If you have been considering getting a NeilMed nasal rinse bottle or one of their neti pots, they right now are having an offer for a $5 mail in rebate if you buy two items. The details are here on the NeilMed website.
The avocado is an awesome fruit – yes, it is a fruit and not a vegetable. It has been maligned recently because of the fat content, but you absolutely should be eating avocado. The fat it does have is the monounsaturated kind and everything about the avocado – including the fat – is really healthy.
It is important to stay on top of your health and well being. Many people get caught up in the rush of our modern day lives and forget to take care of themselves. While we have great new technology and medical knowledge available to us, it isn’t useful if we don’t take the time to benefit from it.
Get Checked Out
It is so important to see your doctor regularly, but many people don’t do this and keep putting it off. Regular annual checkups with your primary doctor can help to catch things before they become major health problems. Also, if you wear glasses it is important to get your eyes checked every year. Wearing out-of-date prescriptions isn’t healthy for you and you deserve to see the world better too.
Stay On Top Of Health Issues
If you know you have specific problems make sure to keep up with them. I have found relief from chronic headaches by seeing a chiropractor. When I slip up and don’t get in for a while, then it takes longer to get my neck and headaches back under control. A little time used by going in regularly saves me in the long run by keeping things in check.
Listen To Your Body
Your body is great at sending out signals when something is wrong. If you keep getting headaches, don’t just hide them with pain medicine every day, try to figure out what is going on. Don’t ignore your body, but take the time to listen to it and figure out what it is trying to tell you. Sometimes you may need to go to several different doctors, specialists, or alternative medicine practitioners before you figure it out.
Logan Challenge
My challenge to you today is to be honest with yourself and write down what you need to do for your health, whether this is getting in to your regular doctor for a checkup, or pursuing a specific health problem. Then take action and follow up. Your body will thank you and your family will thank you as well for taking care of yourself!
I needed help with this one today, thus it seemed like a good topic. I have a few things that I keep in mind which help me moving forward and staying active. Here is my list of 5 things to get you moving too. Also, check out my Just Do It post for some other thoughts.
1. Know what you want to do
This seems obvious, but isn’t. In order to get motivated to do something you need a clear idea of what you want to do. Call this the planning step. Figure out what you want to do and then come up with a plan. Writing things down on paper or on the computer can help. If you make a list of everything in your head it usually seems less daunting than when everything is floating around in a jumble in your head. Also, once you have a plan you have already taken action and then it is that much easier to go ahead and execute your plan.
2. Schedule it
Don’t just think that you will make time; actually make time. Put it on your calendar and when the time comes, don’t make excuses. If it is something recurring, get into a schedule and then stick with it. For example, I set a goal to add one new post a day to this site so I picked noon as my time to get it out. If I miss my noon deadline, then I feel bad and that motivates me to get it done (even if it is late). If you are running, biking, or working out you can help yourself by scheduling a specific day(s) and time and then stick to it.
3. Use the buddy system
This one works great. If you want to do something like exercise then schedule it (see #2 🙂 ) with a buddy. All last year I averaged one bike ride a week (usually during the work week), but this spring I started scheduling Saturday morning rides with a buddy and now my average has consistently moved up to two times a week. This really helps for several reasons. It is an extra motivating factor – you can both encourage each other. Also, it adds a level of responsibility because you don’t want to let down the other person. It is much easier to hit snooze or keep watching TV if it is just you by yourself, but if someone else is depending on you then that helps overcome the inertia.
4. Think about it
Take a moment to think about your life and see the direction you want to go. Are you where you want to be? Is there something – no matter how small – you could do to move you in a better direction? By really thinking about who you are and what you want out of life it makes it much easier to get going on something that really speaks to you. Last week I was watching Jesse James Is A Dead Man and something he said really stuck with me.
5. Change your perspective
Change the way you think. Yes, this seems both obvious and ridiculous at the same time, but it is very effective if you can do it. You have known yourself for your entire life, so sometimes you are your own worst enemy. You hold yourself to the ruts and self-images you have about yourself. Try changing your perspective on yourself. This one is a little difficult to convey, so lets use some examples.
I grew up an introvert and always viewed myself as shy. I kept telling myself that I was shy and I continued to believe it. Once I moved away from my home town, I worked on having a paradigm shift and stopped telling myself I was shy. I wouldn’t say that I am an extrovert, but I no longer consider myself shy and I don’t act like it either.
Another example came when I did a 10 day lemonade cleanse or lemon juice diet. It was a great experience and I actually didn’t feel very hungry, but I really missed the action of eating. Sort of like an ex-smoker missing the oral activity of having a cigarette in their mouth. This was driving me crazy until day 3 of no food. I finally had a serious talk with myself and just changed my attitude and perspective. I got it into my head that I just wasn’t going to put any food in my mouth, and the rest of the 7 days went by like nothing.
