Intentional Health

     My word for 2019 is intentional.  As always with my word, I try to see how it can be applied to all areas of my life.  Right now, I have been very intentional about not only my health, but that of my family as well.  Jim and D are on board with my plans...they have actually been very supportive of what we are doing for our health.  It is much easier when we are working as team instead of fighting each other.

     Jim and I have both recently had colonoscopies to celebrate our fifth decade of life, and yes we are late, but better late than never.  We both received a clean bill of health.  I was worried.  I know that I was overdue for this painless procedure, but I kept putting it off.  Recently a good friend of our family was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer.  She is huge advocate for this screening and she is the reason that I felt compelled to make sure that we finally got it done.  Please hold our friend in your prayers during this season of her life.  And if you are 45 or older, go get a colonoscopy.  The prep is nasty, but there are worse things.

     D and I both have dentist appointments next month.  I need to get Jim there as well, but he needs to work sometime!  I need to get a physical scheduled for both D and myself.  Our insurance covers one per year so it's silly not to take advantage of the benefit.  My eye exam is recent, as is D's.  Jim has an appointment tomorrow.  Jim is having a procedure done tomorrow for trigger finger, out-patient and little recovery time.  Hopefully we are getting everything out of the way early in the year.

     We are strong believers in chiropractic care, but we are all overdue for adjustments.  Insurance doesn't cover care, so it has to fit in the family budget somewhere.   I have also found a wonderful massage therapist who helps with my aches and pains so much.  Again, not covered by insurance, so it is a luxury for me.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if insurance covered things that allowed us to be proactive?  A girl can dream....

     We are going to attempt to follow the Whole30 diet plan.  For thirty days, lots of veggies, fruit, meats, no added sugars, no dairy, grains, carbs....it doesn't sound fun, but I think that it will be a life changing thirty days for our family.  I have felt for a long time that Jim and D have some sensitivities to certain foods.  Seriously, you don't want to be around them after they have ice cream.  After thirty days of eliminating foods, they are gradually added back in to our diet.  We will need to listen to our bodies as we add foods back in.  If we are bloated or gassy after something we eat, that might be a food to limit.  We were going to start this month, but I wasn't mentally or physically prepared to do the prep.  Our new plan is March 3.  I will let you know how that goes.

     We are all three falling short of getting enough sleep.  I have grand intentions of early bedtime but I get lost in a book, a game, or a tv show and the next thing I know it's after 11.  I wore a Fitbit for a while to watch my sleep patterns.  The only apparent pattern is that I don't go to bed early enough.  Jim and D both have issues with sleep.  When did it become so hard to sleep?

     Intentional health...Jim and I want to be around to see our kids and grandkids grow.  We want D to be healthy and happy.  We all want to be the best version of ourselves, so we are taking steps now to be better and feel better each day.