Essentially My Questions

• Personally, what is the most beneficial way to get and stay both active and healthy? In order to acuratly answer this question - I had to work through trial and error. There were spands of time where I was going to the gym four times and week and running in the mornings. There were other spans of time which I was sick or so busy what I did was much more limited (take the stairs, go on walks around the hallways at school, park at the far wnd of the parking lot). Something that helped me was the knowledge that I was human and it was normal to get busy and get side tracked. But I never broke my diet and I did what I could when I could. At the end of the day I am proud of myself. I guess how I stay active and healthy is the mental state I keep. From my Mantra which can be hard to say some days to the support system I have around me. I am looking better and feeling better overall than I have in a while. That alone is keeping me going.

• What characteristics of healthy eating and workout routines can help keep me energized and ready to focus? The reality of this question is that the characteristics that help keep me going are not characteristics of my workout or my diet but the progress I made - even if that was not a weight type progress but a physical exertion prgoress. Like being able to run two laps versus just part of one.

• Which is better for me, eating plans/cleanses or a strict workout regimen? Neither. In a perfect world you could find an answer. But we do not live in a perfect world and in all honesty life would be boring if we did. I do not have the countless hours upon hours to workout everyday, but I can workout 3-5 times a week. I also do not have the lifestyle in which staying strickly to the plan is applicable. Life happens. Its okay to eat that peice of chocolate. To be living healthy - you need to mush both these factors together and create a lifstyle that YOU can live with and grow with.