Protecting good health
Other than poor vision, there isn't a single unhealthy cell in this body. I've never even had a cavity. My vitals are perfect and there aren't any diseases that run in my family. I am grateful every day for this gift because I see the struggles people have with bad health. I also see people who suffer from type II diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, bad knees and backs who regret not taking care of themselves before they became unwell.
I was on the same path as those people were, and I decided that I want to be the 60-year-old woman who still jogs every morning. I want to walk on my own two feet when I'm 80 and still have the hips that I was born with. I want to be active, not tired.
In other words, if at some point my body is going to fail me, it's not going to be my fault.
A copy of this picture sits on my desk with the following description:
"This photograph depicts retired postal clerk Foofie Harlan, age 76,
of Sun City, Arizona doing stretching exercises as part of her regular
jogging. This great-grandmother of four is an avid exerciser who
attends two aerobics classes a week." I want to be her!
More options for fun activities
I was 140 lbs for a period of time during my mid-20s, the highlight of my adult life up until now. I played as hard as I worked and never sat still for either one. As a nanny, I took the kids on daily outings to the zoo, Science Center, Magic House, Art Museum and local parks. After work I'd head out with friends and go just about anywhere: friends apartments, coffee houses, local clubs, Fox Theater, movie theaters, and so on. One of our favorite things to do when a bunch of us got together was to play hide-and-seek in the dark (oh yeah, it's so much more fun as an adult!). However, as my body grew, my ability to do these things decreased. My world became smaller and my activities became severely limited.
For the past 10 years or so, I've become more home bound and the majority of my outings consisted of going to restaurants. I still had fun, but there were times when I couldn't take part in certain activities because of my size. Here are some examples:
- The Fox Theater: A couple of years ago I told a friend I couldn't go with her to see Wicked because I didn't think I could fit into the seats.
- I went to the Muny two summers ago with friends and asked one of them to call ahead to ask about the size of the seats. He was told that if I didn't fit in a regular seat, I could go to the handicap seats in the very last row. Guess where we all sat that night (and of course I haven't returned since then)?
- Flying: I LOVE to travel and I especially love flying. Two years ago I flew to Massachusetts and worried that I'd have to buy an extra seat or use a seat belt extender. Luckily this didn't happen, but I barely fit and was terribly uncomfortable. At one point the plane landed in another city to pick up more passengers; during this time those of us who were staying on the plane stood up and stretched. I'm the only one who remained seated because I didn't want anyone to see me struggling to sit back down.
- Beaches, water parks, rivers, swimming pools: no explanation needed, right? And I LOVE the water, like really, really love it. I drifted away from a Cape Cod beach just to get the feel of being surrounded by nothing but ocean. When I spent two weeks camping in Colorado I insisted that we pick places next to bodies of water. There was a summer when I'd get together with friends for bi-weekly float trips. Me + water = pure bliss :-)
The fabulous woman on the right is a friend of mine who
is simply amazing! She is a university teacher, cat rescue
volunteer and yoga aficionado. She also plays roller derby,
you know, that really crazy sport for only the toughest and
strongest of women? Oh yeah, and she's 45 :-)
Taking back my life
These are the things that motivate me each and every day. I am mostly gung ho about my new diet and exercise regime, but during the times when I'm not so excited about it, I stop and think of how the next choice will affect my goal; I see any choice I make that doesn't support it as actually keeping me from the life I want.
I've had the better part of two decades to sit and watch T.V. and to eat any- and everything I wanted, but now I'd rather get into a canoe with a cooler of carrot sticks and cold water than spend another day on the couch with cookies and bad Chinese food.
No comments:
Post a Comment