7 Things

There comes a point in everyone’s life when they have to make some decisions. The brownie or the ice cream? The movie or the book? Just do (­insert chore here­) or keep procrastinating. Live your life or keep letting it pass you by.

Over the past fourteen months, I’ve made lots of decisions like these ones, but another health scare earlier this year – which turned out to NOT be an actual health scare after all – meant it was time to reevaluate some things.

And then it was time to make some changes. Not just the half-hearted attempts I tend to make, but some honest to goodness, life improving changes. And this month, the month I turned twenty-nine again, seemed like a good month to get started. Those changes include:

1. Spend less time online. The internet is a procrastinator’s answer to prayer. For anyone who actually wants to be productive though? Not so much.
2. Permanently stop poisoning my body with sugar (in all of its evil forms), grains, and processed foods. It’s past time to start treating my body with the respect I should have been giving it all along – and that includes feeding it right.
3. Stop depending on my doctors to fix everything that needs fixing – and be more proactive in taking care of myself. Thyroid medicine may never be all it takes to have the energy I need, so it’s back to taking boatloads of supplements. After about a month, I’m feeling much better.

That’s a LOT of supplements – and I take two of at least half of these!

4. Be accountable to someone. I joined a Trim Healthy Mama group that’s helping to keep me on track. I love this group! I’m even joining challenges that are helping me make even better food choices.
5. Drink more water. It’s almost always my beverage of choice. I love it. I just need to drink more. Water helps to flush everything I consume out of my body so it doesn’t just ‘sit there’ and get toxic. And since there is a link between chronic constipation and colorectal cancer, I want to sever that link in every way I can. Sorry if that was TMI, but once you’ve experienced colon cancer, that subject ceases to be taboo.

Fun fact:  According to cancer.net, “Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States for men and women combined. It is the third leading cause of cancer death in men and the third leading cause of cancer death in women.” So yeah, it’s past time to stop being embarrassed or grossed out about this subject.

6. Fast more often. I’m not going into detail here. If you want to learn more, Dr. Jason Fung is considered an expert on the subject. That was an affiliate link. Learn more about those here. And then maybe talk to your doctor about it. Fasting is good for you in so many ways. Before the end of summer, in addition to fasting 13-15 hours every day, I want to start doing a couple of 24-48 hour fasts every single month. That’s how convinced I am that it’s a fantastic thing to do for my body.
7. Move more. With my 12+ year old treadmill starting to wear out, I’ve had to think about what I want to do for exercise. I live in the country – where people tend to drive like maniacs – so I’m not comfortable going for walks outdoors. I also don’t want to drive to town every day to walk there. But, knowing the best thing I could give myself for my birthday was something to help me on the path to excellent health, I found a recumbent exercise bike that didn’t kill my budget. It’s supposed to arrive the day before my birthday. *Noting that it’s now two days past my birthday, and it’s still not here. Cause it’s in Toledo…

Before making these changes, I needed naps on an almost daily basis. Now? I’ve had maybe one or two this month. And I’m finally starting to feel more of an interest in writing again. Though I won’t make any promises, I have high hopes that a few books that have been nearly finished for too long might find themselves in the online bookstores before too many more months pass.

When thinking a song that fit the mood and theme for this post, the video below came immediately to mind. It’s fun, the guy is cute, and he’s obviously healthy and in great shape. And since being healthy and in great shape are my goals … it’s the perfect choice.

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