As I mentioned the other day, I want to take 10,000 steps a day but then the weekend hit and I didn't want to move so I'm adjusting my goal to 10,000 steps at least 5 days a week. I'm not sure if that is me giving up already or being more realistic. Either way, it's what I did and what I needed to do.
I'm also struggling with the question of dairy and cheese and whether or not I give it up or not. Eating is so complicated when I give up cheese but I know it's fattening and doesn't really offer any nutritional value. I understand the addictive nature of cheese and agree with that completely because it is what I am craving. I don't know if I can find a middle ground or not.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
10,000 Steps A Day
Santa brought everyone a fitness tracker for Christmas this year. Nobody said thank you or was very excited about it but I think Santa had a plan. I've asked everyone to get 10,000 steps each day, to take a picture of their synched screens and post it on our family chat we have going.
January 1st, we took Lucy and went on a nice long walk. It was chilly but nice and I made my step goal. January 2nd was similar. Today, January 3rd was a little more challenging. James and I had busy days that didn't allow us to get much walking in today. We decided that we would go for a walk after dinner. It was so cold we had to come back home to get more clothes. But we did it! We made our 10,000 steps. I know it's only the 3rd but it's kind of exciting to think of 3650000 steps could be taken this year.
Monday, January 2, 2017
What Does It Look Like
I have two areas to explore here and when I thought of these ideas, I thought I was brilliant but when doing quick searches for my special word or trying to find the right blog title that wasn't already taken, I discovered brilliance had already struck elsewhere. I am not trying to steal these ideas in any way shape or form. As a matter of fact, I plan to research them and use the ideas and suggestions to guide me and am thankful for the work already done.
The first idea is the one small word concept. Ali Edwards gets the credit here. She has developed a class you can take to help with your one word as well as fun stuff you can buy to help you stay on track. I plan to sign up for her class and explore her items as ways to keep me motivated. Here is her link: http://aliedwards.com/one-little-word She is not alone in this endeavor however. There are many life coaches, pinterest posts, blogs and you name it out there. I'm not sure where the idea originated and for me it doesn't matter. It's a movement. A way of narrowing your focus and attention that have a lot of participants and I'm just joining the bandwagon.
Again, the word I chose was longevity. While I feel it is the right word for me, my word is not sexy or catchy or beautiful, it just is what I want. I'm sure I won't find cute pre-made signage of my word but that's okay. Maybe next year's word will meet those needs. For this year, I need to get my life together to create longevity so that I can choose awesome words for years to come.
The second main idea here is centered around my word longevity. As I was walking yesterday, I happened to be passing the well-known in these parts McBain oak tree that is several hundred years old. It is beautiful. I've always been attracted to trees and their beauty but this one stands out amongst all the others. It is old and big and strong and has weathered many challenges from weather to vandals. I find great inspiration in that old beautiful tree.
As I passed the tree, the word longevity popped in my mind and all the other words I had considered this past week slipped away. I decided to set up a blog to keep record of one word journey and couldn't find a blog name around longevity that had not been taken due to a book called The Longevity Project by Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin. The book is using data collected over 80 years following males and females and is one of the longest, and largest studies to date. Here is a link to the book: http://www.howardsfriedman.com/longevityproject/
The study breaks down your longevity into three categories with equal influence, genetics, environment and chance. Hmmmm... I have no control over my genetics which are apparently pretty awful based on my brcca gene connection and hypo beta protein anemia genetic markers. I really don't have control over chance either. I mean I can make decisions in my life that reduce the chance of harm but it is an impossibility to remove all chance mishaps. That leaves me with one third influence on the longevity of my life by determining the environment with which I surround myself. This means my family, my health, my lifestyle, my work, my spiritual self, my social connections and my purpose in life is where my focus needs to be. I have much work to do.
For me, this blog will be a record of my attempt to focus on the mentioned areas. I hope to document my daily efforts, challenges, and successes as well as musings and frustrations. I feel I'm off to a good start as this whole process is pulling me out of that deep funk I mentioned yesterday. If this accomplishes nothing else, then I'm already grateful for this journey.
The first idea is the one small word concept. Ali Edwards gets the credit here. She has developed a class you can take to help with your one word as well as fun stuff you can buy to help you stay on track. I plan to sign up for her class and explore her items as ways to keep me motivated. Here is her link: http://aliedwards.com/one-little-word She is not alone in this endeavor however. There are many life coaches, pinterest posts, blogs and you name it out there. I'm not sure where the idea originated and for me it doesn't matter. It's a movement. A way of narrowing your focus and attention that have a lot of participants and I'm just joining the bandwagon.
