2013!

Last year at this time, I had just finished reading The Reality of Weight Loss by Theresa Bondora—an e-book that really gave me the motivation I needed to get myself on the path back to health.  In 2012, I changed my eating habits drastically as well as modifying the meals I make for the family to be more focused on real food, eschewing processed food and any food without good nutritional value.  We all had improved health from that, and M even lost a little weight.  I also made workouts a part of my daily life (six days per week) and can’t imagine how or why I even functioned without them.  Working out is usually the best part of my day, and I feel sanest and happiest right after a good workout.  


For this picture, I busted out the skinny jeans I was wearing before my 2012 health initiative.

I was not sick in 2012 at all, and I don’t think I’ve ever been able to say that of another year.  That’s a major accomplishment for me.  I still have the migraines but got nothing worse than a minor head cold, which M & L also had but theirs was much worse.  I am certain that my improved health is due to the diet and exercise changes.  Poor Mark has had the flu for a week now and is still feeling crappy.  So far, I'm still healthy, and fingers are crossed that I'll stay that way!

I definitely don’t want to lose any more weight this year and will be more focused on gaining muscle mass.  I have some definite fitness goals for the year, though, and it’s going to take a fair amount of effort:  15 (unassisted) pull ups; 15 toes-to-bar; 10 hand-stand pushups; and a six minute plank.

My friend gave me a nice, large mirror that she didn't need anymore, and I was really excited to put it up in my workout room.  I had wanted a mirror in there to help me work on my form.  I hung it in the perfect spot only to realize once it was up that I am most definitely not yet able to look at myself while I work out.  I try to avoid looking unless I'm really trying to see and adjust my form in a particular move or lift, and then I usually recoil in horror.  I apparently still struggle with some degree of dysmorphia, because within any one given day, I can look in the mirror and think I'm too skinny and at another point in the day, look in the same mirror and think I'm too fat.  In all cases, the mirror reflects the body of the forty-something I am rather than the twenty-something I would like to look like (but not be).  What I would like to see when I look in the mirror is a body like Serena Williams', but as long as we're still bound by the laws of physics, that's not an option that's available to me.  :-)

I also read the book, “Wheat Belly”, which was incredibly informative and disturbing.  I am still quite unsettled after reading it.  Because of the disgusting health implications of modern wheat, I am also trying to reduce/eliminate wheat from our diet as much as possible.  That is a lot of restriction for vegans, but I will do my best.  I highly recommend this book and would be happy to loan it.  It is information that everyone should have!

That book also activated a slight obsessive fear of (Type 2) diabetes that I’ve been trying to suppress for years.  It’s all over in my family and has been all my life. The diabetics in my family handle it like 6-yr olds, however, and just refuse to make any dietary or lifestyle changes.  They just eat as much crap as they think they can get away with (as if they can sneak it in without their bodies 'noticing') and then take their very expensive pharmaceuticals to counteract the damage they can’t seem to stop inflicting.  I fully believe everyone with Type 2 diabetes has earned it and worked very hard to get it.  I see the disease as a badge of weakness and irresponsibility, and it is something I fear greatly.  I would be horrified and repulsed if I got it, which makes me spend way too much time thinking about it and worrying about it and keeping track of what I eat and how it affects my blood sugar. I would also NOT take insulin or any other drug for it, because I am morally opposed to taking drugs (the easy way out of personal responsibility) for something I’ve brought on with bad choices.  It would have to be cured with lifestyle or I would die.  I would actually like to get a tester, so I can monitor my blood sugar and really track how various foods affect it, but my “team of advisors” (friends & relatives who I trust to let me know when I’m going off the deep end) assure me that that is going too far.  I am trying to not think about it.

This year, in addition to continuing to improve my health and fitness, I am focusing on being as plastic-free as possible.  I am currently reading Plastic-Free, by Beth Terry, and this is my inspiration and guidebook for my efforts.  I’ve been having major guilt problems about plastic/plastic waste and our environmental footprint (which, though smaller than most Americans, is still larger than I am comfortable with), as well as the consumerist culture.  When I do spend money, I my goals are to keep all money possible out of the hands of the 1%, consume as little as possible, and eliminate as much plastic as possible from our lives.

Once I finish reading the book, I will come up with an action plan to get started on the plastic elimination/reduction.  Then I will see how much buy in I can get from the rest of the family.  That may be the most challenging part.  At this point in the book, I'm feeling pretty discouraged and hopeless, so I'm anxious to get to the portion that gives me information on how to minimize my plastic dependency.