Koko Day T-minus-nine
Music: Hawaiian holiday treacle
I am writing my first post two days before Christmas, sick with a headcold, chubby from salty spicy Thai food and too much wine, too many cookies, too much pizza, too many margaritas these last couple of weeks.
After dipping my toe into paleo and losing a quick 10 pounds with minimal effort this fall I am ashamed that I have gone back to my slothy ways. On the other hand, I know how easy my paleo autumn was, how effortlessly I began to slim down, how totally full of energy I felt when I was eating well and taking care of myself. With these things in mind I will use this first post as a goal-setting entry, a background to give me clarity before the Big 30 at the beginning of 2011.
Where I am now. . .
Weight an unknown too-high. I don't focus on the scale unless I start feeling trim and good. Right now I feel neither so I'm off the scale but guessing I'm perhaps 20 lbs higher than I'd like to be. I rock a significant belly that I can hardly call postpartum now that my kiddo is 2.5 years old. The size trousers I wear are the smallest I have worn since I was in high school, and you'd better believe I am thrilled to be wearing it. But I am untoned and I forever look about 7 months pregnant. I don't say these things to be mean to myself. I love myself-- I would totally date me and I think anyone who had the opportunity to and didn't just may be a total tool who doesn't know his face from a hot plate of colcannon -- but these things are empirically so.
My skin was getting soft and clear during my paleo experiment this fall; now it is feeling dehydrated, broken out, bumpy and generally unhappy. I'm suffering from dry skin on my arms, that winning combination of acne and wrinkles on my face, and unpleasant keratosis pilaris on my thighs. The eczema I spent over a year clearing up is beginning to show itself on my hands again, too. In short, my skin is a disaster for someone in my line of work. Yep, I'm an esthetician- more specifically, I've built my career as a holistic skincare therapist. I have spent all of my adult life studying health and wellness and applying that knowledge to skincare has been a big part of my stock in trade. I know damn well that the health of the body inside is reflected in the beauty of the skin and I've helped so many clients achieve beautiful skin with easy diet and routine modifications. Some things are no-brainers, like how skin will clear up when you improve digestion with fermented foods or switch from industrial to hormone-free meats.
Sometimes I have been dreadfully misinformed (as when I thought veganism was a healthy way to live). Other times I've known only part of the story (like how soaking grains makes them less toxic than eating them untreated, or how raw milk is better than pasteurized).
But even when I've known better there have been times that I've been woefully sporadic about actually practicing what I preach.
So that's where I've been. Here's where I want to be: In a state of equilibrium. I want to reset my body's cravings so that I no longer want sugar, caffeine, alcohol like they're going out of style. I want to lose extra weight, get back the energy I got a taste of this fall, get my skin closer to its own best approximation of perfection.
Vain goals? Maybe. I have more exigent issues too, like everyone else. I come from a clan of people who love bread and pasta and are constantly struggling with weight. I'd like very much to escape that fate and I think I owe that to my son too. Diabetes, obesity, all the diseases and imbalances of agriculture and industrialization-- these are great things to avoid. And if vibrant health and feeling better have a side effect of looking better then I'll take 'em. I only have one go-round in this body after all.
So when Lolo suggested we do this blog and this experiment I was totally on board. Here's to 2011. May we all be healthy, happy and well. Who's with us?
Yours,
Koko
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