Wellness Wednesday

Wellness Wednesday — 5 Comments
5
May 10

“How many drinks do you have in a week?” Do I have to answer that one?

red wine

Does your pen ever hesitate on the question “How many drinks do you have in a week?” on those forms in the doctor’s office?

Do you pull out a calculator because you were never strong at math?

 I try keep posts up, positive and funny because that is how I like to look at life.

But I am not naive enough to think that life is always up, positive and funny. Reading something yesterday, the feeling that I should share it with you has not left me.  So I shall.

I follow a woman @HeatheroftheEO on Twitter. She’s a talented writer, blogger, wife, mother living in Minnesota.

Her post yesterday was about coming to grips with drinking too much. Way too much.

I drink. I hope that doesn’t offend some of you. I love having a glass of wine with my husband on the porch in the evening.

While I sipped some wine the other evening, my nine year old daughter said to me, “Mama, Dr. Pamela doesn’t drink alcohol.”

“She would if she was around you long enough.”

Telling that to Pamela, she laughed saying that she enjoys an occasional beer.

But I have drank too much at times. Times when I wasn’t just having a glass of wine for enjoyment, but to quell deep anxiety and how-can-I-get-through-this kind of drinks. The good news is alcohol is a depressant and those periods ended up making me depressed and heck, that didn’t help anything. So I stopped. But if you drink, you know the times you drink for the wrong reasons.

Here is the link to Heather’s guest interview on “Marketing Mama Blog” ,

http://www.extraordinary-ordinary.com/2010/05/series-on-motherhood-and-drinking-in.html

In her words, “The thing is, I wanted to do right by my children and that became a twisted form of perfectionism that made me crazy because it’s so obviously impossible. I wanted utopia for these amazing little creatures that are such a gift to me. I wanted to protect and keep them always from hurt. I wanted that like I wanted wine, like a drug. Knowing that I couldn’t ever protect them, that I shouldn’t always protect them from everything hurt and I drank it away.”  Heather.

It’s easy to abuse alcohol. Hey, it’s legal, easy to buy and inexpensive. You can be a most resposible alcoholic. A dear friend I’ve known my entire adult life has more taxis take him home each evening than rides in his own car.

Life is tough sometimes. But quashing pain with unbriddled bouts with the bottle, food, sex or HGTV on a continous loop never made anyone or anything better. Though with HGTV my bathroom got a fresh coat of paint and new shower curtain.

Many of you tell me that you stop by the blog on occasion. And I care about you, darn it. I care that we all live the best life. The life we were created to live. Sometimes that means facing things — no escaping.

It’s scary, but it’s so much better that way.

Trust me and God bless your Wednesday.

God Found in the Everyday / The Music of Life / Thought for the Day / Wellness Wednesday — No Comments
14
Apr 10

My new favorite song…by Sanctus Real.

This is my favorite new song.

That song you hear on the radio twice in one day.  Download to your iPod and listen to over and over — while you make dinner (while everyone else has fun) and clean up after dinner (while everyone else has fun.)

The message is the central teaching of the New Testement — but honestly, I like the music first.

The melody and arrangement draw me first to any music from pop to classic.

I’m a simple girl that way.

And I’m forgiven.

We Can Do it Wednesday / Wellness Wednesday — No Comments
30
Sep 09

Wellness Wednesday. It’s all about the shoes..

running shoes (big)

What is the most important facet of a healthy, sound, long-lasting life as a runner/walker? Without a doubt, it’s the shoes. That’s what I love about running. To run for exercise, you don’t need a partner, fancy clothes, any kind of equipment;  just open the door and out go for immediate stress relief and heart-pumping health.

The only thing that can really mess things up is running day after day in the wrong shoes.

Take it from me. I  almost crippled myself running in the wrong shoes and other than goofy missteps that resulted in  twisted ankles, every injury I ever had running wise can be traced back to my shoes. Most often, these injuries were a result of wearing a pair of shoes for too long. Shoes wear out long before you can see the wear in the sole. The cushioning in the midsole breaks down – and that can create lots of problems. Especially the older you get — when cushioning is key.

When I started training for my first marathon, I asked Madison running guru Michael Naples for advice. He asked, “How many of running shoes do you have?”

About a billion.

All stuck in the closet somewhere. But those are old shoes. Even I knew enough at that point that I needed to change my shoes often. But I only had one pair I ran in every day.

BAD.

Michael advised getting at least two pair, better three, that you feel comfortable running. Different brands too. (Don’t just have three pairs of the same Asics). He explained when you run your foot strikes in its own way, over and over in the same position. Your foot will strike differently in different shoes. That’s good. I followed his advice and was able to train without any serious injury and complete my race.

Keep track of your mileage, 300 to 500 miles and they’re toast. Once again, long before they look worn. This means for a 25 mile per week runner three to four months.

And in my stupidity file, it took me 30 years of running before I went to a specialty store to have my running gait evaluated. Overpronate (roll to the inside of the foot), Supinate (roll to outside) or just normal – all makes a HUGE difference as to what shoe you should be wearing to keep injury free. After my visit to Phidippides last  fall (http://www.phidippides.com/blog/), Sam pulled out dozens of shoes and watched me run back and forth. I found three pairs I loved! And rotated them through my successful marathon venture. I was so ecstatic after my shopping experience – I gave Sam a hug saying I feel like I have been healed. (Or heeled.)

Best part was that I told Sam I was on a budget and he got me into three pairs of awesome shoes for less than I had been buying two pairs of the wrong type of shoes online. This was me – the 30 year runner.  Finally getting smart.

Good shoes are the best investment – next to time on the pavement – that you can make in long-lasting, healthy running. And nothing, I mean nothing feels like a run in new shoes. Especially, shoes for your running gait. I just get all warm and fuzzy thinking about it. If you’re a runner, you know exactly what I mean.  I hope.

Have a great Wednesday.