Healthy Living

Aside from needing to spend time digging in clean dirt versus dirty dirt, I garden because I wanted to provide safe, pesticide-free veggies and fruits for my family. Plus, I like pretty flowers, although I spend much more time messing around in the vegetable garden.

A healthy lifestyle became much more important when my husband was diagnosed with heart failure earlier this year at 40 years old. It was treated in time, but it opened my eyes a lot. We started changing our diet quickly. Out went hot dogs and hamburgers, in came whole grains and lean meats. It also gelled me into action. I knew I needed more exercise. I am genetically pre-disposed to diabetes because it runs in my dad's family and heart disease because it runs in my mom's family. (Yes, I make doctors faint when they read my medical history!) One of the preventatives for both diseases is to stay at a healthy weight. I was not. I didn't look too bad, but I knew I wasn't where I needed to be. So with Tom's(hubby) recent heart problems, I got moving. We joined the Y and since I am not motivated to exercise by myself, I joined a Zumba class. Zumba is fun. Its dance and exercise. And by the end of the class, you're exhausted, sweaty, and feel great. When work isn't running my life for me, I am there three times a week. I have definately lost weight and look much better.

There are pitfalls to every great plan however. I wasn't able to go to Zumba for about a month and so last night, I got up the motivation to go again. I was having a great time until about 3/4 of the way through the class. We were doing a great lunge exercise and *boom* I landed on my ankle wrong. The verdict-a nasty sprain. It'll be several weeks before I am fit to dance again.

See, you can even harm yourself trying to live healthy.

The proof that no good deed goes unpunished.