Heath Activist Writers Month

I posted about this a month ago -- in talking about what to give up for Lent, I chose, instead, to delay Lent for a month and instead take on a challenge -- this was inspired by receiving an invitation to participate in  WeGo Health's Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge.

This is it!  No foolin' -- April 1st is here, and thus begins a month of writing about healthy topics.  This couldn't come at a better time for me -- first of all, it is spring, the season of growth and rebirth.  Second of all, I have -- to be blunt -- SUCKED at healthy living lately.  Sure, the basic principles are still intact, but I've been skating by, coasting by, just barely managing my stress level, and making plenty of mediocre (and less than mediocre) choices. 

Friday and Saturday I managed to make some GOOD choices, in an effort to get things back on track -- namely, on Friday night, I made a giant salad for dinner and went to bed early, after sticking to a rockin' Friday night of ice water and TV.  Saturday I was up pretty early, and got a TON done... ate a healthy breakfast, worked out, ran errands, made another healthy salad for lunch, made some from-scratch soup, and then... after a very frustrating car-almost-buying experience, didn't eat dinner, which ended up being a epic #FAIL when coupled with a few glasses of white wine. Today = tired. And hungry.

Tomorrow when I go to work it is to a new job and a new building (same company, but a new role).  Once again, it is a symbolic opportunity for rebirth -- starting over, starting again, etc.   

I aim to make my health as big of a priority as it once was.

So all of that is my round about way of introducing myself to those who are new here, my goals to those who are not, and my intentions to myself.

Welcome -- and away WeGo.

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Today's topic is:

Health Time Capsule. Pretend you’re making a time capsule of you & your health focus that won’t be opened until 2112. What’s in it? What would people think of it when they found it?

Well, the health of Americans is not a pretty sight right now -- obesity is at an all time high.  Cancer is out of control.  I'm only 34 years old, and already I have lost a dear friend to cancer, had another one battle thyroid cancer, and a third is battling breast cancer RIGHT NOW.  Did I mention that these people are all just from my close-knit group of high school friends?  I would fill it with statistics -- about obesity rates, heart disease, cancer, etc... articles about how bad things have gotten.  And then I'd fill it with samples of all the processed food crap that we eat -- bread, crackers, chips, cookies, pre-fab meals, etc... in hopes that 1) these people won't have a clue what those things are because eating habits have changed so drastically, and also that the lack of decomposition will prove how unnatural and healthy things are.  I'd try to get my hands on some heirloom seeds - non-GMO seeds for things like tomatoes, corn, soybeans, etc -- so that the future generations could, if necessary, regenerate crops of non-GMO foods.  I'd include DVDs ("What's a DVD?", they'll say), of movies like Food, Inc and Fast Food Nation, eye opening documentaries about the state of nutrition today... and I hope that whoever watches them is able to say "Wow, we've really come a long way."

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 For myself, thinking about a time capsule is a little different -- I'd include my marathon medal from 2007; a printed out copy of the articles I wrote for Health Magazine.  I'd include my "before" pictures, from before the 72 pound weight loss, and the "after" pictures -- of me, happier, healthier, and lighter, both emotionally and physically.  And then I'd have to include some present day pictures, which unfortunately show me about 40 lbs heavier than when I crossed the finish line, but also show me radiantly happy, in a beautiful wedding dress, kissing my best friend, the love of my life.

Not lighter physically, yet somehow practically weightless.

Off and running,
~Jessica


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