In an earlier post, I talked about the Health Puzzle and what each of its pieces looks like. That post stressed that in order to live a truly healthy life, it is critical that we address each area! One important pieces of this puzzle is “Engaging in Meaningful Activities”. I can’t imagine what life would look and feel like if the only activity I enjoyed was watching the boob tube. Don’t get me wrong, I have my favorite shows but there is nothing that I watch that I would seriously miss if my television mysteriously blew up!
The activities that are meaningful for me are unique to me and the activities that are meaningful to you are unique to you. What I find meaningful, you may find frivolous or unimaginative. What is meaningful for you, I might not value or see as silly. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, it matters what you think. What activities bring you joy? What activities make you feel alive. What tasks do you find fully engaging?
Eating and Sleeping is not enough! Image by suju from Pixabay
When I was younger, I looked at health as the composite of two things. Eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise. If you did these two things, you would be healthy. Mother Fran and Papa Jack took care of the healthy diet for everyone in my household so all I had to do was get plenty of exercise. Wait, they helped ensure that as well. My parents were always kicking us out of the house to go and play, go weed the garden, go shovel the dirt around the pond. Plus my siblings and I loved to shoot hoops, ride bikes, climb trees and play catch. Getting exercise as a kid growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s was easy.
Now that I have Embraced the Gray, I know that living a healthy lifestyle is about so much more than food and movement. These two things are absolutely critical but they are only two pieces of a larger puzzle. I have done a ton of reading on this topic and listened to many podcasts and audiobooks that it is time I summarize for myself (and for anyone else interested) what a more complete health puzzle looks like. This is important to me because energizing others to choose health is part of how I live my life strategically!
If you read this blog at all, you have a pretty good idea that my Mom is super important to me. I affectionately call her Mother Fran and have learned so much from her as it relates to health, wealth and happiness. She is 91 years young and still enjoys playing bridge, cards, doing puzzles and reading on her kindle. Playing Canasta is her favorite past time and she is always ready for a match. I have inherited her love of games!
Mom has always been ahead of her time when it came to healthy eating. She only allowed the healthiest breakfast cereals in the house. I remember Product 19, Shredded Wheat (plain), and Grape Nuts. I used to try to sneak sugar into my cereal bowl to give it some taste! I don’t recall her cooking breakfast but Papa Jack would routinely cook eggs, pancakes, and French toast. Two vegetables were always on the dinner menu and fruit was always in the fridge when we were hungry. We had huge gardens and Mom used to send me out to pick the veggies right before dinner. I have inherited her interest in nutrition and healthy eating.
I remember she had a subscription to Prevention Magazine, always took vitamin supplements and tried to pass carob powder off as chocolate. We only ate whole grains, rarely had soda and the only time we had candy was on Halloween. I remember her swallowing a tablespoon of olive oil in the morning because she knew it was good for her.
Through her 80’s she used her arm weights, ankle weights and did seated yoga. She used to engage in exercise every day but over the last few years, her love of games has gotten in the way. Now, Child #7 makes her stretch her neck and do shoulder shrugs in between rounds of Canasta! She also used to listen to relaxation tapes daily and take long afternoon naps. I am kind of a nap failure but I do love my daily quiet time. Guess I inherited a need to take time to myself every day in order to recharge my batteries.
I have learned a lot about optimizing health from my Health Coach Training, reading a ton of books, listening to podcasts and modifying my own diet. I focus on making one good decision after another to reach my health goals. Recently, I have begun to track healthy habits in an App on my cell phone which has really helped me stay on top of my game! I have definitely inherited Mother Fran’s interest in living a healthy lifestyle.
Mother Fran is wonderful but she is not known for her patience. If she wants you to do something, she wants it NOW. I remember several years ago, I was resting on the deck after driving 6.5 hours to visit her. She asked if during my visit I could move a bunch of rocks that had fallen off a rock wall. I said sure and closed my eyes. About 30 minutes later, I see her carrying a large rock out of the corner of my eye. When I asked her why she was moving it, she said well you weren’t getting around to it! I am afraid I have inherited her lack of patience too!
