Changes

What are some changes I've made this school year in regards to my personal health?  Thanks for asking...

• Sleep (The American Way):  I wake up at 6am every day.  At school by 7, first class at 7:45. Therefor, if I want to get in 8 hours of sleep, 10 o'clock bedtime it is.  Getting enough sleep has become super important to me, because there were too many days last year when I felt like a zombie in class.  I'm now super strict about going to bed at 10, sometimes earlier.  If I'm working on something and it's 9:55, I'll drop everything, brush my teeth, and go to bed.

• Cooking (Do People Still Do This?):  I've always enjoyed cooking; I've just been doing it a lot more lately, despite living on a street with every kind of restaurant known to man.  Everything from ginger-chicken-stir-fry to black bean burgers to butternut squash soup.  All this is directly related to:

• Lunch (Pizza or Chicken Nuggets Today?):  I've only bought lunch from the school cafeteria once this year.  It's no surprise that American public schools have notoriously sketchy food.  The cafeteria at my school offers a few decent options, like made-to-order wraps, salads or milk cartons, but these, like anything, lose appeal with over-consumption.  Surprise rancid milk or soggy wraps don't help the situation either.  So I end up cooking more so that I'll have leftovers for lunch the next day.  Or I make a turkey and cheese sandwich.  I also bring my own milk in a Nalgene.

• Biking (When Runners Get Lazy):  My bike was stolen ages ago and I finally got a "new" one. Joined my town's bike share and got myself a mountain bike for $25/year.  I now ride my bike to work almost every day.  Have you seen that movie "Premium Rush" starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt?  In my head I'm speeding through crowded Manhattan streets escaping bad guys.   

Getting older is less than glamorous.  Sometimes I think I would rather stay up till 3am writing manifestos fueled by whiskey and dreams, but the other way seems a lot more sustainable.

Your turn... what changes have you made/can you make?