My Journey and New Goal

I find it interesting how we stumble upon certain things in our lives.  How one thought can evolve into something new and start us down different paths.  When we look back to how we got 'here', isn't crazy to see the many side roads and detours and new highways that we've taken?

For example, my journey began in March at Green Mountain in Vermont.  My month there taught me that my lifetime of dieting had led me to have low self-esteem and an unhealthy body.  I learned to stop dieting and to focus on listening to my body.  I finally understood that I needed to feed myself 'real' foods and not the processed/preserved foods I had been eating for years. When I returned home from GM, I became obsessed with trying to get as much information as possible.  I watched a number of documentaries and read many books.  These led me to understand the term "Nutritional Starvation".  I was a classic example of someone who routinely starved herself nutritionally by not giving my body the proper fuel it needed....vegetables and fruits.

While I focused on my eating, I struggled to include the right amount of exercise into my new lifestyle.  In talking with my friend Julia and sister, Ellie, we agreed to start training for a 5K and to meet up at the end of October in Boston to complete a 5K together.  During our training, Ellie introduced me to the Charity Miles app that donates money to the charity of your choice for every mile walked or run.  I decided to join in the fun, because who doesn't like to help charities?

Meanwhile, the documentaries I was watching began to veer away from 'how to save yourself' and became more 'look at what's happening in America'.  I was learning more and more about 'Food Deserts' and 'Farm Subsidies' and 'Childhood Obesity Due to Nutritional Starvation'.  One documentary in particular ("A Place At The Table" on Netflix) really spoke to me.  It motivated me to sign up to be a volunteer at a local food pantry (Metro CareRing) and my volunteer training begins on Wednesday.

Also happening at the same time, I was looking for a topic to write a paper as part of my application to graduate school.  I have made the decision to apply to the University of Colorado, Denver to work towards a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning and a Masters in Public Administration.  While the application is looking for a writing sample that was probably written during undergrad, I have found myself in a unique situation, 10 years out of college, that I don't know where any of my old papers are located.  (Most likely in a garage or basement in Indy or Mulberry...)  So I decided to just write a new paper to get myself back into school mode.  Inspired by my recent journey, I chose the following title for my paper, "Food Deserts & Nutritional Starvation in America: What Can Be Done".

And now to finally get to my point....I went to the library today and checked out some books on my topic and in my readings I was just moved to do more.  What else can I do to help those in need in our country?  I don't have much money and I don't have any political influence...how can I possibly make a difference?  And how can I make a difference now while not neglecting my original goal of bettering myself?

The answer came to me in the form of an app my little sister turned me on to.  Charity Miles.  One of the charities I can and have been earning miles for is Feeding America.  For every mile I walk or run, Charity Miles gives $0.25 to Feeding America which is the equivalent to giving 2 meals to a hungry person.  ($1.00 = 8 meals)  I was already excited every time I did my 5K training and saw how many meals I had earned.  While I am walking/running off my meals, I am earning one for a hungry person in America.  How cool is that?

So here is what I plan to do:  I plan to walk/run 1,000 miles in 365 days to earn 2,000 meals for Feeding America as well as volunteering my time one day a week to the Denver Metro CareRing Food Pantry.  This comes to an average of over 2.7 miles a day or around 20 miles a week.  I know there will be days I won't walk/run at all and there will be days I walk well over 2.7 miles.  By giving myself a year to reach this goal, I will be able to balance out the high mile days (summer, spring, fall) with the low mile days (winter).  I will have running days when I train for my 5K's and leisurely walking days when I need to take it a little easier.  In the end, it won't be easy to walk 1000 miles, but I know I can do anything I set my mind too.

I will be tracking my progress on this blog and my only stipulation is that every mile has to be recorded into the Charity Miles app.  If I forget to turn it on, it doesn't count....because then the meals wouldn't actually be going to the charity.  I have decided to start my calculations on October 1st and will need to meet my goal by October 1, 2014.  I did my 5K training for Feeding America on the 1st and today I logged 4.9 miles in walking.  Check out my progress on the side bar and keep checking back as I strive to reach my goal!