Destinations Unknown

I’m considering running to the hills the first time I hear “New Year’s Resolution.” I’m a non-believer of the New Year’s Resolution, or NYR, as I’ve never really known anyone who succeeded in completing a resolution. If you’re out there somewhere, my hat’s off to you. I myself have never achieved the NYR. Oh, I’ve made plenty of them, but they never seemed to happen within the year I make them.

The year I resolved to go to Spain and actually had my passport renewed, our son arrived. Spain hit the back burner but that’s okay. My son is more vibrant than Catalonia's sky, and maybe I can make the trip with both my children one day. I won’t count the years, yes, plural, that I vowed to lose weight. The last time I made that resolution I spent five months of the year on steroids. Bet ya can’t guess what that does to a waist line. I’ve vowed to get my house in order, only to realize that’s impossible with a teen and a toddler. I promised to write more, only to discover Facebook. I promised to quit smoking only to get scared enough to stop nowhere near the New Year. Honestly, I think resolutions are a great concept, but the reality is that we resolve to do something when we are finally committed to reach a goal.

For some, the NYR is a possible target, for others, a pipe dream, for me? I’m going to try something new. I think that this year I’m going to work on waking up every day (beats the alternative) with a decent attitude. I’m going to try to be the best me I can and to make decisions based on what is best for me and my family. When I fall down or fall short (and you can bet I will), I promise not to beat myself up and that I will treat myself as my friends treat me. Oh they’ll tell me when I mess up, but they lift me up and get me back on the road, loving unconditionally. It’s not so much a resolution that I’m working on, as it is a way of life. May we all find what we need, appreciate what we have, travel the unknown enjoying the destination, and may we all have a very Happy New Year!

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall...

By: Mary Alford-Carman

Weight came up in a discussion this week and as usual, I wanted to change the subject to anything other than that. Did I really need to be reminded that bathing suit season is just around the corner? For the past twenty-five years I have struggled with my weight. I was never tiny, but much of the time I was healthy. I look back on some photos and wonder where I ever got the idea that I was overweight. I'd give anything to weigh now what I weighed in quite a few photos I tucked away. I was active; I walked everywhere and rode my bike. I had a waist and when I looked down I could see my toes. I've tried every diet known to man and I have enough sizes in my closet to open a small boutique. Weight is an ugly word.

That said; I'm worried. I know how it feels to have a poor self-image and to constantly feel like the outer shell must be perfect for someone to get close enough to like the "real you." Now my thirteen-year-old daughter looks in the mirror and worries about her thighs, which are the size of small twigs. What's wrong with this picture? On TV you have trainers shouting at adults who are overweight and cutting into the core of their souls in the interest of ratings and "making them better." How does screaming at someone help them be better? How is this a good thing? Sure, sure, if the end result is that they lose the weight, then everything is hunky dory, right? No, nope, nada, zip.

Trying to be healthy is a grand thing, trying to fit a preset image is another. American Idol wants the entire package, fantastic looks and a voice combined and if you don't fit both…bye-bye. Where would we be if American Idol looked at Carol King, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Mumford and Sons, Amy Winehouse, or for that matter, Steven Tyler? The combined talent of these individuals could fuel a rocket to space and back times infinity, but that's not what the media, magazines and TV shows exemplify today.

I want my daughter to know it takes more than a pretty face, a carved body, and a size zero wardrobe to be a whole person, that youth and beauty fade, but the mind and soul quicken, bloom and enrich, that when you hold up the mirror of life, all those who look back at you with love and respect are what matter. Beauty is as beauty does…oh when will we learn? In the meantime I'll keep plucking away for a healthier me, and if I'm lucky, maybe I'll get around to cleaning out my closet.

What Diet Works for You?

By Dawn Tolson

In my review of the Dukan Diet, I self-confess to being a diet freak. I listen to adverts on the TV with more than the normal interest; I scan the current magazines searching for new tips on losing weight; but in reality, there are many people out there who would tell me I'm crazy. For what reason, you may ask? Well, the reason is that I am 44 years old, 5’5”, 138 pounds and a size 6. Truthfully, in many peoples' eyes I shouldn’t even be on a diet, but the reality is I am 10 pounds over the weight I feel happy with.

Weight is a personal thing--my 10 pounds may be like 200 pounds to the next person. I own and literally wear my 10 pounds every day, and it is to me a baggage around my ankles or thighs actually. I have come to the conclusion that it is a personal search for what diet works for you and I am still searching. I have tried ones that tell me to drink only coffee, eat cabbage soup or even salmon all day, and still every time I have a limited amount of success, and then Bam! I am back to my larger size as soon as I start to relax and eat normally. Some people can choose a diet, follow it for 10 months and lose a load; some like me spend years trying different ones and never achieve success. I have to wonder what I am doing wrong, or is there not a diet out there that caters to my category?

Please tell me I am not the only one who thinks this way. What’s your experience dieting? Is there an alternative? Did it change once you crossed over the 40 mark?