Christmas Spirit

Since it's Christmas Eve, I feel compelled to talk about Christmas spirit. I hope during this holiday season everyone is able to find theirs.

This year I feel more holiday spirit than ever before. This sounds amazing since I live in Wilmington, Ohio the small town that has been featured again and again on the news recently. This is the town that DHL decimated. Even though I know that more than half of the households in Wilmington have at least one person without a job, the people here have hope. This brings me great joy. My father is out of work, my husband is currently laid-off, my brother and his wife have seen their income slashed in half while adding three babies to the mix but we are all still happy and healthy. We are all doing what we can to make ends meet. We are slashing our costs. We spent a lot less on Christmas and we are all going to spend the holiday together. This year could not be more joyful than that. We have these three baby girls to spend Christmas with this year. They are all healthy and strong. We have my seven year old daughter who is so incredibly excited about Christmas that she can barely stand it. I love this holiday!

I have focused so much less on buying material things this year and instead have handmade many of my gifts. I have put my love and joy into the gifts that I am giving this year. Instead of worrying about everyone having enough presents on Christmas and making sure I don't spend more on one person than another, I haven't worried about it at all. And I could care less if I get a single present. The best present for me this year is my family and the joy that we can share.

I know this post might be a little over the top cheesy. I can't help it. When you have seen nothing but depressing news about your hometown for over a year, you would be over the top cheesy too if you find reasons to celebrate. Even with our tight times, I know that I am truly blessed and I am better off than so many people around the country this year. If you are one of those suffering, you are in my family's thoughts and prayers. For the rest of us, please count your blessings and take time to relish them this holiday season.

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday and a joyous new year.

What I Believe...

I decided to compile a list of things I believe are essential to living a happier healthier life.

· Living with a positive mindset can take you anywhere.
· As I state in the “About Me” section of this blog, I believe wellness is a state of physical, mental, emotional, financial and spiritual well-being. I believe in taking a holistic approach to your health.
· Negativity is contagious and can suck you dry and can ruin your ambition.
· Positive energy is also contagious, but can fill you with joy.
· Giving back to your community gives you more than you can ever possibly give. I truly believe that my life is better when I am serving others.
· You must have faith in your own abilities and follow your passion.
· Exercise helps me think clearer and is an amazing mood lifter.
· Age is just a number. You are only as old as you allow yourself to feel. .
· No one can MAKE you feel a certain way. You can only feel a certain way about someone’s actions. You choose how to react.
· Everyone has the right to a bad day on occasion.
· Dave Ramsey’s book Total Money Makeover may have saved my marriage.
· That financial disagreements can tear a family apart.
· Communication is key to any relationship, but must be based on honesty.
· You can boost someone up without knocking them down.
· We must learn to not only forgive others, but learn to forgive ourselves.
· We all have to learn how to deal with stress (good and bad stress) in more effective ways.
· Pharmaceutical drugs and surgery are not always the answer.
· Living on less and having less stuff is better for the spirit.
· Natural and preventive treatments are underutilized. I can’t even find the words to stress how important these are to a better healthcare system and overall well-being, longevity and quality of years.

This list could have been twice as long, but the bottom line is that we have power over our behavior, actions, reactions, beliefs and feelings. We may not be able to control the actions of others, but our lives do not have to be defined by them. Live true to yourself and pay your good fortunes forward and you will live positively well.

Age is Just a Number

I just received a book (from Amazon) that I have been very excited about reading! It's the Dara Torres book Age is Just a Number. She has become such an inspiration for me especially since I am in my mid-thirties. I am thrilled to see that you don't have to lose that competitive edge after a certain age. I grew up watching men and women give up being active when they turned 30. I do not want that for myself or my child. I have had this mental block for so long that age IS a number. Dara talks about feeling old at different ages and I completely understood what she meant. I felt old when I met my husband at 25 and had a child at 29. I felt old when I finally got my bachelor's degree at 31. I felt old at 32 when I started graduate school. And every time I train for something like a race or the attempted figure competition two years ago, I felt old.

Even though I have sometimes put up a mental block about age, I have never had a problem hitting the gym 5-6 days a week and pounding out a few miles on the road or lifting weights like a teenager. Now, my joints often ache, I have injured both of my shoulders and my back will sometimes give out. Ha. I know...I really do sound old. The truth is I have just learned to work around these issues and have found different forms of exercise to take over for the old ones. Age is not an excuse for letting yourself down.

Whenever we begin doubting our own abilities, we begin to feel even older. You have to realize that although your body may have certain limitations, you cannot give up. When I was younger, I kept thinking that I would just have to stop being active at some point other than taking walks or swimming. Then I ran a trail run with an 84 year old man. I decided to keep pace with him and I am so glad that I did. He was agile both mentally and physically and I was not slowing down to keep pace with him -believe me. This was a run that I had put together and a not a race so we were able to keep a leisurely pace and talk. Otherwise, he would have left me in the dust. He told me that he had cancer when he was in his sixties and the doctor told him he had about six months to live. He was a smoker and completely inactive at the time. He quite smoking immediately, became a vegan and a runner - in his sixties - WITH CANCER! Obviously he did not die after six months or even after six years. Here he was at 84 running with me. He told me of how he had run over 20 marathons and he planned to continue running in them. I was mesmerized by his story and I realized that age really is just a number. The age limitation is all in your head. I am not saying that you are going to live forever - you are not. That's why it is even more important that we pursue our goals no matter our age. You may not be able to do everything physically that you long to do if you have certain injuries or health issues so find another goal. Don't stop dreaming about all the wonderful and powerful things your body can do.

The next time you think you might want to try something new and then stop yourself because you think you might be too old - stop it! Think again. Think of the young 84 year old man I ran with or think of Dara Torres and Brett Favre who by conventional standards should have retired many years ago from their sports, but still believe in their abilities and push on. I often think about my many friends who are over the age of 50 who have all picked up running and other sports later in life. My other co-worker friend in her late forties went on an eight day excursion on the Appalachian trail with other women where they carried 50 pound backpacks and roughed it. I am sure it was tough, but they did it. None of these people have let age define them. Don't you let it define you either. Age is JUST a number.

Breakfast of Champions

So, I have been eating a lot better lately. I haven't been doing this because I really cared if I lost weight or not. I just started eating differently because my stomach was not allowing me to take in certain things without rebelling. I started paying more attention to the cues my body would send and I have been not only feeling better, but my pants are fitting better too. It's great! I am not hungry because I haven't been trying not to eat. I eat three small meals and two or three snacks a day and it is working tremendously well.

If you are wondering what is in my egg mixture, it's carrots and chicken. I need a little more protein in the a.m. to keep me satiated. This really works for me. I am not saying this will work perfectly for everyone. It works for me. The grain is quinoa. I am finding that my beloved oatmeal may not be the best grain for me to ingest in the morning. I am still playing around with it.

This is a protein packed breakfast and it keeps me fueled until my next meal. I always have another carbohyrdrate rich meal before my workouts at lunch.

It really helps to pay attention to what your body is telling you. If your stomach doesn't respond well to certain foods, try eliminating them. Don't stop eating foods for dieting purposes. In my opinion, it only makes me want them more. If I slowly eliminate something because it makes me feel bad, it's easier to get rid of it for good. Listen to your body. It is probably telling you what it wants right now. Stop ignoring the cues.