About

UPDATE (1/31/13) ***

 

Thank you for the months of commenting and viewing this blog. I no longer update this site (I’ve moved onto a new blog endeavor called I Dream of Poutine.) but feel free to like or comment on any of my old posts. I will talk back reply back

 

Peel Away,

Jocellyn

 

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Hello, Everyone!

Welcome to Peel. My name is Jocellyn and I’m a college junior in Vermont.

2011 Starscape Festival.

A little info into why I’ve decided to go forth with this blog after, trust me, months of second guessing myself. Growing up I was a pretty active kid: gymnastics, softball, cheering, track, field hockey, soccer, rock climbing, kayaking, um…yeah I think that’s it! I was in really good shape, but my diet was horrible. It didn’t really start catching up with me until the summer going into my junior year. 7 pounds crept up in the matter of three months. Now, seven pounds isn’t much, but when you’re 5’3 gaining or loosing a mere two pounds can make people raise their eyebrows for more than one reason. I was by no means overweight, but I sure didn’t put on seven pounds of muscle. More like seven pounds of daily pancakes and bacon; I still partially blame my mom for letting me do this each day without a gentle reminder of backing off the grease.

And now I’m here at age 20. I still have those seven pounds, though they’ve redistributed themselves as the years have gone by (hello bootay!) But this blog isn’t exclusively about weight loss, it’s about living a healthy life. It’s about peeling back all those layers we’ve acquired over the years that aren’t conducive to fostering a happy and healthy life. These layers could be literally: perhaps you have a few (or many) pounds you NEED to loose. Perhaps the layers are stress you don’t know how to deal with. Stress –> cortisol chemicals –> lots of mindless eating and Ben & Jerry’s –> well, you get the picture. Maybe you need to strip back your diet. Humans cannot exist on french fries and sugar. You only live once, but don’t you want that life to be as full as it can possibly be without stomach aches, irritable intestines, sleepiness, or debilitating diseases that are directly related to stress, sedentary lifestyle, and diet?

I hope this blog will be a safe haven full of discussion so people can begin peeling back those layers and seeing how great they are underneath. It’s for people who want to eat healthier and exercise better in a pragmatic way (i.e finding exercises that work for you body and allowing yourself indulgent treats from time to time! Man, oh man I love the spontaneous McDonald’s hash brown!) I’ve dabbled with many different eating habits: raw foodie (for cleanses), months of vegetarian/pesco noshing, and years of meat consumption. No matter where you fall on the diet line, please feel that you can find a place here.

So again, join me as we better ourselves. Healthy living is a  lifestyle change full of ups and downs, compromise, and rewiring your brain after years, possibly decades, of poor living habits. Stop thinking about it and start doing it– you know you want to!

Much love,

Jocellyn