Logan Challenge
So here is my challenge to you. Find one thing that you have been putting off and get motivated to do it today. I gave you 5 ways to motivate yourself, so you certainly can use them to do one thing today. Be sure to post a comment with your results. Good luck, and get off the couch!
Since today marks the half way point of 2009, I thought it would be a good opportunity to look back at my resolutions from my New Year’s 2009 – My Resolutions post and check in to see how I’m doing. While there is always room for improvement, overall I think I’m doing great.
Do more
I made this resolution because I have had problems being inert in the past and not really living life. I have done pretty good here and this blog is one example. I have had periods where it didn’t get updated as often as I wanted, but lately I’ve gotten back on track.
I want to keep the ball rolling with this blog and I also have ideas for two other sites. Also, last year I had started the site drivemoregreen.com which has languished without any attention. I’d like to revamp that and get it going again.
I resolve to continue doing more and keeping my momentum going for the rest of 2009.
Spend more time interacting with my kids
This one I have done pretty well. I’ve really tried to focus on enjoying being with the kids (which isn’t always easy!) and finding more time to spend with them. I have also spent more one-on-one time with my son. We started watching Deadliest Catch on Discovery. Yes, it is a little hypocritical for an ethical vegetarian to enjoy watching them pull so many crab out of the ocean, but it is exciting and has great talking points for conversations with my kids. I just had to shoo away my daughter so I could finish this post 🙁 but overall I’m still doing better.
I resolve to continue spending more time interacting with my kids.
Stay in shape and maintain my weight
This one I’ve done great at. My ideal weight is 175 and I don’t like going over 180. So far this year I’ve only been over 180 once and have stayed between those two numbers the rest of the time. I have been biking about two times a week, which is up from last year’s one time a week average.
I resolve to continue staying in shape and maintaining my weight.
Get stronger
I don’t have an official or proper program for this yet, but about a month ago I started doing pushups every day. I have seen an improvement in my arm muscles and I’m really happy about this. I plan on continuing with the push ups and will consider adding in more strenght training if I can figure something out.
I resolve to continue working on getting stronger.
Conclusion
This has been a good excercise to write down my resolutions and track them. I highly recommend it – and even though it isn’t New Year’s right now, you can make a resolution right now and start trying to live better. Do you have a follow up for your resolutions, or something you want to start doing better now? Be sure to post a comment and let me know.
Now that you know my story of how I became a vegetarian, this follow-up looks at why I have continued this lifestyle. I strongly believe that not eating animals is the single most important thing anyone can do to help save our planet. Eating animals contributes to the terrible suffering of animals, personal bad health, the obesity epidemic, and the worsening of our planet. It is completely spot on to say “go vegetarian, save the world”! I’ll kick this off with an excellent quote from Paul McCartney on GoVeg.com.
Animals as Meat
I strongly believe that there would be many more vegetarians if people were more aware and involved in the process of turning animals into food. If people had to witness or participate in the slaughter of animals it would make them think differently. Having to see a carcass cut up and turned into “food” would make people stop and think about it. Today it is just far too easy to get meat wrapped up in nice cellophane packages or order burgers from fast food places. Chicken fingers and nuggets are so far removed from the suffering of those poor birds. Chickens are the most abused animals on the planet and their treatment and lives is stunningly sad if you are aware of it. This chicken story at goveg.com has more details.
If you missed it from my last post, be sure to check out PETA’s calculator that tells you how many animals you have saved (if you already are vegetarian) and how many you can save in your lifetime if you continue to avoid eating meat.
If you need some further convincing, please check out some of the terrible undercover video that has been shot inside slaughter houses. The video at meat.org is a great starting place and they have links to other videos.
Health
Being vegetarian is just plain healthier. People are not designed to eat meat. Animals that eat meat have very short digestive tracts so the meat doesn’t stay in them long and have the chance to rot. Ours on the other hand is over 20 feet long! Do you really want that animal carcass slowly moving through your intestines and decaying as it goes? Also, meat eaters have sharp teeth at the front of their mouth to tear the flesh, which we humans lack. If none of that convinces you, try it and see for yourself. I suspect you will feel lighter without the heavy weight of meat going through you. My daughter was accidentally served spaghetti with meat sauce once when she was about 4 and her body almost instantly rejected it and she threw it all up. This was before she or we realized the mistake, so it was purely her body talking!
Environment
Being a vegetarian is great for the environment. Raising animals for food is extremely resource-intensive. Eating lower on the food chain is a great way to do your part to save the environment. I have a great post from Earth Day that covers the terrible environmental impact.
For me it started out as a personal health thing, but over time all three of these reasons – personal health, animal cruelty, and the environment – have all become excellent reasons that justify why I have continued to be a vegetarian and why I don’t forsee changing for the rest of my life.