Next!

It is humbling to look back at my blog posts over the years. The pauses in between posts are not all bad news. Often it is because I got busier living life with less time to write about life! On the flip side, sometimes it was because I felt like I was barely living at all.

I have run the gamut of eat, live and love. I have learned much along the way and applied a little here and a little there.

Truth - I was inclined to start a new blog or maybe delete all of the posts in this one before starting to blog again. Then I decided this right here - it is the truth and if there is one message I would like to get out there; one word that might encourage even one person; then, I must not destroy the evidence of my path of discovery - no matter how long (and humiliating!) it is.

That word is NEXT.

NEXT - Announcement - my next step on this journey is/was the Keto Diet. Yes, you heard it. In November 2019 I decided enough was enough and climbed slowly on to the Keto Diet band wagon.

NEXT - Research. Keto is on thousands of YouTube channels and covered in thousands of blogs. (well, now 1001 blogs!). It was overwhelming! Information choked me and some of the heavy pressure sales pitches made me want to ...well, you know..! I worked to dig out the knowledge with the hope I could  make some sense of what was real and what was an advertisement.

NEXT - Real People/Advocates. A friend supplied the insight that helped me to believe that it was not a trend. Her doctor and her naturopath (real people, too!) both recommended it for her to help with the pain associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis. It works for auto-immune diseases - they said! She was real, live-person proof. Real-people wisdom: She recommended that I narrow my sources of information to one or two. Her highest recommendation was to pay attention to Dr. A. Bosworth - online or in print. Two reasons:

1. Dr. Bosworth explains the science in depth but in language the layman can understand; and, 
2. Dr. Bosworth gives a basic, easy to follow way to transition into Keto. 

NEXT - Real Science. No I didn't go out and research medical journals or put up an ad on social media to attract the "followers". But I did pay attention. To discover that this Keto Diet is not a new trend or fad was a big selling point for me. It is science. Science that has been around since at least 1910 when used to successfully treat children suffering from multiple daily seizures that were not responding to the existing medication at the time. Successfully, meaning that sixty years or more later, when these children died of old age the autopsies showed that those who went on the Keto Diet had brains that had thrived in comparison to the damaged brains of those who had been medicated. This is a direct reference to the information provided in Dr. Bosworth's one and only book: Anyway You Can. This book is available on Amazon and if you have Kindle Unlimited, you can download it for free! I will also include her website if you are curious enough to check it out:  https://bozmd.com/

Enough advertising. 

NEXT: What have I observed in five months?

1. Satiety. Amazing, cozy, fulfilling satiety. No crazy cravings. No hunger. (AND DELICIOUS FOOD!)
2. Weight loss. I personally dropped thirty pounds without changing anything but what I eat.
3. Reduced pain. That one is new - I noticed it on Day10. A long-time sufferer of osteoarthritis plus from an autoimmune disease which causes daily body pain, I was pain free. I am ecstatic that this has continued to be the case several months into this lifestyle.

That's it.

NEXT: Intermittent Fasting and One Meal A Day (OMAD)

Now go. Do. Conquer. 

Your "NEXT" could be Keto! or maybe something else!

Just make sure you are looking forward when you take your NEXT step!

The Wishing Star

Health is....

It is a tribute to my life that these blog posts are sporadic and filled with randomness. And yet, the one focus of it all is the word "journey". I have spun in different directions choosing to wander into the depths of despair and hidden behind rocks and fallen trees along the path of avoidance; but, not once I have truly been lost. Often living along the fringe and frequently focused on pleasures that get in the way of my happiness (thank you CS for sharing that phrase with me!), I seem to arrive back on this page and at least visiting the possibilities once more of living a healthier life.

My goal remains the same. My story end has not changed (writing the last page of my life was a game changer - I strive to work backwards from there!). My journey may have. Today I search for what is best as I now am looking at the 70's moving closer and leaving the 60's behind. Another 20 months! Sometimes it is daunting to look at the number but, most of the time, age creeps up on me slowly and I hardly notice the tiny increments until they cluster together into a "look at me!" change.

Choosing to move looks different now....but move I must. This week I have started a chair yoga practice that will hopefully get my joints moving and my swagger back. Gently, soothing stretches and swaying, breaking down the fascia that has tightly woven itself around my muscles and joints and organs. No snap of the fingers to hurry this process along. Curious? The course is available online at Chair Yoga  I am not advertising but...it is a video, it was a very reasonable cost, and, it features a girl and her mom (my age-ish) and it demonstrates chair yoga as well as gently floor yoga. The jury is out - I will keep you posted.  Today the video moved beyond swaying and breathing  and into the spine stretches. I am thinking the cat pose and the child pose modified. It felt good and was only ten minutes.

I  am also making it a point of practicing some meditation. This is a bit newer to me. My sister has been practicing yoga & meditation for years and sent me the following link Palouse Mindfulness to get me started. I did the Raisin Meditation yesterday. A very different approach to coach a person into a mindfulness practice. It was a good exercise for me - and I had to work hard NOT to crunch that first raisin!

I plan on doing another one today - the Body Scan. To quote the writing on this at Palouse:  "If you think of your body as a musical instrument, the body scan is a way of tuning it. If you think of it as a universe, the body scan is a way to come to know it. If you think of your body as a house, the body scan is a way to throw open all the windows and doors and let the fresh air of awareness sweep it clean."  This is a 30 minute time investment - that will be tonight. Once again, I will keep you posted.

Please share your experiences about medication/mindfulness and yoga with me below. I am all ears (and maybe a few other body parts once I meditate!) and would love to hear from you!

Namaste.

In My Closet

My first stop this early Monday morning was my laptop and the Cityline Weight Loss page! A little connecting and a little surfing for inspiration - a two way street!

I get to weigh in this morning. The scale is in my closet. I am not - yet.

I am excited and intimidated as I dig deep to control the "weight" (pun intended) I place on the numbers and how that can send my spirit careening into the sky or plummeting into the depths - either of which can also send me off the challenge! I decided yesterday I was going to practice a first-and-foremost focus on the other positive changes I have made that are moving me toward a healthier "me." By recording them here, they seem to become more real and will, perhaps, mitigate any wonky reaction to the weight number. So, here goes:

1. My night eating is under control.
2. Better sleep - I actually got 8 hours last night - an unknown phenomenon in my life for the past year.
3. Increased alertness and the ability to fulfill my commitments in my part time job tasks.
4. Improved energy - It is not 100% back but oh so much better. I didn't even need a nap yesterday!

So, I am celebrating in the wee hours of my morning on the west side of our amazing country!  Doing a happy dance of joy for making it through one week of healthy eating - the non-exercise kind but working on that!

Next week - more of the same with one addition. I want to incorporate some kind of exercise or movement. Pondering the options. Wanting to ease my way into this to avoid the extreme pain of overkill from previous attempts! With our temperatures hovering at or above zero maybe a few short walks to get me outside to wake up my muscles might be good for my heart and soul. Strength training on YouTube? Hmmm. My mission is to make a decision this week and move forward on this. I vaguely remember how much better I do when I just move!!

So, off to the closet and my scale. I can't wait another minute! 

Down 4.4 lb.  

I'll take it! 

Deep calming breath......

smile......and 

.....drink a glass of water! 

A toast to Week #2!