Friend-visiting and thoughts of exercising...

This is my favorite type of day. No classes, few obligations - so much more time for my life! I had been planning to visit my good friend from N-- B--- (She's the blushing bride. Isn't she glorious?!)


- but didn't want to plan on it and then back out because something like that usually happens. Thankfully, she's flexible and spontaneous like me and agreed that I should come down when I gave her warning only the night before.

I'm thinking of opting out on my jog this morning. I've been trying to make myself exercise. Not for any kind of weight loss - - I actually do the opposite and am continually trying to gain weight - but because it's good for my emotional health and well-being. I find that I put on weight when I exercise, so herp derp. I tend to be ruled by my emotions and whenever I am stressed, I lose my appetite and become a nervous, mewling wreck. I wish I could help it. I wish I didn't have to take time out of my schedule to exercise for my emotions. It sounds so silly, but it's sadly true.

However, I have seen the benefits in the past. Last summer, when I worked in ----ville, I had more time to going jogging, walking or lifting and I saw a definite improvement in my attitude overall. The same happened when I lived in N-- B--- near the friend I'm visiting today; she made me go running with her. Most of my memories of that place are positive and happy.

On the flip side, I can recall attending the university (that I am about to graduate from) and not fitting in time to exercise. I was often sick with some ailment, but also felt nauseous to the point of no appetite. I should add that I was in a stressful, unhealthy relationship that lasted two years, which only added to my anxiety. In that time, I had lost so much weight and was accused on several occasions of being anorexic. I don't blame my friends for thinking so! I was down to 111 Ibs = not a pretty sight.

I've always felt more secure with curves, though. I finally got them this last spring, after the aforementioned relationship broke off and I was able to reevaluate my life. The picture above is me at my best. I blame it on the copious amounts of pasta I consumed all year. In the words of Sofia Loren (a fellow sultry Italian,)

"Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti."