About January

Prolly should have written this post at the beginning of the month, but typical of My World And How It Is: Things happen when they do. Not necessarily when they spoze-da. C’est la vie, cherchez la fromage and KMB ok? :pppppp

About January

Gemstone: Garnet

Financial Wellness Month

International Creativity Month

Flower: Carnation

This Particular January

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Bday celebrated on the 16th

Chinese New Year (Year of the Dragon) celebrated on the 23rd

Australia Day celebrated on the 26th

Lunar Calendar: 1st quarter on the 1st, full moon on the 9th, last quarter on the 16th, new moon on the 23rd, first quarter on the 31st.

“The practice of peace and reconciliation is one of the vital of and artistic of human actions.”
–Thich Nhat Hanh

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January is when people start out those new year’s resolutions and whatnot. And its new year for pretty much everydamnbody too. January has a lot of responsibilities. Poor lil ole month.

It takes about three weeks for something you do to become a habit. So, if you are like me, embarking on an exercise regimen – riiiight about now you’ve either kicked it to the curb, or are just now getting into the swing of things. One reason why I don’t “do” new year’s resolutions (anymore), is that you always tend to break them or fall of the wagon or whatever. Then you start to feel bad about it all.

Well if you’ve not gotten that “omg brand new start of my life!” off the ground as you had planned: DON’T FEEL BAD!! Just smile, pat yourself on the back for even having the hutzpah to even DO such a wonderful thing for yourself: And pick up where you left off and keep on going. Rinse and repeat as needed, and you’ll find yourself still going strong months and months from now.

Changing your life is HARD TO DO. Its a process, its a journey to get rid of bad habits and acquire new good ones. Its mind altering. Lifestyle changing. Its not easy and it takes time. So spend the time it takes, and don’t give up on yourself.

For those women working on health and excerise like I am: Toss that scale out the window! I go by body measurements if anything at all. I can tell where my body is at by how my clothes fit – or don’t fit, as the case may be. Why the scale is notagoodidea: First of all muscle weighs MUCH MORE than fat and as you start to burn fat and gain muscle, your weight may actually stay the same or even go up. Plus those height-to-weight charts and whatsnot are always based on who knows what and never factor in muscle, ethnicity and genetics etc.

When I was the most physically fit of my life, according to how things looked on paper, I was “overweight” for my height-to weight  – always have been for that matter. But to look at me I was a lean mean swimmin and dancin machine. So its better to get back to basics and use your own eyes, and a tape measure if you wanna.

You can wrap that tape measure around whatever areas you’re working on and re-measure yourself couple months from now. Some people do this week to week weighing and measuring crap. Seriously? Like I said, these things take time. Enjoy the journey, enjoy the feeling as those huge workout sweat suitss you bought start to feel baggy on ya. Enjoy the feeling of having more energy every day. Give yourself little Gifts of Encouragement and Kudos as you move along your goal path. Reward Yourself.

Final advice for those working on health issues.

NO NO NO Die-ts!!!

Have a new Food Plan instead. And you must always always combine healthy eating with excercise. There really is no point in doing either one, without the other. Some tips for the Food Plan:

Stay away from processed foods. This is Very_Hard_To_Do in this day and age but for the most part if you stay away from fast food joints that’s a good start. Note: About 3/4ths of your average supermarket fare is processed food. Consider shopping at health food stores.

Cut down on the sugar. Do NOT go for the fake sugar as a “healthy” substitute!! It contains an awful chemical (among many others!) asparathame – that wreaks HAVOC on the human body. DO NOT EAT/DRINK things labled: “Diet” or “Sugar Free”. Chances are they contain the fake sugar as a sweetener. Ick. Just don’t DO IT. (sweeten things on your own with honey if you must)

Stay away from soda. DON’T DRINK IT!. If you’re a soda addict like so many Americans – I know I was (still am!) addicted to coca-cola – this one will be very very hard for you. But It is possible to kick and a MUST if you plan on living a long healthy life. DO NOT EVER DRINK DIET SODA!! See the paragraph above. All soda is, is sugar and carbonated water, artificial flavorings and sugar. There is no such thing as a “diet soda”. They just switch the sugar out with the afore-mentioned chemical. It is in fact WORSE for you than regular soda. Actual diet soda is: WATER. So drink LOTS AND LOTS of Water :)

I don’t drink soda anymore. I might have a 20 oz bottle every month or so, if the craving gets too intense. But a bottle of coke every 30 days or every 60 days sure beats me swilling down the stuff at the rate of 4-6 liters a week the way it used to be for me. Your heart, liver, kidneys and lymphatic system will thank you! Some people have been known to drop 1-3 clothing sizes on just quitting soda alone! So your outside will start to reflect your healthier inside – don’t forget to combine all this with excerise!

Stay away from salt. Become a Kick Ass Ninja Label Reader! Sodium and Potassium are also in that group of salts to stay away from, or at least ingest the least amount possible. Remember most labels say “serving size”. Find out how many servings are actually in the total package and multiply accordingly.

Eat as many fruits and vegetables as you can. For me, thats really hard to do. Its something I’m working on. Sometimes your local supermarket doesn’t carry what you want, or the price is crazy high. (Not kidding! Should see what ppl tryin ta charge for a bunch of carrots – its wierd sometimes) Shop around, see if there is a local Farmer’s Market where you can buy direct – and support your local food growers. Find out what Organic really means and learn the differences in how food crops are grown and which is better for you and why. You may have less obstacles than I do in terms of being able to get access to fresh fruits and veggies: so take advantage of that! Lucky you :)

Stay away from trans fat. There are lots of fats that are “good” for you. For example the protein fats found in nuts. Trans fat is one of those Bad Fats. Use your label reading Ninja Skillz to see if what you are buying has any, a little or a lot of trans fat. Keeping up on your water drinking also keeps your system hydrated and flowing so what fats you DO ingest work FOR you and the baddies go to the places where they get burned off by all that exercise ya doin.

Recap: New Food Plan + Exercise = You Healthy and Happy in 2012 just like your resolution said!

Happy New Year :)