It Matters

The east coast just got clobbered by a massive storm.
My Grandma's beloved kitty, Lydia, died today.
We have a painfully important election next week.

It matters.

I'm feeling philosophical as a year has passed since Elvin disappeared, my baby boy is turning one, the city I lived in and still have many friends living in is under water, a president I adore is fighting for his political life and my family's right to see a doctor, and winter is closing in.  I have to ask myself what matters, and I have to ask my clients what matters to them.

Does weight loss matter?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  If it's a quality of life issue, do something about it.  Fight like hell to make a change because it matters to you.  Don't wait until New Year's Eve, and don't set goals that are so big they are destined to fail.  Do something small.

Take a walk.
Take care of your friends and neighbors.
Love your pets.
Vote.

It matters.

"Be Healthy" - From Your Friends at Groupon

I just got an email from Groupon entitled "Be Healthy".  The deals listed are as follows:

Botox

Laser Photofacials

Lipotropic Weight-loss Injections

Body Contouring Treatments

Microdermabrasion

Facials

Not an exercise or nutrition deal among them.  And WTF are "lipotropic weight-loss injections"?!  If this is what people think constitutes healthy living, we have bigger problems than I thought.  Happy Friday from Groupon!  Now go get your face scraped off.

A Birthday Without Cupcakes?!

Today is my birthday, and for the first time I can remember, the festivities aren't all wrapped up in food.  It's a strange feeling, almost annoying.

In birthdays past, I would have used the entire day as a giant excuse to gorge myself.  I have had a long-standing tradition of eating Long John Silvers for lunch on my birthday.  It was reminiscent of childhood memories of driving to Grandma's house in Virginia and stopping at LJS as a special treat.  I always ordered the two-piece fish and chips with a double order of hush puppies and drenched the whole thing in ketchup.  Then, of course, Ken would get me some cupcakes from Cupcake Collection to munch on for a couple of days, and we would go out for a fancy dinner with wine and some kind of decadent, molten chocolate dessert.  I could easily have eaten 6000 calories in one day, all in the name of "celebration".

I've been off of wheat now for ten months, and the few times I have indulged have led to nausea, bloating, and mild depression.  Of course, not eating wheat rules out fried fish, hushpuppies, and cupcakes, but the strange thing is that I woke up this morning and didn't want any of those things.  It kind of pissed me off because I would have happily broken my own rule for my birthday.  But I want to feel good today.  I don't want to feel sick and bloated.  It's a shift, and I'm not sure what to make of it.

I guess I'll just spend the day celebrating the 36 years I've been on the planet, the friends and family who make life entertaining and worth while, my amazing husband and baby boy, and the mini pit bull who likes to sleep on my feet.

I'd rather feel good than eat cupcakes, and that's some kind of sick, twisted logic.  I'll let you know when the aliens return me to my right mind.