I have not been on here much lately.  Last year was one of my toughest.  My husband and I were remodeling and had a dear friend in a financial pinch who needed financial help, which set us back terribly financially for a bit.  Every month was scary and my husband was so on edge, that I did all I could to protect him from the minutia of anything that wasn’t remodel or work related.  So,  I had been through a lot with my own family and I help my relationship with my in-law in huge regard and importance in my life.  I believed that there were any issues to resolve (after 27 years–had no real issues, so pretty good track record), but she got her panties in a twist about something rather small and misconstrued, didn’t want to work it out and ran away.  Ok, it really knocked me down for awhile, as it was truly such a horribly crushing way to treat someone you have known for a quarter of a century and who is related to you.

Have you ever been so knocked down that you just need to be alone?  Didn’t really feel very connected in the past year….too much stress.  Got a new part-time job teaching too!   Last week, my ex-boyfriend (from my youth) passed away from a bad heart.  It really knocked me for a loop.  I am now back here because he died from lack of self care all of these years.

So, let’s talk about self-care.  Do you do it?  It isn’t all about weight, but some of it leads to weight issues or loss.  My ex didn’t exercise, worked too much, smoked, got heavy, became diabetic, did very little self-care, ate crappy food.  He ended up with major blockage of arteries and didn’t survive long after the triple by-pass.  He was only 51!  He left behind a 12-year-old and wife.

How to Get Started on Self Care!

1.  Find a reason to start self-care.  This is the hardest part.  Do you have a spouse, child, ailing parent, good friends–who will suffer due to your death?  If someone relies on you for money, comfort, love, friendship, rearing–you owe it to them to do all you can to be healthy so you can live to a ripe old age and not be so disabled that you need THEM to help you.  How about doing it for yourself?  You will look and feel better, but also keep yourself from being so disabled that you lose your independence to get around.  Some people are so heavy already or ill that they think, what difference does it make? Well, it can!  Watch this!  (Four inspirational minutes!)  https://vimeo.com/41271653
2. Find a diet like Paleo, Mediterranean. Low-Carb–and do it.  My suggestions for how to do it is in the first month of this blog.  Go back into the history of Skinny-Rules.com.
3. Realize that you might be addicted to sugar/carbs and detox!   You might not realize that what causes your cravings and your addiction to sweets, chocolate, carbs is exactly the same was what drug addicts go through. Your brain has been rewarded with what sugar does to it so that you feel temporarily happy and good,  You need detox. It will be hard for the first three days as you detox and feel crappy.  Better to have a detox crappy feeling for three days (and then you will start to feel awesome) than to continually be overweight, unhealthy and leading yourself to early illness, disability or death.  Here is a great book for this process.  http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Sugar-Solution-10-Day-Detox-ebook/dp/B00CO7FIOU
4. Portion control.  Use smaller plates and you should be having 4 ounces or so of a protein (meat/eggs) and a small serving of vegetables and try to avoid starchy carb veggies–potatoes, peas, corn, etc.  Remember the saying, “Pigs get fed, “Hogs get slaughtered.”  Don’t be a hog.
5. Good nutritional supplements! You need to take a good multi-vitamin and mineral and probiotics to help balance out your gut flora to help stop the cravings.  Here is a good site to help explain how to end sugar cravings!   You will also feel better too.   http://paleoforwomen.com/how-probiotics-put-an-end-to-my-sugar-cravings/
6. Do some form of exercise.  Walk, run, take the stairs park further in parking lots, walk the dog, swim, Zumba, PIlates, Yoga.  MOVE.  I know that you think it is boring and work, but if you found something that you liked to do, you would do it more.  I have a friend who does 5K races so that she is motivated to get ready for them.  
7. Find time to relax and replenish.  Everyone needs a day to rest!   There several ways to practice this type of self-care.  It involves: emotional, physical, spiritual,  relational, and mental ways.

8.  AND JUST REMEMBER:   As you do self-care, you will find that a side effect is that you will lose weight and look and feel better too!  It is so empowering and you will be in a better place for others in your life.  Live past 51!

TIME FOR ME TO DO AN HOUR ON THE ELLIPTICAL and surf the net on my IPAD!