As my honey and I gear up for a long visit with Mother Fran and Child #7, I look forward to sharing some of my favorite meals and newfound healthy living knowledge with her. I want to get her talking about her own interest in health living to see what she can teach me as well. I am 100% positive we will play hours upon hours of Canasta. We will hit the beach and some favorite restaurants. Who knows, maybe can brainstorm ways to improve our patience too!
I wonder what else I have inherited from Mother Fran???
Lake Girl!
Check out these articles to see how Mother Fran can influence you to choose health too!
Today is Mother’s Day 2018! Who should you thank for Mothering you?
I am Child # 8 out of 9 of an Irish Catholic family. I grew up with 2 loving parents, with a mom that stayed home to take care of the family and the home. My dad was a NYC police officer who retired when I was about 9, and my parents moved from Long Island to Upstate NY with the 4 youngest kids.
Can you imagine raising 9 kids? Personally, I never felt the pull of motherhood. I think at a young age I recognized that it was hard work. Don’t get me wrong, I love kids and enjoy spending time with them but at then end of the day, I am happy to return to my quiet home to walk my dog.
By nature, I am a homebody. I prefer to sleep in my bed, eat my own cooking and putter in my garden. During the month of March, I was traveling away from home for 17 days. I spent time in Florida, Massachusetts and New York City. In Florida, I caught up with Mother Fran, Child #7, and Child # 5 and his honey. Mother Fran had plenty of “jobs” for me including digging out roots from old bushes, planting new grasses and driving her to appointments. I enjoyed wearing shorts and flip-flops, kayaking and hanging at the pond.
I spent 5 nights in Massachusetts in 4 different towns catching up with old friends. I visited one of the nursing homes I used to work at and said hello to a few old patients and co-workers. I attended an Occupational Therapy Conference and earned 5 continuing education credits while catching up with even more friends. I got to meet a friends 6 month old baby and had a little snuggle time which is good for the soul.
I have been hanging out in Florida this week with Mother Fran and Child #7. The weather has been ok but regardless, it has been nice to get away from the cold and the snow. They live in what feels like a pretty congested area with busy roads full of traffic and every store you can think of within a 10 minute drive. Usually I would hate this type of area but they have something I crave with every ounce of my being. They live on the water. Don’t get too excited, it isn’t the ocean or even a lake; they live on a small pond. They share the pond with a bunch of other houses, each one faces the pond with their back porch.
Mom’s back porch is screened in and the entire thing overlooks the pond. It has a table and chairs, small couch and comfy chair. You can also walk out the porch door and set up a lounge chair on the grass when the need overtakes you. You can’t swim in this pond or even toss in your kayak (apparently that is frowned upon) but people do fish and enjoy the view.
Growing up in the 1970’s as Child #8 out of 9 meant I was always one of the “little kids”, always one of the youngest. When my whole family gathered, I always sat at the kids table, always got booted off of the couch for someone older, always wore the hand-me-down clothes. I spent my childhood wishing I was older – like a teenager! I wanted to go out at night with my siblings, I wanted to stay up late eating ice cream with Mother Fran, I wanted to babysit the neighbor kids to earn a little spending money. I seriously remember thinking “when I’m big, I am going to eat cake and ice cream for breakfast”! I knew how to dream BIG.
Those of us who call ourselves frugal have different ways of trying to reach our goal of not spending money foolishly. We have different ideas of what that means and different reasons for choosing to save vs spend money.
The definition of frugal according to Merriam Webster Dictionary is: “careful about spending money or using things when you do not need to : using money or supplies in a very careful way”. For me, being frugal means I don’t spend money foolishly. I plan my large expenditures carefully and save money in advance to pay for them in cash. If I do use credit, I always pay my bills in full each month. I hate to spend money on interest and late fees; it makes me feel squeamish to say the least.
When I did my first Whole30 back in January 2016, I found breakfast a pretty easy meal to plan. Eggs were allowed and encouraged and you can eat as many as you want. So, I ate eggs pretty much every single day with a variety of vegetables and some healthy avocado.
I continue to eat plenty of eggs and am concerned that I will get tired of them as I gear up for my next Whole30 that begins January 1st! Mother Fran told me I was going to start clucking like a chicken if I don’t figure out other breakfast foods!
