new endeavor!

Welcome to Amberly's Healthy Habits! I decided to start this blog to help facilitate a lifestyle change inspired by a semester of not doing my best, by discussions about veganism, and mostly by a desire to invest in myself now so that I can reap dividends of good health when I am older.

Overall, I am not an unhealthy person. I try to watch what I put in my body and exercise, but I've decided that now is the time to really crack down on my health habits, to document my goals and my progress and to hold myself accountable.

I realize that it's important to start slow, so I have some very small goals as I start on this endeavor:

• Drink more water. I've started taking a water bottle to work with me every day and I have the goal to drink two full water bottles in the 8 hours that I'm there.
• Eat more fruits and veggies. Right now I'm getting about 2-3 servings a day but I want to start eating more like 5-6.
• Eat less processed foods. This is hard when I'm in the break room at work and all I want to do is eat eggos, airheads and cookies.
• Eat less red meat. Really all that you need is 3 oz. a week and I'm probably eating more than that.
• Exercise! Right now I'm starting with 20 min a day and will increase. I'm not worrying about mileage right now, I'm just focusing on getting out there for a certain amount of time.

And long term, I hope to be able to run with my wonderful roommate Ashley when she moves out here in 4 months again! I also hope to do another half marathon. It's been 4 years! But I know I can work up to it.

Thanks for stopping by! Encouragement and advice are welcome.