For Better or Worse

This morning I've made myself a smoothie.

 I always eat well. 

But often I don't eat well on top of that, if you know what I mean. 

I eat a wide range of healthy foods - and enough! 

But then I eat some not as necessary and not as supportive of my health and wellbeing foods on top of that. 

Lately I've been experiencing the impact of that with clothes getting tighter and feeling...hmmm...a little bloated I guess. Also I have noticed that my heart is beating way hard and fast after I eat grain foods (mostly wheat-based). I've also noticed that I'm getting some itchy and twitchy patches of skin, and my skin generally is not feeling as good as I want it to (and know it can!). And I want to sleep way too much. Time for me to sit up and take notice!

I've yet to meet a food I didn't like (excepting for once - raw sea urchins - I think I can be forgiven for that) and I am definitely addicted to high carb and sugar-laden tucker so I do need to be careful. And I've not been as careful lately. I hate that it shows up so loudly in my life but at the same time am grateful that my body (and mental health, mood, etc) wave their flags to let me know it's time to rein things in and rediscover the sense of freedom that comes with truly feeling great.

And so I made a smoothie this morning with a great big handful of the beautiful dandelion leaves that are growing right by my doorstep. Also on my doorstep this morning was a gorgeous gift of garden fresh zucchinis, beans and half a dozen fresh-laid eggs. This time of year is the perfect time to reset. Here in the southern hemisphere, the weather is summery and our gardens are beginning to produce lavish amounts of greens and other goodies. Roadside stalls abound in berries and cherries. The time is ripe for indulgence in all that produces great health! 

The weather is great enough to entice us outside for a stroll around the garden or a drive to somewhere new to explore; wildflowers are blooming and everything, everywhere is beautiful. The sun is mighty powerful here in southern Tasmania and we do need to be sun-safe and sun-smart. I went for a couple of hours walk last weekend on a bright day, and even though I wore a hat, I found the heat reflecting up from the ground started to make me feel a bit less than brilliant. Stay in the shade, cover up and stay hydrated...use sun-screen as appropriate. 

Anyway, back to the smoothie. I'm telling you this because I know I need to put my health and habits that support health front and centre or I drift off-course and find those flags flapping for attention. Often by then (or at least by the time they are serious enough to make me pay attention), I have a bit of work to do to get back on track. So here I am doing it now. How many of you have lost focus on your well being after a relaxed festive season that seems to just keep on going? I'm still teased by a massive Christmas pudding in the fridge. Luckily it belongs to someone else in the house - if it was mine I would probably have noshed the whole lot by now in some emotion-induced comfort eating. Because there are challenges in life. And sometimes eating something is easier than facing those challenges and getting on with life. I digress, yet again.

The smoothie was a mix of frozen blueberries, a few chunks of frozen mango, some rolled oats, a few sunflower seeds and pepitas and some coconut milk. Oh, and the generous dose of dandelion leaves. Last time I donated blood they told me my iron count was down from usual. That's a flag too I reckon. Dandelion leaves contain high levels of iron and are a good source of calcium, Vitamins A, B6, E and K, along with thiamine, anti-oxidants and beta- and alpha-carotene, according to The Weed Forager's Handbook; A guide to edible and medicinal weeds in Australia by Adam Grubb and Annie Raser-Rowland. 

A weed forager's guide is a handy thing to have if you want to make the most of free food in your own garden! It contains wisdom many of us have never known or have forgotten. I know a friend who regularly uses Amaranth in her food prep, which along with dandelion is packed with great nutrition. Now I've not been making the most of this by any means, but I am paying attention right now because it's important. Without my health in order, the rest of my life pales into a shadow of what it could and would be. I want that better life. Now. But it's not quite that instant is it? It takes a bit of dedication to get there. 

While there is life, there is hope! And I am full of hope and know that if I am going to take the message into schools and teach kids about the impact of foods, natural and processed, on our bodies, then I need to be walking the talk and feeling strong, alive and vibrant. Who wouldn't want that. Well, apparently a bunch of us that are numbed out and living with a less than optimum or even reasonable level of health. So much of it is in our own hands. We rely on going along to doctors with a range of symptoms that very often would be minimised or reversed with a good, consistent approach to eating well and getting enough sunshine and enjoyable exercise like walking. Connection to others impacts significantly on our health and wellbeing too, of course. 

If your social get togethers are all about food (think coffee and cake at the cafe), consider changing that to a meeting at the park for a walk and talk. You'll feel better and be making a great choice for your health. Being well, really well, comes about not with a great, big driven effort over a short period of time, but by consistent small choices made for the better each day. Water, not the milkshake. Celery, not the crackers. Fruit, not the cake. The old trick, parking a little further from your destination and walking a little further than might be necessary. Small changes, small choices add up over time to feeling better. 

Better - not perfect. That is the way I live now. My motto if you like. I used to think that things weren't worth doing unless I did them perfectly. So I was a very harsh critic of myself. I'm older and wiser now and don't criticise myself if I don't do something perfectly. I know now that it's rarely possible and that in life there are many different ways to be 'right'. And true. And moving in the 'right' direction. There is no perfect way but there are many opportunities every day to make choices that move us towards better, be that in our physical health or our mental health. Food, exercise, connection to self and others impact both our mental and physical health every day. So my intention for the next while is to make choices that move me towards better physical and mental health. Until it becomes habit again, and it will if I am paying enough attention. 

For the record:

• Blueberries - fibre, a good range of B vitamins and Vit C
• Oats - B vitamins, Vit E, folate and fibre
• Sunflower seeds - Vits B1 and E and fibre
• Pepitas - Zinc, Vit E, iron and fibre
• Dandelion Greens - iron, calcium, Vits A, B6, E and K, thiamine, anti-oxidants, beta- and alpha-carotene
• Coconut milk - Fats and carbs (careful not to over-indulge!)

If you're not feeling great, there are always things you can do to start moving towards better. One choice is the first step. What will you do today to help move yourself away from the inevitable ill health that will follow if you don't move yourself towards wellness? 

It can be helpful to consider that we live on a timeline that is moving us inevitably towards death and to think about how you want to get there. I want to live my days, which seem to be disappearing at an increasingly fast rate, with enthusiasm and vigour, not hunkered down on the couch watching Netflix and eating 'junk food' and calling that a life. 

Cheers for now!

Here's to better health!

Here's to choices that lead to better health!

Here's to caring enough to make those choices!

Here's to being human and life being a bumpy road!

Here's to you and thanks for reading me!

Kerry