Womens health

We all love it, don’t we? That helpless feeling, flat on our backs in an examination gown, being entered by a hard, cold speculum, and being told to ‘relax’. Right. Look forward to it all year. Let’s not even discuss the mammogram. But, if you want to be beautiful, there’s a price to pay—ya gotta use tweezers. And if you want to be healthy, likewise, ya gotta ‘relax’. And for a lot of women, especially women who are rushed off their feet as it is, that may be the extent of their ‘wellness care’. But there is so much more to it than that.

No matter what your life circumstances, the only one that’s really going to take care of you is—you. The only one who can pay attention to what you eat is—you. The only one who can use that body so it’s as beautiful as it was meant to be is—you. The only one who can get a grip on the stuff you pile onto yourself is—you. Does it sound like it’s all your fault? It’s really one of those half-empty/half-full situations. It’s all a matter of attitude. You can take a deep breath, then realize you are in charge. Then you can take a deeper breath (let the other one out first) and realize you can be in control—of much of your own life, anyway. Kind of goes to your head, doesn’t it?

Power is intoxicating and getting used to it can be a little scary. But you have a right to have power over your own life and you have an obligation to yourself and those who depend on you to get yourself, and keep yourself, as healthy as possible. When was the last time you saw a woman glowing with good health? Okay, try Kate Winslet. She seems sane, real, appears to be wearing her original face, and you can’t count her ribs. Imagine that. Now imagine her without the light. We’re used to thinking of her as beautiful, but if she were a nasty, negative person, she couldn’t hide it. It would show, and if those features had that kind of a mind behind them, she could look downright mean. And don’t tell me it’s because she’s got the money. Plenty of people have the money. She’s got the attitude. She seems to have her priorities straight (family first. Period.) I didn’t mean this to be a fan rave—she’s just the only truly healthy-looking woman I think we can all recognize. And isn’t that pitiful?

The first, and most important health tip is: Stop Reading Those Dratted Magazines! Yes, the ones with the quizzes and the ‘articles’ and ‘product reviews’ that are not even thinly veiled ads. The ones with the ‘latest’ this-that-or-other. The ones that intimidate you with their ‘homemade’ cookies that took a food stylist twenty tries and tweezer-placed chocolate jimmies to look as if she’d just thrown them together. The ones that tell you how to be a ‘better’—wife, mother, employee, lover, etc. There is an underlying message there: ‘You’re not good enough’. And that’s the message we hear, no matter what the article says. If you can’t help yourself, get a one-year subscription only. Believe me, every year will be identical.

Okay, now you’ve eliminated some of the pressure. Meanwhile, learn to prepare nutritious food and learn to like it. Your body will thank you for it. And when I say ‘get more exercise’ (that’s a given, isn’t it?) don’t immediately think ‘gym’ and ‘time and money’. Think ‘stairs’, ‘walk’, ‘stretch’, ‘dance’’play’. If you keep yourself healthy, and with a positive attitude, the weight situation pretty much takes care of itself. If you think you must diet, take a look at the old Scarsdale diet. You can find the book everywhere (even freebie boxes).

Free up some time for yourself. Yes, you can, don’t whuff like that. (Whuff was the sound you made when you read the first sentence of this paragraph.) Show me the stone tablet that reads ‘Thou Shalt Enroll Thy Child In Every Possible Activity That Commits You’, or the one that reads ‘Thou Shalt Put Thine Own Needs Last’, or the one that reads ‘Fashion is Important’, or ‘We Have To Have What Everybody Else Has’. There is one message you definitely don’t need: ‘Dry Clean Only’. Okay, maybe a wedding gown. But for the rest, just don’t buy it. See? found you some time already. Now, you’re eating better (probably for less money), you’re getting more exercise without spending time or money at it, and you’re in a more positive frame of mind. Kate Winslet, look out!

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