I have got to finish this area!
Posts have been light recently. I’m sorry! You Americans may not even have noticed, with all the crazy holiday stuff going on. But I took Thanksgiving Day and the next day off- we did nothing and it felt SO good! I blogged here and there on my other blogs, but no major updates. I’m tired. The house renovation over the summer really wore me out. I didn’t realize it at the time, but working such long hours with such heavy physical intensity and eating so little was really tough on me. We still aren’t done- several “small” projects await me still. I have to create a wood bench/window seat in the kitchen yet. My new kitchen window still has no exterior trim, and the siding has not been replaced. The pipes in the basement are uninsulated, too. This is a concern because our basement will be unheated for the first winter season (I got rid of the junky forced air ducting system). And I also am still working on our phone/information center in one area of the kitchen. I also have to finish some trimwork for the floors (transition strips) and interior trim around the kitchen windows. Whew. So we have quite a number of projects to do. But the house is shaping up, and it’s warm in here for the first time in its 155-year history.
But I am now consciously taking interest in my health again. I eat a LOT of fresh and steamed kale. It is a wonderful vegetable. I’m also forcing myself to take vitamins and some terrific natural supplements. As a young person, I never took vitamins. WHY do they make them the size of horsepills? I could never swallow them, and even now they hurt going down. But I know I must do it. In the past, I never felt any different taking vitamins, but now I feel like I am actually getting healthier. It’s a small start, but I actually have bursts of energy again. And my hair is growing back again (I’d lost some during the renovation, due to malnutrition, I think). I may even have more energy to start writing humorous, entertaining blog posts again!
I’d read that people tend to get depressed during the winter months because of lack of sunshine. Sunshine on our skin causes our bodies to produce melatonin and seratonin, those “feel good” hormones. Here in the Northeast, 2/3 of the year is cloudy, and half of the year is either chilly or cold. So getting out in the sunshine when the sun does shone is important, and I’m realizing that taking vitamins and supplements can have beneficial effects on one’s health, especially when the health isn’t so great in the first place.
So anyway, if you are experiencing a touch of the holiday blues, or you feel that your life lacks a little oomph, get out in the sun, and eat some kale, and take some vitamins! It may make the difference.
3. December 2010 at 11:20 am
I cannot swallow pills well, even some of the small ones!
4. December 2010 at 8:15 pm
I take vitamins and I have really paid attention to the foods I eat as I have gotten older. You don’t realize how important it is until it is almost too late!
5. December 2010 at 2:22 am
Congrats on getting so much done on the house! Hard word, but so worth it!
Thyroid issues, even extremely minor imbalances, affect vitamin retention. Esp. Vitamin D and Calcium. It truly is pure chemistry. This goes up, that goes down. I eat well, am outside in the sun a lot (I live in the Middle East!) and my vitaminD levels were almost non-existant! Shocking. But it explained the lack of energy. I am now a believer of vitamins and supplements, and found my difficulty in swallowing them was mental. I had been taking one brand that my doctor recommended, but it upset my stomach badly. I guess I hesitated in swallowing for fear of that. I switched brands and it doesn’t hurt my stomach, despite having the same vitamins and minerals. I have no problem taking those horse pills.