Dare You, Part 2

I realize it's not tomorrow. Upon my word, this is the first time I've sat down to my computer since my last entry.

My weekend consisted mostly of attending a women's retreat with about 50 of the women from my church. If you are a woman and you haven't recently attended a church retreat with other female-type people, you really must. You will hear shocking things about your friends at 3 in the morning and say things about yourself at 4 in the morning that you will later wish to disclaim, but all in all you will not be sorry you went.

I also must say that something very encouraging happened at said retreat. One of the women in our church who is a physician in a family practice gave a short workshop on women's health. She reminded us of routine tests we need or don't need to worry about, she gave us a few tips about some other issues related to women, but it was her final note that made my heart sing. She said that she has been doing some of her own studying and strongly suggests that we get two things out of our kitchens. Trans fat and High Fructose Corn Sugar. She also said it would benefit us to be more active. Here here to acknowledging the problem AND the answer.

This is the first time I have ever heard a doctor say anything like this. I know that there are some that do, but it was a relief to me to hear it in person.

That's going to cost me another heated debate, I'm sure, but I had to say it because I was so pleased.

Now on to the second part of the dare. There isn't one. I had a really good one, but judging by my lack of time, the measly 26 pages of my book that are already greatly in need of revision, and the extreme business of most of you, I just don't think it would work right now. So you're all off the hook.

With that I'll say goodnight.

Glittering Pebbles

"We heap around us things that we do not need as the crow makes piles of glittering pebbles." - Laura Ingalls Wilder

She was born in 1867. I was born in 1976. Nevertheless, I grew up alongside Laura. It is lost to time how many trips through her books I made, watching her determined pioneer spirit and learning her way of appreciating simplicity and the true treasures in life.

The quote above is found in her later writings, compiled in "Little House in the Ozarks." She goes on to say "I believe we would be happier to have a personal revolution in our individual lives and go back to simpler living and more direct thinking. It is the simple things of life that make living worthwhile, the sweet fundamental things such as love and duty, work and rest, and living close to nature. There are no hothouse blossoms that can compare in beauty and fragrance with my bouquet of wildflowers."

Love. Duty. Work. Rest. Nature. I inwardly long for a life such as the one she describes. We could live with so much less than we have and be happier. Some of the more cynical among you would remind me that living the pioneer life meant living without indoor plumbing, without central air, without computers and cell phones. It meant hard work. Very hard work. Hard work that had you up with the dawn and in bed with the sunset. Yes, it would be a very different life. We would have to be different people.

But I can imagine the satisfaction MacGyver would have building his own house from the pines he cut and hauled to the mill himself. The pleasure it would be for him to have his sons trail after him as he went about his work, teaching them and preparing them to be hard workers themselves. I can imagine what a wonderful feeling it would be to grow a garden full of fruits and vegetables with my girls, or expertly kneed and bake our own bread, or sew instead of surf the Internet, and read instead of clicking on the tv.

Life would be harder. But life would mean more.

I am glad that we have modern conveniences. I like facebook's way of reuniting me with every person I've ever known. I enjoy blogging. It's awfully handy to be able to google anything and get an immediate answer to a question. I am relieved to know that my family has access to antibiotics and emergency medical care if it is needed. Cars come in handy when you've got aways to go.

But all of this costs money. And time. And maybe just a little part of ourselves that was made for simpler things. What does this earth not provide for us that we had to create such a complicated system to sustain our lives?

Chances are I'll never get to live Laura's simple life. But maybe I can begin to take the steps in that direction, and someday, somehow, my children or my children's children could find their way back.

So the question becomes, what can we live without?

The answer, I suspect, is much.

"I Told You I Was Sick"

I joke that I'm going to put this on MacGyver's gravestone if I have the opportunity. He's always a little worried that he's got some rare disease, but the truth is he's about the healthiest person I've ever met. He's the same weight he was at our wedding TEN YEARS AGO, no matter how many helpings he takes or how many boxes of ice cream he goes through. (If I say this to someone in his presence he immediately protests "No I'm not - I'm TWO pounds more!" I'm sure you can see the seething scowl on my face. You may have one too.) Yes, other than an extremely unfriendly relationship with poison ivy, he's got it going for him in the health department. Not the actual health department. Never mind.

Our children have apparently inherited his genes, at least so far. The eldest bursts into hives if a mosquito looks at her with longing, and the third can't wear sunblock as her skin apparently believes that sunblock IS the sun, but other than these things and a few quirks and spurts of illness here and there they are healthy.

Then there's me. There's no denying that I go to the doctor the least (except when I'm pregnant.) But I've always had problems. When I was little it was asthma attacks and all manner of illnesses. When I was a teenager I developed a digestive disorder and also began to struggle with my weight for no obvious reason. In my 20's the migraines hit,(the writhing in pain, throwing up variety) and I still get them at 33 about twice a week.

So this post is hard to write. Because I have tried so long and so hard to be healthy, and it always seems just one step out of my reach. I went the medication route to the point where I was taking dozens of pills a day, and now I try to avoid medication at all costs because it never seems to help and I end up with more symptoms. I've lost small amounts of weight countless times, and over 30 pounds three times in my life. It never seems to stay off, and I could whine and complain and tell you that it's not my fault, I've done everything right, but I'm afraid of giving up. If it's this hard when I'm trying to master it, what would happen if I gave up?

So this year's goals in health aren't going to be too different from any other year. I'm going to exercise as much as possible (goal of 4 hours a week, though I'm not there yet after childbirth that morphed into surgery) and I'm going to eat an all-natural, specially balanced diet that Jillian Michaels recommends in her book "Mastering Your Metabolism." She also has a few simple rules, though I haven't got into the habit of all of them yet, being recently pregnant. She says to 1. Eat four times a day. 2. Stop when you're full. 3. Never skip breakfast. 4. Don't eat after 9 pm. (This is along with purging all the processed food out and eating a balance of protein, fat and carbs.)

I'm with her on pretty much everything except the not eating after 9. Jillian has never had four small children. Jillian doesn't understand that sometimes Moms don't even GET to eat until 9 pm. But I'm working on it. That's probably my biggest goal. I will get there!

My ultimate goals are to hone my diet and exercise to the place where I am symptom free digestively (my spell check insists this is not a word but I've decided that it is) and migraine-wise, and to lose 50 pounds.

A few wonderful things I've discovered so far in the past few weeks since changing our diet to all-natural:

1. Trader Joe's is the coolest place ever. Whole Foods is too, but Trader Joe's manages to keep the coolness at a more reasonable price.

2. You'd be surprised how healthy you can eat even if you just shop at Walmart. There are more organic/all natural options all the time.

3. Migraines improve with this diet change. At least mine have. In the past 4 or 5 weeks I have only had ONE full-fledged migraine. This is astounding to me.

4. Organic food really does taste better.

5. After a few days of whole and all natural foods your body stops craving the junk and starts detesting it. Seriously. Even more than that, your body starts to crave things like fruit and vegetables. There are other things I've noticed but if I listed them you wouldn't believe me. You'll just have to try it yourself and see.

So there you have it. I'm on notice. You'll ask me. "Miranda, are you exercising four hours a week? Are you staying true to that balance? Are you NOT EATING AFTER NINE?"

I'll say "Absolutely." I hope.