The Summer of Me

I just finished up my first semester in the MCIS program. I think I squeaked out with an A.  It’s a good place to start.  I am still all over the place with the concentration of my degree program.  The research projects that I worked on this semester for my Communication Research class all revolved around the general topic of Feminism + Social Media.  I am passionate about it but  I haven’t been immersed in  women’s studies (from a theoretic point of view) in well over 10 years. I feel very behind the game.  It doesn’t help that I am in the communications department and not the women’s study department and there isn’t a lot of commingling.

I need an advisor and an academic coach because I’m also not sure if it’s smart to just start from scratch with feminism and social media.  So much of my background it health related. It seems logical that my concentration should be health communication and I weave it together through Women’s Health.   That would allow me to  utilize my backgrounds in holistic health, yoga, pregnancy and childbirth as well as my pharmaceutical background. I would just have to shift slightly into environmental health and I would have almost all of my backgrounds covered… Direction is really challenging for a scanner.

TRUTH

Speaking of women’s health. Mine is in the shitter. Marriage + a year of not teaching and sitting on my ass in an office from 9-5 is taking its toll.  I am fat and feel totally uncomfortable in my own skin. I haven’t had this feeling in years. I also haven’t been this heavy and unhealthy in years and it totally sucks. My weight began to increase and my health  decline when I stopped working with my Sprouting Wellness clients.  The mirror is a powerful force.  I totally fell off the wagon when I stopped teaching and my personal practice declined to non-existent. I now have a serious aversion to studio practice for fear of judgement.  Mostly my own; my boobs don’t fit into my yoga clothes, my hamstrings  have college soccer-sized knots and my belly is just in the way. I am also tired of having to explain, no I am not involved in LBG anymore.  It’s all just prickley and uncomfortable and I’d rather play the role of ostridge and put my head in the sand.

So given my uncertainty in my degree program + my dissatisfaction in my physical health, I am taking the summer off. I vow not to be an over achiever that finishes a part-time graduate program in the same amount of time as a full time student.  I promise to dedicate this summer to my health. I promise not to over schedule and over commit myself.  This summer is the summer of ME.  It’s about getting healthy.  It’s about changing bad habits. It’s about releasing weight. It’s about increasing energy. It’s about finding my practice again.  And it’s about doing some serious academic soul searching.

I am trying two new things to get me on and keep me on track. First, I am going to be doing the Isagenix 30 Day Cleanse.  If any of my former clients or students actually read this blog, they probably just fell out of their chair. I have never been a proponent or endorser of powdered cleanses. I basically do not believe in them.  That being said,  I know that there are some serious issues happening with my liver, endocrine system and toxicity load. Juice cleanses haven’t been able to get to the bottom of it. Bad habits die hard.   I went back and forth between a Metagenics Liver Cleanse and Isagenix. In the end, I decided that I needed (and wanted) more than a week long detox. I reached out to a number of my IIN colleagues for review and information (not just the sell sheet) and I am comfortable with my decision. I need to go at least 30 days, possibly more (I am toying with 90). The more I see results, the longer I will continue the program.  For me, results aren’t just numbers. It’s my energy level, my hair, my nails and other indicators of health in the body. This is going to be one hell of an experiment.

UP for the challenge of keeping me on track?

I need my readers to help keep me on track. To hold me accountable, to ask questions and demand answers. It’ take a community right?  I also got a Jawbone UP to keep me on track. I have wanted one of these gadgets for months. I was really unsure due to the reviews on the battery. People that love them, LOVE them. People that hate them, Loved them first, but then got pissed off over the battery and warranty issues.  So this handy little minx links with an ap in your Iphone and does a ton of stuff:

• Tracks steps taken and calories burned
• Tracks sleep patterns — how long it took to fall asleep, how many times you woke up out of sleep and for how long, measures light vs. deep sleep
• Has a silent, vibrating alarm that will wake you when your body is most ready to awaken within a certain time frame you set (PSYCHED to try this one out!)
• Allows you to log workouts – type, level of difficulty, duration
• Options for logging/tracking food and mood
• Uses data to develop trends and comparisons (ex. you are happiest when you burn x amount of calories a day and sleep x hours a night)

It’s like a tiny little health coach on my wrist keeping me on track. I hope it’s up for the challenge. I pray that I am up for the challenge. My future and my life literally depend on it.  I also hope to find the nerve to actually talk about and post my updates, struggles and triumphs here. It’s definitely outside of the adkjerseygirl blog box.  But this summer is me time. I guess it’s about to personal up in here!