Healthy Writers Club: Hiking and Writing

It's time for the weekly Healthy Writers Club hosted by Shallee McArthur. While the butt-in-chair idea works great for writers, it's not so great when we're trying to be healthy. So, once per week we will check in to let you know how we're doing health-wise and how it relates to writing.

I didn't do so well this past week on my health endeavor. But I have a excuse reason. I had visitors for the week.

However, between making personalized bookmarks and a personalized aspen walking stick with my sister, we did manage a five mile hike at Mueller State Park. It was absolutely gorgeous with the pines interspersed with gold and red aspen leaves.

The weather was clear and perfect, and the view of Pikes Peak was an added bonus. A nice little picnic completed the trip.

So, how does all this relate to writing? Well, I may have thought about writing while I was hiking.

NOT!

I'll do better next week:)

How did you do?

Suicide Prevention Awareness & Healthy Writers Club

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. This is a subject near and dear to my heart as I have been profoundly touched by it, twice by close friends.  

Please! If you are depressed or having thoughts of suicide, tell someone. Anyone. A friend, family member or even a stranger. Help is available.

Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

You are not alone. People care. I care.

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Shallee McArthur has started The Healthy Writers Club:

Welcome to The Healthy Writers Club! As writers, we hear a lot about the "butt in chair" tactic, which is great for our manuscripts, but not so great for the actual butt in the chair. Every Friday, I'll be posting about how healthy I've been that week and how it connects to writing. If you're game to join the fun, you can run, walk, bike, make a healthy dinner, play tag with your kids, etc. Then, you post about it on Friday (or whenever you want).

To sign up, go HERE.

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So, as it's Friday, I'm supposed to talk about my week and how healthy I was and how it affects my writing. Um, this week I deep cleaned, and trust me, my cleaning arm was sore! I walked three miles twice, but that was all. But I have a good excuse reason. My mom and sister were coming to visit. So yeah, this week flew out the door. But please come back next week because I am going to be sooooo good!

I Have My Grandma's Wings

I have my grandma's wings. I don't mean angel wings, though I'm sure she's earned them up in heaven.

Let me explain. I saw a recent photograph of myself wearing a sleeveless shirt. I was at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, petting a wallabee. My arm was stretched wide, and hanging below said traitor arm was a freaking, flapping, wing!

I knew it was there, but I didn't realize how big until I saw it in a photograph.

Yep, just like grandma's. I remember as a child playing with all that loose skin under her arm, just flopping back and forth (until she got annoyed, that is).

I had no idea it was heriditary.

What else did I inherit from her? Ankles. They turn in just a little bit - not so you'd notice, but - yeah.

Wings and Ankles.

We all have things we don't like about ouselves, and not just physical attributes like I described above. Trust me, there are tons of things I don't like about myself.

Every once in a great while I'll dwell too much on "things." When that happens, I remind myself about what Joel Osteen said in his book, Every Day A Friday:

"When God made you He wasn't having a bad day. He made you to be the way you are on purpose. He finished creating you and then He stepped back and said, "That is good. I like that; another masterpiece." There may be things about you that you don't like, but you can't allow those things to hold you back or keep you from pursuing your dreams."

I like everything about the above sentence, from me being a masterpiece, to not allowing things to hold me back or keep me from pursuing my dreams.  It's motivating. And so I'll keep moving forward, no matter what.

What do you do to deal with things you don't like about yourself? 

 

How do you combat against things or circumstances that seem to conspire against you?

 

What motivates you to keep moving forward?

My 750 Mile Badge Kicks Butt!

I just earned my 750 mile badge from fitbit!

I am so thrilled. It took me a while to get there. I've had some starts and stops. But since I started moving again a month ago, it's been going really great. Three miles a day, five or six days per week adds up. Then add your regular daily steps, and that's 70 - 80 miles in the past month. I didn't realize I was so close.



I love my fitbit. I just clip it on the waist of my pants in the morning and go. It tells me how many steps and miles I've walked in a day and calories burned. It does more than that, though. You can go to their website and log your food intake and monitor calories, fat, weight and other stuff as well.

It really helps to know how I'm doing, so then I can set goals for myself. 

My health goal for August was to lose 10 pounds and I'm happy to say I made it! My health goal for September is to lose another 10.

I know I'm sounding like an infomercial. But no - I'm not getting paid by fitbit. I just got excited and I'm feeling motivated.

What keeps or gets you motivated?

What are your health goals for September?