Healthy Living Journal – Day 1

It was around 100 degrees out today when I went to the post office thinking I'd get no mail. But joy of joys, I had a package waiting for me!

I live in the absolute boonies, in the center of a huge forest in Northern California, in a very small town forty miles from the rest of civilization in summer, or seventy-five miles in winter when the pass to Oregon is closed. Because there are no major chain stores of any kind here, we do a lot of shopping online. When a package arrives it is something to get excited about.

I opened the little box and was thrilled to find the vitamins I'd ordered. Now, before you hear about them, you must realize I'm 100% vegetarian, so I'm very picky about what goes into any vitamin I consume. These vitamins are advertised to be vegetarian, and that's important to me. They cost more than what many people buy at Walmart, but I believe the price is fair. I bought a brand called Alive! Whole Food Energizer... and I'm so excited about being able to experience the energy I'll get by using them.

One cool thing about Alive! Whole Food Energizer vitamins (and minerals) is that the tablets disintegrate five times faster than other leading brands of vitamins. I like knowing that the healthy ingredients will soon be absorbed into my blood stream. Just yesterday I was feeling run down and exhausted, wondering if the new vities would satisfy my needs; and this evening after taking three of the Alives I'm feeling much happier and more energetic.

In case you haven't figured it out yet - I'll tell you - you've stumbled upon the new health journal of a somewhat fanatical health nut. Like I said, I'm vegetarian, revel in taking super-vitamins, and there's more.

For example, I'm totally into drinking the best water possible. I absolutely must have spring water at my side every hour of every day. Fortunately I've situated myself in a place where I can get spring water at absolutely no cost by driving only two miles out of town and collecting it from a pipe running out of a nearby hillside. I then run that water through a water purification system at home to make sure I don't come down with anything bad like giardia.

Occasionally we make the 125-mile trip out of our isolated river valley to visit Mt. Shasta. There's a pipe near the top that delivers the best water available on the planet (my significant other, Bob, declares this to be true). There's also a natural spring at the bottom in the Mt. Shasta City Park that hundreds of people get their drinking water from every week. I've consumed that water many times without purifying it and without getting sick. I believe the water is naturally purified by its descent through miles of lava tubes.

Despite my inclination towards health, I have a long way to go, and I welcome the chance to record my thoughts, and hopefully, my progress, in this Healthy Living Journal series inspired by Boca's Balanced Living group here at Gather.

Here's what needs to improve in my life:

1. Though I'm vegetarian, I'm still consuming too much fat, mostly in dairy products. I need to reduce the amount of cheese I eat. That's so hard, because I work at a pizza restaurant! Sorry to say I get hungry when I'm there and then it is so easy to grab a slice of vegetarian pizza or one of our incredibly delicious (and fattening) breadsticks.

2. I'm overweight due to unwise eating habits and hypothyroid disorder. My current goal is to lose 20 pounds by December. I've already lost 10 pounds this year but right now I'm afraid to step on the scale because I might have gained some back.

3. I want to eat more veggies and less carbs. What's stopping me? I need to change that!

4. Exercise, of course. I haven't been walking much lately. It isn't that much of a problem to walk home from work, even in the heat. It is a 1/2 hour walk each way... so why don't I do it? I need to break the car addiction! I also have an exercise bike at home that I use only once or twice weekly. I need to up that to once or twice daily.

So there you have it... my health thoughts and goals as of August 12, 2008. I expect that writing about my health challenges will encourage me to do something about them.

By the way - I have to smile because this Healthy Living Journal project is sponsored by Boca. Right now I have a bag of Boca burgers in my freezer. I'm craving one now. This is how I get the American hamburger experience without having to eat meat! I buy them in quantity when I go out of town and then discard the boxes, putting them in gallon-sized baggies. They fit better in my freezer that way. I wonder if anyone else taking on this challenge is already into vegetarian burgers - or if any of you will at least try them out.