Top Priority: My Personal Health and Wellness

This is it. 

Have you ever felt off track, maybe not a full-blown detour, but like you keep struggling to get back in your groove? I have felt that way for months now, and as of today I am facing it head on, because it's driving me crazy.

The thing is, I can help other people all day long with multiple facets of wellness. But I always seem to push my own to the back burner. This means I tend to end up not meeting my own goals, even though I may be working daily to help other people meet theirs. Don't get me wrong - it's very rewarding. But if I don't take care of myself, I can't keep helping other people. This is how I know I'm off-track. It's a hard lesson to learn. I think we all do it to a degree. We think it's selfish to set aside time for ourselves to take care of even the most basic needs, let alone work toward a major milestone. Parents are particularly bad about this. But it's time we realize that we can't really be effective, and we certainly can't be the example we need to be for the next generation, if we don't take care of the bodies and spirits that we've been given. I want to be around for the people in my life that I love. But it's not enough to me to just exist or survive, I need to really live. And you do too. So I hope that whatever just hit me in the head this weekend pushes you to think about it too.

So from this point on, you're going to hear a lot more about my antics. My ups and downs, my adventures, the goals I hit and the ones I miss. When I do well and when I suck. There will be some people in my life that hear me say the word no every now and then (gasp!). I want to hear about you too. Is anyone else feeling the same way? If you are, tell me about it, and let's tackle this together.

I have some very specific goals that I want to meet this year. Surprisingly, they have precious little to do with scale weight and just marking things off a to-do list. I'm focusing on healthy habits, my performance, how I feel, what kind of impact I'm making on the world, things like that. As I work through these healthy habits, I'll share them here. I'd love for you to share your thoughts with me too. Tell me when you think I'm crazy and when you feel the same way. Let me know what you are doing to make your life DIFFERENT. Let's live and not just exist!!!!

Is Agave a Good Choice?

So I seriously don’t like what I’ve been hearing lately concerning agave. Some of you may be like me, looking for the most righteous sweetener possible. I don’t sweeten a lot of food. I’d just like to have a sweetener I can use in oatmeal or in my coffee without feeling bummed about it or worrying that I am going to grow a third eyeball in the middle of my forehead or something. Over the last several years I graduated from plain white sugar to raw sugar or sucanat, and from Equal and Sweet-n-Low to Splenda. Then I went totally Splenda. Then I discovered stevia and agave and dropped the Splenda. One problem for me is that I like stevia in hot tea, but not in coffee, so agave seemed to do the trick. It has a hint of a molasses flavor and is sweeter so I didn’t use as much. Agave is lower on the glycemic index so it doesn’t spike blood sugar like honey would, it’s plant based, and you can get it organic. What’s not to love? Now I’m hearing that agave is too processed and may even be so processed in some cases that you might as well be using high fructose corn syrup! Good grief! How can we take plants and mess them up that much?

My most recent purchase of agave was organic, raw agave that is low-heat processed. Apparently in agave this is the best we can do, but some experts I know are recommending we not use it. Word now is that stevia (also plant based) or small amounts of raw, local honey are the best in cases when you MUST have sweetener. There are some other natural sweeteners that aren’t readily available. Better yet to not use sweetener at all.

These are the two I’m using now – stevia and raw, local honey. But now I’ve found out that the pollination process with the honey involves cotton and soybean plants. I’m not a betting woman, (ok, maybe a few rolls of quarters in a slot machine once in a while), but if I was, I’d bet these could be genetically modified crops. Drats!!!

Well, my mom always said if you didn’t drink it black you weren’t a real coffee drinker anyway…

What sweeteners do you use, and how do you use them? 

Levaquin Side Effects

Do you read the inserts and talk to the pharmacist about your prescriptions? If not, I would highly advise it. Not all pharmacists take time to review instructions with you, so you may have to start the conversation. Thankfully I have found some good ones at our local Target stores. No, this isn't a plug for Target, although you know it's one of my fav stores anyway!

I recently had to be put on Levaquin, a strong antibiotic. Keep in mind that I really don't like taking meds unless it's absolutely necessary, and this was. Because of some past drug allergies my antibiotic choices are reduced. I had remembered having a friend who had an Achilles tendon rupture while taking this drug.

The pharmacist went over all the instructions with me, and was pretty emphatic about my activity level on this drug. Maybe I look like more of a crazy exerciser than I thought. I was cautioned about the incidence of tendon rupture and we discussed not running or stretching and certainly no yoga while taking the drug. I really appreciated this information since I had just started a pretty strenuous workout program.

Turns out there is what they call a black box warning on this drug, required by the FDA. There is risk for tendon rupture in all ages, but it's higher in those over 60, or those who are compromised. So I've been smart with my activity this week.

The point is that your pharmacist is an extremely valuable resource. From drug instructions to interactions, side effects, etc, they can help you. Too many times we rely on our physicians or advanced practitioners to tell us everything. Find a great pharmacy and use them! If you're put on Levaquin, just be aware of this potential risk.

Have you found something helpful when it comes to your health care? If so, share it with me! 

Ben Stiller on the Jimmy Kimmel Show

Really funny clip of Ben Stiller talking to Jimmy Kimmel about P90X - check it out!