borrowed have been amazingly high quality cameras. So I'm not complaining.

So I graduated with my B.M. in Flute Performance from BYU. No, it's not a B.A. like everyone thinks. It was a B.M. Music majors get to have their own degree. It's not "just" one of the arts. AND we get to wear pink tassels. Lucky us!

Um, I don't remember being nervous, but my face sure looks like I am. Maybe I was worried that I would trip in those 4 1/2 inch heels that I was sporting. Why do I do that to myself?

  

Presh. Little does this picture say how awkward my hug was to this man. Kory, I really didn't mean to stab you with my fake diploma. And I really don't mind if you give me a hug on my graduation day. I just didn't know what was going on. It's been about 4 years since I last graduated, and I think I lost my touch.

You can't really see me, but I'm next to the other music majors with pink tassels. I do feel a bit sorry for the guys. All the other dudes are probably like, "Why is he wearing pink?" Nobody thinks twice about the girls. And if they do, it's more like, "Awww how cute!"

Me with my knight and shining armor, my greatest support, my best friend in the entire world, my husband of one year, Matt Seeley. I seriously don't know how I got this lucky. He even woke up at 7am to come see me! For those of you who know Matt well, you'll understand how much he loves me. ;)

This chica has been such a dear friend to me ever since I got engaged to Matt. She has been there as a shopping buddy, a moving helper, a shoulder to cry on, and just a genuine self-esteem boost when I was feeling down on myself. She even took all these pictures with her fancy new camera! Thank you Whitney Eggleston!

In front of the HFAC, my home for the past 4 years and the next 2 years. I'm sure it'll go by fast, but sometimes it feels like I'll never leave.

I'm so glad that I was able to finish! This past summer has been full of tons of close calls that seemed to drag me further and further from being able to graduate. But I pushed through them and conquered! I feel like I'm ready for my summer break now.