Doing Life

O.K., let’s. Life is surprising. It’s interesting. It’s often hard, often fun, frightening, sometimes simple, sometimes easy, sometimes both, and almost always unpredictable. It seems much of what happens in life is out of our control—but not all of it, and this is the part we need to look at “doing.”

In a way we all have life sentences. The question is how we cope, deal with, and then individually choose to move forward. Because—we all do it in different ways, and we all have to do it.

We know our actions have consequences, and as a result we each have a responsibility as individuals, and organizations to “do no harm.” Yet too many of us are doing harm—to ourselves, and in turn to our organizations. We are doing harm through the neglect of our bodies, our nutrition, our choices, and ultimately our health. As a result, many of us find ourselves doing life with one or more chronic diseases. Now, we’re “doing harm” on a number of levels.

This is not the way it’s supposed to be, nor is it the way it has to be. What if we look at doing life a little differently?  What if we look at our choices differently? What if we look at, and focus on what we really can achieve? What if we look at those positive choices we can each make in terms of how they will shape our health and well-being? The benefits are huge and far-reaching.

How do the words: believe in yourself, never give up, keep reaching,  I can do this, I am worth this, sound to you?  They should sound good. And they are true.

You’re already doing life. We all are. Isn’t it up to each of us to make it the best life it can be—for ourselves, our families, our employers, our country, our world?  Isn’t up to each of us to make it a life that “does no harm?”

That’s a lot to ask, but we can each—and together—make doing life, really worth doing.  Are you in?

The Funny Thing About Regrets

Disappointments, apologies, and yes regret, whether because of something you’ve done, or in this case, haven’t done, all come down eventually to what you make of them.

It’s Friday night, and you’re ready to sit down with beer and a box of pizza, and then maybe ice cream. You deserve it after the week you’ve had is a great excuse (and isn’t that what it so often is?). It’s Saturday,  and you want to sleep in. Your legs are already sore. It’s Sunday.  It’s your day to be lazy. You have a busy week ahead. It’s Monday, and you don’t feel like getting up half an hour early for a quick run, jog or walk. It’s too cold, it’s too hot. You’ve had no trouble coming up with close to a zillion reasons why you spent the weekend the way you did. And now, you might be thinking something along the lines of, “I should have done something.” 

And, what if you had? Chances are good you wouldn’t be regretting those things you didn’t do. Have you ever regretted doing something for your health? Even when you didn’t want to do it, have you ever regretted that walk, or bike ride?  Have you regretted the feeling that you persevered, that you stuck with it because it was the right thing to do? Have you regretted the feeling that you actually felt good about, as Nike says, just doing it?

Think about it this way. Increasing your health and well-being doesn’t have to mean “giving it all up.” It probably does  mean making changes in certain lifestyle behavior choices. It doesn’t have to be about high-energy, sweaty sessions at the gym, unless you want it to be—but it can be as simple as getting up and going for a walk. Dancing to music while you clean the house. Trying a few simple, healthy recipes. Setting a good example for your kids.

The idea is to avoid those “I should have” regrets. Start moving a little more, start eating a little less.  You won't regret it.

What We Eat . . . and What We Don’t

LoneStart Wellness is (in part) about making mindful, positive choices when it comes to nutrition and physical activity. Most of us know what we “should” eat, and what we “shouldn’t,” but, here’s a fun—and interesting exercise (pardon the pun).

Open your refrigerator and look inside. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that Americans waste about 30 percent of all edible food produced, bought, and sold in this country—and even acknowledges that this figure is probably low. In fact, the National Institutes of Health say that if we were to add up all the losses that occur throughout the food chain, Americans, on average, waste about 1,400 calories a day per person. If you’re making mindful, positive food choices, that’s a little more than two full meals.

Remember how mom always said, “Clean your plate. Children in (name the foreign country) are starving.” Here’s another take on this. If you add up all the resources required to grow the food that’s “lost” as it progresses from the farm that produces it, to the processor that converts it to what we buy, to our plates, would you believe that our wastefulness results in 25 percent of all freshwater and 4 percent of all oil consumed in this country? This is for food we don’t eat.

And, there’s more. About 13 percent of all municipal solid waste consists of food scraps and edible discards from our homes and commercial food-service establishments. That's 30 million tons a year. There’s more still . . . When that food reaches the landfills and decomposes, one of the by-products is methane, which has 20 times the global-warming potency of carbon dioxide. Based on Environmental Protection Agency data, rotting food may be responsible for about one-tenth of all human-related methane emissions.

Up to one-fifth of America's food goes to waste each year, with an estimated 130 pounds of food per person ending up in landfills. The annual value of this lost food is estimated at around $31billion. According to USDA statistics, more than 5.4 billion pounds of food are lost annually at the retail level, while 91 billion pounds are lost in our home kitchens, restaurants, and institutional cafeterias. In other words, food-service and consumer loss make up 95 percent of all food waste—96 billion pounds each year.

So, now we’re back to mindfulness. While we’re not advocating cleaning your plate just to avoid waste, we are suggesting smaller servings—the amount we need, no more, no less.

And, look what we can accomplish for ourselves, our individual health and our environment by better meal-planning, using leftovers creatively, and making just enough—instead of too much. It’s a simple, healthful solution. Seems obvious . . . what do you think?