http://womansage.org/blogs/jhaas/2007/08/13/heres-to-our-longevity/

Great post about the newest statistics about our longevity as a nation and how it's falling behind other nations. We're also falling behind in other ways such as height and infant mortality.

Universal health care, anyone? More time off so we have energy to be more active? Smaller portions of food served or sold pre-packaged? Less sodium and corn syrup in our processed foods and more whole grains? Raise minimum wage so poor people can actually buy good food and enough of it?

We can turn this around if we have the will and demand that our legislators do something about it, as well as finding the time to exercise and cook better foods for ourselves.

I've been walking again for three days, slowly getting my stamina built back up. I had worked up to over an hour and was frustrated to have to start at twenty minutes. Part of the problem is my low blood count, but at least now when I take iron I won't be bleeding it out every month! (In fact, there's such a thing as too much iron, so I'll have to watch my level.)

I've lost all of the weight initially gained during the hospitalization and then some. Here is my weight loss ticker, I've set my initial goal at 275 so as to seem attainable, as I've made it there within the last few years and do feel much better at that weight.



I had planned to lose at least twenty pounds during my time off work and I'm almost there.

I'm very tired today, for the past few days really, and have little appetite. On the bright side I lost a few pounds. Trying to get to a somewhat healthier weight that is easier to find clothes for, not to some "ideal" weight that is fashionable. I know I'm still healing and am trying to focus on really good foods while my appetite is low, at least. I no longer have to wear a binder/sling device to hold my abdomen against the motions of my muscles, so I am making progress on the healing front.

As I heal I become keenly aware that my job search is looming. I so hate this process and I know I'm not alone in that. It brings out all my working class insecurities, feeling like an imposter in the middle class work world. I've learned some of the programs I use on the job and I feel my knowledge of them is spotty. So I hesitate to say I know them. To me the word know implies a depth and breadth I don't have.

I know in April I generally bloom and throw off the last bit of my winter depression, so I am hoping that will aid me in my job search. I'm sure I'll be able to project a more confident personality than I could have in January. It's been good that I've had time to get over some of my angst from my last job.

I've been working on a set of my own prayer flags, an idea adapted from Tibetan Buddhism. Instead of lighting copious amounts of candles for those I wish to help in some way, I decided to make my own prayer flags. The idea is that as they flutter in the breeze one's prayers are carried to God/the gods, whichever you believe in. And they certainly look cheerful as an added bonus. I have some bright colors to make them in and feel good to be using that cloth. I am almost finished making them.

Later today I am escaping my apartment and my husband is taking me for a drive. I am so ready to get out of here! I am normally a homebody but not to this extent! It's a nice, sunny day and everything is blooming, so it should be a nice drive.

Next Tuesday, the two week anniversary of surgery, my daughter is coming over to walk with me. I'm going to use the binder just to be safe and only walk a few blocks to start. If it hurts in any way we'll go back.

I am dying to pot some flowers on my deck, but that will have to wait a bit. I have some big pots and they're too much for me to manuever right now. I definitely have spring fever though, like all the gardeners in my area. Soon, soon...

The vivid dreams are still coming. Last night I went to Mars on a day trip! Imagine the technology it would take to do that! By normal space flight it would take many months, depending on our relative orbits around the sun. It isn't the first time I've visited Mars in my dreams. I grew up on Mars exploration stories and books and can visualize it very well, down to the difference in light. So my subconscious has plenty of Mars images to draw upon. Maybe in my next life I'll pick up my Mars exploration dreams and go to Mars as an astronaut or even a colonist.

So far I've lost 8 pounds this month. I hope to lose 12 more before my surgery date. Now that my heels have had a chance to recover from standing in line on the stone floors of the bank I went to every day for my former employer, I am ready to start walking again. That will definitely help the weight loss and the metabolic resistance and triglycerides, plus boost the HDL (good cholesterol).

If the heel pain starts up again I may have to get a membership at a club to go swimming regularly and do water aerobics. My podiatrist actually doesn't want me to walk at this weight (there's a nice catch 22) because I have a deformity of gait that puts pressure on the tendons going up the inside of my legs. He warns that they can become inflamed and burst, necessitating surgery. Perhaps I can alternate walking and water aerobics when I get my 401K money. In the meantime I'll keep an eye on how tender they get and how my heels are doing and lighten up on activity as needed. I will also add some strength training. I'd love to get a punching bag too. I wish I didn't have to store my car in the garage, because it would make a nice work out area. I guess I could get things that I use while parking my car on the street, then put them aside so I can park the car at night. I'd like a basketball hoop too.

It's really helping to be able to do my own cooking again. If only I could get rid of the ants I'd cook even more and make myself some bread too. Periodically they gross me out by over-running my kitchen. I guess they're avoiding the rains we've had.