Health

Health.  Such a simple word with such a huge definition.  It's also the word I picked for 2017.   (I picked up the trend from the blogging world of choosing one word to define your year.)  This year I want to focus on my health.  I want to be healthier and feel better than I currently do.  This is not about losing weight; although losing 5-7 pounds would not be the worst thing in the world.  This is about taking care of myself so I can play with my kids.  This is about not feeling exhausted every single day.  This is a desperate measure to try to sleep better.  It's about making healthy changes to keep my increased health risks at bay (diabetes, high blood pressure, etc).  It's about being properly hydrated so my skin isn't so dry and my hands don't crack and bleed in the winter.  (Yes, that happens.)  This is an attempt to not be a stressed out frazzled mess.  It's also an attempt to get proper nutrition instead of eating junk.  This is not a diet but a lifestyle change.  But most of all, it's about making myself a priority.  I want the changes I implement this year to be long-term changes.

How am I accomplishing this?  I'm picking one healthy habit to implement each month with the idea that each month will build upon the previous month.  My goal for January was to drink 68 ounces of water every single day.  Am I doing this perfectly?  No, it's something I still have to work on.  I do best when I'm work with my water bottle on my desk.  I do worst when I'm at home chasing after my kids.  I've pulled out my home water bottle which holds 20 ounces and plan to use that on the weekends.

February's goal was to walk 10 minutes every day.  I think I hit that goal about half the month.  Not so great.  I'm still working on fitting walking into my schedule.  When it gets nice out, I plan to walk during my lunch break.  Steve and I also plan to do family walks in the evenings when it's nice out.  For now, I've been walking in my house for 10 minutes or on the treadmill in the basement.  A bonus with the treadmill?  I watch a Spanish-language show on Netflix and the time flies by.  Later in the year, I plan to increase the length of my walks and eventually add some strength training.  I'm a wimp and I'm a tired of being a wimp.

This month's goal is to eat a piece of fruit with my breakfast every morning.  So far, I'm doing great with this goal.  I didn't eat fruit for breakfast yesterday but I had crabby kids in the morning.  I opted to snuggle with them and eat only a piece of toast.  Eventually I would like to be eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables every day.  I'm not saying this is the only piece of fruit that I eat each day but it's the one I'm guaranteed to eat.

April's goal will be to eat a salad with lunch every day.  It doesn't have to be a large salad but I plan to have at least a side salad at lunch.  I also plan to set a goal of flossing every day later in the year.  Perhaps, that'll be May's goal.  I floss but not as often as I should.  I don't have all the goals planned out but that's OK.  I'm tweaking this every month to do what works for me.

So, the purpose of this blog post?  I realize I need some accountability.  I plan to post my progress each week.  If you would all be my cheerleaders, I would love it.  However, this is not a request for advice.  Please realize I've given this a lot of thought.  If my plan doesn't seem like something that would work for you, that's OK.  Slow, steady, gradual changes are what work best for me.  Please realize, I am a healthy person.  I don't have any health conditions that you need to be concerned about or worry about.  I simply want to feel the best I can and be as healthy as I can be.  If you would follow along, I'd love it.