I don’t know if I mentioned it in another post or not, but I’ve decided I’m going to try to get back to blogging at least twice a week. Maybe three times, but I’m not going to hold my breath for that third one. Not right now anyway.
Starting next week, I’ll tentatively try for Mondays and Thursdays. One of them will be about writing, romance, or anything along those lines.
The second one will be on pretty much any subject, along with updates on my get and stay healthy goals. It’s going to be my way of helping me to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Because being told I had skin cancer on February fourth, then having a cancerous mass removed from my colon exactly two weeks later (February eighteenth) was quite the wake call. Living with a colostomy bag for four months and six days was too, as was the original surgery, followed by a second in May, and a third in June.
I’m done with that kind of stuff. And I’m going to do everything I in my power to make sure that there will never be a repeat. And I can best do that with diet and nutrition. And I can best do that by changing my mindset. Instead of thinking a yummy burger from Culver’s, or jelly donut with lots of frosting is a treat, I need to start realizing that those are just two of many things that harm my health. They’re not treats!
I’ve spent the past several days doing some research, watching countless videos, and doing a lot of reading. And much as I love the Trim Healthy Mama diet, for now, I think keto will be the best way to go. Specifically, Dr. Eric Berg’s healthy keto diet. I really like that there’s adequate protein, but even more, I love that he encourages at least seven cups of salad, or four cups of non-starchy veggies – or a combination of both – each day.
It’s going to be interesting for the next few weeks because, for some reason, after a colostomy ‘take down,’ the reversal to get rid of the bag, fiber is supposed to be limited and worked up to gradually. As in no more than fifteen grams a day (total, not net) in the beginning. It seems a little counterintuitive, but I’ll follow the surgeon’s instructions. Now that I’m three weeks out though, I’m probably going to bump that up to twenty grams or so. And it’ll work. I’ll just stick with iceberg lettuce for salads, and measure other vegetables carefully.
But I’m excited. I can do the treadmill for short periods of time a few times a day too. And my regular doctor is putting in an order for either occupational or physical therapy so I can one, strengthen my battered abdominal muscles, and two, get some strength back. That means, this time next year, my health is going to be much better. I might even be able to run circles around Aria for a change.
If you have any health goals – diet, exercise, something else (or a combination) – feel free to share your progress in the comments section of these blog posts. 🙂
And finally… I’ve decided to add this to the short list of songs that inspire me to make the most of my life. They all mean so much more in 2020 than they did before…
Photo credit: Pixabay
