Body of work

I do a pretty lousy job of taking care of my body. Here is the grim and embarrassing truth:

• I shower about once a week
• I brush my teeth about every other day
• I never floss
  
• I wash my face a couple of times a week, if I'm lucky
• Same with moisturizer and make up
• I don't brush my hair everyday
• I rarely style it

I do keep my nails nice, that's about the only part of my body I pay attention to, because of course, that's the part I see. As for the inside of my body, it's pretty much the same story.

• I'm really, really overweight (don't let the picture on my blog fool you, I was looking up to hide my double chin.)
• I very rarely exercise
• I eat way to much junk
• I eat far too few fruits and veggies
• I often forget to take my anti-depressant
• Even more often I forget to take vitamins
• I sometimes go days without drinking any water
  

So far my body, God love it, has been pretty tolerable of this neglect. I've been blessed with good genes, but I'm 41, nature can't save me from nurture forever. Now don't get me wrong, like a smoker who's trying to kick the habit, I do make an effort to make changes. And, although you wouldn't know it from that list, changes are slowly happening.

Despite my policy of not going to the doctor unless I'm bleeding out my eyes, just recently I went for long overdue visits to both the dentist, and the dermatologist. The dentist paid off his car, thanks to me. The dermatologist found some cancerous spots on my face, so I'm sure I'll be sending him on a nice vacation by the time he's through.

Starting this February I stopped eating fast food, and stopped bringing junk food into the house. We rarely eat red meat, and I switched to fat free dairy, when it's an option. I bought a treadmill, and a bike, which I do use occasionally. And just like that smoker, I do keep trying, practicing quitting, if you will, these bad habits. I keep forming new plans, to see what will work, and I don't beat myself up for failing, the way I used to.

My current plan, starts this morning. I'm going to take car of as many things as possible on that list, first thing in the morning. I'm going to get on the treadmill, and walk in front of my light box. I hate doing both, so I'm going to try to get them over with one shot. I'm going to take my meds, and vitamin with a ginormous glass of water, and then I'm going to take care of my hair and face and teeth. All told, it won't take me more than an hour, the time many women spend on themselves in the morning. Why shouldn't I spend one hour of the day improving my mental and physical health? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.