Friday, December 25, 2015

the resolution to NOT make

My autumn was absolutely out-of-control-busy.  We had a houseful of guests in August, spent two or three weeks in Texas in both September and November, took another cruise in the Caribbean earlier this month (with our son and his wife, staying an extra few days in Panama before flying back), and are now still in Texas once again.  Whenever being gone-from-home a long time, we have to take our elderly dog and the canary to stay with our daughter;  having returned right before our granddaughter's birthday, we naturally stayed for that, and for Christmas....

When we got back "stateside," my husband came down with a cold -- probably caught on the plane.  I did everything i know to avoid catching it too, knowing that adequate sleep and good nutrition are far more central to staying healthy than anything else.  Over the last week, i've had at least two nine-hour nights!  So far so good ... until yesterday....

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, we covered a lot of ground.  The preceeding week we were crazy-busy, repainting the bedrooms of both the grandchildren while they were staying with their other grandmother, and my fitbit racked up unprecedentedly-high mileage, if you look at consecutive days of movement.  Yesterday, though, i topped 10,000 steps by a generous amount with all the last-minute arrangements, and i have two things to say:  the kids loved their bedroom-makeovers, and ... OUCH.

Our society loves to glorify activity.  The ultimate insult is calling people lazy, unmotivated couch-potatoes, whereas "go-getters" are praised, no matter how stupid or assholish.  It's almost a badge of honor to have a heart-attack as a result of running marathons or being a "type A."

That shit will kill you.  Not just in extreme doses, either.  If you've never read the book "When the Body Says No," you might find it as interesting as i did.

After weeks of not being able to sit still enough when i needed it, of driving myself to do a lot in uncongenial climates, of constantly being alert in foreign places and in the presence of communication issues, of being "on" WAY too much, i finally crashed.

It's only a cold, but brother do i feel like death-warmed-over.  All i want to do is lie with my feet up and drink hot beverages to lave my rough throat, not even watch the movies we traditionally enjoy at this time of year.  My energy level is a 2, and i'm profoundly grateful to be able to leave the cooking of Christmas dinner to my husband and daughter.

If you've put on a few pounds during the last couple of seasons of biologically-driven tendency to fatten, with which Nature has gifted us, do think twice before you jump right into a regimen of exertion and deprivation.  The diet-and-exercise industry has convinced America that now that "the holidays" are over it's a perfect time not to de-stress, but to get ourselves all revved up and WORK those oversized fat cells down!  Motivate yourself to sweat away the blubber that Nature DESIGNED YOU TO CREATE, so that the stresses of winter (for all of us in the northern hemisphere) could be outlived!  From day length to ambient temperature, our environment is conditioning our bodies to conserve energy and protect ourselves.

Do yourself a favor and wait one little month.  Resist the flu and cold viruses with a well-rested, low-stress approach to life;  don't frustrate your system by following too much junkfood with not enough food in general. Let your body as well as your bank-account recover from all the feverish activity of the last month or two.  When day-length becomes perceptibly longer, THAT is the time to work WITH Nature to get more active.  Cooperating with her, rather than trying to fight your physiology, is the best way to accomplish what you BOTH want.

15 comments:

  1. Hear, hear. Since moving across the country a month ago, I haven't done much--I spent the previous few months cleaning, purging, and doing a bunch of little fix-ups around the house, plus having the worry of owning two houses a thousand miles apart.

    I spent a miserable Christmas, too. I was sick to my stomach all day--it turned out to be fumes from making wasabi almonds.

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    1. Ooh, i'm sorry to hear that! Hope you get to feeling better soon!

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    2. Better now, thanks. I figured out what the problem was when I let the dog out, came back in and the smell was nauseating. I've got to get a range hood...

      Hope you feel better soon, too.

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    3. Oh yeah -- when i've roasted peppers to make chili powder, the fumes can be overpowering! Ventilation is a must -- it sounds like wasabi (which i have to go very VERY light on) is the same!

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  2. Sorry to hear about this, Tess. Hope you can spend the rest of 2015 recovering, and the whole of 2016 with a more relaxing and rest based life and plans.

    I've cleared my deck to get in bed by 9 (eye rolling by those when I tell them past 9 is a no go for activities) and to hit the gym only at non-peak hours, the grocery store at less crowded times, etc.

    I think crowds (airplanes) are the best places to get sick. Knock on wood- my trip back from St. Louis (It's very possible I'll be back in the next 2 years and I'll email you first) that I've gone almost 3 months in the winter season well. Crossing fingers right now- but I do think my 9pm bedtimes and my Fitbitcharge HR is really helping me set hard limits on that stuff.

    Take care and here's to everyone feeling better.

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    1. Thank you! :-) I behaved like a complete vegetable yesterday, our first full day back home, and woke up this morning feeling much better. I agree -- early bedtimes and avoiding overcrowded situations make for a much happier and healthier life.

      I certainly hope you CAN return to StL soon -- i'd love to meet you! It was such a pleasure to me, to actually get to spend time with EB and Lori! :-D

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  3. Sorry to hear you've not been feeling too good ... hope by now things are improving.

    But do take care, and many may recommend a good bone broth, plenty of rest and stress-free as possible.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Yes, i'm much better now -- recovery from colds, for me, is always about getting rest and eating well. :-) Eggs, broth, and steak, and lots of rest yesterday, and i woke up this morning feeling like a human being! Hope things are going well with you too!

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  4. I am sorry for your falling sick after getting too tired. For me sleeping too little or being jet-lagged are two main reasons to get down with a virus, but a general exhaustion is hard enough. Have a nice rest! Yes, we live in a culture which praises constant business and self-torturing. After New Year for couple of months we all will see many new miserable runners. Than they would go back to a previous life.

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    1. Lol -- yes, it's amusing to look at joggers as they run by -- they always look so pained, which to me is thoroughly understandable! :-) Today we'll begin to do the things that get pushed aside when vacationing, but not TOO fast....

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  5. I hope your lovely house is not under water.

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    1. No, when we got back to town on Monday there was a tiny bit of water in the basement, showing how high the water-table had risen! Unfortunately, a lot of people in St. Louis were not so fortunate. :-( They say we had "near record" flooding -- i'd hate to see what it looked like when it WAS a record! The forty foot limestone bluff upon which the Arch sits, and where the original trading-post which became our city was located, is only a few feet out of the water! Thank you for your concern, Lori!

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  6. Sorry Tess ... completely off topic !

    Wishing you (and your readers / followers) a very Happy New Year

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thank you, Jan, and the same to you and all of our blog-friends! :-) It's never considered off-topic to say something nice around here!

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    2. Thank you, Jan, for always being so nice to others.

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