New Year, New Determination

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a great holidays!  We had a great holidays.  I ate and ate and ate.  I have eaten enough and put enough foods back into my diet that I have gained back almost all the weight I lost.  I went vegetarian instead of vegan.  That means dairy is not my thing.  This requires a new determination to not only re-lose what I gained back but then lose the additional 23 pounds I had left.  In the end it is about being healthy and feeling good, but the number on the scale really does matter to me.

In a solemn reminder to pay better attention to the fact that I am 44 and I have heart disease, an acquaintance of mine died on New Year's Day.  I knew her years ago when we were kids.  I did not remain close to her but many of my good friends did.  There is a possibility she died of a heart attack--44 years old.  See, the farther I am away from my own heart attack, the easier it is for me to forget.  It is sobering moments such as this that lead me to a new determination not to let this kill me.

This acquaintance was the one in three.  I am the one in three.  My friend Beth is the one in three and my friend Stacy is the one in three. One of every three women has heart disease. Ladies, if you stood in a group of three women, are you sure that you are not the one in three with heart disease?  How sure are you?  As we begin this new year, please make yourself familiar with the symptoms of a heart attack and watch "Just A Little Heart Attack."  Go see a doctor and discuss your risk factors.

Organization is the complete key to me being vegan.  If I do not have something substantial pre-prepared for lunch and dinner, I just eat whatever.  Eating whatever led me to my first heart attack and I really don't need it to lead me to a second.  I really have to regain that organization.  I have been struggling with this but have a new commitment to get it back.

I also have joined the local gym.  The city runs it and it is super cheap to join and open 24 hours.  I have a friend from Jr. High that is going with me.  It is much easier to go when I know someone is going to meet me there.  I have worked out four of the last seven days.  I go again tomorrow.  Wish me luck in this new endeavor!

As January gets under way, we can look forward to Friday February 1, 2013.  This is the American Heart Associations 10th Annual Wear Red for Women Day.  You can order Red Dress Pins at http://shop.heart.org/american-heart-merchandise.php.  Celebrate and support the women you love with heart disease!  If you don't have anyone else to Go Red for, Go Red for me!