Health

 A special someone asked me last December: "what are your top three priorities for the year 2020?" A surprisingly pleasant and refreshing question compared to the common question about new year resolutions which I never had a good answer to btw. I had to think about it for a minute, before being able to articulate: "my top three priorities for 2020, in order: 1) health, 2) family (including close friends that are pretty much family) and 3) self-development (both personal and professional)." I later realized that these are not just my priorities for the year 2020 - these have consistently been my top 3 priorities for several years now (maybe not in that order however). 

Health, I have grown up hearing, is the most important thing I must focus on throughout my life. This came from my parents, who saw enough of health problems around them, to drill this into my head as deeply and as often as they could. I have not always focused on health - like most people I have prioritized work or friends or fun or general laziness for most of my life. I had the luxury to take it for granted, being blessed with good general health. I have gone back and forth on the mindset of putting health first, never being able to stick to most healthy habits for longer than 3 months. 

Things have shifted in the last year or so. I don't get sick very often (again, feel very blessed), but I have many intolerances, sensitivities and allergies. These came to a head about a year ago with too frequent migraines, headaches, stomach aches, eye aches and tons of feelings of despair that my body was not going to cooperate, for very long, with me doing half the things I wanted to. Pretty average things I might add - occasional eating out, occasional travel, coffee, a summer picnic or hike, a drink every couple of weeks, the semi-annual TV show binge watching weekend. There haven't been any sudden or major changes in my life or lifestyle for the past decade or so, so I am surprised at why all these things seemed to catch up to me all of a sudden and all at the same time. But in a way, I'm glad they did. They forced me sit up and take notice, put health at the top of my priority list, and this is the first it has stayed there for over a year.

Sustaining healthy habits over a long period of time is still a challenge. Sugar has always been a weakness and I have yet to fight those chocolate, hot chocolate and Indian sweets cravings long enough so they stop coming (and then manage to keep them away for the better part of the next 50 years!). I have yet to maintain a workout routine for longer than 3 months. However, there are some things that do make me feel a sense of achievement - I cannot remember the last time I had more than 2 scoops of ice cream in one day... I cannot remember the last time I had a non-diet cola (yes yes, diet cola is bad too and I need to quit it... baby steps...)... I finally realize that Tim Hortons' ice capp and french vanilla are "too" sweet... I have had a glass bottle Mexican coke in the fridge since I dont even know how many months and I haven't once had the temptation to open it... I have quit 80 percent of the snacks and beverages with added sugar that I used to consume... I don't watch TV shows for the most part, besides the semi-annual weekend binge or the occasional mini series (TV is the #1 cause of eating junk snacks)... These may not sound like much but these have been huge improvements considering what I used to feed myself until a couple of years ago. What's more, not exercising for a week at a stretch makes me feel anxious and restless as if there is something missing in life that I need to be doing. And do managing to get a work out into my day gives me a feeling of satisfaction and contentment. 

My work for the next little while and for the next few years is cut out for me. My vision has been constant since the last couple of years - an early morning routine which consists of a 30 min work out and a good breakfast, a day with plenty of walks/steps/moving around and an evening with the occasional walk, chore, errand, fun activity or socializing. Furthermore, eating junk food and sugar in serious moderation. It sounded much easier than it has been to implement. It has demanded a lot of self-discipline, will power and consistency - these three have yet to co-exist for longer than a couple of months. Short-term goals of losing weight in two months, or getting abs by summer, have failed to motivate me in a significant way. I need to realize my long-term health goals and reasonable ways of achieving them. I expect it'll always be a challenge in one aspect or another. I suppose if it was easy, everyone would have good health. The only long-term goal I've been able to set so far is: be like JLo at 50 ;) But really, if my vision of being the morning person I so want to be and forming unbreakable habits of exercise and diet comes as true as it can, I will call that a success.