Melissa Sions

I’ve finished my university’s proficiency requirement for French, and have been trying to keep my knowledge fresh over the summer. I’m hoping to spend some time living in France – or at least visit often – in the next few years, so it may not reach fluency, but it’s plus mieux. ;) Next up: Swedish or Croatian.

I just noticed I’ve already surpassed my goal! 53 books so far. I have two more months, though, and at least four more books to read for school. I’ve also bought a ton of books lately for fun, so hopefully I’ll have some time for those soon!

Eating has always been the one major impediment to me getting in really good shape. I grew up in a household where my father, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in his mid-40s, wasn’t in the least bit health-conscious, and indulged my junk food urges from a very early age, and as a result I’ve come to the ripe old age of 21 with a lot of bad habits. For the last three years, I’ve gotten much more committed to exercise than I ever was in my entire life, and it’s been great! But I have slowly come to the conclusion that I’m never going to be as healthy as I want to be if I don’t learn to eat better than I have.

So far I’ve done a lot of research on vitamins, local and sustainably grown food, ingredients to avoid on labels, and on some good cookbooks so I can start being much more conscious of what I put in my body day-to-day. My boyfriend’s even volunteering to help me buy cooking utensils! I think this is going to be a lot of fun; my main goal in this is not so much to lose weight (it’d be nice!!), but to (a) improve my body’s performance in physical activities I enjoy and (b) take a proactive role in preventing diseases I could get later on.