Wellness Wednesday #7

Why yes! I do know that it is Thursday! Better late than never, huh? I spent Wednesday working on photo editing for some of my new cards and doing some organizing. The photos needed to be ready to print so that I could get to work on the cards which I am giving as Christmas presents.

The picture above is a low res crop from one of the photos... I'm hoping someone can tell me what type of flower this is, so that I can label the card. Sorry no leaves in the photo, there weren't a lot of leaves and the flowers weren't huge either. I photographed them in San Francisco at the Queen Wilhelmina windmill.

So, down to business. Weight check in was not fun for me yesterday. I weighed 323#. I was up 2# but it wasn't because of the little indiscretion I had with the Hershey's kisses! :o) My stomach has been really upset and bloated and I've been having a small gall bladder attack. I think after this passes, that won't be a true weight gain. I'm trying not to focus on it too much, but you know it is hard not to step on that scale and feel down when the number rises. That's still an issue I'm working on.

So much has happened since last Wednesday. We have been using the Vita-Mix every day making smoothies and soup and flour for baking. I know the Vita-Mix is expensive and not the answer for everyone, but it does make a difference for us. It is a tool to help us form healthier habits.

As a consequence of having the Vita-Mix, I have cleaned out and reorganized my refrigerator. Since our fridge is an old but much appreciated hand-me-down, the crisper does not actually serve as a crisper. Actually it's only function is to hide produce so that it rots and I have a big mess to clean up and food to throw out. Since "out of sight, out of mind" has been at work, as well as the fact that we have many more fruits and veggies in the fridge since purchasing the Vita-Mix, I decided to take the crisper drawer out. There is a light weight shelf below it, so I was able to take some clear shoebox size containers and use those to sort the produce. It's right there where I can see, evaluate and use everything. So far it is working and it makes me happy to open the fridge door and see beautiful red, yellow and green produce waiting for me.

Organizing is part of my journey to wholeness. We come as a package... body, soul (mind/emotions) and spirit. All three areas need attention. One thing I struggle with is clutter. Part of that stems from childhood experiences, part from living in a shoebox sized home and part from being a creative person, interested in a lot of things and owning a small library! Ironically I am fairly good at organizing. I am able to look at how things are used, arranged them ergonomically and find creative ways to store. It's much easier to do that for someone else. Facing the clutter is something that physically and emotionally exhausts me. Having the clutter prevents me from being healthy and whole and takes time away from my family and my creativity. 2008 will be the great clean out year! I have begun already in fits and starts, but it is really necessary if we do decide to sell our house this coming fall.

Once I am done coughing like a madwoman, I have decided to start walking to Leslie Sansone DVDs. I have never really been able to lose weight without exercise and exercise really is important.

Organizing and exercising will be key as I move forward in the coming year. Another organizing project was to go through my pantry. I was surprised at how many things were out of date. I looked at what we had and was able to make a shopping list from it. This will save money on the grocery bill. Instead of throwing everything out that wasn't organic or healthy, with a few exceptions, we have been eating it and not replacing it. I am pleased to report that the pantry is now full of 80% organic food products and I now have grain organized in jars in my freezer. Also on the to-do list is a re-organization of the kitchen. When that is done, I am looking forward to doing some more experimentation with recipes. Being able to see the spots I have already organized has given me a morale boost. I highly recommend it. And since eating organically can initially cost more for your grocery budget, it does pay to be organized instead of randomly putting things in the cart without a plan.

When I haven't been working on the organizing, photo editing and generally stressing over all that I need to get done the next couple weeks, I have been reading. The books I am currently reading are The Maker's Diet and Nourishing Traditions. I am gleaning a lot of information. It is sometimes difficult to weed out all the information one can find in books and the web and honestly, I don't think any one person/book has THE answer. Sometimes the books and "latest research" seem to contradict each other, so who is right? I read and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me to what is right and steer me away from what is harmful. These two books have some of the better information I have found and honestly, reiterate what my Grandma Hopkins was teaching me in the 70s! If I had only listened, I might be much healthier now. I'll probably review these books on my Journey to Wholeness blog.

What healthy things are you doing for yourself and your family, besides nutrition? I would love to hear!