Tuesday Top 10 – Top 10 Unexpected Advantages to getting healthier.

I weighed myself after dinner at the end of the day where one might think one would be heavier – just to see – 148! This is huge. I haven’t seen those numbers since first moving here, fresh from the hiking, biking, and skiing of Colorado. Hello, numbers, it’s good to be back, which brings me to this week’s Top 10 unexpected advantages to getting healthier.

1. Choice was what I needed all along – I just had to stop and realize that everything was a choice and that I just had to make the right one. Looking back, was it really incredibly hard once I committed to making the right choices? To dealing with why I had made the wrong ones and then to stop? No, it wasn’t and it’s hard to wrap my head around that because we all make poor choices and we don’t have to.

2. Justifies my clothing, pack-rat nature. And increases the wardrobe! I am not afraid to throw crap away – accept for clothes. I keep those. Now, what is weird about my weight gain over the past decade is that I’m tall, so I never went up a size. Still a 10 but on the high, muffin top, uncomfortable-if-I button- or-bend-in-any-way side of 10. So, those clothes I would keep. Now, I’m on the loose side of 10, flirting with an 8 IF I caught a stomach flu, so I’ve gained another 2 pairs of pants!

3. Headshots-Finally, I can get these done. I have to wait until Spring, come in to some money, or have a fundraising concert (any ideas there?) But I can get them done now because I feel like I’m “me” again!

4. Energy-Yep. More of it. This may be because of the better eating.

5. Fit modeling-There was an article about this in a past article in Classical Singer magazine. There are specific fit model measurements from like 4 to 18 but you had to have the right measurements. I think I have those now – up to $100 an hour? Sign me up!

6. Looking younger at auditions! I need all of the help I can get.

7. Muscle tone-Remember to eat your protein if you are experiencing weight loss so you continue to maintain muscle and only lose fat. Since I’ve been doing this, and losing the fat layer, the muscles are coming through. Can’t wait to wear sleeveless again!

8. Endurance -I started writing this post this morning and now, this afternoon, after waiting in line for an hour, because of the Septa strike, don’t even get me started, I found that I have better endurance and disposition.

9. Self-Esteem – one of the most important virtues. It’s not the weight either, or the way it makes you look, or even the way it makes you feel physically. What I’m talking about here is the way you feel after being met with a challenge and overcoming it, following through and being successful.

10. Learning the value of consistency and ritual- Making a good habit stick can be hard. Any successful person you observe has things that they do every day to get to their goal.