Choosing a healthier lifestyle
Day One: Choosing Water, Food, and Myself
Today I started my healthy lifestyle change.
Not Monday. Not “after the holidays.” Today.
I began with water. Real water, not soda, not juice, not coffee as a meal. I’m focusing on more water intake because my body’s been running on empty and pretending caffeine counts. It doesn’t. Today it was a full glass before anything else, and I kept refilling it. Small, but it’s mine.
Breakfast was healthy avocado toast. Whole grain bread, fresh avocado, a little lemon and red pepper flakes. Non-processed. Real food. I sat down and tasted it instead of eating in the car or over the sink. I enjoyed it. That matters. If I’m going to do this, I have to enjoy it, or I won’t keep it.
My doctor offered to prescribe weight loss drugs. I said no. I don’t believe in surgeries or quick fixes when I can simply eat more Mediterranean and incorporate exercise at the YMCA into my life. I can walk instead of driving the three blocks to the store. I know pills and procedures work for some people, and I don’t judge that. But for me, the win is knowing I have the strength to change my habits without shortcuts. I always love doing this — proving to myself that I have incredible strength to work on my physical body. It’s not vanity. It’s stewardship.
So the plan is simple: more water, non-processed foods, Mediterranean meals — olive oil, fish, veggies, beans. Less sugar, less fried, less “just this once.” And movement. I joined the YMCA today. I’ll swim, I’ll walk the track, I’ll take a class and look ridiculous until I don’t. I’ll also just walk. To the bus. To the mailbox. Around the block when my head feels full. Steps add up.
I’m making another change too: I’m going to wear my natural hair curly instead of flat ironing it. Heat broke it off for years. When I stopped flat ironing and just blew it out gently or let it air dry curly, that’s how my hair got thicker and grew longer. It’s healthier. It’s me. Just like this food change — it’s about going back to what’s natural, what works, what lasts.
School will educate my mind. Exercise will work on my physical appearance. Both are about the same thing: living longer and being healthier. I can’t control everything, but I can control what I eat, how I move, and whether I honor this body I’ve been given.
Day one is just day one. I’ll be sore tomorrow. I’ll want sugar. I’ll be tempted to straighten my hair “just for this event.” But today I chose water. I chose avocado toast. I chose the YMCA. I chose curls. I chose me.
And that’s how change starts. Not with a drug or a surgery. With a glass of water and a decision I don’t break.
