The Age of Aquarius

So I would have to categorize this article under “it ain’t rocket science” to get some control of your weight. HOWEVER there are certain genetic factors and so many other physiologically based factors that affect and control our shape and size, that I do not want to tread down that path of shame that says all you need is will power. If I did that then all I would need is a head transplant.

But lets do some healthy stuff off the bat so we know that we are doing what we can regardless of our DNA and our ancestry and any glitches that happen because we are human, or because some weird experimental toxin that some guys in lab coats dumped in a nearby river or cloud 50 years ago may be continuing to wreak havoc on our system, our own little internal system, our body. Now give yourself a hug and sit back.

Until about a year ago I was spending most of my day sipping cold dregs of coffee in my car as I was tootling and occasionally racing about the country side to bring the gift of fitness and my P/T genius to the world. Water? Nope? Not a thermos and if I stopped to get gas I would quiver at the idea that another plastic bottle might go into the ocean to be swallowed by some poor whale. So I’d get a coffee, and doze at the wheel.

Anyway these were spontaneous and ill timed and though they were liquids they were minimal.

I heard somewhere along the road that drinking water is a good idea, and I made sure to pass on this gem to my clients but not somehow through my stubborn skull to my brain. Until recently. Now, upon rising I make sure to choke back two full glasses of water, from the well, from mother earth. It fills out my wrinkles and I look like a sixteen year old again. Sorry, that’s such bullshit. But it is helping me think straight, helping me poop, and cools me off the same way it does for a car, and then there’s other stuff too, but those are the ones I can vouch for.

Anyway I make sure to have another two glasses around pre-dinner time, and here is where I notice the difference. My cravings seem to dissipate and, if I am going to have a glass of something alcoholic which I am trying to cut down on, the urge and the speed with which I have my pretty glass of rosé vanishes. I can then savour the wine, the day, and my sobriety. I also believe that I may even control that drive for seconds (of dinner) before I have stuffed my cake hole full of stir-fry.

You see the water habit, like other habits, seems to crowd out the space reserved for the other not as savoury habits, the cravings, the second helpings. And I notice it too. Sometime I’ll post a picture of how fabulous I look, but for now you can take my word. So it isn’t really a matter of replacing your bad habits, as much as stuffing your day and your fridge with good habits that leave less room for the not-so-good ones.

This is all a process really, not a destination. We take it one step at a time but soon we have integrated water, fresh fruit and veggies and whole grains into our day without even noticing. And soon we are enjoying even more of the good of what this planet has to offer, so we don’t wind up at the pearly gates feeling like we missed out on the gifts of this wonderful place.