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Life Makeover

I've been doing quite a bit of thinking the last few days. I've been thinking about my life and where it's going. I've accomplished so much in the last year. Paul and I got married, I finished my masters degree, we moved to a grown up apartment, and I've really stepped up in the last couple months and have really committed to my personal health. This is the first time in my life that I've been eating well and exercising at the same time. And the craziest thing is that it's not hard. It's like I've found this zen place where I can just exist outside my previous norm. The bad news is I still haven't lost any weight. My clothes still don't feel any looser. But I feel like I look better even if it's not measurable.

With this new found sense of balance I have to wonder what to do with it. I try to picture my life at a healthy weight and what I can achieve. And I feel strong and brave to take my life by the reigns and drive! I've started contemplating the idea of teaching in Japan if I don't get a job next year. At this point it's just an idea for a backup plan. I know that if I end up doing it though it will be something I won't regret. What I will regret is if I never go. Kristi's comment on my last post got me thinking about how being in good shape in a foreign country would really be advantageous. If a culture values health, wouldn't I want to show them how I value it also?

I finally got added to Paul's health insurance policy only to find that chiropractic isn't covered. So I decided that I would just go anyway and leave if we couldn't afford it. The good news is that the particular chiropractor I went to see is awesome. He said that he gives a discount to the uninsured because it's a lot of extra hassle for them to process insurance claims anyway. He did a sort of physical thing where he checked my flexibility, my spinal health, my balance and reflexes, blood pressure, and did an x-ray.
The bad news is that he said that my blood pressure was high and that I have some signs of hypertension. The good news is that it was likely caused by my asthma and the higher heart rate when I'm running and will improve the more I keep up my running regimen. I have an appointment to go over the test results tomorrow morning. I'm really excited to start feeling better with my knees and also with the tension I've had for years in my shoulders, neck and jaw. The coolest thing is that Doctor Nguyen was really great about not making me feel stupid and answered my questions and even offered me useful information pertaining to singing and breathing. He's a doctor with the heart of a teacher and that's really important to me. His office also has the coolest bathroom I've ever seen! I want to buy a house so I can remodel the bathroom to look like the bathroom at his clinic haha!

I just had a little bit more to say in this very long post. I've been drinking a boatload of tea the last couple days and I noticed that I'm not as hungry. I also drug my butt to Fanno Creek Trail near our complex. It's a nice paved trail that's about a mile and a half that runs through the neighborhood. I liked the trail and the day was a gorgeous day to be outside, but it was shaded the whole way and thus freezing! I liked having new scenery though.

Comments

  1. You should talk to Lydia. When I graduated college I was looking into teaching overseas and she had a lot of good information for me. She was very encouraging. My path went a different direction though, so it never happened. My roommate at the time did go (to Japan in fact) and it was a wonderful experience for her. And I currently know a family in Korea that are teachers and have been there for years.

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