Days 333 - 339

Me modified via Snapseed!

This is quickly becoming a weekly blog! Not on purpose, mind you, but at the moment, out of necessity. You see, I'm very busy trying to figure myself out! No, I don't have time to waste here, but still, I'm not sure I'm honing in properly on what I want. I choose to see life as simple and also choose to be happy no matter where I am or what I'm experiencing, but life experience has taught me to also make changes or else I won't be here to enjoy more of life!

At 55 years of age, over-weight and a cancer survivor, I don't think my choices about 'lifestyle' have been too smart. I WANT to change that about myself, but I'm struggling. How do I change what needs to be changed and still live my life in an enjoyable way? I built a chart in Numbers to help me start to figure it all out. Here is what the chart looks like:

Click on the chart image to make it bigger!

As you can see, I over-eat, don't exercise, drink too much caffeine and was (I'm stressing here was) shaking salt on food at the table. I've stopped the salt shaking (except on eggs and I don't eat many of these) but the rest I must change. As I look at the short list, it contains things that I must start doing, stop doing and continue doing to be successful. So, I guess I will select three things:

1. Start exercising - Just do it...walk in place inside the house, for Pete's sake!!
2. Stop over-eating - Again, just do it! This may be the hardest thing of all!!
3. Continue avoiding the extra salt - Water follows salt. I don't believe I 'retain' water, but every little bit will help! The less water on me, the more my heart will thank me!

Okay, so all I have to do is exercise 20 minutes every day; stop over-eating -- just STOP it and continue with my improved salt habit. That's it!!

How will I do with this? Can I be successful doing these 3, simple things? Really, a word I used above is important: Success. What does success look like? To me it looks like this:

• I'm exercising, on purpose no less than 20 minutes, every day.
• I'm eating real food, the kind my Great Grandmother would recognize as food, not too much, mostly plants.
• Salt is an afterthought.
• Weight is slowly dropping.
• I feel good.
• I have more stamina.
• I have more energy.

I have less than 30 days until I will have passed an entire year trying to figure myself out, but I'm still here; still kicking and have every intention of doing the three numbered, simple things above and experiencing the 7 bullet points below that. Thanks for checking in on me. With every failure I get a little closer to success. I'm not afraid to fail, I'm just ready to succeed now. I hope you stop back by again soon. Until then, Godspeed, Voyagers!!