Again, the word I chose was longevity. While I feel it is the right word for me, my word is not sexy or catchy or beautiful, it just is what I want. I'm sure I won't find cute pre-made signage of my word but that's okay. Maybe next year's word will meet those needs. For this year, I need to get my life together to create longevity so that I can choose awesome words for years to come.
The second main idea here is centered around my word longevity. As I was walking yesterday, I happened to be passing the well-known in these parts McBain oak tree that is several hundred years old. It is beautiful. I've always been attracted to trees and their beauty but this one stands out amongst all the others. It is old and big and strong and has weathered many challenges from weather to vandals. I find great inspiration in that old beautiful tree.
As I passed the tree, the word longevity popped in my mind and all the other words I had considered this past week slipped away. I decided to set up a blog to keep record of one word journey and couldn't find a blog name around longevity that had not been taken due to a book called The Longevity Project by Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin. The book is using data collected over 80 years following males and females and is one of the longest, and largest studies to date. Here is a link to the book: http://www.howardsfriedman.com/longevityproject/
The study breaks down your longevity into three categories with equal influence, genetics, environment and chance. Hmmmm... I have no control over my genetics which are apparently pretty awful based on my brcca gene connection and hypo beta protein anemia genetic markers. I really don't have control over chance either. I mean I can make decisions in my life that reduce the chance of harm but it is an impossibility to remove all chance mishaps. That leaves me with one third influence on the longevity of my life by determining the environment with which I surround myself. This means my family, my health, my lifestyle, my work, my spiritual self, my social connections and my purpose in life is where my focus needs to be. I have much work to do.
For me, this blog will be a record of my attempt to focus on the mentioned areas. I hope to document my daily efforts, challenges, and successes as well as musings and frustrations. I feel I'm off to a good start as this whole process is pulling me out of that deep funk I mentioned yesterday. If this accomplishes nothing else, then I'm already grateful for this journey.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
I Want A Longer Life
I just spent the past week in one of the deepest funks I have been in years. It began months ago with my father's passing, followed by my mother's ailing health and ending with a horrendous family Christmas. There was family and spousal fighting mixed in with my alter ego of the evil stepmother showing herself. I realized finally that I will never be accepted as a member of my husband's family and that as my remaining family member (mother) is ailing, I am soon to be an orphan of sorts.
Don't get me wrong, I am not truly alone. I have my two girls who brighten every day, my husband who tries so hard to keep us going and my two sortasisters and many others who have warmed my heart over the years. Yet, there is an obvious lack of family in my life.
But what I have is amazing and I want to be around to live this life with these fabulous people for a long time. Ask any mom or wife and they would obviously say the same but I keep running into obstacles that try to derail me of this goal. I have had triple negative breast cancer, am overweight have high blood pressure, diabetes, a new diagnosis of hypo beta protein anemia and issues with my liver.
On Christmas Eve, I asked my family to pick a word to focus on for the upcoming year as a trait that they wish to focus. I thought I wanted to select the word choose because I believe we make our own choices. I thought of many others such as forgiveness (especially after this last week), I thought of dedication and determined as well as committed or energy and a plethora of other words that would be appropriate for my time and place in life.
But when my husband and youngest daughter and I went on a walk today to begin our year of 3,650,000 steps, we passed an elderly couple walking their two dogs. They were beaming, content, happy and healthy and I knew that was what I wanted. I want longevity. I want to live a long life and I want it to be be one that I can enjoy. The word longevity popped in my head as I passed tree after tree and like those trees, I want to stand tall and strong and be able to weather all the storms still to come including future ruined Christmases.
Don't get me wrong, I am not truly alone. I have my two girls who brighten every day, my husband who tries so hard to keep us going and my two sortasisters and many others who have warmed my heart over the years. Yet, there is an obvious lack of family in my life.
But what I have is amazing and I want to be around to live this life with these fabulous people for a long time. Ask any mom or wife and they would obviously say the same but I keep running into obstacles that try to derail me of this goal. I have had triple negative breast cancer, am overweight have high blood pressure, diabetes, a new diagnosis of hypo beta protein anemia and issues with my liver.
On Christmas Eve, I asked my family to pick a word to focus on for the upcoming year as a trait that they wish to focus. I thought I wanted to select the word choose because I believe we make our own choices. I thought of many others such as forgiveness (especially after this last week), I thought of dedication and determined as well as committed or energy and a plethora of other words that would be appropriate for my time and place in life.
But when my husband and youngest daughter and I went on a walk today to begin our year of 3,650,000 steps, we passed an elderly couple walking their two dogs. They were beaming, content, happy and healthy and I knew that was what I wanted. I want longevity. I want to live a long life and I want it to be be one that I can enjoy. The word longevity popped in my head as I passed tree after tree and like those trees, I want to stand tall and strong and be able to weather all the storms still to come including future ruined Christmases.
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