Lifestyle Change

I'm on the precipice of a major lifestyle change. For those of you who have read my Hart Chronicles blog, you know a bit about me. And you might be asking yourself, "Julia, where have you been?" (Or maybe, "Julia, you haven't written in so long, I completely forgot about you and your blog!") And if you haven't read my other blog, why not start now? I'll wait...

Ok. Back to the major lifestyle change. It's been 7 years since my open-heart surgery. And much to my regret (and my cardiologist's dismay which leads to the annual reprimand), I have not been taking good care of my body and heart. I've gained a bit of weight (well, maybe more than a bit), and have only been exercising sporadically. Hence, the need for a lifestyle change.

What am I doing, you ask? Am I trying the latest fad diet? I hope not. Am I going to the gym daily? Again, I hope not. What I AM doing is this: following a 30-day meal plan set out by a dietician with a Ph.D. that should help me to relearn how to eat healthfully and cut out all the junk I've been eating. (My body screams in protest, "But I LOVE the junk!")

And this change starts tomorrow, with a 5-day healthy cleanse diet, in which I can only eat 5 "superfoods" in different combinations. Nothing else. No mac and cheese, no pizza, no popcorn, no wine... (sigh) I'm cutting out soda as well. Which will be really hard because I get free Coke Zero at work. (I know! Lucky me!)

I've been "dieting" on and off for the last 7 years. (Well, more than that, actually.) And I had trouble sticking with any diet for too long. So I'm trying something radical. And the only way I feel like I can stick with the aforementioned plan is to blog about it.
You probably are asking, "Whose plan are you following, Julia?" I'll tell you this information once I know if it's going to work. I don't want to leave a negative impression on this person's life work. So I'll tell you later. Besides, I have to give you a reason to keep coming back and reading.

I am nervous, to say the least. But I admitted that I am powerless over unhealthy foods, and that's the first step, right?

So tomorrow is the start of a new beginning, much like the new beginning I had seven years ago. And I will end this post by quoting now as I did then from the song "Closing Time" by Semisonic: Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.